Abstract:
Apparatus and methods for in-line testing of the internal pressure of flexible containers traveling along a production line at high speeds. The apparatus inspects semi-rigid plastic and thin-walled liquid filled containers by analyzing the output from a load cell that indirectly measures the reaction force applied to a container through the intermediary of a load cell roller that, in turn, supports a flexible belt that directly contacts containers while moving them through an inspection station without interrupting the flow of the production line. Containers are contacted only by a flexible portion of a conveyor belt to minimize structural and aesthetic damage to them that might otherwise occur during the inspection process.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/445,058 filed Feb. 5, 2003 in the names of Robert A. Chevalier, Jr., et al. with the title INDIRECT CONTACT CONTAINER MEASUREMENT, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    In general, this invention relates to apparatus and methods for testing flexible containers traveling at high speed on a production line. More specifically, the invention relates to apparatus and methods for testing the internal pressure, fluid tightness and/or seal integrity of containers by indirect contact and especially, but not exclusively, is intended for use in testing flexible walled containers made of plastic and/or thin-walled metals.  
           [0003]    In many industries, it is important to test for internal pressure, fluid tightness and/or seal integrity. In the beverage industry, for example, it is essential to assure that containers in which beverage products reside are completely sealed to assure that their contents are in good condition, free from molds, bacteria and other pathogenic organisms so that they will be safe when used by consumers. The pharmaceutical industry similarly requires that containers for medications, especially solutions intended for injection or intravenous administration, be protected from contamination or serious danger to public health may result. Similar considerations apply to the food industry, as well, where food products are delivered in sealed, flexible-walled containers.  
           [0004]    In the beverage industry, it is also common practice to place metered doses of carbon dioxide or liquid nitrogen in containers immediately prior to or contemporaneous with their sealing to increase their internal pressure as an means of enhancing their stiffness, thereby reducing material costs while still providing filled containers possessing acceptably robust structural integrity so that they can withstand the rigors of handling, packing, and shipment.  
           [0005]    Because fluid tightness and seal integrity of containers is not readily ascertained by visual inspection, various attempts have been made to provide apparatus for testing for these properties. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,732 describes a “squeezing apparatus” for testing the fluid tightness and/or seal integrity of plastic bottles, such as those in which laundry detergents are commonly sold. This apparatus creates a pressure within the bottle by squeezing it by means of a pneumatic cylinder. It monitors the position of the piston of this cylinder. If the bottle does not leak, the piston stops as soon as the pressure in the bottle increases enough to balance the force of the piston. After equilibrium, continued pressure caused by the squeezing diminishes as pressurized gas within the bottle leaks by being forced through a leak hole, and thus the piston of the pneumatic cylinder moves further than in the case of a non-leaking bottle.  
           [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,767,392 to William David Belcher, et al. issued on Jun. 16, 1998 describes a method and apparatus for leak testing a closed container by applying a compressive force to the container, releasing the compressive force, and measuring the recovery of the container a predetermined time after the compressive force is released. The recovery is correlated with the presence or absence of leaks. The Belcher, et al. patent appears to suffer from the inability to cope with variations in container temperature and physical properties of the container and its contents.  
           [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,932 to Masayuki Masuda, et al. issued on Jan. 31, 1989 describes an apparatus for determining internal pressure of a filled can by measuring the reaction force from the can as it is passed between back up and measurement rollers, at least one of which is crowned.  
           [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,524 issued to Frank Raspante, et al. on Aug. 6, 2002 describes apparatus and methods for in-line testing for leaks in flexible containers traveling along a production line at high speeds through the use of multiple sensors spaced at fixed displacements along a compression section.  
           [0009]    In spite of the variety of approaches in the art, there remains a need to be able to measure containers without inflicting structural or aesthetic damage to them as a result of the measurement process, and it is a primary object of this invention to satisfy that need.  
           [0010]    It is another object of the present invention to provide high-speed apparatus and methods for assessing the internal pressure of containers without removing them from a production line.  
           [0011]    It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods for in-line leak testing of flexible containers while automatically compensating for container to container variations in temperature and physical properties.  
           [0012]    It is another object of the present invention to provide in-line apparatus and methods for testing containers for seal integrity.  
           [0013]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods for in-line testing of containers while generating statistical data for process control and quality assurance purposes.  
