A METHOD FOR ASSESSING QUALITY OF A TRANSVERSAL SEALING OF A FOOD PACKAGE

A method (400) for assessing quality of a transversal sealing (102) of a paperboard-based food package (100), wherein the food package (100) comprises a longitudinal scaling (104), and is provided with an reference imprint (106) in connection to the transversal sealing (102) is provided. The method (400) comprising, capturing (S402), by a camera (202), image data of the transversal scaling (102), determining (S404), in the image data, a position of the reference imprint (106), determining (S406), in the image data, a position of a reference line (104), determining (S408) quality measurement data of the transversal sealing (102) based on the position of the reference imprint (106) relative to the position of the reference line (104).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to packaging technology. More particularly, it is related to a method for assessing quality of a transversal sealing of a food package.

BACKGROUND ART

Today, within the food industry, an essential part of a food product is the packaging. Apart from branding of the product and presenting the customers with information the package also has an important role of ensuring the food safety. The packaging materials used in the package can be designed to provide strength and stability, so that the packages are not damaged during transportation. Furthermore, the packaging materials can form a protected environment for the food product so that it is protected from for example bacteria, germs, oxygen and sun light. However, the packaging material is not the only thing that is important in the package. The package needs also to be sealed properly. In a roll-fed system this is usually made by forming a longitudinal sealing along an overlap between two ends of the packaging material such that a tube is formed and thereafter forming packages from the tube by making transversal sealings along two ends of the tube.

Ensuring the quality of the transversal sealing of a food package is not an easy task. Today, a common way of doing this is to manually evaluate batches of the food packages after a fixed amount of time. However, to ensure the quality of the food packages in this way takes a substantial amount of time. It is therefore need for an improved method for evaluating the quality of the transversal sealing in food packages.

SUMMARY

It is an object of the invention to at least partly overcome one or more of the above-identified limitations of the prior art. In particular, it is an object to provide improved solutions for assessing quality of a transversal sealing of a food package and an arrangement thereof.

It has been realized that by using a reference imprint, which may be made by an anvil during transversal sealing, analysing image data of the transversal sealing, the transversal sealing can be continuously monitored and actions can be taken at an early stage. This also leads to a more time-efficient process as opposed to today's methods.

According to a first aspect, it is provided a method for assessing quality of a transversal sealing of a paperboard-based food package, wherein the food package comprises a longitudinal sealing, and is provided with an reference imprint in connection to the transversal sealing. The method comprising: capturing, by a camera, image data of the transversal sealing, determining, in the image data, a position of the reference imprint, determining, in the image data, a position of a reference line, determining quality measurement data of the transversal sealing based on the position of the reference imprint relative to the position of the reference line.

The quality measurement data may give information about the quality of the transversal sealing. It may also give information about what makes the transversal sealing good or bad. The quality measurement data may be one or more numerical values that can be used to assess the quality of the transversal sealing. Alternatively, it may be non-numerical values. For instance, it may be a label describing the quality such as “good” or “bad”.

The reference imprint may be interpreted as a mark or a sequence of marks in the packaging material.

The reference imprint and the reference line may be interpreted as identifiable features on the food package of which their positions relative each other are predefined in a food package having a correctly sealed transversal sealing. Thus, any deviations from this, may indicate that the food package is deficient.

The food package may comprise one or more reference lines. The quality measurement data may be determined based on the position of the one or more reference lines relative to each other and/or relative to the reference imprint.

By capturing image data of the transversal sealing and the reference imprint, and determining the quality measurement data from the image data allows for every food package to be continuously assessed without interrupting the production line.

The reference line may be an edge of the longitudinal sealing. A critical part of the transversal sealing is where it intersects with the longitudinal sealing due to the amount of overlapping packaging material layers. Using the edge of the longitudinal sealing as the reference line may thus be advantageous in that this critical part area can be in the focus of the quality assessment. Further, the position of the reference imprint relative to the edge of the longitudinal sealing may give indication of if the packaging material was twisted during the transversal sealing process. Even further, the edge of the longitudinal sealing can be easy to determine in the image data because of the difference in packaging material thickness.

The reference imprint may comprise a sequence of valleys and ridges in the packaging material. Alternatively, the reference imprint may comprise a single dot in the packaging material. An advantage of having a sequence of marks, such as a sequence of valleys and ridges, may be that the imprint as a whole is more easily determined in the image data when there are multiple marks. The quality of the marks may differ, so by having multiple marks, the most distinctive mark in the image data can be identified to determine the position of the reference imprint. Further, having the reference imprint as physical marks may be an advantage compared to having it printed in that it can more easily be determined in the image data.

The ridges and valleys may extend parallel to the reference line. An advantage of this may be that a distance between the reference line and the reference imprint can in this way easily be determined.

