A method of characterizing a serum and plasma portion of a specimen in regions occluded by one or more labels. The characterization method may be used to provide input to an HILN (H, I, and/or L, or N) detection method. The characterization method includes capturing one or more images of a labeled specimen container including a serum or plasma portion from multiple viewpoints, processing the one or more images to provide segmentation data including identification of a label-containing region, determining a closest label match of the label-containing region to a reference label configuration selected from a reference label configuration database, and generating a combined representation based on the segmentation information and the closest label match. Using the combined representation allows for compensation of the light blocking effects of the label-containing region. Quality check modules and testing apparatus and adapted to carry out the method are described, as are other aspects.

An apparatus for inspecting containers includes a rotation device which is adapted to rotate the container about the axis of symmetry; a camera sensitive to said predetermined electromagnetic radiation and with the container located in the field of view thereof; a processing unit to control the rotation device to move the container at a first angular speed constant for a first time period; acquiring at least a first and a second series of images of a portion of the container in a rotation thereof through 360′; to identify defective areas having at least one characteristic different from the characteristics of adjacent areas, generating first and second maps of the defective areas; to compare the position of the defective areas of the maps; to establish that first impurities are present in the container or in the liquid contained in the container.

Methods and apparatus of inspection tools for inspecting impurities in vials are provided herein. In some embodiments, an inspection tool for inspecting impurities in vials includes: a table for inspecting a plurality of vials; one or more carts configured to move about the table to place the one or more carts in an inspection position, wherein each of the one or more carts includes a vial holder configured to hold a plurality of vials, and wherein each vial holder is configured to spin the plurality of vials on their own respective axes; and a camera configured to take images of the plurality of vials when the plurality of vials are disposed in the inspection position.

A container inspection system is described herein. The container inspection system includes a camera and a computing system, wherein the camera is configured to capture multiple images of a transparent container as the transparent container is transported along a conveyor. Thus, the camera captures several images of the transparent container when the transparent container is at different positions relative to the camera. The container inspection system detects a defect in the transparent container based upon one or more images in the several images.

Method for the optical inspection of containers, where the containers are transported with a conveyor as a container mass flow, where the containers are each captured with an optical inspection unit as first image data, and where the first image data is evaluated with an image processing unit for contamination and/or defects on the respective container, where the first image data of several containers is overlaid to form an overlay image, and where the overlay image is evaluated for the presence of points of contamination in a beam path of the optical inspection unit.

Method for optically inspecting containers, where the containers are transported to an inspection unit with an illumination unit and with a camera, where light emitted from a planar light-emitting surface of the illumination unit is transmitted or reflected via said containers, where the camera records in at least one camera image at least one of the respective containers and the light transmitted or reflected via them, where the light emitted from the light-emitting surface is locally encoded on the basis of a wavelength property and is recorded by the camera in such a way that different emission locations of the light-emitting surface can be distinguished from one another in the at least one camera image, and that the image processing unit evaluates the at least one camera image for location information of the emission locations, in order to distinguish the defects from the foreign objects.

A station for detecting glass disease-type defects in a segment of containers includes: a non-deformable support on which the projectors and the imagers are mounted by a complete connection so as to fix beam directions of the projectors and the optical axes of the imagers; several sets of projectors each include at least six projectors whose beam direction is tangent to a cylinder with a diameter included in a determined range of diameters; an electronic system configured to inspect the containers falling within all of the ranges of diameters, such that during inspection of the containers whose segment diameter to be inspected is included in the range of diameters of a set, the electronic system ensures acquisition of at least six images of each container when it passes through the inspection area by selectively activating the at least six imagers simultaneously with the associated projectors of said set.

The invention relates to an installation for observing or illuminating a container (2) section (t) travelling in translation and each having an axis of revolution (S), the installation including optical systems (6.sub.1) translationally guided along a parallel direction an adjustment portion of their respective optical paths, and which have, for containers having a section with a first diameter, their respective work volumes each coincident with a part of said container section having the first diameter, the installation including at least one driving device (15) providing, when the containers have a section with a second diameter different to the first diameter, the movement in synchronous translation of the optical systems along a direction parallel to the adjustment portion of their respective optical paths and as a function of the difference between the first and the second diameter.

A method for optically inspecting containers in a drinks processing system, wherein the containers are transported as a container mass flow using a transporter and captured as camera images by an inspection unit arranged in the drinks processing system, and wherein the camera images are inspected for faults by a first evaluation unit using a conventional image processing method, wherein the camera images with faulty containers are classified as fault images and the faults are correspondingly assigned to the fault images as fault markings, wherein the camera images with containers considered to be good quality are classified as fault-free images, the fault images, the fault markings and the fault-free images are compiled as a specific training data set, and wherein, using the specific training data set, a second evaluation unit is trained in situ with an image processing method working on the basis of artificial intelligence.

To provide a means that is less likely to misidentify a crack as a foreign substance during an image checking in which a vibration is applied to a powder contained in a bag-like container. A foreign substance checking 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 region from the outside, and a determination device configured to determine whether a foreign substance is present inside the container based on an image of the container photographed by the photography device. The vibration device includes a rotating shaft and a hammer rotating in conjunction with the rotating shaft and colliding with the container. A portion of an outer surface of the hammer to abut on the container has a flat surface.