A European glass container manufacturer has increased its bottle quality and economic efficiency in bottle production by using solutions from Precitec Optronik of Germany and its UK representative Armstrong Optical to improve its production line method to measure the dimensions of its glass bottles and containers.
Although the manufacturer was already using an ultrasonic method, it was not reliable enough, too intrusive and too slow for the required line speeds.
By fitting the CHRocodile M4 thickness measuring system, a machine capable of non-contact inspection of up to 350 non-round containers per minute for thickness, glass shape, roundness and glass quality was developed with four, simultaneous operation, measurement probes.
This measuring system is able to read, and reliably inspect, all hollow containers; bottles can be various shapes and colours and may have steeply sloping surfaces or even angled sides.
Practically all round or non-round individually formed products can be measured, and inspection can cover all areas of the product. Additionally, unlike some optical probing techniques, varying the distance from the optical probe or changing the colour of the bottles being inspected will have no effect on the accuracy of measurement.
The temperature of the glass or the shimmering effects due to super-heated air from ovens has no affect on the measurement accuracy. The CHRocodile M4 captures the data just as reliably at the cold end of hollow glass production as inline at the hot end of the bottle production belt. The sensor is able to report any quality defects detected to the process control system via RS 232 and RS 422 interfaces. This can be achieved without the need to take specimens during the production process and then, where necessary, readjusting the plant after the production of a number of defective products.
