Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 19 2018 | Page 10

Application Report Quality check at high speed thanks to high- performance camera technology Whether sauces, snacks or ready meals have to be filled and packaged, high throughput and quick format changes matter in the packaging systems and food industry – And to the highest standards of quality and hygiene, too. For this purpose, the sensors used have to be able to do one thing above all: meet high demands for power, flexibility and hygiene all at the same time. To do this, the packaging machine experts from SN Maschinenbau have rethought the entire concept of a bag-filling system used at notable companies in the food industry, tackled this subject innovatively and have opted for the smart camera technology from Leuze electronic for verifying codes and expiration dates. THREE TASKS, ONE VISUALIZATION When developing the new FMH 80 forming, filling and sealing machine, the designers from SN Maschinenbau came up with a complete solution for various Reference code check LSIS 462i in the IP67 housing tasks using one single camera system. They scrutinized existing processes and generation of bag packaging machines,” a sales specialist at Leuze electronic for principles and sought new, creative and states Thomas Berger, Head of Electric many years. The products and recipes flexible solutions. The objective was to Development SN Maschinenbau, with programmed in to the machine are make the monitoring of the expiration satisfaction. With the new machine changed directly via the control, without date economical on the one hand, and concept, an open, hygienic machine any manual intervention from staff. “In to identify reference codes on the other. design with reduced component sizes was addition, quality With the latter function even being able to realized, which excludes hidden points and control to check the right contents are changeover automatically when products edges, thus enabling very simple cleaning. actually being filled in the right packaging are changed. A third application using At the same time, increased customer intended for it must be provided every the same camera measures the position requirements in terms of hygiene and time,” adds Fahr. To this end, visualization of the print mark on the packaging with allergy containment were able to be optics are required which will read the the output of an actuation variable [mm] addressed. Every single element – from reference codes and match them at the to a servo drive and adjusts the sealing the safety concept to the visualization – same time. Otherwise, customers could stations of the vertical sealing seams was placed on the test bench and end up getting a carbonara sauce in the in the process. As a result, the pressure re-conceived. package displaying a picture of their fluctuations on the packaging are favorite Bolognese! This is no longer automatically corrected. VISUALIZATION AND CHECKING OF merely something that could cause The