Micro-Epsilon has released an inline thermal imaging system for the early detection of defects and quality fluctuations in injection moulded parts.
The moldCONTROL system is particularly well-suited to large, complex, multi-layered, or transparent moulded parts, and can be easily retrofitted to existing injection moulding machines.
With modern injection moulding machines, the injection-moulded component is removed by a robot or other handling system and transferred to a conveyor system or transport container.
Automatic removal, particularly of high-value, high specification moulded parts, involves making a ‘good/bad’ quality decision on the part, in order to avoid further problems downstream.
By looking at the temperature of the parts as they leave the injection mould, the moldCONTROL infrared thermal imaging system is able to detect any defective areas of the component or fluctuations in temperature that may indicate a quality issue.
Weaknesses or thinning in a part can also be identified, which can be used to modify the mould tool design to improve the process.
In order to evaluate moulded parts, the handling system or robot presents the newly injected part to the moldCONTROL thermal imaging camera while an infrared image is taken.
This recorded image is synchronised with the handling system so the images are taken automatically after the corresponding measuring position has been reached.
Chris Jones, Managing Director at Micro-Epsilon, said: “Up to now, injection moulding companies have relied on vision cameras or other shape detection systems to inspect the geometrical shape of moulded parts, but these are relatively expensive compared to moldCONTROL and do not tell you anything about the quality of the mould, only if the geometry is correct.”
Jones continued: “With moldCONTROL, the thermal imager measures the temperature distribution of the moulded part immediately after it is injection moulded. From this, the user can see whether that part is the correct geometry and thickness. MoldCONTROL records the defects, providing the operator with a photo image of the defect and a thermal map. Due to the high resolution and temperature of the thermal imager, combined with the bespoke evaluation software, moldCONTROL is a unique inline inspection system for quality, production, automation, and process control environments, particularly where continuous improvements are critical to the injection moulding process.”
Jones concluded: “If you are moulding transparent parts, vision cameras can find inspection of these parts very difficult. When measuring the temperature distribution, as moldCONTROL does, transparent parts are no problem whatsoever. Optimised production processes require an effective quality control system. Defects in injection moulded parts that are recognised late can result in high failure costs, reduced productivity, and wastage. MoldCONTROL is a high precision inline inspection system that provides 100 per cent quality control of every moulded part produced.”