In order for customers in the consumer market to be sure that attractive and safe packaging also contains high-quality products at the PoS, the manufacturer must subject the packaged goods to quality control before shipment. X-ray inspection systems such as the BASELINE I 100 are useful tools that detect both foreign bodies in the packaging as well as missing or damaged products.

Optimised for the food industry
The MULTIVAC BASELINE I 100 works with a durable diode array whose resolution of 0.4 mm ensures high detection accuracy and can detect even the smallest foreign body in packaging. These are displayed on a 15-inch colour touch screen, which also serves as the machine control. In the standard version, the machine stores the parameters of up to 100 products; extension of this is possible. The programs of the extensive software package can not only make foreign bodies visible but also evaluate metering, completeness and fill level control.

Thanks to its design optimised for hygiene, the compact and affordable entry-level model BASELINE I 100 is also suitable for use in the food
industry and can be integrated into existing production lines. Bevelled surfaces and the cantilever design make cleaning easier, and the stain-less steel design meets the requirements of protection class IP65. Since the radiation values are very low, the tested foods are not subject to mandatory labelling. All X-ray inspection systems of MULTIVAC Marking & Inspection fulfil the requirements of national and international stand-ards for food quality, such as HACCP, IFS or BRC.

X-ray inspection: versatile and safe
The use of X-ray inspection systems allows for full control of the pack-aged products, because the X-rays detect a wide variety of materials. When they encounter a foreign body when inspecting the packaging, their intensity and thus the image that appears on the display is changed. If the beam hits a foreign body which has a higher density than the package contents, it can be seen as a dark spot on the image. This is for instance the case when there is metal, glass, bone, stone, ceramic or dense plastics in the food material. On the other hand, air inclusions, cracks or voids are visible as bright areas on the display. Consequently, the X-ray inspection can also be used to determine if individual pieces are damaged in packaging, whether products are missing or if the fill level is correct.

Advantages over quality control with metal detectors
In contrast, a metal detector only reacts to the presence of a metallic foreign body in packaging, allowing no conclusions to be drawn regard-ing location. The X-ray image shows the existing voids or inclusions di-rectly on the display, allowing them to be quickly removed. In addition, X-ray inspection systems – unlike metal detectors – are unaffected by vi-bration, temperature and humidity changes, or by the salt and acid con-tent of a product. As the biggest advantage, however, their independ-ence from electric and magnetic fields must be recognised. First, this makes it possible to also detect non-metallic and organic materials; sec-ond, one can examine the contents of packaging containing metallic par-ticles.

 

Source:http://www.packagingeurope.com/

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