HEUFT eXaminer II XS foreign object detecion

Smart sidewall inspection

When detecting foreign objects in simple food packaging with the space-saving HEUFT eXaminer ^II XS multi-layered neural networks for X-ray image processing and optimized pulsed X-rays open up new perspectives. The result: full coverage and detection and rejection reliability that goes even deeper.

The lean turnkey solution for pulsed X-ray inspection of food cans, doypacks, squeeze bottles, stand-up pouches or carton packaging achieves full detection accuracy in the tightest of spaces: dangerous high-density foreign bodies such as metal particles or hard plastic fragments in the product are identified gently and precisely. The modular system can be flexibly equipped with one or two sidewall X-ray flash units. This ensures that the inspection always covers the entire filling volume and, together with the new deep detection during X-ray image processing with HEUFT reflexx ^A.I., increases the precision of the foreign object detection.

The deep learning algorithm based on multi-layered neural networks now even makes visible what was difficult or impossible to detect even with HEUFT eXaminer II systems until recently: the ring-shaped wire in the ring-shaped pasta and similar inconspicuous foreign objects in foodstuffs with special structures which absorb the X-ray impulses to varying degrees.

If, as with liquid products in cardboard packaging, only a bottom inspection is required, the HEUFT reflexx ^A.I. image processing system realizes an "unfolded" bottom view. Small foreign objects lying flat at the bottom of the packaging are thus even more clearly visible.

A new option for particularly tall full products, the complete volume of which has to be inspected, is a special oblique alignment during X-ray with only one detection unit. This makes it possible to identify foreign objects not only at the bottom, but also anywhere else in the packaging. A full-surface image converter provides increased sensitivity and ensures that each individual X-ray pulse covers a significantly larger container area than before.

The superordinate HEUFT SPECTRUM ^II control unit of the HEUFT eXaminer ^II XS, to which many other detection modules can be connected – among other things for the precise verification of product markings – is highly automated. For example, the height and alignment of the upper X-ray flash module automatically adapts to the changed container format when the type and program are changed. The HEUFT NaVi user guidance offers the operator comprehensive audio-visual step-by-step assistance.

All of this makes the compact HEUFT eXaminer ^II XS a real turnkey solution for the full-coverage detection of foreign objects at the end of line. Thanks to the new deep-learning-capable HEUFT reflexx ^A.I. image processing even the previously invisible now becomes visible.