Originally Published EMDM November 2005
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Thermal-Seal Inspection System Uses Infrared Imaging Technology
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| A nondestructive inline system provides 100% inspection of thermal seals in medical and pharmaceutical applications. |
Thermal-seal quality in rapid packaging and production processes can be inspected automatically by means of an infrared imaging technology. The Maxline 2 in-line system instantly inspects seals in a nondestructive manner and produces control outputs without affecting throughput. The device was developed specifically for medical and pharmaceutical applications by Ircon (Amersfoort, Netherlands).
The inspection tool monitors thermal-seal signatures and generates pass/fail results with diagnostic codes. It provides a flexible in-process means for ensuring 100% inspection of seals, even during rapid or continuous production processes.
A patent-pending deblurring feature allows the device to achieve inspection speeds of 700 items per minute. For indexing applications without deblurring, 300 inspections per minute can be performed.
The versatile device can detect a range of defects. For example, it alerts users to hot-seal defects that may be caused by the presence of contaminants in the sealing area or overheated or unevenly heated seal bars. Cold-seal anomalies resulting from underheated seal bars or heaters, or failures caused by weak spots, gaps, or voids, can also be detected. In addition, the system alerts users to misaligned tooling or materials. The software alerts users to the type of error that has been detected, and it can be programmed to automatically relay control signals to process systems and equipment. Built-in networking capabilities allow remote system and data access.
Inspection parameter setup has been designed to adapt to a range of production requirements. The settings can be saved and called up for different production runs. Inspection data are stored for traceability and to satisfy reporting requirements.
Copyright ©2005 European Medical Device Manufacturer
