Hyperspectral seal inspection and AI enable end-of-line automation for packaging of snack trays
Important for salty snacks is to preserve the crispiness , so seal integrity is critical . Defective packages lead to internal and external quality problems and high sorting and possible callbackcosts , which need to be avoided . That ’ s why Austrian producer Kelly integrated HyperScope ® systems into two new production lines , for 100 % in-line seal inspection of the single- and multi-compartment trays with transparent as well as printed films .
As the salted product is crispy , crumbles might get stuck in the sealing area . The top film of the packages is often printed , so eventual contamination cannot be “ seen ” by a human eye or standard vision inspection systems . Also , at a high production rate , manual inspection is simply not feasible . To automate their end-of-line packaging , Kelly was looking for a solution that was : 1 ) capable of detecting contamination through printed top film ; 2 ) usable for multi-trays ; 3 ) capable of handling
34 FDPP - www . fdpp . co . uk high production speeds and ; 4 ) automatically rejecting faulty packages . Enters HyperScope ® , Engilico ’ s new solution for hyperspectral-based seal inspection of rigid trays and thermoforms .
Seeing more with hyperspectral imaging and AI
HyperScope ® uses hyperspectral imaging to detect seal contamination with high contrast , even with printed film . The inspection system features GPU-accelerated artificial intelligence ( AI ), which enables real-time , high-precision seal area detection , regardless of the package orientation , packaging material , layout and size . Hyperspectral cameras capture information from a larger part of the electromagnetic spectrum including infrared wavelengths that penetrate through thin plastic or paper top films . The system can inspect up to 160 packages per minute , a speed that is well aligned with most food production lines . Since contamination only needs to be detected in the sealing area , it is important to detect this region with high accuracy . HyperScope ® relies on artificial intelligence for this task : the sealing area is automatically determined , regardless of package orientation , degree of deformation and number of tray compartments . “ We are very pleased with the HyperScope ® systems that are particularly suited for our multicompartment packages with printed top film .”, concludes Mr . Stoessl , IWS Manager Kelly .
More info : www . engilico . com
HyperScope ® seal analysis compared with rejected package