Epstein
Associates - K9APE®
K9APE® Machine Vision Inspection Systems
for
Test Tubes & Other Glass Products
K9APE® Machine
Vision Inspection Systems are readily adapted for inspection of precision parts
with 360° convex surfaces - such as glass test tubes and other glass products.
Inspection can occur during or after the manufacturing process.
The images shown below are from glass test
tubes used in automated chemistry systems. The test tubes measure 3 inches (76
mm.) tall by 15/32 inch (12 mm) in diameter. The orifice of each test tube
comprises a bead that is approximately 1 mm high and 1 mm wide.
CLICK ON IMAGES BELOW FOR EXPANDED VIEWS
[Images May Take A Few Minutes To Download]
Perspective
View of Test Tube Orifice Showing Orifice Bead
The orifices of the test tubes are designed
to engage seals in automated chemistry systems. Leaks cannot be tolerated. Therefore,
the sidewall of the orifice must be a near-perfect circular cylinder and the
top of the orifice must lie in a flat plane. Further, the bead must have
a near-constant cross-section around the orifice's perimeter.
High-resolution 360° images of the surfaces
of test tube orifice beads were captured with our K9APE®
Machine Vision Inspection System. A highly compressed, composite image of three
typical test tubes is shown below. Small defects that could readily escape
notice by human inspectors were readily detected on uncompressed images.
360°
Top Views and Side Views of Three Glass Test Tubes
CLICK ON IMAGES ABOVE FOR EXPANDED VIEWS
The previous image is a composite that
contains three 360° combination Top View and Side View image
sets for orifice beads for each of three test tubes. Within each set, the Top
View is the upper image and the Side View is the lower
image.
- Test Tube No. 1 is an acceptable unit. Note that the Top View and Side
View images are straight and uniform.
- Test Tube No. 2 is a marginal unit. The Top View image has a slight
upward bow at the right side, which is caused by the top surface of the
orifice bead not being flat.
- Test Tube No. 3 is reject unit. Both the Top View and Side
View images show a crimp in the orifice bead at the left side. The
right side of the Top View image has a slight upward bow
because the top surface of the orifice bead is not flat. The Side
View image has a slight downward bow at the right side, which is
caused by a non-circular portion of the sidewall.
Because the 360° composite image shown here is
highly compressed for INTERNET viewing, much of the fine detail of the original
images cannot be seen here. For example, longitudinal striations in the
sidewalls caused by extrusion of the stock material are readily imaged and
measured - as are small cracks, pits and bubbles.
Statistical analyses of imaging data can be
used to generate signals for control of production machinery. Data are
generated in formats for S-PLUS® 2000 Professional Statistical
Analysis Software, spreadsheet
programs and other software.
These images were captured with an EPIX®
PIXCI® Model D Imaging Board.
EPIX® XCAP™ Imaging Software was used for image formatting. The original files
have been JPEG-compressed for display here.
Manufacturing defects are readily detected
and measured by our K9APE® Machine Vision Inspection Systems. Images
better than JPEG-compressed quality can be obtained by our systems during
manufacture.
Epstein Associates - K9APE®
P.O.B. 400
+1
630 564 9292 - Voice & VM
Please
Use E-Mail - Facsimile
(-6 Hours GMT in Central Standard Time Zone)
(20 Miles North of
Sheldon
L. Epstein
Chief Engineer & Owner