Automation specialist Sick has developed the Glare sensor to achieve almost 100% effective glossy material detection and discrimination for a wide range of food production and packaging processes.
Developed initially with European pharmaceutical and medical device packaging manufacturers to meet tougher anti-tampering and counterfeit regulations, the Glare sensor now delivers reliable and robust detection for any packaging application, and using high-gloss or transparent materials, or tamper-evident seals. Food and beverage packers can reliably detect tapes, seals and foils for tamper-proof packaging and high-gloss label quality inspection as well as for detecting dryness of products like chocolate and gel coatings.
Primarily designed to detect and discriminate between gloss levels on flat surfaces, the SICK Glare is able to cope with ±5o misalignment and variation, adding to its effectiveness – a function which other gloss sensors cannot match, the company said.
David Hannaby, product manager for Sick for presence detection, added: “The innovative detection concept of Glare turns a weakness of most sensors into a strong function for packaging production lines. Instead of sensors being dazzled by glare, it uses glare to do the sensing to achieve a highly-reliable process for detecting and assessing the gloss properties of shiny materials.
“When detecting transparent tamper-proof seals, for example, Glare distinguishes reliably between the reflection from the label and the scattered, diffuse reflections from the rougher surface of the packaging material.
“It can easily be configured to discriminate between different degrees of gloss to obtain precisely the required results.”
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