Patent ID: 7781723

Claim:
A machine for inspecting the wall of a bottle comprising a conveyor for supporting a bottle at an inspection station, the inspection station including a CCD camera on one side of the conveyor having a camera image, a light source, on the other side of the conveyor, for imaging the bottle on said CCD camera image, wherein said light source comprises a plurality of L.E.D. rows, and wherein said plurality of L.E.D. rows define a plurality of row groups each including a row having a maximum brightness level, a row having a minimum brightness level, at least one row intermediate said row having said maximum brightness level and said row having said minimum brightness level having a brightness level between said minimum brightness level and said maximum brightness level, and at least one row on the side of the row having the minimum brightness level remote from said row having the maximum brightness level having a brightness level between the minimum brightness level and the maximum brightness level, energy controlling means for operating said light source to emit light energy for defining light intensities varying between a minimum brightness level that will permit the identification of a light blocking defect and a maximum brightness level, the brightness level varying spatially, cyclically, and continuously at a rate of change which is less than a rate of change that would be identified as a defect, computer means for analyzing the camera image by comparing neighboring pixels to determine the rate of change in brightness level to indentify defects where the rate of change exceeds a defined value.