Sick announces ‘breakthrough’ DeltaPac sensor for gap-free product conveyor lines

14 March 2014


Sick has launched DeltaPac, said to be the first ever photoelectric sensor able to detect individual packs on a conveyor without a gap between them.

According to the Germany-headquartered technology company, DeltaPac reduces the risk of pile-ups and stoppages on FMCG production lines, by detecting changes in product outline contours at speeds of up to 3m/s and 200,000 units an hour.

Sick says that DeltaPac opens up new possibilities for the design of packaging machines, with pack buffering and separation mechanisms “no longer needed”, thanks to a stabilised product flow and the resulting reduction in collisions due to falling packages.

“Sick DeltaPac is a true breakthrough in sensing for packaging applications,” says Phil Dyas, Sick UK’s industrial sensor specialist.

“Up until now, a clear gap had to be left between packs in order for an optical sensor’s beam of light to be returned by the reflector positioned on the opposite side of the conveyor.”

The DeltaPac differentiates between packs in a completely new way, Dyas explains, detecting changes in their outline contours.

“The result is more reliable upstream process control and downstream accuracy for printing, labelling and palletisation.”

DeltaPac sensors can detect folded edges, rounded, radiused and faceted corner packages, while the advanced background suppression technology, developed by Sick for many different sensors, ensures that glare, reflections, bright colours, changes in contrast and other potential distractions are ignored.

The sensor’s patented technology uses light beams from four Sick PinPoint2.0 LEDs to track contours of packaging edges moved across them by the conveying line.

Two sensors in stereo formation detect the change in reflected light angle caused by a package edge and send a switching signal to represent each gap.

There is a leading-edge tolerance of +/-15mm to allow for product position variations.

www.sick.com



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