Optical Inspection System for Detecting Surface Profile Defects in Manufactured Webs

A method for detecting surface profile defects within a moving web, the method comprising:

• translating, within a conveyor of manufacturing process line, a web along a downweb direction and at a translation speed, relative to an inspection area;
• emitting, with a point light source, light incident on a surface of the moving web, wherein the point light source is positioned and oriented relative to the conveyor to illuminate a portion of the web positioned within the inspection area;
• receiving, with a diffusing screen positioned and oriented orthogonal relative to the downweb direction of the conveyor, the light reflected from the web as the web is translated through the inspection area, wherein the light reflected from the web forms an image on the diffusing screen, the image indicating a shadow of a surface profile defect of the web;
• generating, with a linescanner image capture device, image data indicative of the image formed on the diffusing screen;
• and
• processing, with a processor, the image data to detect the surface profile defect in a surface of web.