The reference imprint may comprise at least three valleys. The reference imprint may extend 6 to 10 mm along the transversal sealing.

The reference imprint may extend over the longitudinal sealing. An advantage of having the reference imprint extend over the longitudinal sealing may be that the extra pressure applied in the transversal sealing to create the imprint also adds to an improved sealing of the critical area where the longitudinal sealing intersects the transversal sealing.

The step of capturing the image data may comprise the sub-step of illuminating the transversal sealing by a light source along an illumination axis, wherein the illumination axis forms an angle of 40 to 90 degrees to the optical axis of the camera.

An advantage of illuminating the transversal sealing at an angle is that the three dimensional features of the reference imprint and/or reference line can be enhanced in the image data due to shadows caused by the light.

The transversal sealing may be illuminated by infrared light. An advantage of using infrared light is that the presence of irrelevant features in the image data, such as the decor of the food package, can be reduced.

The transversal sealing may be on a top of the food package or on a bottom of the food package.

Determining the quality measurement data may comprise determining a distance between the reference line and a pre-determined section of the reference imprint. The predetermined section may for instance be the one of the valleys in a case where the reference imprint comprises a sequence of valleys and ridges. The predetermined section may be chosen as the most distinctive valley in a reference imprint comprising a sequence of valleys and peaks.

The method may further comprise transmitting the quality measurement data to a packaging machine and adjusting settings of the packaging machine based on the quality measurement data.

Adjusting the settings of the packaging machine based on the quality assessment is advantageous in that the packaging machine can quickly adjust if it starts to produce deficient packages so that the waste of food packages is reduced.

The packaging machine may discard food packages based on the quality measurement data.

According to a second aspect, an arrangement for assessing quality of a transversal sealing of a food package is provided. The food package comprising a longitudinal sealing, and provided with an reference imprint in connection to the transversal sealing.

The arrangement comprises a camera configured to capture image data of the transversal sealing, an image processing device configured to: determine, in the image data, a position of the reference imprint, determine, in the image data, a position of a reference line, and determine quality measurement data of the transversal sealing based on the position of the reference imprint relative to the position of the reference line.

The arrangement may further comprise, a light source configured to illuminate the transversal sealing along an illumination axis at an angle from an optical axis of the camera.

The light source may emit infrared light. The angle may be 40 to 90 degrees.

According to a third aspect, it is provided a system comprising a packaging machine configured to produce the food package, and the arrangement according to the second aspect.

The arrangement may be further configured to transmit the quality measurement data to the packaging machine. The packaging machine may be further configured to: receive the quality measurement data, and adjust settings based on the quality measurement data.

According to a fourth aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon program code portions for implementing the method according to the first aspect when executed on a device having processing capabilities is provided.

Still other objectives, features, aspects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description as well as from the drawings. The same features and advantages described with respect to one aspect are applicable to the other aspects unless explicitly stated otherwise.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG.1aillustrates a food package100by way of example. The food package100may be made of paperboard-based packaging material. Even though not illustrated, the packaging material may in addition to a paper-board layer, sometimes also referred to as carton layer, comprise plastic layers to protect print provided on the paperboard layer and also to avoid direct contact between a food product contained in the food package and the paperboard layer. The food package100can be produced by a roll fed packaging machine. The food package100comprises a longitudinal sealing108and a transversal sealing102. More specifically, the food package100can comprise two transversal sealings, one at a top of the food package, and one at a bottom of the food package. The longitudinal sealing108may be created by the packaging machine to form a tube of the packaging material. The tube of packaging material may then be filled with the food product. The filled tube may then be sealed at two ends by the transversal sealing, thus forming the sealed food package100. The longitudinal sealing108runs along the food package100from the bottom to top transversal sealing.

FIG.1billustrates the food package100ofFIG.1afrom a top view. The transversal sealing102is formed by pressing two sides of packaging material together. The food package100is provided with a reference imprint106in connection to the transversal sealing102. The reference imprint106may be created by using an anvil with protrusions when creating the transversal sealing in the packaging machine. Such an anvil is further presented in connection toFIG.3.

The food package100further comprises a reference line104. The reference line104may be used to determine the quality measurement data. The reference line104may be an edge of the longitudinal sealing108as herein illustrated. Alternatively, the reference line104may be a printed line coincident with an edge of the food package100. Further, more than one reference line may be used in combination for determining the quality measurement data, e.g. the edge of the longitudinal sealing as well as the printed line.

The longitudinal sealing108is created by sealing together two ends of packaging material. InFIG.1b, the reference line104corresponds to the edge of the longitudinal sealing108, i.e. the end of the packaging material which overlaps the other end of the packaging material on the outside of the longitudinal sealing108. The dashed line which is parallel to the reference line104represents the end of the packaging material which overlaps on the inside of the food package100. Thus, the area between the reference line104and the dashed line parallel to it represents the longitudinal sealing108in this example.

