After machine filling, the LPDE portion of the bag is heat sealed. With an industrial thermal imaging camera, the LPDE seal seam can be clearly seen through the paper. Possible fault mechanism during filling of the paper bag such as starch between the seal or contaminated seal bar are often visible on the thermal image.
Errors are often visible on the thermal image
Non-contact and continuous seal seam integrity control of industrial packaging is important to deliver stable quality to customers.
For this challenge, a camera sensor was chosen that operates in the infrared region because the heat from the LPDE seal seam radiates through the paper.
The inspection solution consisting of a high resolution Flir IP66 thermal imaging camera (640 * 480 pixels) which takes a thermal image of the packaging seal. The LPDE seal is clearly visible on the thermal image. The image capture is triggered by a sensor on the outgoing conveyor belt. There is a control cabinet including a touch screen on which the operator can directly see the progress of the control including the recorded images.
Analysis closure packaging with seal
By analyzing the thermal image of the seal with machine vision software, different types of faults can be identified. In case the seal thermally fails to meet expectations, the line can be stopped or the suspect bag ejected.
"With our new plant, we want to continuously keep our finger on the pulse and check whether our sealing process is under control. Together with Vision Partners, we developed and implemented this concept."
