Avoiding Product Liability Claims

Avoiding poor quality perishable goods is a priority for consumers and suppliers alike. Machine vision systems can identify defective products and help prevent unfortunate consequences.

Machine vision detects vacuum pack leaks
A defective yogurt pot is certainly unappetizing, but a stomach upset can give rise to compensation claims, have a long-term impact on consumer behavior, attract the attention of the public health authorities and even expose the supplier to substantial consequential damages. 

Such problems with products and packaging do not always occur in transit. Problems are just as likely to arise during production or packaging. For this reason total quality monitoring and recording systems are becoming more and more commonplace in these areas. Hygiene is not the only issue. Dirty or damaged packaging can put off consumers, create a negative product image and impair the quality of the contents.

In many sectors of industry, the deployment of image processing systems has become an essential part of production processes and material flow. High-performance vision systems have also become established in food processing and packaging operations. Among the many applications of such control systems are pack and vacuum testing - label, marking and barcode monitoring - as well as quantity and cleanliness inspections.

Strong partnership
For many years CLK, a limited-liability company located in Münster, West Germany, has been specializing in image processing and quality control systems for production monitoring. The core component of these systems is image evaluation software customized according to the specific application and user interface needs of each customer. As their Chief Applications Engineer, Matthias Biefang explains: ‘‘We serve our clients as a development partner, from the initial feasibility study to final installation.’‘ 

The company's skills extend well beyond the design of the image processing systems. It covers the implementation of solutions to cover all aspects of the customer's manufacturing process. This work includes the selection of suitable hardware components, such as lights, cameras and lenses, but also interacts with the machine builder, who takes care of the feed and part presentation devices. This collaboration is critical to the plant's subsequent smooth operation. Finally, the whole system has to be integrated in the existing production process to avoid costly disruption to individual machines and lines.

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CLK benefits enormously from its strategic alliance with Cognex by providing access to the industry’s most robust machine vision software and a powerful product family that spans the full range from easy-to-use In-Sight vision sensors through high-performance PC-based systems. As the world leader in machine vision, with the largest number of installations, Cognex can draw on a wealth of know-how and experience accumulated in a wide range of industrial applications.

Securely packed sandwiches
Cryovac of Hamburg, a division of the Sealed Air Corporation, is the worldwide leader in the manufacture of packaging systems for easily perishable foods. It has kept ahead of the game by developing, together with CLK, a system to verify that vacuum-packed sandwiches are tightly sealed.

The design goal was to automate visual inspection of vacuum packs to provide the equivalent of a touchless, 100%, in-line leak test. It was also important that the solution should be easy to integrate into existing packaging lines. The system that was developed consists of specially developed software, a high-resolution monochrome camera with an advanced optical system and special lighting units.

Immediately after packing, the sandwiches pass in front of the camera at a rate of 60 packs a minute. Each image is analyzed and compared with the previously defined standard reference values. If the result is flagged as ‘‘Not OK’‘, the defect sandwich pack is automatically isolated. A panel PC with touch screen provides clear and user-friendly operation of the VakuCheck system. This configuration puts an end to laborious and subjective manual monitoring, increases quality and reduces packaging costs.

The simple user interface and configuration of the imaging software result in a flexible solution that can be adapted quickly to changes in the production process and the introduction of new sandwich products. This flexibility is essential to allow CLK's vision systems to be deployed in wide range of application areas in the food industry and at every stage of the production cycle. Defective products are detected during production and removed from the production line before any subsequent processing stages. Consumers can now be spared the irritation caused by fries with dark spots, displaced cream toppings on deep-frozen gateaux and broken chocolate bars.

Article submitted by:
John Lewis, Cognex Corporation
Phone: (508) 650-3140