INSPECTION & WEIGHING
from the material flow to protect both products and machines.
Optical sorting
Equipping a sorter with information analytics software will help confectionery manufacturers to identify patterns and trends that can improve sorting and help control upstream and downstream processes.”
attributes to the higher detection sensitivity.
Systems with a side-mounted X-ray generator, where the X-ray beam reaches the conveyor belt from the side, are used for upright products. In this case too, the product must be aligned so that it passes the detector system with the upright side facing the X-ray beam.
Minebea Intec can also offer the Dypipe
X-ray inspection system for viscous and liquid products. “The Dypipe is equipped with a test specimen insertion
system that enables the test specimens to be inspected during operation,” says Liang. “This means that manufacturing companies can be sure at all times that their production processes are running smoothly and safely.” In order to meet the high hygiene requirements, the Dypipe is equipped with an easy-to-open separator. Another special X-ray inspection design from Minebea Intec is the Dymond Bulk which inspects bulk materials. Foreign bodies such as stones or metal are consistently detected and removed
As mentioned previously, the main product inspection technologies found on processing and packaging lines in confectionery manufacturing environments – metal detectors, X-ray systems and optical sorters – offer very different capabilities and are frequently complementary. While X-ray systems and metal detectors are usually used after packaging to find contaminates and reject the associated packages, optical sorters are used to inspect bulk foods and remove a wide variety of foreign material (FM) and product defects prior to packaging to ensure food safety and product quality while maximising yield. “At Key, each of our optical sorters are tailored with the optimal sensor technology, lighting, ejection system, product handling and intelligent software to meet specific requirements,” says Marco Azzaretti, Director of Marketing at Key Technology. “In this way sorters can be specified to detect objects’ colour, size, shape, structural properties and chemical composition to find and remove all types of FM and product defects of interest.” Chute-fed sorters, for example, are able to inspect free-flowing products such as hard candies, gummies and other candies that can be handled in bulk. Meanwhile, belt-fed sorters are well suited for stickier confectionery products and products with larger dimensions. “Our chute- and belt-fed sorters come in different widths to handle a wide range of production throughputs,” he says.
Marco went on to explain that Key
Technology achieves sorting accuracy with all-sided surface inspection and sensor technologies such as its Pixel Fusion detection solution, which combines signals from multiple sensor types at the pixel level to clearly identify even the most difficult-to-detect FM and defects. “The performance of the sorter infeed system also contributes to sort accuracy by properly separating product for presentation to the inspection sensors. A high-resolution ejection system precisely targets objects identified for removal without inadvertently rejecting good product,” he says. In addition to helping ensure food safety, product quality and yield,
24 Kennedy’s Confection November 2024
KennedysConfection.com
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