Empty Cans Inspection

Finish and flanged egde inspection
Detecting deformations and safeguarding sealabilty: full line efficiency and packaging integrity when filling cans.

Misshapen, distorted and dented: empty cans with shape deviations in the neck area or indentations in the flanged edge jeopardise the efficiency and productivity of the filling process as well as the tightness and integrity of the full container. For example the lid will not fit on the can if the upper opening of the empty can is oval instead of round. The result: blockages in the closer which can lead to downtimes which slow down the productivity of complete can lines. And defects such as interrupted, dented flanged edges can endanger the tightness of the finished primary packaging material and thus the microbial purity of the beverage inside even if the sealing process was possible.

Therefore the non-contact top-down inspection of beverage cans even before filling with just one in-house developed sensor colour camera not only carries out a highly precise ovality detection in the smallest of spaces but also identifies other deformations and defects all around the container opening. Thus the empty cans in question are removed before they can cause closer problems or result in leaking full containers.

Inner wall and base inspection
Identiyfying dents, contamination and foreign objects: empty can inspection for full product safety.

Top performance due to depth of field: the innovative colour sensor camera which is automatically adjustable in height for the top-down inspection of empty cans not only has an integrated image converter and adaptive lighting with individually controllable LEDs for optimum visibility but also such a depth of field that even dented or highly contaminated inner walls as well as soiling and foreign objects on the base of the can become clearly visible – in combination with the HEUFT reflexx² real-time image processing system with learning ability.

The optimised optical inspection thus covers all the safety-relevant areas of each individual empty can from top to bottom with only one single image at a time. Connected to the powerful, highly automated HEUFT SPECTRUM II control unit with audiovisual HEUFT NaVi user guidance it also carries out a comprehensive empty can inspection along high-speed lines in the tightest of spaces for safe end products which are safe to consume.

Fault rejection
Preventing recalls: the reliable rejection of faulty containers.

Fast, careful and accurate: highest precision when detecting faults is only effective if the products in question are also removed afterwards. The single-segment and multi-segment rejection systems of the HEUFT rejector series deal with this both precisely and carefully.

Product monitoring and self-tests
Playing it safe: exact product tracking and regular self-tests.

Always knowing the current location of a particular product: each one is tracked precisely for this. This ensures that none remain uninspected.

The integrated reject verification checks that each product identified as faulty is really removed. Standard test programs guarantee a regular examination of the detection performance. Network-based continuous documenting and long-term archiving of the results.

Easy brand changes
Adapting automatically: self-acting and assisted format changes.

Brand and format changes are the order of the day along canning lines. The higher-level HEUFT SPECTRUM II platform on which the HEUFT canLine II is based already has an unprecedented level of automation and support for the user in order to carry them out quickly, easily and without errors: the height of the intelligent colour sensor camera is adapted to the new container format just as automatically as the passage width of the guide rails in the inspection area. The HEUFT NaVi provides the user with audiovisual step-by-step assistance in the course of this which makes brand changes simply easy. The innovative adaptive LED lighting which is directly integrated in the sensor camera also adjusts completely automatically to the changed brand regardless whether standard beverage cans, sleek or slim cans in a wide variety of colours: the individually controllable LEDs automatically provide exactly the right illumination without shadows or reflections for all the areas to be examined for every type of empty can. All the brand adjustments are permanently stored in the system and can be reproduced at any time.