           [0014]    It is yet another object of the present invention to provide apparatus and methods for in-line testing of containers to provide feedback signals for control of upstream production apparatus.  
           [0015]    Other objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious and will, in part, appear hereinafter when the description to follow is read in conjunction with the drawings.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0016]    A free-standing, self-contained apparatus and related method that can be readily integrated with a container production line to measure the internal pressure of plastic or thin-walled metal containers using at least one load cell sensor that is mounted behind a conveyor belt so that it does not directly contact the containers thereby substantially eliminating container structural and aesthetic damage while the containers pass through a measurement station. The conveyor belt preferably is provided with a tacky surface to support the containers past load cell rollers. The load cell rollers are placed behind at least one of the conveyor belts to eliminate any damage to the containers as they pass through an inspection load cell station. The speed of the inspection belts is synchronized to the container transportation conveyor of a manufacturing line to provide smooth bottle inspection without tipping the container over or slowing the manufacturing line. The inspection conveyor belts are adjustable in width and height to accommodate quick production changeover from one product size to another.  
           [0017]    The internal pressure of the container is transferred through the conveyor belt to one or more pairs of load cell rollers, preferably one, which are connected to a load cell bridge. The electrical output of the load cell bridge is conditioned for both gain and offset and then sent to an A/D converter located on a data signal processor (DSP) board. The digital signal is then processed to preferably find the maximum peak voltage which is proportional to the internal pressure in the container. This peak voltage is then scaled and a relative merit value is assigned to that container. The assigned merit value is then compared against user set rejection limits. If the merit value is outside upper or lower reject limits, then that container is removed from the manufacturing line transportation conveyor by a reject system.  
           [0018]    The relative merit value can used as a feedback value to an upstream pressure dosing system, or the like, to make near real time adjustments to the dosing process. This feedback value can be supplied to the pressure dosing system by any suitable communications port, such as a serial port.  
           [0019]    An operator interface is preferably provided via a computer operating with a graphical user interface and equipped with software to permit setup, control data processing and collection, set and monitor acceptance limits, access manufacturing trends, perform control functions, and collect and display historical statistical data. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0020]    The structure, operation, and methodology of the invention, together with other objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reading the detailed description in conjunction with the drawings in which each part has an assigned numeral and/or label that identifies it wherever it appears in the various drawings and wherein:  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the invention positioned over a portion of a conveyor for transporting containers along a production line as they undergo various manufacturing and testing operations;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the rear of the apparatus of FIG. 1 taken from the point of view of an operator;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 3 is a perspective view looking down at the apparatus from the in feed end showing a series of containers as they pass through the apparatus to undergo testing;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the apparatus looking at it from its exit end along with a container that is just passing by a measurement station, the view also showing transport belt assembles along with motors that drive sprockets that in turn drive the transport belts associated with each motor;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 5 is a close-up perspective view looking at a container located proximate the measurement station of the apparatus as it is traveling downstream toward the exit end of the apparatus;  
         [0026]    [0026]FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic top view of the apparatus illustrating its major components in association with containers that are tested as they travel along a production line;  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the measurement station of the apparatus along with a container that is being measured;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic graph illustrating load cell response curves for normal and low pressure containers along with illustrations of a trigger period and Midpoint %; and  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic computer screen display showing a representation of statistical measurement data taken on a series of containers. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0030]    Reference is now made to FIG. 1 which shows the invention as a free-standing, self-contained apparatus or system  10  that is readily integratable with container production lines such as that designated generally at  12 . System  10 , and its associated methodology, is adapted to measure the internal pressure of liquid filled, plastic or thin-walled metal containers using at least one load cell sensor that is mounted behind a conveyor belt so that it does not directly contact the containers thereby substantially eliminating container structural or aesthetic damage while the containers pass through a measurement station. It will be understood that the liquid occupying a container need not completely fill it, and containers filled solely with a pressurized gas may also be tested along with those containing gels and solid-liquid mixtures, and the like.  
