Defect detection of extruded strip
AssigneeThe Steelastic Company
InventorsJacob James Mudger, Daniel Duane Hawk
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A defect detection system and method for detecting the presence of a defect in an extruded strip can include various elements. In examples, a thermal imagining sensor is used to detect a plurality of surface temperatures on a surface of the extruded strip. A processing unit is configured to generate a thermal map of an area of the surface of extruded strip. The processing unit is further configured to determine whether the plurality of surface temperatures are outside a tolerance range, indicating the presence of a defect in the extruded strip. Detecting a defect during the extrusion process can help achieve the goal of reducing manufacturing waste and increasing quality control.
Claims25
A system for detecting defects in a strip of material, the system comprising:
- a thermal imaging sensor positioned to detect a plurality of surface temperatures on a surface of the strip of material, the strip of material comprising a material surrounding a plurality of cords;
- and
- a processing unit electrically connected to the thermal imaging sensor,
- wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a thermal map of an area of the surface of the strip of material based on the plurality of surface temperatures detected by the thermal imaging sensor;
- wherein the processing unit is configured to calculate an average surface temperature and a standard deviation;
- wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine whether one or more surface temperatures of the plurality of surface temperatures are outside of a tolerance range, which is based on the standard deviation;
- and
- wherein determining that the one or more surface temperatures are outside of the tolerance range indicates a defect in the area of the surface represented by the thermal map.
A defect detection system, the defect detection system comprising:
- a thermal imaging sensor positioned to detect a plurality of surface temperatures on a surface of a merged structure, the merged structure comprising a first material merged with a second material, the first material having a higher temperature relative to the second material prior to being merged;
- and
- a processing unit electrically connected to the thermal imaging sensor,
- wherein, to generate denoised surface temperature data, the processing unit is configured to filter the plurality of surface temperatures, to smooth the plurality of surface temperatures, or to filter and to smooth the plurality of surface temperatures;
- wherein the processing unit is configured to generate a thermal map of an area of the surface of the merged structure based on the denoised surface temperature data;
- and
- wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine that one or more surface temperatures of the denoised surface temperature data are outside of a tolerance range, indicating a defect in the area of the surface represented by the thermal map.
A method for detecting a defect in a strip of material, the method comprising:
- detecting a plurality of surface temperatures on a surface of the strip of material using a thermal imaging sensor, the strip of material comprising a material surrounding a plurality of cords;
- processing, by a processing unit electrically connected to the thermal imaging sensor, the plurality of surface temperatures to generate a thermal map of an area of the surface of the strip of material;
- calculating, by the processing unit, thermal metrics based on the thermal map;
- calculating, by the processing unit, a tolerance range based on the thermal metrics;
- and
- evaluating, by the processing unit, whether the plurality of surface temperatures are outside of the tolerance range, indicating a presence of a defect;
- determining that a first temperature and a second temperature of the plurality of surface temperatures that are outside of the tolerance range;
- and
- determining a shape of the defect based on the first temperature being near to the second temperature on the thermal map.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium, including stored computer-readable instructions, the stored computer-readable instructions being loaded and executed by a processor to perform a method of detecting a defect, the method comprising:
- detecting a plurality of surface temperatures on a surface of a strip of material using a thermal imaging sensor, the strip of material comprising a material surrounding a plurality of cords;
- processing, by a processing unit electrically connected to the thermal imaging sensor, the plurality of surface temperatures to generate a thermal map of an area of the surface of the strip of material;
- calculating, by the processing unit, thermal metrics based on the thermal map and a tolerance range based on the thermal metrics;
- and
- evaluating, by the processing unit, whether the plurality of surface temperatures are outside of the tolerance range, indicating a presence of a defect;
- determining a first temperature and a second temperature of the plurality of surface temperatures that are outside of the tolerance range;
- and
- determining a shape of the defect based on the first temperature being near to the second temperature on the thermal map.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.