Inspecting and Verifying Un-oriented Round Containers
by Joe Gugliotti
Machine Vision Consulting has provided a number of installations that provide inspection of the complete circumference of an un-oriented cylindrical container, using 4 side cameras and specialized software to create a consistently presented “un-wrapped” container image. These may be pre-printed containers for ice cream, labeled jars in the food industry, or labeled pharmaceutical bottles. The key is that the container is presented in a random theta orientation on the production line and the orientation cannot be controlled.
Consistent Image Analysis Despite Random Container Orientation
As examples, MVC’s CircumSpect™ solution allows the user to 1) verify the correct pre-printed container is presented, 2) verify and inspect a label that has been applied, or 3) read 2D codes that provide E-Pedigree tracking of pharmaceutical bottles. A fifth camera on top may verify and inspect a lid, such as with ice cream containers, or to provide some other inspection task.
New capabilities have just been introduced to image round containers that may not be round all the way up and down the sides of the container, such as when pinch grips are molded into a bottle.
Additional information on the CircumSpect™ product and its technology is available on the MVC web site, www.machinevc.com.
Tags: bottle inspection, CircumSpect, Container inspection, random orientation, unoriented containers
