Reading laser-marked lot codes on cylindrical cells
The cylindrical cell enters the station on a roller bed; while the rollers rotate it, a side camera images the lot code on the curved metal surface under diffuse light. Characters in the unwrapped surface image are compared with the work order; a cell with the wrong code is removed by a pusher.
The read code is written to the cell traceability record; the PLC operates the reject pusher for a code that differs from the work order or cannot be read.
- 01 Positioning
- 02 Acquire
- 03 Analyse
- 04 Decide
The cell is carried to the inspection position on the roller bed.
- Read characters
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- Differing characters
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Scenes are illustrative simulations; they are not customer references or performance guarantees.
Need
Laser marks have low contrast on a curved metal surface; glare can obscure character strokes. The cell arrives at a random rotation angle: the code may sit outside the field of view, on the far side.
Solution approach
As the cell rotates on two rollers, a side camera captures successive images under diffuse light. Characters are read in the unwrapped surface image and compared with the work-order lot string; unreadable or differing strings are recorded as rejects.
Process steps
- 01
Positioning
The cell is carried to the inspection position on the roller bed.
- 02
Acquire
The rollers rotate the cell; the side camera captures successive images.
- 03
Analyse
Characters are read on the unwrapped surface and matched to the work order.
- 04
Decide
The cell with the wrong lot code is pushed into the reject channel.
Related applications
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