Method for part-forming machine having an in-mold integrated vision system
AssigneeAvalon Vision Solutions, LLC
InventorEdward F. Kachnic
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A part-forming machine having an in-mold integrated vision system and method therefor for verifying the presence, absence and quality of molded parts therein. The image of the mold and/or part is acquired at a substantially parallel angle relative to the image-capturing source thereby allowing the imaging of the mold while the mold is opening thus increasing the resolution, speed and accuracy of part-forming machine imaging systems.
Claims20
A machine for forming parts, comprising:
- a mold;
- means for ejecting at least one of the parts from said mold;
- means for controlling said ejecting means;
- at least one sensor positioned within said mold, said sensor is in view of said mold at a substantially parallel angle therewith, wherein the parts formed by said machine are imageable by said sensor;
- means for analyzing the image captured by said sensor, said analyzing means generating an indication of the presence, absence or quality of at least one of the parts, said analyzing means in communication with said ejection means, wherein said ejection means is responsive to said indication.
A machine for forming parts, comprising:
- a mold having an interior and an exterior;
- means for ejecting at least one of the parts from said mold;
- means for controlling said ejecting means;
- means for capturing an image, said image capture means positioned in said interior of said mold, said image capture means is in view of said mold at a substantially parallel angle therewith, wherein an image of the parts formed by said machine are captured by said image capture means;
- a sensor device in communication with said image capture means;
- means for transferring the image from said image capture means to said sensor device;
- means for analyzing the image captured by said sensor device, said analyzing means in communication with said sensor device, said analyzing means generating an indication of the presence, absence or quality of at least one of the parts, said analyzing means in communication with said ejection means, wherein said ejection means is responsive to said indication.
A method of indicating the presence, absence and quality of a part in a part-forming machine, comprising the steps of:
- a. acquiring an image of the part at a relatively parallel angle thereto;
- b. transferring said image to an image analyzer;
- c. analyzing said image;
- and
- d. sending a signal to a part-forming machine controller, wherein said part-forming machine controller is responsive to said signal from said image analyzer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.