Case Studies
Member Since 2014
Founded as Machine Vision Company (MVC) in 2002 and headquartered just outside Boston MA and with offices in Austin TX, VAIA Technologies is a full service machine vision, automation and robotics systems integrator providing turnkey vision solutions, custom machine builds, vision consulting in support of manufacturing and OEMs across a wide range of industries. The company was rebranded and renamed to VAIA Technologies in 2017 to better reflect our full range of offerings and capabilities: Vision, Automation, Integration, Analytics. Differentiated by an extensive in-house software development and engineering expertise, VAIAs systems have been successfully deployed nationwide and internationally to over 300 clients including many Fortune 500 clients. VAIA specializes in conceptualizing, designing installing and maintaining solutions that address most difficult of issues. Our engineers are highly skilled at identifying and deploying the correct technology for each project. As well as being a leading US based Cognex Partner System Integrator (PSI), we also have years of experience integrating technology from Keyence, Halcon, Allen Bradley, Fanuc, Opto Engineering and others.
Content Filed Under:
Industry:
Containers (glass and plastic
Containers (glass, plastic, metal)
, Food & Beverage
, Packaging
, and Plastics
Application:
In Process Verification
, Material Removal / Cutting / Deburring / Grinding / Non-Visible Inspection
, and Quality Assurance
In Process Verification
, Material Removal / Cutting / Deburring / Grinding / Non-Visible Inspection
, Quality Assurance
, and Visual Inspection & Testing
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Inspection of Foil Lids and Seals on Fruit and Juice Cups
POSTED 09/26/2017
| By: Joe Gugliotti
Problem Statement
Using statistical sampling inspection is not enough to determine whether a cup is likely to become a “leaker”, whereby it contains small channels within the foil lid such that air can get in (spoiling the product) or applesauce can get out, causing a mess and returned product. If a customer detects leakers, an entire shipment may be returned for additional inspection or replacement.
In addition, an off-center lid may become a leaker if the edge of the lid is not fully sealed and, of course, holes in the foil lid will cause both spoilage and leakage.
Finally, it was too easy to apply the wrong lid, in that the machines are loaded by hand, and similar-looking lid graphics were causing issues with shipping the wrong lids to the wrong customer.
VAIA Integrated Solution
This integrated system provides Foil Lid Inspection on applesauce cups to determine:
1. Whether the foil lid seal area has any bubbles, folds, or “channels” such that the containers may become leakers or seal problem may lead to product spoilage.
2. Whether there are pinholes in the foil lid and whether the foil lid is properly centered on the cup
3. Whether the expected lid is being used, key for contract packaging
Technologies Integrated:
- Designed, fabricated, and integrated in-house
- Based on VAIA’s SurePro application environment
- High speed multi-camera inspection solution
- Lighting optimized for each inspection task
- Integrated air blow-off rejecter
- A custom singulator to ensure proper cup spacing as they moved through the system
- Wash-down construction
- Improved reporting and failed cup image storage
Benefits
Using this foil lid inspection system, the client can detect, address, and resolve upstream lid-application problems quickly, before hundreds of defective cups are produced. By ejecting potential problem cups, distributor and customer satisfaction are improved.