Applied Controls worked with a local hose manufacturer to automate the manual process of counting the number of ridges per foot to ensure the hose had been stretch to the correct specification. Cognex’s 2K Line Scan camera, the 9902L, was used to capture several highly detailed images over the length of the hose. This quickly gave the operator a count of the hundreds of ridges that were previously calculated manually. By automating this process, the time it took to do the quality check and the error rate were greatly reduced.
The 9902L camera system is suspended above a table by an aluminum arm that the operator then rolls down the length of the straightened hose. As the operator pulls the arm along the length of the hose, specific parts of the hose are automatically measured to identify the number of ridges per foot. This allows the operator to simply watch the Cognex Web HMI, hosted by the camera and displayed on a Siemens Thin Client, for the results of the count. Depending on the results, the hose will pass inspection or be stretched further to meet specifications. This process greatly reduces the time it previously took for the operator to stretch a hose to the correct specifications and the amount of error produced from manually counting hundreds of ridges.
- Greater accuracy in product counts
- Increased throughput from the machine
- Stronger control of quality process
- Cognex IS9902L – Line Scan Camera
- Simatic ITC 1900 V3 – Industrial 19″ Thin Client
- Smart Vision LLPX Back Light and LX150 Bar Light
