US 4,915,237 A · Comprehensive container inspection system

Abstract

A comprehensive container inspection system includes axial container examining features, side wall inspection features and a controllable diverter for routing the containers to one of at least two sorting paths. Each stage of the inspection system is adapted to process moving containers, a continuous line of moving containers being processed and controllably diverted without stoppages. In an axial inspection area, containers are carried through rim, energy absorption and base inspection areas by means of side rollers bridging a gap in endless belt conveyor sections. In a side wall inspection area, containers are continuously rolled before a video detector operable to record and analyze images including at least three of the rolling bottles. A downstream mechanical diverter device includes a picker element operable to stop a container ahead of a container to be diverted, and means for positioning the diverted container to be squeezed into a diversion path between the stopped container and a next container, the next container advancing continuously through the diversion process.

Claims16

Dependent claims

An inspection system for analyzing images of continuously moving, closely-spaced bottles, containers and like bodies, comprising:

triggering means operable to detect the passage of each of the bodies past a predetermined positioned;
a flash lamp responsive to the triggering means and operable to momentarily illuminate each of the bodies in turn at the predetermined position, and also to illuminate at least one additional body adjacent said each of the bodies in turn;
a video detector having a solid state planar array and optics to focus and record on the array an image of the body at the predetermined position, a plurality of individual pixels being defined by the image thus focused on the array;
control means responsive to the triggering means, operative to address the individual pixels in the image recorded in the array;
memory means defining an image buffer connected to the video detector and operable responsive to the control means to store data representing a single image, said image being collected substantially synchronously with a trigger signal from the triggering means;
data processing means operable asynchronously with the triggering means, the data processing means being operable to read the data in the image buffer, and to analyze said data asynchronously with the trigger means;
and,
a random access memory connected to the data processing means and operable to store successive ones of the images, each successive image having data representing plural ones of the bodies, the data processing means associating portions of the image of a given body from the plural bodies in successive images, as the given body advances along a conveying path.

5 more elements

An inspection system for transparent and translucent containers continuously moving in a conveying direction along a conveyor, the containers having longitudinal axes, and the conveying direction being perpendicular to said longitudinal axes, the system comprising:

an axial inspection zone having detector means oriented along the longitudinal axes of the containers, perpendicular to the conveying direction, the detector means being operable to discern features of the containers including at least one of base features, rim features and energy absorption features;
a side wall inspection zone for examining side walls of the containers, having optical means directed substantially perpendicularly to the axes of the containers, the side wall inspection zone having means for turning the containers, the side wall inspection zone including means recording an image of plural containers in said side wall inspection zone and means associating a portion of successive images of a given container as said container advances in the image;
and,
a mechanical diverter means mounted downstream of the axial inspection zone and side wall inspection zone, operable to divert containers to one of at least two paths, responsive to features detected in the axial zone and the side wall inspection zone.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Comprehensive container inspection system

Life of this patent

Comprehensive container inspection system

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims16