Bobbin optical inspection system

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting cigarette paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said cigarette paper;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said cigarette paper to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said cigarette paper;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and
• a rewind assembly for rewinding said cigarette paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said cigarette paper;
• wherein said processor includes logic for dividing said electrical signals of said camera into a plurality of lanes, and examining electrical signals within each output lane to determine whether the electrical signals are above or below a threshold, wherein electrical signals above said threshold are indicative of said banded regions, and electrical signals below said threshold are indicative of said non-banded regions of said cigarette paper.

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting cigarette paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said cigarette paper;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said cigarette paper to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said cigarette paper;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and
• a rewind assembly for rewinding said cigarette paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said cigarette paper;
• wherein said processor discriminates nonbanded regions from banded regions using a dynamic threshold.

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting cigarette paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said cigarette paper;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said cigarette paper to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said cigarette paper;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and
• a rewind assembly for rewinding said cigarette paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said cigarette paper;
• wherein said unwind assembly includes:
• a shaft;
• a backing plate located at one end of said shaft for mounting said unwind bobbin;
• a cone for mating with an inner core of said unwind bobbin;
• and
• a nut for securing said cone, unwind bobbin and said backing plate in a fixed position relative to each other.

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting cigarette paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said cigarette paper;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said cigarette paper to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said cigarette paper;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and
• a rewind assembly for rewinding said cigarette paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said cigarette paper;
• wherein said rewind assembly includes:
• a shaft;
• a backing plate located at one end of said shaft for mounting said rewind bobbin;
• a cone for mating with an inner core of said rewind bobbin;
• and
• a nut for securing said cone, rewind bobbin and said backing plate in a fixed position relative to each other.

A method for inspecting paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, including the steps of:

• unwinding said paper from an unwind bobbin;
• directing said unwound paper to an inspection station;
• at said inspection station, directing light from a light source to the surface of said paper, said light forming reflections from said paper;
• receiving said reflections by a camera to generate output signals;
• processing said output signals in a processing module to generate output information representative of one or more of the following properties;
• width of one or more banded regions;
• spacing between one or more adjacent sets of banded regions;
• contrast of one or more banded regions;
• and
• rewinding said paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said output signals of said paper;
• wherein said processing module generates said output information by:
• successively examining pixels to determine whether each successive pixel corresponds to a non-banded region or a banded region;
• computing spacing between adjacent banded regions on said cigarette paper based on results provided by the step of successively examining;
• and
• computing width of banded regions on said cigarette paper based on results provided by the step of successively examining.

A method for inspecting paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, including the steps of:

• unwinding said paper from an unwind bobbin;
• directing said unwound paper to an inspection station;
• at said inspection station, directing light from a light source to the surface of said paper, said light forming reflections from said paper;
• receiving said reflections by a camera to generate output signals;
• processing said output signals in a processing module to generate output information representative of one or more of the following properties;
• width of one or more banded regions;
• spacing between one or more adjacent sets of banded regions;
• contrast of one or more banded regions;
• and
• rewinding said paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said output signals of said paper;
• wherein said processing includes the steps of:
• dividing said output signals of said camera into a plurality of lanes;
• and
• examining output signals within each lane to determine whether the output signals are above or below a threshold, wherein output signals above said threshold are indicative of said banded regions, and output signals below said threshold are indicative of said non-banded regions of said cigarette paper.

A method for inspecting paper containing banded regions and non-banded regions, including the steps of:

• unwinding said paper from an unwind bobbin;
• directing said unwound paper to an inspection station;
• at said inspection station, directing light from a light source to the surface of said paper, said light forming reflections from said paper;
• receiving said reflections by a camera to generate output signals;
• processing said output signals in a processing module to generate output information representative of one or more of the following properties;
• width of one or more banded regions;
• spacing between one or more adjacent sets of banded regions;
• contrast of one or more banded regions;
• and
• rewinding said paper on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said output signals of said paper;
• wherein said processing includes the step of discriminating non-banded regions from banded regions using a dynamic threshold.

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting sheet-like material, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said sheet-like material;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said sheet-like material to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said sheet-like material;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and a rewind assembly for rewinding said sheet-like material on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said sheet-like material;
• wherein said unwind assembly and said rewind assembly each include:
• a shaft;
• a backing plate located at one end of said shaft for mounting a bobbin;
• a cone for mating with an inner core of the bobbin;
• and
• a nut for securing said cone, bobbin and said backing plate in a fixed position relative to each other.

A rewinder inspection station for inspecting sheet-like material, comprising:

• an unwind assembly for unwinding an unwind bobbin of said sheet-like material;
• a guiding assembly for guiding said sheet-like material to a camera, said camera forming electrical signals representing properties of said sheet-like material;
• a processor for analyzing said electrical signals to provide analysis results;
• and a rewind assembly for rewinding said sheet-like material on a rewind bobbin after said camera forms said electrical signals of said sheet-like material;
• wherein said rewind assembly further includes a powered drive wheel which contacts an outer surface of said rewind bobbin, wherein rotation of said drive wheel induces rotation of said rewind bobbin.