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WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 02/2019 (EN)

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WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 02/2019 (EN)

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01 02 03 04 01 The main task of the further processing systems from AB Graphic is to cut the incoming webs and to rewind them onto individual rolls 02 FleyeVision systems can also be adapted for the inspection of films and it can be equipped with UV lighting 03 Among other things, the gaps between lines or dots as well as between web or label edges can be measured with fleyeVision gapControl 04 The assistance given in the development of the fleyeVision systems by Stemmer Imaging and the sales contact there, Georg Schelle (l.), is considered very positive by Ralf Wirtz (r.) Label inspection at the highest level AUTOMATION Systems with an extremely high performance are required in order to inspect labels or other printed web goods and detect faults with 100 % reliability at speeds of up to 350 metres per minute. AB Graphic produces such machines and in doing so uses image processing from Stemmer Imaging. Five label webs run in parallel on the Omega SRI, a further processing machine for labels that Ralf Wirtz is currently preparing for delivery to a customer and on which he is performing the last tests. “The main task of our machine is to cut the incoming strands and to rewind them onto individual rolls, because the further processing companies generally require single-web labels”, says the sales manager of AB Graphic International GmbH. The machine that Wirtz is just finalising is designed for tape widths of 430 mm, but AB Graphic covers widths from 210 to 1 200 mm as standard. The dimensioning of the label rolls is just one of many possible options, however: “Depending on customers requirements we can extend the basic functionality of rewinding the label rolls with the addition of various optional functions”, says Wirtz. A frequently used variant here is the integration of printers, which add sequential batch numbers or individual details to pre-printed labels, for example. AB Graphic also offers its customers Author: Peter Stiefenhöfer, owner for Stemmer Imaging, Germany options for the inspection of labels by adding image processing modules from the fleyeVision family to the systems. Image processing – a very special field These image processing modules are the speciality of the German branch of AB Graphic: within the British group they are also developed and manufactured at the Baesweiler location near Aachen under the designation fleyeVision. “An estimated 80 percent of the label machines manufactured by us here are equipped at the customer’s request with one or even two image processing modules. For machines produced in Great Britain that are ordered with a vision system, we prepare the image processing modules here and send them to our British colleagues for installation and for the finalisation of the machines.” In order to secure the quality of every single label, various features of the labels are checked with the fleyeVision modules in the processing chain. For instance, they detect missing labels, splice points, matrix residues, label damage, ink residues and dirt spots amongst other things. Such faults must be identified 100 % if possible, because in certain cases the label manufacturer may face extremely high demands for compensation if, for example, faulty labels have been affixed to end products and are therefore returned to the manufacturer. It can also be very expensive if production processes, for example in bottling plants, come to a standstill due to faulty labels. In the case of pharmaceutical products the consequences may be even graver, with danger to patients being conceivable. In order to rule out this kind of risk, AB Graphic offers its customers a large number of modular extension options for the fleyeVision system, which allow the inexpensive, tailor-made configuration of 30 WORLD OF INDUSTRIES 2019

inspection systems in accordance with the customer’s requirements. “Regardless of whether the customer wishes to ensure the quality of graphics, texts, barcodes or colours, or to check the correctness of variable data: with fleyeVision we have the right solution for every task – and that means for every material, every language and every typeset font”, Ralf Wirtz stresses. Reliable detection without sensors Since 2004 AB Graphic has placed its trust in Stemmer Imaging as the supplier of the majority of the image processing hardware used in the systems manufactured in Baesweiler. “We have been procuring the majority of our cameras, image capture cards/frame grabbers, lenses, lighting and cables for our systems from this partner for many years and we’ve had nothing but good experiences”, Wirtz reports. “Over the years our requirements have continuously developed and Stemmer Imaging has always recommended suitable components to us.” He describes the cooperation that has now led to over 1000 implemented image processing systems as trusting, reliable and strong. The sensorless detection was developed in close cooperation between the image processing experts at AB Graphic and the Development Department at Stemmer Imaging on the basis of the Visual Applets FPGA development tool from Silicon Software. The solution thereby created processes the images from the line scan cameras that are employed in all systems from AB Graphic that feature image processing functionality. “The requirements for speed, resolution and thus data throughput are very high in label inspection. With line scan cameras we can cover all variants, which we offer our customers as options”, stresses Wirtz. The selection thereby ranges from line scan cameras with a 1k resolution through 2k variants up to models with an 8k resolution in monochrome or colour. Depending on the width of the tape to be inspected, speeds of up to 350 m per minute and the detection of faults down to a size of 0.02 mm² are thus possible. The smallest detectable distance between two lines or the smallest resolvable line width is decisive for the reliable recognition of barcodes. The limit that can currently still be reliably recognised, for example with a web width of 210 mm with 8k line scan cameras, is 0.08 mm. The image processing system is completed by suitable line lighting, which can also be implemented as UV lighting for the inspection of films, as well as the matching lenses and cables, which Ralf Wirtz and his image processing colleagues also procure through Stemmer Imaging. The operating software, which enables the fast automatic or, if necessary, manual setup of new labels and displays the results of the image processing, was developed by AB Graphic itself. Mirror system and two-camera solutions The fleyeVision image processing systems are integrated into compact housings in the systems. Due to the tight installation space, the AB Graphic developers have cleverly extended the optical axis by means of a mirror system in order to achieve the required working distance for the cameras. One further special feature is important to Ralf Wirtz: “Two camera systems can optionally be used in the fleyeVision systems in order either to check the front and rear sides of label tapes or to increase the resolution with large tape widths. Even with such variants, the incoming data from both cameras is captured and processed by a single Silicon Software frame grabber. This illustrates the performance of our solution, which was only possible through the use of high-quality image processing components, the ideal configuration and the joint development by Silicon Software and Stemmer Imaging according to AB Graphic’s specifications.” Photos: 01 + 02 + 03 AB Graphic, 04 Stemmer Imaging www.stemmer-imaging.com We produce fluid power solutions Ready for installation Integrated functions Easy assembly Cost saving Visit us @ Hannover Messe (Hall 23, Booth B17) bauma (Hall A3.403) HIT Hybrid Integrated Tank ® We create the tank system for the FUTURE! ARGO-HYTOS GmbH · Industriestraße 9 · 76703 Kraichtal-Menzingen · Germany · info.de@argo-hytos.com · www.argo-hytos.com