         [0031]    As seen in FIG. 1, system  10  comprises support frame  22  that is generally L-shaped having a base section with adjustable leveling feet and a vertical section that supports a conveyor assembly carriage  24 . Mounted to the conveyor assembly carriage  24  are a pair of spaced apart conveyor assemblies  14  and  16 . The conveyor assemblies  14  and  16  are mounted to the conveyor assembly carriage via horizontally mounted cantilevered rods  18  and  20 . The spacing between conveyor assemblies  14  and  16  may be adjusted to accommodate different sized containers through the use of a spacing screw  26  that is operated by turning a spacing adjustment wheel  28 . In this connection, spacing screw  26  is provided with two screw sections that are oppositely threaded while one of them is connected to conveyor assembly carriage  24  at its root by a slip joint so that both conveyor assemblies  14  and  16  move toward and away from one another by equal amounts as spacing adjustment wheel  28  is rotated.  
         [0032]    The vertical height of conveyor assemblies  14  and  16  may also be adjusted to accommodate containers of different height by moving conveyor assembly carriage  24  up and down. This is best seen by now referring to FIG. 2 showing conveyor assembly carriage  24  slidably mounted to a pair of vertically extending carriage guide rods  30  and  32  that are, in turn, fixedly mounted between a pair of horizontally oriented cross members  34  and  36  that form part of the vertically extending section of support frame  22 . As seen in FIG. 2, a height adjust threaded rod  38  passes through a flanged portion of conveyor assembly carriage  24  and turns in response to turning a height adjustment wheel  40 . Height locking knobs  42  and  44  are provided to release conveyor assembly carriage  24  so that its height may be changed and to lock it in place after adjustment to the desired height has been completed.  
         [0033]    Also seen in FIG. 2, the rear of system  10 , is a motor speed controller  50  for adjusting the speed of a pair of drive motors  80  and  82  (See FIG. 4.), and a junction box  48  that serves as a common point for connecting a variety of system  10 &#39;s electrical subsystems, including controllers and data processing components.  
         [0034]    Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a perspective view looking down at system  10  from its in feed end. FIG. 3 shows a series of containers to be tested as they pass through system  10 . As seen in FIG. 3, the containers, which may be liquid filled PET bottles as shown or thin-walled metal cans, are passed through system  10  by a pair of spaced apart rotating conveyor belts  56  and  58  that form part of conveyor assemblies  16  and  14 , respectively. Conveyor belts  56  and  58  are nominally parallel but one of them is intentionally set slightly into the path of travel of containers as explained more fully hereinafter. At the in-feed end of system  10 , conveyor belts  56  and  58  are supported by idler wheels  60  and  62  that are mounted for movement with respect to their corresponding conveyor assemblies so that the tension in conveyor belts  56  and  58  may be adjusted as needed. Conveyor belt  58  is supported at a measurement station by a pair of backing, vertically spaced apart load cell rollers  66  and opposite that, behind conveyor belt  56 , are a pair of vertically spaced apart anvil rollers  64 . The center lines of load cell rollers  66  and anvil rollers  64  are arranged along a line nominally perpendicular to the path of containers tracking along the production line  12 . Load cell rollers  66  are connected to a load cell  74  in a manner to be described. A phototrigger sensor  68  and trigger reflector  70  are arranged to detect the presence of a container proximate the measurement station. The phototrigger sensor  68  is connected to a phototrigger cable (not shown) to pass signals to a digital signal processor board (See  104  in FIG. 6) indicating when load information is to be read.  
         [0035]    Conveyor belt assemblies  14  and  16  are slidably mounted to horizontal guide rods  18  and  20  via typical guide blocks  52  each of which is provided with locking knobs  54  to fix these assemblies in place once adjusted by spacing adjustment screw  26 . In this connection, the oppositely threaded sections of spacing adjustment screw  26  are connected via a well-known universal joint.  
         [0036]    Reference is now made to FIG. 4 which is a perspective view of system  10  looking at it from its exit end. Shown in FIG. 4 is a container that is just passing by the measurement station. A pair of drive motors  80  and  82  are provided to drive conveyor belts  56  and  58 . To accomplish this, motors  80  and  82  are connected with drive wheels (not shown) that in turn are in friction contact with conveyor belts  58  and  56 , respectively. The speed of conveyor belts  56  and  58  are synchronized to the container transportation conveyor  12  of a manufacturing line to provide smooth container inspection without tipping containers over or slowing the manufacturing line. Also seen here is a reject output lamp  90  that lights up in response to receiving a container reject signal.  
