Empty bottle inspection

• US 9,535,011 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2012
• Issued: 01/03/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: KHS GmbH (Salzgitter AG)
• Original Assignee: KHS GmbH (Salzgitter AG)
• Inventors: Herrmann, Marius Michael, Wiemer, Heinrich, Schorn, Wolfgang, Herrmann, Jrgen
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Thai
• Assistant Examiner(s): HUNTER, MISHAWN N
• Application Number:
  US14/125,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20140226005A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 348/127, 356/239.4, 356/240.1, 209/939, 382/142
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/27 using photo-electric detection G01N21/31 takes precedence; circuits for computing concentration logarithmic circuits G06G7/24; photometric circuits in general G01J
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/90 in a container or its contents G01N21/91 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9036 using arrays of emitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9054 Inspection of sealing surface and container finish
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/9072 with illumination or detection from inside the container
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0008 checking presence/absence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/10 for generating image signals from different wavelengths

Abstract

An inspection device for monitoring bottles includes a lighting unit, a color-sensitive camera, and a control-and-evaluation unit. The lighting unit is arranged above a transport path of bottles to be examined and has a light-source circuit-board having light sources that emit light having a light-source color. The control-and-evaluation unit changes the light-source color to a bottle color that is determined in a region of a mouth of a bottle.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising an inspection device for monitoring bottles, said inspection device comprising a lighting unit, a color-sensitive camera, and a control-and-evaluation unit, wherein said lighting unit is arranged above a transport path of bottles to be examined, wherein said lighting unit comprises a light-source circuit-board having light sources that emit light having a light-source color, wherein said control-and-evaluation unit is configured to change said light-source color to a bottle color that is determined in a region of a mouth of a bottle, and wherein said light sources are arranged in radially spaced light source rings, each of which is concentric about a midpoint of said light-source circuit-board, and wherein emitted light is coupled at least partially into an interior of a wall of said bottle mouth.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said control-and-evaluation unit is configured to cause selected light sources to flash.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein adjacent light sources in a light source ring are spaced apart by an identical distance.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said lighting unit is configured to emit variable intensity light.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said light sources comprise LEDs from which color-modulated light is emitted in a directed manner.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said light sources comprise LEDs from which intensity-modulated light is emitted in a directed manner.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said camera is configured to be above said mouth.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a first optical element, wherein said first optical element reflects an image of an area to be inspected toward said color-sensitive camera.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of first optical elements disposed to reflect an all-around image to said color-sensitive camera.

10. A method for monitoring bottles, said method comprising modulating color of light emitted by a lighting unit to maximize light transmission through a colored bottle, directing said modulated light through an open mouth of said colored bottle and onto an interior surface of said colored bottle, and capturing a transmitted portion of said modulated light, said method further comprising arranging said light sources in a light-source ring, and selecting light sources such that light from said light sources is coupled in a directed manner into an inner circumference of a mouth of a bottle to be inspected.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising modulating intensity of said light.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein modulating said color of said light is carried out once prior to inspection of said bottle.

13. The method of claim 10, further comprising causing said light source ring to flash stroboscopically.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising causing each of said light sources to emit light of the same color space.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising illuminating a concave contraction of said bottle to be examined with incident light that is emitted from said lighting unit.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising causing selected light sources to flash stroboscopically.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein modulating color of light emitted by a lighting unit comprises detecting a bottle color of said colored bottle, and based on said bottle color, selecting a color to be emitted by said lighting unit.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising using actual data, which has been obtained by transformation of said captured transmitted portion of said light, to infer existence of rust adhering to an outer surface of said bottle, wherein using said actual data to infer existence of rust comprises comparing an actual color of said transmitted portion of said light with a nominal color.

19. A method for monitoring bottles, said method comprising modulating color of light emitted by a lighting unit to maximize light transmission through a colored bottle, directing said modulated light through an open mouth of said colored bottle and onto an interior surface of said colored bottle, and capturing a transmitted portion of said modulated light, said method further comprising further comprising transforming said captured transmitted portion of said light into actual data, comparing said actual data with nominal data, determining that a deviation of said actual data from said nominal data exceeds a specified limit value, and generating a rejection signal.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising modulating intensity of said light.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising causing each of said light sources to emit light of the same color space.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising illuminating a concave contraction of said bottle to be examined with incident light that is emitted from said lighting unit.