Chobani Inc, had a major recall last September involving moldy yogurt. This must have been a very time consuming and expensive problem for all parties involved, not including the damage to their brand.
Industrial Control has developed a new system to detect “leakers” or dents in cups during the printing stage. The “ThermoChecker” inspection system uses a 3D vision camera to monitor the surface for small defects which can affect the seal, resulting in spoiled product.
A large yogurt manufacturer discovered our solution and encouraged their supplier base to implement the ThermoChecker on their printing lines. Since last fall, 11 systems are installed at 5 production facilities between 3 different customers in the USA and Canada.
Our ThermoChecker inspects the surface of 600 cups per minute, every 3 degrees, within 30 milliseconds. That’s almost 120 inspections per cup and 800,000 cups per day on each machine.
The ThermoChecker is installed just past the curing light in the print machine and is not affected by the intense light. Our high speed PLC and Computer instruct your existing machine and reject station when to reject bad cups.
Here is our 3D vision system called the GoCator from LMI, Inc. in the print station. The very bright curing system light does not affect our camera.
Shown below is the view from the 3D camera
measuring the radius of the rim for defects.
View high-speed video below...
The turn-key ThermoChecker system benefits…
· Reduce your risk of RECALL’s and protect your company and customers.
· Save money with fully automatic inspection of every cup, no costly manual inspectors.
· See exactly how your machine is running and reduce setup time.
· Calibrate your machine faster with real data from our system.
· Shift counts for rejects onscreen or emailed / texted to your phone.
· Reduced regrind cost.
· Industry Experience and Remote Internet support from Industrial Control
The ThermoChecker comes complete with a control panel, touchscreen computer, mounts, stacklight, and a high-speed plc. Internet support appliance for support is standard. Turn-key ThermoChecker kit is $24,995. We have trained technicians ready to help with mounting, setup, and training anywhere in the world.
Developed by our sales engineer, Nate Hinkle, we have the experience to help you succeed.
Industrial Control is a minority owned factory automation distributor in West Michigan for 40 years serving customers with high-end technology for quality control.
For more information call Larry Hildenbrand at 616-931-1314 or Larry@IndustrialControl.com