         [0037]    Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a close-up perspective view looking at a typical substantially liquid filled container  100  made of plastic and provided with a sealed screw cap. Container  100  is shown located proximate the measurement station of system  10  while traveling downstream toward its exit end. As seen here and in FIG. 7, conveyor belts  56  and  58  are preferably identical composite structures comprising two sections of different materials that are bonded together at a common interface. Directly contacting containers  100  is a flat flexible section  69  preferably made of a synthetic rubber such as that marketed under the tradename Linatex, or the like, and a relatively less flexible backing section  67  that nests between load cell rollers  66  and anvil rollers  64  and carries the tension forces generated by drive motors  80  and  82 . The synthetic rubber sections  69  of conveyor belts  56  and  58  are chosen along with the spacing between conveyor belt assemblies  14  and  16  so that sensible force readings on load cell  74  may be obtained without inflicting structural or aesthetic damage to the containers as they pass through system  10 . Sensible force readings will take into account desired lower and upper figures of merit along with force resolution requirements of a particular production environment. The material composition of the belts is preferably such that the belt surface directly contacting containers is slightly tacky to promote enhanced gripping ability.  
         [0038]    Thus, the conveyor belts are preferably provided with a tacky surface to support the containers past load cell rollers. The load cell rollers are placed behind at least one of the conveyor belts to eliminate any damage to the containers as they pass through an inspection load cell station. The speed of the inspection belts is synchronized to the container transportation conveyor  12  of a manufacturing line to provide smooth bottle inspection without tipping the container over or slowing the manufacturing line. The inspection conveyor belts are adjustable in width and height to accommodate quick production changeover from one product size to another.  
         [0039]    Referring now to FIG. 6, a diagrammatic top view of system  10  is shown illustrating its major components in association with containers that are tested as they travel along production line  12 . As seen here, anvil rollers  64 , which are positioned directly opposite load cell rollers  66 , are positioned to protrude slightly into the path of travel of oncoming containers so that the containers are gently squeezed by the synthetic rubber section of conveyor belts  56  and  58  along a path of travel that gradually decreases in width until the midpoint of a container is nominally in line between anvil and load cell rollers after which the spacing gradually increases again. During this process, the reaction load of the container is transferred to load cell  74  through the intermediary of the flexible portion  69  of conveyor belt  58 . Notice that neither anvil rollers  64  nor load cell rollers  66 , which are made of metal, directly contact a container. Instead, the containers are contacted only by the relatively wider and more flexible planar section  69  of conveyor belts  56  and  58 . Thus, containers are gently and gradually squeezed and released as they approach and leave the measurement station and are never directly contacted by hard rollers that may otherwise damage them.  
         [0040]    Belt tension rollers shown typically at  102  (see also FIG. 7) provide further support to conveyor belts  56  and  58  to maintain the integrity of the geometry of the measurement path. The trigger photosensor  68  in conjunction with the trigger reflector  70  operate to detect the presence of a container proximate the measurement station. Signals from the trigger photosensor  68  and load cell  74  are fed to a digital signal processor board  104  that is configured to collect and analyze data. Digital signal processor board  104  also is connected to a rejecter system  108  and is configured to provide reject signals to system  108  when a reject container is detected so that the rejecter system  108  can remove it from production line  12 . Low pressure container  120  is shown separated by rejector system  108  from path of normal pressure container  122 .  
         [0041]    A computer  106  may be integrated with system  10  and be provided with suitable software to facilitate data processing and analysis, provide a graphical user interface for an operator, display, print and store data and perform general housekeeping functions. In this connection, it will be recognized that computer  106  may take on the functions of digital signal processor board  104  when its software is appropriately configured and a suitable interface board is provided.  
         [0042]    Reference is now made to FIG. 7 which is a diagrammatic elevational view of the measurement station of the apparatus along with a container  100  that is in place in the measurement station between load cell rollers  66  and anvil rollers  64 . As seen, load cell rollers  66  are connected to load cell sensor  74  via a rigid rectangular frame and connecting rod. Load cell sensor  74  is in turn connected in conveyor assembly  14  via a load cell mounting bracket  110 . It will be appreciated that any moments that may be induced in the rigid frame supporting the load cell rollers  66  may be mechanically decoupled from load cell sensor  74  by intervening suitable mechanical relief mechanisms.  