Similarly, the dashed line parallel to the transversal sealing102represents the point where overlapping material of the transversal sealing102ends. The transversal sealing102may cover a part of this section as illustrated inFIG.1b, or it may cover the whole section.

The reference imprint106may comprise a sequence of valleys, herein illustrated as black sections, and ridges, herein referring to the section between the valleys. In other words, the reference imprint106may comprise physical marks in the packaging material. The reference imprint106may for instance comprise 6 to 10 valleys. The reference imprint106may extend 6 to 10 mm along the transversal sealing102. The ridges and valleys can extend in parallel to the reference line104. Having the paperboard-based packaging material allows for that imprints in the food package100can be made. For instance, packaging materials only comprising a plastic layer would not in the same way allow for imprints to be formed. Put differently, it has been realized that by using properties given by the packaging material, improved quality control can be achieved.

Alternatively, the reference imprint106can comprise a single mark. The single mark may be a valley or just a dot.

The reference imprint106may extend over the longitudinal sealing108as herein illustrated.

Alternatives to the reference line104presented inFIG.1bis illustratesFIG.1candFIG.1d. More specifically,FIG.1cillustrates an example where the reference line104is provided on the food package100by being printed on the food package100instead of being the edge of the longitudinal sealing108. In this example, the reference line104may be printed anywhere on the food package100where it can be captured in the same image data as the reference imprint106. InFIG.1d, it is illustrated having more than one reference line, in this non-limiting example two reference lines. The two reference lines104may be provided at two different ends of the transversal sealing102. As an example, they may be provided such that the two reference lines104align when the transversal sealing102has been sealed correctly, and mis-align when for instance twisting has occurred during the sealing process.

As an additional example, the food package100may comprise a straw hole110as illustrated inFIG.1a-d.The straw hole100may be used as the reference line104. Thus, quality measurement data can be determined by determining the position of the reference imprint106relative the straw hole110.

FIG.2illustrates a system200for assessing quality of a transversal sealing102of a food package100. The food package100may be the food package100as described in connection toFIG.1a-d.The system200comprises a packaging machine212. The packaging machine212can be configured to produce the food package100. The packaging machine212can for instance be a roll fed packaging machine.

The system200further comprises an arrangement210for assessing quality of the transversal sealing102of the food package100. The arrangement210comprises a camera202configured to capture image data214of the transversal sealing102. The arrangement210further comprises an image processing device206. The image processing device206may be provided as a separate device from the camera202as illustrated herein. In such a case, the image processing device206and the camera202may be configured to communicate with each other. Alternatively, the image processing device206can be provided as part of the camera202.

The image processing device206can be configured to determine, in the image data, a position of the reference imprint106. The image processing device206may further be configured to determine, in the image data, a position of the reference line104. Determining the positions of the reference imprint106and the reference line104may be done by using computer vision methods, for instance edge detection.

The image processing device may further be configured to determine quality measurement data216of the transversal sealing102. The quality measurement data216may be based on the position of the reference imprint106relative to the position of the reference line104. Based on the position of the reference imprint106relative the reference line104, it may be possible to for instance detect if the packaging material was twisted during the sealing process.

The arrangement210may further comprise a light source204configured to illuminate the transversal sealing102. The light source204may be arranged to illuminate the transversal sealing102along an illumination axis B at an angle C from an optical axis A of the camera202. The angle C may be between 40 and 90 degrees. The illumination may serve the purpose of enhancing three-dimensional features of the reference imprint106and the reference line104, for instance by creating shadows. The light source204may emit infrared light which can make it possible to filter out or reduce the presence of printed décor on the food package100so that the reference imprint and the reference line is more easily determined.

The food packages that are to be assessed can be continuously fed to the arrangement210, for instance on a conveyor208as illustrated herein.

The arrangement210may be further configured to transmit the quality measurement data216to the packaging machine212. The packaging machine212may be further configured to receive the quality measurement data216. Based on the received quality measurement data the packaging machine212may be configured to adjust its settings. For instance, if the arrangement210communicates to the packaging machine212that the food packages100produced has deficient transversal sealings102, the packaging machine212can adjust the settings of the transversal sealing process to correct any errors. Alternatively, the arrangement210can communicate which, if any, of the food packages100are deficient, so that the packaging machine212can discard those food packages.

InFIG.2, the arrangement210is provided after the packaging machine212. It is to be noted that the arrangement210may be provided inside the packaging machine212. The arrangement210can for instance be installed in a pre-existing packaging machine or processing line. In another example, the arrangement210may be used in a system separated from the packaging machine that has produced the food packages. In such a system, finished food packages can be continuously fed to the arrangement210to determined which, if any, of the food packages that needs to be discarded due to deficient transversal sealings.

