Inspection Machines and Inspection Equipment

Checkweighers

Measuring instrument which determines the mass of a package or product, usually as it travels along a conveyor that incorporates a weighing device. The mass of each item is recorded and any that fall outside pre-set values are rejected.

Weight Classifying Machine

Checkweigher that divides products into groups according to their mass.

Weigh Price Labelling Machine

A machine which incorporates a weighing device and a print and apply labeller, which measures the mass of a packaged product (such as meat, cheese, fruit or vegetables), calculates the price of the product and then prints both the weight and price onto a label which is attached to the product.

Colour sorters are used to remove defects and foreign material (FM) from many foodstuffs worldwide.  Colour sorting is particularly suitable to automate manual inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables  such as carrots, potatoes, peas and beans coming direct from the field to remove extraneous vegetable matter (EVM) and gross defects, stones, sticks and so on that are picked up with the harvest.  Other harvested products such as nuts, seeds and grains are also colour sorted as part of the post-harvest removal of husk, dust, stones etc.  Colour sorters give the packer or processor labour saving and efficiency of operation  for added value and cost savings over traditional methods of inspection.

Sorters inspect a huge range of processed and baked products on an industrial scale in widely diverse food sectors including rice, coffee beans, nuts, tea leaves, lettuce and salads, shredded cheese, baked beans, crisps and snacks after cooking and removing broken and wrongly filled or coated biscuits, and all of these prior to packing.  French fries are sorted to remove colour defects from the potato strips and check their length profiles and many frozen and cut vegetables including mixes of diced carrot, potato, peas etc are inspected immediately prior to packing.

Colour sorters use high speed digital signal processing to scan the product stream on a wide flat belt or chute using black and white, colour cameras or infrared and ultraviolet lighting systems, or lasers, and other optical sensors.  The product images are compared to stored profiles of the acceptable product limits and reject defects not recognised as good product.  Very often the defect is removed from the line by one of an array of high speed air ejectors positioned just downstream of the cameras and many thousands of or a flap or other bulk defect gate.  Good product continues out of the sorter to packing.  Some sorters incorporate recovery systems for re-inspecting the defects.

Colour sorting techniques are also widely used in other industries, in recycling for example to remove green glass from white glass and in the tobacco industry to remove foreign matter from the shredded leaves.

Foreign Body Detector

An inspection machine which detects foreign bodies (e.g. metal, glass, bone, wood, fibres) in a product or package and rejects the product or pack from the line.

Metal Detector

An inspection machine which detects metal contamination (e.g. pins, shards of metal from machinery, nuts and bolts) in a product or package and rejects those products or packages from the line. All machines will detect ferrous metal contamination, but some can also detect non-ferrous metal as well.

X-Ray Detector

A machine which of X-rays to inspect a product for the presence of foreign bodies like bone or metal or that all of the products in a sealed package are present and undamaged and rejects out of specification products from the line.

Colour Sorter

A machine which detects contaminants in products (e.g. pulses, rice, peas, diced carrots) by inspecting their colour. Products which fall outside the pre-set colour values are rejected.

Fill Height Inspection

A machine which inspects the level of fill of liquid, usually in rigid containers and detects any which fall outside a pre-determined level and rejects them from the line.

Vision system

A system which comprises a video camera linked to a computer which can be programmed to identify deviations from set parameters in either a product or a package. Applications include inspecting glass, inspecting labels, checking for contamination on rigid containers before they are sealed and inspecting for missing components.

Seal Checking Machine

A machine which tests the integrity of the seals of a package and rejects any that contain faults or leaks.

Aerosol Tester

A machine which checks for leaks in aerosol cans by immersing the cans in a bath of hot water.

Empty Bottle Inspection Machine

A machine which is used to inspect empty bottles or other glass containers for attributes including wall thickness, cleanliness, chips or cracks and rejects any which fall outside pre-set values.

Empty Bottle Sorter

A machine which takes plastic bottles from a hopper in random orientation, orients them in the required direction and places them on to a conveyor.

Cap Inspection Machine

A machine which inspects filled and closed rigid containers for the presence and correct application of a cap and rejects any which have no cap, crossed threads or insufficient torque.

Label Inspection Machine

A machine which inspects labels on packs for one or a number of parameters including correct alignment, print legibility and position, or if a label is missing. In the pharmaceutical industry machines also check whether the correct packaging components have been used and using OCR software if batch and production information is printed correctly and legibly.

Missing Pill Inspection Equipment

Equipment that checks blister packs for missing or broken pills and rejects any pack which contains empty blisters or broken pills.

Open Flap Detector

A machine or an attachment to a machine which detects the presence of an open flap on a carton or case and rejects it.