A preform optical inspection system includes a plurality of carrier units, each mounted on a respective lane conveyor for receiving preforms from an injection molding device and an optical inspection unit. The optical inspection unit is able to transverse movement across the lane conveyors and the carrier units are able to pass though the optical inspection unit.

Systems and methods are provided for determining a thickness of a material or an article of manufacture thereof such as a wall thickness of a plastic container or plastic bottle during manufacturing. In some embodiments, for example, a measurement system can include a light source disposed adjacent to a production line for plastic bottles. The light source can be configured to transmit light of a known frequency through the plastic bottles. A camera can be disposed opposite the light source. The camera can be configured to receive the light transmitted through the plastic bottles. An optional trigger, when present, can be configured to coordinate timing of the camera and the light source. A computer can be configured to determine wall thicknesses for the plastic bottles by an experimentally determined correlation between the light received by the camera and a known absorbance spectrum of the material forming the plastic bottles.

The invention relates to devices and to methods for transporting preforms in the region of a blow-molding machine, in particular a sorting device (10) for transporting preforms (20) composed of a thermoplastic material in the region of a blow-molding machine for the blow-molding of containers, comprising a transportation wheel (12), which has a plurality of accommodating recesses (18) for accommodating and conveying the preforms (20), which accommodating recesses are arranged on the circumference of the transportation wheel in such a way that the accommodating recesses are distributed in the circumferential direction, a guide collar (16), which extends circumferentially around the transportation wheel (12) in some regions in such a way that the guide collar is radially spaced apart from the transportation wheel, wherein the preforms (20) are transported in suspension between the transportation wheel (12) and the guide collar (16) in the region of the sorting device (10), and a selection unit for selectively removing a respective individual preform (20) transported in one of the accommodating recesses (18) of the transportation wheel (12), wherein the selection unit comprises a pivotable ejecting star (14) with a plurality of ejecting arms (31), which ejecting star, when in the idle position, reaches into the peripheral region of the transportation wheel (12) by means of a first ejecting arm (31) immediately adjacent to the guide collar (16) in the transportation direction of the preforms (20), in such a way that the preforms (20) in the accommodating recesses (18) that are transported past the first ejecting arm (31) are secured against unintentionally falling out, wherein the ejecting star (14), in the event of a rotational motion, pushes an individual preform (20), which is marked for removal, out of one of the accommodating recesses (18) of the transportation wheel (12) by means of a second ejecting arm (32) following after the first ejecting arm (31), and wherein, in a recurring manner after the preform (20) marked for removal has been pushed out, the second ejecting arm (31) takes on the securing of the preforms (20) transported past the second ejecting arm against falling out of the accommodating recesses (18).

To provide a means that is less likely to misidentify a crack as a foreign matter during an image inspection in which a vibration is applied to a powder contained in a bag-like container. A foreign matter inspection system includes a vibration device configured to apply a vibration to a container, a photography device configured to optically photograph the inside of the container through a transparent area, and a determination device configured to determine whether a foreign matter is present inside the container based on an image of the container photographed by the photography device. The vibration device alternately applies weak vibrations W and strong vibrations S to the container, and the determination device determines whether the foreign matter is present inside the container based on the image of the container photographed by the photography device when the vibration device applies the weak vibrations W.

A test apparatus checks containers (13) of plastic and produced using the blow-moulding, filling and sealing methods. The containers are filled with fluid that can contain particulate contamination deposited on the container wall when the container (13) is still and floating freely in the fluid when the container (13) is moving and/or changing position owing to the movement. The contamination can be detected by a sensor (37). By a vibration device (23), the container (13) can be oscillated at a prespecifiable excitation frequency such that the particulate contamination (47) in the fluid can be detected.

A product-inspection apparatus includes a rotation unit configured to, when a direction of gravity is defined as a downward direction, rotate an object to be inspected up and down, the object to be inspected being an object in which a gas and a fluid are hermetically contained in a container, a light source configured to successively apply light to the object to be inspected from different directions, the light being adapted to pass through the object to be inspected, an imaging unit configured to take images of the object to be inspected according to light-application timings at which the light source successively applies the light to the object to be inspected, and a determination unit configured to determine whether or not the object to be inspected is a quality product based on image information taken by the imaging unit.

A method for evaluating plastic preforms, wherein said plastic preforms are intended to be heated by a heating device and then expanded by a forming device by application of a flowable medium to form plastic containers, wherein the plastic preforms extending in a longitudinal direction and having several portions in the longitudinal direction, wherein the several portions having at least one threaded portion, a main body portion and a bottom portion, wherein at least the main body portion and the bottom portion being inspected, wherein values characteristic of a material quality of the plastic preforms are output, wherein the values being assigned to different portions and/or at least one property of the container to be produced being taken into account in the evaluation of the characteristic values.

A device and method tests preforms that are rotationally symmetrical with respect to an axis of rotation during their conveyance along a conveyance path. The device and method tests only a statistically relevant number of produced preforms, thus allowing substantial reduction in the constructive complexity required for aligning the preforms prior to being tested. A certain number of preforms that have not been correctly aligned are allowed to continue along the conveyance path without being tested.

An article-inspection apparatus includes a light source for directing light energy with multiple wavelengths at the article and multiple sensors to receive light reflected from external and internal surfaces of the wall of the article, with the reflections being used to compute a physical characteristic, e.g., wall thickness, of the container, due to the light absorption characteristics of the material of the wall of the article. A single light sensitive sensor may be used if the light source wavelengths can be selectively transmitted. The apparatus can be used for inspecting transparent plastic containers that are filled (with a liquid) or unfilled. The apparatus may determine the wall thickness of transparent plastic containers even if they have in-molded features or decorations that make their inner and outer walls non-parallel.

A method for measuring a concentration of a gas in a container having a wall with at least one deformable portion, the gas absorbing electromagnetic radiation at least in a specific spectral range, wherein the method includes the steps of biasing deformable portion and a further portion of wall opposite deformable portion between opposite positioning surfaces, thereby forming a biased volume of the container between the opposite positioning surfaces, during a measuring time, transmitting electromagnetic radiation into biased volume and receiving transmitted or reflected radiation of transmitted radiation from biased volume along respective radiation paths, relatively moving, during measuring time, at least one of deformable portion and of further portion and at least one of radiation paths, and determining concentration of said gas from the radiation received.