Antares Vision Group presents an innovative system capable of checking the presence of foreign bodies by the inspection ability of X-ray inside a gravity flow of raw materials, such as rice, coffee, legumes, and cereals. The new Bulk X-Ray system is ideal for the inspection of the raw product entering the factory, immediately after the product cleaning phase.

AN EXTREMELY INNOVATIVE SYSTEM

Until now there was a tendency to intervene in the bulk products sector with X-ray belt systems, thus changing the natural flow of the product and incurring product handling problems. Or with vertical metal detectors, thus limiting the detection to metal contaminants.

Years of research and study of the market have allowed Antares Vision Group to develop the XR Bulk model: a system with small dimensions, which fits perfectly into the vertical line of the plant and which guarantees total containment of the product thanks to its piping design, inside which the product in gravitational fall is inspected.

A system capable of responding successfully to all the problems associated with these production lines (from high speed to large quantities of product and different types of contaminants) in an innovative and unique way on the market.

WHY AN X-RAY CHECK ON THE RAW MATERIAL IS NECESSARY

Despite the controls that manufacturers may require of their suppliers, there is no tangible guarantee of the absence of contaminants in the product flow that is about to start the process phase. An accurate inspection of the raw material in this step has several advantages, mainly related to these aspects:

• Completeness of inspection: optical sorters are able to detect only visual defects, thus ignoring non-visible contaminants
• Consumer safety: a piece of glass, for example, could fragment into pieces so small that they cannot be detected downstream
• Plant safety: particularly hard contaminants can seriously damage equipment
• Savings and sustainability: identifying contaminants before packaging reduces the amount of product that must be discarded, conserves packaging materials, and helps reduce electricity consumption.

COUNTLESS ADVANTAGES FOR MANUFACTURERS

First and foremost, The XR Bulk system is capable of efficiently handling large quantities of product crossing the production line at very high speeds, avoiding line shut down situations due to product accumulation or residues. This was made possible thanks to the internal development of the sensor and image processing electronics, in addition to a machine design capable of reducing the control section.

Secondly, it has been developed in order to comply with hygienic design standards, eliminating the accumulation of dust and product residues and making maintenance and cleaning easier. Particular care was given to allow almost instantaneous format changes, simply by operating the HMI of the instrument through the product change menu.

The system automatically adapts to receive a different product in terms of capacity, section, shape, density. Another advantage is the reduction in overall dimensions, which enables to install the solution in line even in case of limited space.