Product category:
Machine vision systems and accessories
News Release from: Cognex UK | Subject: In-Sight 5401 camera at Feige Filling
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 May 2008
Vision system automates toxic filling
Cognex vision system enables a robot to locate different container stoppers for filling with dangerous and/or toxic fluids even when they arrive in various positions on the pallet.
Feige Filling, in Germany, supplies machines for filling different containers In 2006, Feige developed a robotic filling system equipped with Cognex vision
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 1 Jul 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Equipped with the In-Sight 5401 camera plus PatMax, the 'RobotFiller' robot, with a four or six-jointed arm, locates the different container stoppers for filling even when they arrive in various positions on the pallet.
* Vision tools aid finding and filling - the RobotFiller's most important function is to locate the stoppers with screw closures on the drums.
As the stoppers are arranged off-centre at the edge of the drum lid, they are in different position on every pallet.
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Cognex PatMax technology makes In-Sight especially fast and reliable.
Using pattern-matching technology it reads and recognises an enormous variety of patterns.
Once the stopper is located, the filling process starts.
The first step is for the RobotFiller to pick up a tool to remove the screw closures of the drums and put them down on a tray.
It then changes tools and grips the filling valve to suit the filling job.
This is the innovational step for the future of automatic filling of large containers on pallets, said Cognex to manufacturingtalk.
Without human intervention, RobotFiller can switch different filling valves and tools for further processing fully automatically, considerably accelerating the filling process.
* Staff protection - the RobotFiller protects staff when critical substances are being handled, as the complete filling area can now be enclosed and fitted with fume extraction equipment.
Following precisely calibrated filling, the jointed-arm robot switches tools again to pick up the stoppers and close the containers ready for removal.
* Safety in traceability - code-reading properties mean that the In-Sight 5401 can detect every container.
The information is passed on to a safety system further up the chain and ensures that the right containers for filling are located on the pallet.
This plausibility check means that the In-Sight 5401 increases process safety and helps save costs, as the incorrect assignment of filling material to container is eliminated.
For engineer Axel Frank, Automation Technology manager at Feige Filling, the benefits of the In-Sight 5401 with the jointed-arm robot are obvious.
Attached directly to the end of the robot arm and supported by eight LEDs arranged in a circle, the intelligent camera system ensures optimum working.
Frank said that he no longer requires any additional evaluation electronics with an industry PC.
He also valued the clear assignment of interfaces, which makes it much easier for users to familiarize themselves with the system.
Cognex claimed that real-time image detection means that the RobotFiller is currently the most flexible filling system in the world.
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