FIG.3aandFIG.3billustrates, by way of example, two different anvils that may be used in the transversal sealing process to generate the transversal sealing as well as the reference imprint. The anvil300may have a first surface302. The packaging material can be pressed against the first surface302to create the transversal sealing. Further, the anvil300may have a second surface304,306. The second surface304,306can create the reference imprint in the packaging material.

The second surface304,306may be a number of rectangularly shaped protrusions as illustrated inFIG.3a. Alternatively, the second surface304,306may be a single protrusion as illustrated inFIG.3bhaving for instance a circular shape. It is noted that the shape, scale and number of protrusions are merely examples for illustrative purposes, and should be regarded as non-limiting examples.

FIG.4is a flow chart illustrating the steps of a method400for assessing quality of a transversal sealing of a paperboard-based food package. Wherein the food package comprises a longitudinal sealing, and is provided with a reference imprint in connection to the transversal sealing.

In a first step S402, image data of the transversal sealing may be captured by a camera.

In a second step S404, a position of the reference imprint may be determined in the image data.

In a third step S406, a position of a reference line may be determined in the image data.

In a fourth step S408, quality measurement data of the transversal sealing may be determined. This may comprise determining the distance between the reference line and a pre-determined section of the reference imprint.

Optionally, the first step S402may comprise the sub-step S410of illuminating the transversal sealing by a light source.

Optionally, in a fifth step S412, the quality measurement data may be transmitted to a packaging machine.

Optionally, in a sixth step S414, settings of the packaging machine may be adjusted based on the quality measurement data.

Even though described in a certain order, the different steps may also be performed in other orders as well as multiple times.

From the description above follows that, although various embodiments of the invention have been described and shown, the invention is not restricted thereto, but may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject-matter defined in the following claims.

Various aspects of the present invention may be appreciated from the following enumerated example embodiments (EEEs):

EEE1. A method for assessing quality of a transversal sealing102of a paperboard-based sample food package100, wherein the sample food package100comprises a longitudinal sealing104and is provided with a reference imprint106in connection to the transversal sealing102, the method comprising

capturing, by a camera202, sample image data depicting at least the transversal sealing102and the reference imprint106,

extracting features from the sample image data, wherein the features are spatial and/or spectral features of the image data,

transmitting the features to a decision engine, and

receiving a response from the decision engine, wherein the response is a positive response indicating that the food package is within quality standard, or a negative response indicating that the food package is outside the quality standard.

The wording “quality standard” may be a broadly agreed industry standard, but it may also be a set of requirements used only for one or a few of packaging machines. If using an artificial intelligence(Al) decision engine, the quality standard may be set by the Al decision engine when this is trained.

The extracting step may be made in the camera202if this is provided with processing capabilities for such extraction. It may also be made on a server housing the decision engine, that is, the image data can be transmitted from the camera to the server and once received the features are extracted and transmitted to the decision engine. A further alternative is to have several servers, one for extracting the features and one for housing the decision engine.

EEE2. The method according to EEE1, wherein the decision engine is an artificial intelligence (Al) decision engine.

EEE3. The method according to EEE1 or EEE2, wherein the decision engine comprises a graph-based database.

EEE4. The method according to any one of EEE1 to EEE3, wherein a reference line104is provided on the sample package100and depicted in the sample image data.

EEE5. The method according to EEE4, wherein the reference line104is an edge of the longitudinal sealing.

EEE6. The method according to any one of EEE1 to EEE5, wherein the reference imprint106comprises a sequence of valleys and ridges in a packaging material of the food package100.

EEE7. The method according to EEE6, wherein the ridges and valleys extends parallel to the reference line104.

EEE8. The method according to any of EEE6 or EEE7, wherein the reference imprint106comprises at least three valleys.

EEE9. The method according to any one of EEE1 to EEE8, wherein the reference imprint extends over the longitudinal sealing.

EEE10. The method according to any of EEE1 to EEE9, wherein the step of capturing the image data comprises the sub-step of illuminating the transversal sealing by a light source204along an illumination axis B, wherein the illumination axis B forms an angle C of 40 to 90 degrees to the optical axis A of the camera202.

EEE11. The method according to EEE10, wherein the transversal sealing102is illuminated by infrared light.

EEE12. The method according to any one of EEE1 to EEE11, wherein the transversal sealing102is on a top of the food package100or on a bottom of the food package100.

EEE13. A method for training a decision engine for assessing quality of a transversal sealing102of a paperboard-based sample food package100, said method comprising

providing a first data set of image data depicting a first plurality of training food packages100deemed to be within a quality standard,

providing a second data set of image data depicting a second plurality of training food packages100deemed to be outside the quality standard,

forming a set of rules for assessing sample image data depicting the sample food package, thereby providing for that the decision engine is configured to indicate whether the sample food package is within or outside the quality standard.