Within the increasingly automated beverage production, the requirements for absolute speed as well as reproducible detection regarding a high degree of selectivity of good and bad parts are important for the overall process optimization.

As an example, in exceptional cases, the risk of a poorly placed crown cap, which has a negative impact on the products shelf life, has to result in a sorting of the affected bottle. Up until now Oppacher Mineralquellen GmbH & Co KG has manually optically controlled this process, which, with a throughput of up to 14.000 bottles per hour, presented a great challenge.

Now the crown caps are monitored via a camera system and sorted via the Zander PLC SPEEDY ZX4T in cooperation with the project developer VOR-Solutions

The camera takes a photo of the crown cap and compares the image with a taught-in default. If the photographed crown cap is placed inaccurately, the respective bottle is tracked up to a pusher via a product tracking and removed there. The product tracking is realized with the Zander ZX4T micro PLC. No other manufacturer is able to map such a complex process in the required speed with a small control system PLC. Due to its cycle-free functioning, all signals, that are necessary for the product tracking, can be displayed in real time.

The ZX4T is a cycle-free, cost-effective, high-speed solution; thereby it was possible to save an external analysis unit.

This ensures that all badly sealed bottles are withdrawn correctly.

The entire system was designed and installed by VOR-Solutions.

Further information or application examples for our high-speed controllers from the SPEEDY series can be found here.