Agr International has announced its latest product for plastic container manufacturers, the OptiCheck vision inspection and gauging system.

The system introduces a new level of vision-based quality management and process monitoring that takes into consideration the day-to-day variations in the production of polyolefin containers. The OptiCheck system offers a versatile, easy to operate and expandable approach that is compatible with frequent product change overs, color changes and limited line space. Unlike many other vision-based inspection products, the OptiCheck system is designed specifically for bottle measurement and inspection applications as well as the process control needs of the plastic container industry. This system offers a robust and versatile set of proven bottle-specific inspections as well as lighting and measurement routines suitable for the wide range of containers produced for the pharmaceutical, beverage, food, household chemical and personal care industries.

The product is configurable to include finish/seal surface inspection module, sidewall inspection module or a combination thereof.

Finish/Seal Surface control:
Finish related variations are a critical concern to bottle manufacturers. The OptiCheck finish/seal surface module provides a means to monitor and actively manage finish defects and helps ensure proper closure fit and function. The surface module offers both in-line gauging of critical finish dimensions and defect detection for seal-surface related problems, in one compact unit. For finish gauging, the system utilizes a multi-camera imaging system to provide 360 degree coverage of container finishes sized from 20-80 mm. LED-based back-lighting and high resolution imaging of the finish profile provide accurate dimensional tolerance measurement regardless of finish diameter and position of the container on the conveyor.

For seal surface, the system incorporates a dedicated camera for inspection and detection of common finish defects. A sophisticated LED lighting system along with robust image analysis algorithms are designed expressly for optimal seal surface imaging and accurate identification of defects such as short shots, nicks, dents and scratches in seal surface as well as chocked necks, blown finishes and a myriad of other common abnormalities found in the bottle production process.

Sidewall Defect management:
The OptiCheck sidewall module provides the basic inspection requirements to effectively monitor and manage sidewall defects that commonly occur in the bottle production process. Four cameras provide 360º inspection for common defects in translucent materials. Defects detected by the system include folds, crystalinity, contamination, foreign materials, opaque spots, holes, color and thickness variations, dimensional changes, missing or distorted features, flash and other related occurrences.