Standardizing the product quality control allows to reject defective products and to optimize processes, even in-line.
Eoptis is an Italian company specializing in the design and manufacture of innovative vision systems and optoelectronic instruments for the in-line control of products and monitoring of manufacturing processes. For the last ten years Eoptis has been developing a family of sensors and instruments for color measurement that effectively support machinery manufacturers, allowing them to have full control of production.
The company’s know-how in electronics, optics, mechanics, and analysis algorithms is useful to design products available off-the-shelf or for custom OEM solutions in small series or large quantities. Advanced technologies are integrated with industrial-grade components, to manufacture reliable products with long-term availability and the best price/performance ratio.
Eoptis control and inspection solutions are suitable for various industries, including the food industry. For packaging-line manufacturers, for example, Eoptis developed multi-camera vision systems interfaced to the packaging machine. Consisting of a control unit, three cameras and a lighting system, they are configurable via a touch-screen graphical interface and allow easily update of the range of colours and recognizable character strings.
By automatically controlling the printing of colours and variable characters on a precise area of food packages, for example, wastes can be reduced while increasing productivity and reducing inspection costs. Or it is possible to detect the position of containers on a conveyor belt, interface with pick-and-place systems, and simultaneously check the printed bar code for traceability.
Control through colour
Eoptis offers a non-contact industrial colorimetric measuring instrument that provides accurate and repeatable data on the surface colour of the material in transit. A robust system designed for installation on production lines, SPC-295 is suitable for 24-hour operation in industrial environments. Thanks to the measurement geometry and the very uniform illumination provided by 6 integrated LEDs, colour measurements can be performed on the surface of a wide range of matte and glossy materials.
Measured data can be analysed on-board, to have an immediate pass/fail result that is also made available on the digital I/Os. Data can also be sent to a remote-control unit, for a more accurate analysis, storage (datalogger feature) or for report generation. A standard colour database is encoded in the software provided with the product. But the user can add an application-specific colour database with Eoptis support team. In addition, RISE-traceable factory calibration service and software interface and report template customisation services are available on request.
Among the many advantages of using the industrial spectrophotometer SPC-295 there are: The automation of colorimetric inspection; the standardization of quality control; and the optimization of the production process over spot-check. Possible applications include detection of defective products (damaged containers, deformities), classification and sorting, in-line inspection by colour comparison (powders, liquids, solids).
SPC-295 data
Measurement geometry (45°c:0°) According to CIE15:2004, ASTM E1164; Repeatability 0.03; Dimensions 74×100 mm; Weight 707 g; Enclosure type IP54 according to IEC 60529; Working temperature 0/45°C; Measuring speed 0.2 Hz, maximum speed 1 Hz.
