SICK glare sensor combats pharma product tampering
A sensor that detects glossy materials in pharmaceutical packaging has been developed by SICK to help in the battle against product tampering and counterfeits.
European regulations are driving tough new requirements for packaging and demanding the use of high-gloss or transparent materials, including tamper-evident seals. However, in production and product handling, high-gloss packaging materials can cause conventional optical sensors to trigger incorrectly. For most sensors, shiny objects are difficult to detect.
“The innovative detection concept of Glare turns a weakness of most sensors into a strong function for packaging production lines,” explained David Hannaby, product manager for presence detection at SICK. “Instead of sensors being dazzled by glare, it uses glare to do the sensing to achieve a highly-reliable process for detecting and assessing the gloss properties of shiny materials.
“When detecting transparent tamper-proof seals, for example, Glare distinguishes reliably between the reflection from the label and the scattered, diffuse reflections from the rougher surface of the packaging material.
“It can easily be configured to discriminate between different degrees of gloss to obtain precisely the required results.”
Following in-process trials, the new SICK Glare is already being used by Bosch Packaging Technology in its CPS serialisation solutions achieving 100% reliability in detecting machine-applied transparent tamper-evident safety labels.
The SICK Glare is a compact (42.5 x 44 x 43.4mm wxhxl), all-in-one IP67 unit. It delivers discrimination performance even with high ambient light levels, deep colour, transparent tape, text and shiny or holographic finishes.
Primarily designed to detect and discriminate between gloss levels on flat surfaces, the SICK Glare is able to cope with ±5o misalignment and variation.
The SICK Glare comprises a central strip of eight LED emitters surrounded by two receiver lines, enable its misalignment and tilting tolerance and vibration-resistant performance.
Installation and configuration are easy with the integral three button pad, allowing simple teach-in with typical objects, and several operating modes; a security key prevents operative override to eliminate ‘false nuisance’ readings. Alarm levels can be set to indicate contamination, declining standards and other parameters.
Light levels and sensing modes are adjustable to suit the application. The integrated I/O link facilitates integration with PLC and servo motor control and allows remote diagnostics and programming/reprogramming. As required in a pharma environment, the configuration data is stored centrally in the machine controller. SICK Glare settings and programming are remotely held on PLC, enabling rapid switch-in if the sensor needs replacing.