Tooheys (Sydney, Australia; www.tooheys.com) currently produces more than 300 million liters of beer annually from its Lidcombe brewery in Sydney. Two product lines running at 1200 bottles per minute must be frequently changed, and, since each product change requires a change in bottle crown or cap, incorrect bottle crowning can occur. Using a Cognex (Natick, MA, USA; www.cognex.com) Insight 5400, system-integrator Machinery Automation & Robotics (Silverwater, Australia; www.machineryautomation.com.au) developed an inspection system that can make changes to the threshold-determining acceptance of variable product qualities-detecting scratches, for example. The camera, mounted on an adjustable post, allows for bottle-height variations while maintaining a focal length of 125 mm. The mounting bracket houses a diffuse on-axis lighting system emitting a red light; a red-cut lens cover filters out ambient light. An I/O module interfaces with the camera and the Siemens (Munich, Germany;www.siemens.com) S7 PLC, allowing product changes to be loaded into the camera.

Tue Jan 03 05:00:00 CST 2006