A process for continuous welding of a sheet of plastic material for manufacturing flexible packages, comprising a step of positioning the sheet relative to the welding device, putting ends of the sheet into contact, forming a weld by heating, pressing and cooling the ends of the sheet that are in contact, acquiring a primary temporal signal with a sensor, the primary temporal signal proportional to a thickness of the weld, transforming the primary temporal signal into a primary frequency signal and defining a low-frequency spectrum, a medium-frequency spectrum, and a high-frequency spectrum from the primary frequency signal, reconstructing a secondary low-frequency signal from the low-frequency spectrum, and determining the thickness of the weld based on the secondary low-frequency signal.

An apparatus for the implementation of a process for the continuous manufacturing of steel strips for packaging coated with a passivation layer is provided. An apparatus contains a transfer roller; a coating roller contacting the transfer roller, a surface of the coating roller having a plurality of hexagonally shaped cells with a line count being from 50 to 200 lines per centimeter and a volume being from 5.Math.10.sup.−6 to 10.Math.10.sup.−6 m.sup.3 per square meter of the coating roller surface; and a tank containing an aqueous passivation solution, the tank providing the aqueous passivation solution to the coating roller.

A method of detecting defects or deterioration in the sidewalls of can bodies during production of the can bodies within a can bodymaker. Each can body is formed by pushing a cup, mounted on a punch of a reciprocating ram, through one or more dies contained within a tool pack of the bodymaker. The method comprises: obtaining output signals from one or more eddy current sensors arranged around the ram axis outside of the tool pack and adjacent to an exit end of the tool pack; processing the output signals to detect passage of open ends of can body sidewalls past the sensor(s) and thereby determine measures of the heights or thicknesses of can body sidewalls; and analysing the determined measures to identify can body sidewall defects or deterioration.

Provided is a sheet thickness measurement device capable of increasing measurement density and measurement accuracy over the entirety of a sheet to be measured. Based of a difference between a sheet thickness signal at a position of a backup roll where the sheet exists, and a sheet thickness signal at a position of the backup roll where the sheet does not exist, the sheet thickness signals from the plurality of sheet thickness sensors are zero-adjusted in association with the position of the surface of the backup roll. Based on an output signal from a magnetic sensor in a state in which the sheet is not present on the backup roll, the sheet thickness signals from the plurality of sheet thickness sensors in a state in which the sheet is present on the backup roll are corrected in association with the position of the surface of the backup roll. This enables high-density and accurate sheet thickness measurement.

A device and method for nondestructively inspecting, measuring, and/or detecting metallic. The device may enable multiple synthetic apertures for measurements simultaneously. The device includes a transmitter coil array and a receiver coil array wound around a core. The receiver coil array includes multiple receiver coil sections built with gaps in between adjacent sections to form multiple associated apertures. An analog electrical network is coupled to the multiple receiver coil sections to enable multiple combined synthetic apertures to be operated together for the transducer to conduct measurements simultaneously to provide multiple outputs associated to the multiple synthetic apertures. Measurement signals can be combined to build a processed signal that can represent more accurate information from the target.

A device and method for nondestructively inspecting, measuring, and/or detecting metallic. The device may enable multiple synthetic apertures for measurements simultaneously. The device includes a transmitter coil array and a receiver coil array wound around a core. The receiver coil array includes multiple receiver coil sections built with gaps in between adjacent sections to form multiple associated apertures. An analog electrical network is coupled to the multiple receiver coil sections to enable multiple combined synthetic apertures to be operated together for the transducer to conduct measurements simultaneously to provide multiple outputs associated to the multiple synthetic apertures. Measurement signals can be combined to build a processed signal that can represent more accurate information from the target.

A method for determining a present thickness of a work item while being processed in a rolling mill, the method including: acquiring a data signal reflecting a time dependence of an eddy current decay in the work item caused by an applied pulsed magnetic field, determining a thickness parameter value based on the acquired signal, the thickness parameter value being determined from samples in the data signal, the thickness parameter value being dependent on a ratio between a thickness of the work item and a resistivity of the work item, computing a ratio between a reference thickness value of the work item and the thickness parameter value to thereby provide an instantaneous resistivity value, determining a mean resistivity value based on the instantaneous resistivity value, and providing an output signal based on the mean resistivity of the work item and the thickness parameter value, the output signal being indicative of the determined present thickness of the work item.

A process for continuous welding of a sheet of plastic material for manufacturing flexible packages, comprising a step of positioning the sheet relative to the welding device, putting ends of the sheet into contact, forming a weld by heating, pressing and cooling the ends of the sheet that are in contact, acquiring a primary temporal signal with a sensor, the primary temporal signal proportional to a thickness of the weld, transforming the primary temporal signal into a primary frequency signal and defining a low-frequency spectrum, a medium-frequency spectrum, and a high-frequency spectrum from the primary frequency signal, reconstructing a secondary low-frequency signal from the low-frequency spectrum, and determining the thickness of the weld based on the secondary low-frequency signal.

An accurate and stable displacement sensor that reads through coated metal substrates achieves better than one micron accuracy includes: an electromagnetic coil positioned in a first enclosure; (ii) means for generating a magnetic field from the electromagnetic coil; (iii) a second enclosure which is spaced apart from the first enclosure, wherein the second enclosure includes dual magnetic sensors, such as fluxgate sensors, that are configured to measure the magnetic field; and (iv) means for calculating the separation between the operative surfaces of the enclosures from magnetic field measurements. A permanent magnet can be used instead of the electromagnetic coil and associated driving energy source. A precise displacement measurement is given by a mathematical function (such as the ratio or difference) of the two magnetic sensors demodulated signals. The displacement sensor can be mounted on a maneuverable C-frame to monitor the caliper of anodes and cathodes produced for lithium ion batteries.

An apparatus for chemical mechanical polishing includes a platen having a surface to support a polishing pad and an electromagnetic induction monitoring system to generate a magnetic field to monitor a substrate being polished by the polishing pad. The electromagnetic induction monitoring system includes a core positioned at least partially in the platen and a coil wound around a portion of the core. The core includes a back portion and a multiplicity of posts extending from the back portion in a first direction normal to the surface of the platen. The core and coil are configured such that the multiplicity of posts include a first plurality of posts to provide a first magnetic polarity and a second plurality of posts to provide an opposite second magnetic polarity, and the first plurality of posts and the second plurality of posts are arranged in an alternating pattern.