Bottles all present and correct
As part of Merck Manufacturing Division's new multi-million dollar high speed packaging line in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a Cognex Checkpoint 900 machine vision system is used to check the integrity of bundled bottles to ensure that the correct number of bottles are present and that bottles have been correctly positioned in the bundle.
As part of Merck Manufacturing Division's new multi-million dollar high speed packaging line in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, a Cognex Checkpoint 900 machine vision system is used to check the integrity of bundled bottles to ensure that the correct number of bottles are present and that bottles have been correctly positioned in the bundle.
The vision system was implemented with the assistance of Caribbean Integration Engineers, a Puerto Rico-based integrator of automation systems.
'Sometimes a bottle will fall over as it is going through the bundler,' says Jose Garcia, president of Caribbean. 'This could give the bundle an inconsistent shape, which could lead to problems later when fitting the bundles into cartons. Other times a bottle may fall off the conveyor during bundling, which could result in an incomplete bundle.'
Bottles are stretchwrapped on a Skinetta Model 800 bundler in three rows of four. The bundles move into the inspection station where the PC-based Checkpoint 900 system is installed. As a bundle moves into the inspection point, an Allen-Bradley SLC 504 triggers the Checkpoint system camera, mounted approximately 10 inches above the bottles, to capture an image of the entire bundle.
The image is then analysed by the Checkpoint system, which uses object location software tools to first locate the precise positional coordinates of the bundle in the field of view, and edge detection tools to ensure proper bundle shape. If a bundle passes inspection, it proceeds to the cartoning station. If it fails, a reject signal is transmitted to the PLC, which triggers a reject arm to push the bundle off the conveyor. A VGA monitor is mounted near the equipment, which enable operators to monitor inspection activity. Rockwell Automation's RS-View software is used for the operator interface, which shows live inspection images as well as pass/fail results data.
In addition to performing 100% inspection of the bundles with a high degree of reliability, the Checkpoint system can provide valuable process feedback, says Cognex. For example, if several bundles are rejected in a row, operators can stop the line and investigate any equipment problems that may be causing the failures.