Machine For Inspecting Glass Containers At An Inspection Station Using An Addition Of A Plurality Of Illuminations Of Reflected Light

• US 20110007149A1
• Filed: 09/09/2010
• Published: 01/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emhart Glass SA (Bucher Industries AG)
• Original Assignee: Emhart Glass SA (Bucher Industries AG)
• Inventors: Diehr, Richard D., Sones, Richard A., Novini, Amir R.
• Granted Patent: US 8,058,607 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 348/131
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9045 Inspection of ornamented or stippled container walls
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9054 Inspection of sealing surface and container finish

Abstract

A machine for inspecting glass containers which are being rotated at an inspection station. A light source illuminates a selected area on a rotating glass container while the container rotates through a selected angle and a camera is triggered to capture an image while the bottle rotates through that angle. A plurality of sequential images are recorded and a critical addition is made to be inspected.

Claims

1. A method for inspecting a glass container for defects at an inspection station comprising:

rotating a selected glass container about a vertical axis at the inspection station;

illuminating a selected portion of the glass container with first and second light sources so that defects will be highlighted during the rotation of the glass container, the light sources having a selected illuminated on time followed by a selected off time, wherein the container rotates through a defined angle of rotation while the two light sources are successively on and off;

turning said light sources on and off a plurality of consecutive times defining a plurality of illuminations during the defined angle of rotation, the plurality of illuminations equal to the number of times the light sources are turned on and off;

imaging the selected illuminated portion of the glass container with a camera including a triggerable imaging portion and including a detector axis inclined to the horizontal, said camera having an exposure time at least equal to the time required for the glass container to rotate through said defined angle of rotation; and

triggering the imaging portion of said camera with a computer when the container is at the beginning and end of said defined angle of rotation so that the camera will continuously acquire data of said selected portion of the container, as the glass container rotates through the defined angle of rotation to capture, transfer, and record each image when the imaging portion is triggered at the beginning and end of said defined angle of rotation, and to perform an addition of a plurality of recorded images, each including the plurality of illuminations for inspection for defects.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the selected portion is the finish portion of the glass container.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the defect is a check.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein said angle of rotation is a portion of 360 degrees.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein said light sources comprises a pair of orthogonal related LED panels.

6. A method according to claim 4, wherein said light source comprises a pair of orthogonal related LED panels.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the computer is configured to define a critical addition of the plurality (Y) of recorded images, within a corresponding plurality of said defined angles (0).

8. A method according to claim 7, wherein the imaging portion of the camera comprises a matrix array of pixels which receives an image of the selected portion of the container, and wherein the critical addition includes, for each pixel location of the matrix array, the highest intensity of the corresponding pixel in all (Y) recorded images within the plurality of said defined angles (θ

).

9. A method for inspecting a glass container for defects using a light source and a camera, both controlled by a computer, the method comprising:

rotating the glass container;

illuminating a select portion of the glass container with energy from the light source;

triggering the camera open at the beginning of a select angle of rotation of the glass container;

capturing image data of the select portion of the glass container throughout the angle of rotation to create an image; and

triggering the camera closed at the end of the select angle of rotation of the glass container, wherein a critical addition of the image data is analyzed in the computer to identify a defect in the glass container.

10. The method for inspecting a glass container for defects of claim 9, wherein the selected portion is the finish portion of the glass container.

11. The method for inspecting a glass container for defects of claim 10, wherein the defect is a check.

12. The method for inspecting a glass container for defects of claim 9, wherein said angle of rotation is a portion of 360 degrees.

13. The method for inspecting a glass container for defects of claim 12, wherein the plurality of said consecutive selected angles defines 360 degrees.

14. The method for inspecting a glass container for defects of claim 9, wherein said light source comprises a pair of orthogonal related LED panels.

15. A method for inspecting a glass container for defects at an inspection station comprising:

rotating a selected glass container at the inspection station;

illuminating a selected portion of the glass container with a light source so that defects will be highlighted during the rotation of the glass container, the light source having a selected on time followed by a selected off time, wherein the container rotates through a defined angle of rotation while the light source is successively on and off;

turning the light source on and off consecutively;

imaging the selected illuminated portion of the glass container with a camera including a triggerable imaging portion, the camera having an exposure time at least equal to the time required for the glass container to rotate through the defined angle of rotation;

triggering the imaging portion of the camera with a camera switch when the container is at the beginning and the end of the defined angle of rotation so that the camera will image the selected portion of the container, as the glass container rotates through a defined selected angle of rotation, wherein the camera remains open during the entire selected angle of rotation and the camera switch is triggered a plurality of times to define a critical addition of the plurality of images, within the defined angle, for inspection for defects; and

configuring a computer to operate the light source switch and the camera switch, the computer being configured to trigger the imaging portion of said camera when the container is at the beginning and end of said defined angle of rotation so that the camera will continuously acquire data of said selected portion of the container, as the glass container rotates through the defined angle of rotation to capture, transfer and record each image when the imaging portion is triggered at the beginning and end of each of said defined angles of rotation, and to perform an addition of a plurality of recorded images, each including a plurality of illuminations for inspection for defects, the plurality of illuminations equal to the number of times the light source switch is operated during the defined angle of rotation.

16. A method according to claim 15, wherein the selected portion is the finish portion of the glass container.

17. A method according to claim 15, wherein the defect is a check.

18. A method according to claim 15, wherein the angle of rotation is a portion of 360 degrees.

19. A method according to claim 15, wherein the light source comprises a pair of orthogonal related LED panels.