A glass sheet acquisition and positioning system and associated method are utilized in a glass sheet optical inspection system installed in-line in a glass sheet processing system. The acquisition and positioning system include an exterior support frame and a moveable glass sheet support frame connected to the exterior support frame such that the glass sheet support frame may be selectively positioned from first orientation whereby a glass sheet is removed from a conveyor and retained on the support frame, to a second orientation whereby the glass sheet is positioned for processing by the optical inspection system. The system may also include a glass sheet part identifier and a programmable control including logic for analyzing acquired image data and identifying the glass sheet as one of a set of known part types and thereafter securing and positioning the glass sheet on the glass sheet support frame based upon the part-shape analysis.

A film inspection system includes a film positioner having a film holder configured to hold a printed film having a printed layer on a substrate of the printed film. The film holder is configured to fix a perimeter of the printed film. The film positioner includes a film stretcher positioned relative to the film holder to interface with the printed film. The film stretcher is movable relative to the film holder to stretch the printed film at a stretch area while the perimeter of the printed film is fixed by the film holder. The film inspection system includes a vision system having an imaging device configured to image the printed film at a scan area within the stretch area. The film holder and the imaging device are movable relative to each other to move the scan area along the printed layer to image the printed layer of the printed film.

A system for wear and aging evaluation of a paper-based resource described herein is structured for determining a fitness state of a physical body structure of a paper resource item and for adaptive processing of the paper resource item in accordance with the fitness state. Specifically, the system comprises an item transfer unit configured to receive one or more paper resource items and a scanning device structured to retrieve a fitness state of a paper resource item from a physical state sensing component of the paper resource item. The system is structured to adaptively process the paper resource item based on determining whether (i) a wear level and (ii) an item age level of the paper resource item are associated with either a fit item type or an unfit item type.

A method for inspection of a surface of a sheet moving in a direction, in which the surface is illuminated with first and second light sources, with the first light source emitting light under a first incidence angle range onto a first surface area and the second light source emitting light under a second incidence angle range onto a second surface area of the surface of the sheet. The first and second light sources are operated in pulsed fashion in alternation with a stipulated pulse frequency so that the surface of the sheet is illuminated in alternation with the pulse frequency in the first surface area and the second surface area and the first surface area illuminated by the first light source is observable by an inspector via a mirror in the bright field and the second surface area illuminated by the second light source is observable by the inspector via the mirror in the dark field.

A method for quantitatively measuring internal defects in an as-cast steel product includes optically scanning at least a portion of a surface of the steel product with a scanning device to create a digital image thereof, analyzing the digital image to calculate a quantitative value for an amount of internal defects therein, and normalizing the quantitative value to a rating according to a standardized scale.

This invention discloses a system and method for detecting a cover with an abnormal condition. The system includes a transport track for defining a sliding direction of at least one cover with a detection surface. The transport track has a detection area and a cover removal area, and includes a pair of bottom rails and a pair of side rails. The pair of bottom rails support the cover at an inclination angle so that the cover slides on the pair of bottom rails. The cover is located between the pair of side rails, and the sliding direction of the cover is defined by the pair of side rails. The detection area is used for detecting the detection surface of the cover, and the cover removal area has an outlet for removing a cover with an abnormal condition determined based on a detection result of the detection surface thereof.

An in situ inspection system and method to inspect a honeycomb body (122) skin in a skinning system. The inspection system includes a line illuminator (148) to generate a line illumination on the skin (136) perpendicular to an axial direction (112) of the honeycomb body travel, and a detector (152) to detect the line illumination scattered from the skin (136) and generate a signal based on the detected line illumination. A controller (184) is configured to receive the signal generated by the detector (152), compare the received signal to a previously stored defect free signal in real-time, and control at least one skinning process parameter based on the comparison. The method includes in situ inspecting the skin (136) and controlling at least one skinning process parameter based on the inspection. In the method, the in situ inspection includes illuminating a line of the skin (136) perpendicular to the axial direction (112) and detecting the illuminated line scattered from the skin (136).

A lithium ion-conductive solid electrolyte including a freestanding inorganic vitreous sheet of sulfide-based lithium ion conducting glass is capable of high performance in a lithium metal battery. Such an electrolyte is also manufacturable, and readily adaptable for battery cell and cell component manufacture, in a cost-effective, scalable manner using an automated machine based system, apparatus and methods based on inline spectrophotometry to assess and inspect the quality of such vitreous solid electrolyte sheets and associated components. Suitable manufacturing methods can involve multi-stage thinning of a sulfide glass preform that includes a first thinning operation that involves applying a compressive force onto the preform to form a glass sheet and a second thinning operation that involves applying a tensile force on the as-formed glass sheet (e.g., drawing the sheet by pulling)

A method for coating a surface of a substrate may involve coating the surface of the substrate with a wet coating by way of a coating station, conveying the substrate by way of a conveying device, and detecting the surface coated with the wet coating by producing a thermal image of a detection region that comprises part of the surface. The thermal image may be recorded in a spectral range that includes a wavelength between 1 micrometer and 20 micrometers. Further, the detection region may be located directly downstream of the coating station, or the detection region may at least partially include the coating station.

The invention relates to a pinhole camera comprising a cleaning chamber for maintaining the quality of images taken by the pinhole camera, the pinhole camera comprising a lens having a rectangular cross-section, a cover glass in front of the lens, for preventing the access of washing liquid, air and impurities into the camera. Furthermore, the camera comprises a cleaning chamber formed between the cover glass and the wall comprising the pinhole of the pinhole camera by means of a flange, the flange being provided with an opening from which compressed air and washing liquid can be supplied by a tube into the cleaning chamber, for cleaning the cleaning chamber. The compressed air and the washing liquid are configured to exit the cleaning chamber via the pinhole of the pinhole camera. Furthermore, the invention relates to a web monitoring beam and a system for cleaning the pinhole camera.