Inline inspection of profiles made of plastics or rubber: New surface inspection module has a handle on complex user requirements specifications
At „K 2013“, Pixargus will be presenting its new „Defect Density Management“ solution for the surface inspection of profiles made of plastics or rubber. With this system, it is possible to combine the evaluation of surface defect types and count over a defined length of the product. Profile manufactures will be able to fulfill even highly complex requirements specifications set up by their customers, while minimizing the out-of-spec rate.
The new Defect Density Management (DDM) module makes it a lot easier for profile manufacturers to produce exactly to customer specifications. They will from now on also ship products which in the past would have been graded as „out-of-spec“ because of a subjective evaluation based on vague criteria.
The module belongs to the family of Pixargus ProfilControl Surface (PCS) systems, which inspect the surface condition of profiles in an inline procedure.
Optical inline inspection systems have reached a high standard in detecting and classifying surface defects on profiles. However, the contextual evaluation of defects, which includes logical operations between defect criteria, has so far remained in the grey area.
In numerous specifications, especially those set up by automotive producers, the „ship or block“ decision depends on OR-operations. A customer may reject a profile, for example, if over a specified length of the product there is one severe defect or one medium defect plus several small defects.
Human inspectors would be unable to cope with such logical operations while doing visual inline inspections of the product. They would be able to base their decisions but on subjective impressions. The Defect Density Management solution, however, weights every single surface defect and sums up the obtained values over a certain length of the product. The inspection system sends out a signal as soon as the value exceeds a defined threshold. The signal can be used to mark out-of-spec sections of the profiles or control downstream cutting and sorting equipment. This relieves the human inspector from the monotonous task of visual checks and painstaking sorting of the profiles into good or bad.
The direct feedback of ProfilControl 6 data into the process makes it possible to correct the production process without delay, ensuring that defects do not continue along the profile.
Pixargus at „K 2013“ in Düsseldorf (October 16 -23, 2013): hall 11 / stand E14
About Pixargus
Pixargus develops and manufactures systems for optical inline measurement and inspection of plastic and rubber profiles. Established in 1999 as a spin-off of the Institute of Plastics Processing (Institut für Kunststoffverarbeitung IKV) of the Technical University RWTH of Aachen/Germany, Pixargus has specialized in optical quality control of extruded products made of plastics and rubber.
Pixargus systems inspect sealing profiles – for example, for the automotive industry – and tubing, catheters, cables or window seals as well as raw material (compounds) made of thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) and rubber. Additionally, Pixargus offers systems for the inspection of – textured, woven or non-woven – web material.
Worldwide almost all major manufacturers of automotive rubber and TPE profiles use Pixargus systems for surface inspection and profile measurements. The underlying image processing technology is also the basis for the recent foundation of the company GoalControl GmbH and for the soccer goal-line technology of the same name, which proved successful during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.
Based in Würselen near Aachen/Germany, Pixargus GmbH is active worldwide through its US branch and various international technical agencies.
Kontakt
Pixargus GmbH
Dirk Broichhausen
Monnetstraße 2
D-52146 Würselen / Germany
+49.2405.47908-0
info@pixargus.de
http://www.pixargus.de
Pressekontakt:
VIP-Kommunikation
Regina Reinhardt
Suesterfeldstraße 83
52072 Aachen / Germany
+49.241.89468-24
reinhardt@vip-kommunikation.de
http://www.vip-kommunikation.de