         [0043]    Phototrigger sensor  68  generates a preferably polarized beam that ordinarily is retroreflected by trigger reflector  70  when no portion of a container is present to interrupt it. However, when any portion of a container interrupts the beam, a signal is generated to alert the digital signal processor  104  that a container is present and data is to be collected. The beam is preferably polarized to avoid passing light straight through containers that may be transparent to it at its operating wavelength.  
         [0044]    Reference is now made to FIG. 8 which is a diagrammatic graph illustrating load cell response curves for normal and low pressure containers along with illustrations of a “Trigger Period” and “Midpoint %”. As seen in FIG. 8, load cell  74  generates an output voltage proportional to the force transferred to it via the intervening conveyor belt, load cell rollers and support frame. Because the conveyor belt is at least in part flexible, the effect on the output of any moments that are created by tilted containers is believed to be minimized.  
         [0045]    The load cell  74  is configured to normally continuously output data but that data is sampled only during the Trigger Period defined as the time a container is blocking the phototrigger sensor  68  as a container passes through the measurement station. A typical Trigger Period may be, for example, 40 milliseconds while typical conveyor speeds may be, for example, 300 feet per minute. Obviously, the Trigger Period may be adjusted by changing the height at which the photo trigger sensor beam strikes a container.  
         [0046]    [0046]FIG. 8 shows typical force signals for a normal container and a container with low internal pressure. Both curves have a characteristic shape that is in form bell shaped, gradually increasing, then rising along a more or less straight slope to a transition region where the slope decreases until a maximum or peak is reached. After the maximum, the remainder of the curve is nominally the mirror image of its transit to maximum, although in practice there may be some asymmetries encountered.  
         [0047]    The gradual increases and decreases at the beginning and end of the force curves correspond to the gradual and gentle squeezing and relaxation regions provided by the spaced apart conveyor belts  56  and  58 , and thus, their characteristic shape evidences that containers are subjected to low impact forces while they are being measured as they are being transported along production line  12 .  
         [0048]    As can be appreciated, the internal pressure of a container is transferred through a conveyor belt to one or more load cell rollers, preferably one, which is connected to the load cell bridge. The electrical output of the load cell  74  is conditioned for both gain and offset and then sent to an A/D converter located on data signal processor (DSP) board  104 . The digital signal is then processed to preferably find the maximum peak voltage which is proportional to the internal pressure in the container. The peak voltage of a force curve is determined from the collected data resident within a “Midpoint %” defined as a percentage of the total Trigger Period and is based on production conveyor speed. This peak voltage is then scaled and a relative merit value is assigned to a container. The assigned merit value is then compared against user set rejection limits. If the merit value is outside upper or lower reject limits, then that container is removed from the manufacturing line transportation conveyor by rejecter system  108 .  
         [0049]    The relative merit value can used as a feedback value to an upstream CO 2  or liquid nitrogen dosing system to make near real time adjustments to the dosing process. This feedback value can be supplied to the pressure dosing system by any suitable communications port, such as a serial port.  
         [0050]    Reference is now made to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagrammatic representation of typical statistical measurement data displayed on a computer screen. As can be seen, container internal pressure can be made to correlate with corresponding measurement levels, upper and lower merit levels can be set to represent accept/reject levels, and clip levels can be selected to ignore values exceeding a certain limit. Alternatively, individual container curves may be displayed directly while statistics are being collected and processed in the background by DSP  104  and/or computer  106 .  
         [0051]    An operator interface is preferably provided via computer  106  operating with a graphical user interface and equipped with software to permit setup, control data processing and collection, set and monitor acceptance limits, access manufacturing trends, perform control functions, and collect and display historical statistical data.  
         [0052]    While only one load cell has been shown as a preference, it will apparent to those skilled in the art that more than one load cell may be beneficially used to generate information about container pressures and other properties. In addition, it will be apparent that other characteristics of the load cell force curves may be exploited as an adjunct to determining the acceptability of container performance. It will also be apparent that a number of mathematical algorithms may be used to calculate the maximum value. Preferred here is one of simply comparing sampled values during the Midpoint % and storing the maximum.  
         [0053]    Based on the teachings of the invention, other embodiments of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art and are intended to fall within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.