Extrusion International USA 3-2021

47 Extrusion International 3/2021 rial is distributed on the sample tray, automatically guided through the inspection area and inspected by a camera within a few seconds. A pro- jector marks contaminated material in color directly on the sample tray. At the same time, the contaminated material is displayed and marked on the monitor, indicating the size of the contamination. Individual con- taminated pellets can be selected and magni fi ed. On the sample tray, these are simultaneously visualized optically by crosshairs (Picture 2). There are several inspection methods for the random inspection of plastic pellets on the market. However, ac- cording to SORTCO, the inspection and analysis system from SIKORA has proven to be the leader in this fi eld due to its functionality, reliability and speed. “Only with SIKORA, the test material lies on a sample tray without any movement. Thus, the analysis im- age shows an unsurpassed image quality. With alternative systems, the specimen is in motion, whereby blur- ring of the image makes an unambig- uous evaluation more dif fi cult,” ex- plains Groß and continues, “With the PURITY CONCEPT V, we can make re- liable statements about the product quality very quickly, very easily and, intensity, the so-called black specks, specks, burns or also brown or yel- low specks. The size and number of all colored defects and contamina- tion in the pellets are recorded. An unlimited number of individual tests or alternatively serial tests can be performed. Up to 100 individual tests can be combined into one overall re- sult. The test results are documented and automatically made available to the customer together with the sorting results and the quantity bal- ance after completion of the order. Usually, test samples are stored for 12 months. However, the test data is also available at SORTCO beyond this period so that customers can refer to it, for example, in the event of a com- plaint from the end user. Innovative and reliable inspection systems for purity testing are essen- tial for sorting at SORTCO. Inspection and sorting systems will continue to gain importance in the industry in the future. According to Groß, this is due to the increasing visual demands placed on products, but also to the high costs associated with machine downtime and repairs to hot runner systems and injection molds. At the same time, sorting reduces injection molding waste, which, in addition to the economic bene fi ts, also helps protecting the environment. “With the opening of our sorting service center in Niederzissen, we will install more inspection and sorting ma- chines,” Gross reveals. The creation of new sorting capacities is only one aspect of this. In the future, the main focus will be to reliably detect defects from a minimum edge length of 50 μ m and to separate them in the best possibleway. “With SIKORA, we have found a partner whose systems meet these requirements not only for the random sample inspection, but also for the sorting.” SIKORA AG Bruchweide 2, 28307 Bremen, Germany www.sikora.net above all, reproducibly. A clear com- petitive advantage is the projector. All detected contamination is precise- ly marked via a light spot or colored crosshairs and can be easily removed from the sample tray. These can be further examined and analyzed to draw a conclusion about the cause of the defect.” Clear assignment of con- tamination and follow-up checks are possible at any time and do not have to be carried out manually by the operator. Groß also cites the clearly structured test report as a quality in- spection certi fi cate for the customer that complies with the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, as well as the test- ing speed of only about 15 seconds per sample inspection as clear advan- tages of the system. “Including all handling, we have a representative test result within 2 minutes. That is unbeatable on the market.” There is hardly any type of contami- nation, that the system cannot not detect. The PURITY CONCEPT V is far superior then the human eye. Hu- mans initially recognize only large contrasts; smaller and lighter defects are overlooked. The system imme- diately identi fi es all color deviations from a size of 50 μ m. These are of- ten burns of the polymer in varying Picture 2: Detected contamination is highlighted in color on the sample tray as well as in the software, for an easy extraction