Contactless inspection of objects with feedback to high speed manufacturing device
AssigneeVerrerie du Languedoc et Cie
InventorJacques Leser
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Method for performing the automatic contactless inspection of objects manufactured at a high speed by an automatically controlled machine, in particular high-temperature glass objects, the objects moving in front of an optical measuring device, consisting in illuminating the moving objects with a non-coherent white light, sensing the transmitted light by means of an optical sensor (5) provided with a linear measuring strip (2) comprising a plurality of receptor photodiodes (3), the strip (2) being arranged with its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the movement of the objects (6) and to the focal point of a focusing lens (9), and storing the result of the sensing operation for a given number of objects.
Claims13
A method of continuous contactless inspection of glassware articles and automatic control of the manufacturing process of said glassware articles comprising the following steps:
- moving said glassware articles before substantive cooling and before any subsequent annealing step between an optical sensor means and a light source,
- said optical sensor means comprising a linear measuring strip of a plurality of receptor photodiodes and means for thermal protection of said sensor means, said strip having its longitudinal axis perpendicular to the movement of said articles,
- using said light source to illuminate one side of the entire surface of one said glassware articles while regulating said light source to avoid any flickering,
- storing data issued by said sensor means for a given number of glassware articles,
- and periodically controlling the manufacturing process in accordance with the stored data.
An apparatus for continuous contactless inspection of glassware articles having a high temperature, said articles moving along a path at the output of automatically controlled manufacturing machine and before substantive cooling and any subsequent annealing of said glassware articles, comprising:
- a fluorescent light tube capable of illuminating one side of the entire surface of one of said glassware articles,
- a linear measuring strip which includes a plurality of receptor photodiodes disposed perpendicular to the path of said articles and parallel to the longitudinal axis of said light tube, said linear measuring strip and said fluorescent light tube being on opposite sides of the path of said articles,
- a focusing lens having its focal point located at said strip,
- means for thermally protecting said focusing lens and said photodiodes comprising a housing having an open slot arranged parallel to said measuring strip and means for flowing pressurized air into said housing,
- a processor means for receiving signals supplied by the photodiodes of the measuring strip,
- means for regulating the intensity of said light tube at a frequency greater than the afterglow of said tube,
- means for connecting said processor means to an automatic control unit of the manufacturing machine so as to be able to modify the manufacturing process in accordance with the results of the measurements.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.