Rexam focuses on end results

Labor-saving baggers use 36 machine vision cameras to automate the high-speed inspection of can ends.

The machine visions systems are positioned over the infeed lanes to the can end baggers where they can detect gaps indicative of
The machine visions systems are positioned over the infeed lanes to the can end baggers where they can detect gaps indicative of

Rexam Beverage Cans Americas, the world’s largest can maker, has an eye for details. At its Valparaiso, IN, facility, aluminum can ends for two-piece beverage cans are closely examined at high speed for any defects. While the system can pinpoint defects down to the dust level, plant engineer Thomas Cortes says they are really looking for defects that require an actionable response.

In the past, the inspection had been done manually. Starting last year, inspection is now done by machine vision systems from Omron Electronics. Rexam thoroughly inspects the stay-on-tab ends before they are bagged and palletized for delivery to customers.

Before, Rexam had bagged the finished ends by hand when the ends were also visually inspected for defects and contamination. But the ability of the human eye to judge small defects continuously, and especially at high speeds, is not always reliable.

Starting in mid-2004, Rexam installed 12 new Fleetwood automatic counter baggers/bag palletizers to replace manual final packaging. At a rate of hundreds of ends/min, the units place rows of back-to-back ends into premade paper bags that are later shipped to Rexam’s customers. Coinciding with the automation upgrade, human inspectors were replaced with the electronic vision sensors that are better able to identify defects in a high-speed, 24/7 environment, according to Rexam.

Every automatic bagger/palletizer has multiple infeed lanes, each of which is equipped with its own Omron Electronics F150-3 machine vision controller, an F150KP keypad programmer, and an F150-S1A C camera with 659 x 494 pixel resolution. The unit stores up to 23 images, enabling it to inspect a variety of different product configurations. Each camera is mounted over a can end infeed lane with an RVSI/NER Nerlite® Continuously Diffuse Illuminator also known as a Cloudy Day Illuminator (CDI). The system inspects the edge of the ends as they pass by back-to-back below.

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