Page 16 - Industrial Technology EXTRA 22nd February 2021

PACKAGING...

Blistering performance from

sensors on packaging line

Contrinex UV transparent-object detection photoelectric sensors provide

assured performance on a packaging line for clear blister packs.
utomated packaging increasingly uses
transparent thermoformed plastic tray
bases and Contrinex’s transparent-object
Asensors with patented UV technology are
ideal at detecting the presence of each set of
transparent trays after it is formed.
The sensor reliably detects the presence of each
transparent tray after it is formed because it is
unique in using polarised ultraviolet light at 275nm,
which is absorbed by the plastics used in
thermoforming, even if they are thin and bases to the loading station is not continuous. In
transparent. The Ecolab-certification of these this event, a sensor system must inhibit the loading
sensors makes them suitable for the packaging of cycle until a base is in position.
food and medical products. Sensors must detect the presence of transparent
tray bases swiftly and reliably, enabling the loading
Customer application cycle to proceed with minimal delay as soon as a
A manufacturer of packaging machines for the tray is present at the loading station. Standard
medical industry produces automated blister- photoelectric sensors, which use visible red-light
packaging lines for pharmaceutical and surgical sources, proved unreliable as they are unable to
products. Medical blister-packs comprise a differentiate reliably between ‘tray present’ and ‘tray
recessed, semi-rigid tray base, vacuum-formed in- not present’ conditions. Contrinex’s transparent-
line from clear thermoplastic material and sealed object sensors with UV technology offer an
with a metal or plastic film after the desired alternative sensor technology which will reliably
products are loaded. detect the presence of a transparent plastic target.
Typically, blister-packaging lines for surgical
products operate in sterile conditions; minimal Customer solution
manual intervention is permitted, as contamination Transparent-object sensors with ultraviolet LED-
may enter the environment. If defective bases are light sources from the Contrinex C23 product series
identified and rejected after forming, the flow of tray are ideally suited to this application. These

February 2021 • INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXTRA • p16