empty bottle inspection

Abstract

The invention relates to an inspection device (1) for monitoring bottles (2) or similar containers, comprising at least one light emitting unit (6) and at least one camera (7), wherein said at least one light emitting unit (6) is arranged in a above the bottle (2). In order to also be able to detect bottles (2) of different colors and to also be able to reliably detect, for example, rust (4), according to the invention, the lighting unit (6) is designed as a light source circuit board (6), in which the light source (8 ) emits at least light whose color can be changed to the color of the bottle, and the color of the bottle is determined in the area of ​​the bottle mouth (3), wherein the light sources (8) are arranged as radially spaced light source rings (9), each relative to the light source circuit board ( 6) is concentric at the center, and the emitted light is at least partially introduced into the interior of the mouth of the bottle. Using LEDs, light modulated in color at least according to the color of the bottle is advantageously introduced into the inner wall of the bottle mouth (3).

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to an inspection device for monitoring bottles or similar containers, comprising at least one lighting unit and at least one camera, wherein the at least one lighting unit is arranged above the bottle to be tested. Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a method for inspecting an empty bottle, particularly a method for inspecting the mouth of a bottle using the inspection device. Background technique [0002] Such bottles or similar containers can be used for liquids, such as beverages. Such containers can be made from transparent or translucent materials, such as glass, or translucent plastics, such as PET. In particular, the glass bottles can have different colours, mentioned only as examples, such as brown and green, but also a blue bottle color. When the bottles or similar containers are empty, preferably after they have been cleaned, they are guided by the conveyor device through the inspection device. It is kn...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0003] As a rule, the light-emitting units emit light of the same spectrum and therefore of the same color, which is why the inspection device cannot always obtain reliable inspection results for bottles designed in different colors

Thus, despite the presence of deposited rust, it is possible for a bottle to pass through the inspection unit as a "good" bottle and the downstream rejection unit, even though the bottle in question should actually be separated due to the presence of contamination

If such bottles were to enter a later production process, this would result in unhelpful downtime, since the filled product would be undesirable from a hygienic point of view due to possible exposure to these contaminants.

If such a bottle reaches the consumer, the producer of the product or the manufacturer of the system may further suffer serious losses

Images