PET bottle preform wall thickness online detector based on infrared array

Abstract

According to the PET bottle preform wall thickness online detector based on the infrared array, a propelling mechanism, a feeding mechanism, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism and a fixing mechanism are arranged on a base, the feeding mechanism comprises a bottom plate and a feeding box, a feeding groove is formed in the bottom plate, a feeding cavity and a driving cavity are formed in the feeding box, and the infrared thickness measuring mechanism is arranged in the feeding groove. A feeding shaft and a first motor are arranged in the feeding cavity and the driving cavity respectively, bottle preforms fall into the profiling groove from the feeding port, rotate to the discharging port along with the feeding shaft and fall into the feeding groove, the pushing cylinder drives the pushing barrel to push the bottle preforms to the clamping position of the three-jaw cylinder, the three-jaw cylinder is driven by the second motor to rotate, and the bottle preforms are clamped in the feeding groove. The infrared thickness measuring mechanism is connected with the control box, the detection result is displayed in real time, when data are abnormal, the control box controls the high-pressure air pump to spray high-pressure air to the high-pressure air nozzle through the air pipe, unqualified bottle blanks are rapidly discharged to the inferior product collecting frame, qualified products are prevented from being mixed in, and the detection efficiency is improved. The detection efficiency and the product quality are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of preform thickness measurement technology, and in particular to an online PET preform wall thickness detector based on an infrared array. Background Technology

[0002] In the industrial production of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) preforms, the uniformity and precision of the preform wall thickness are key factors determining the quality of subsequent blow molding, directly affecting the mechanical strength, sealing performance, and appearance quality of the PET bottles. Currently, PET preform wall thickness inspection mainly employs two methods: manual sampling and contact thickness measurement. Manual sampling relies on operators using tools such as micrometers for sampling measurements, which suffers from low inspection efficiency, strong subjectivity, and inability to cover all products, making it difficult to meet the real-time inspection needs of high-speed production lines. While contact thickness gauges offer high measurement accuracy, they require direct contact with the preform surface, easily scratching it, and the inspection process is time-consuming, making online dynamic inspection impossible and leading to the risk of undetected quality defects during production.

[0003] With the development of optical inspection technology, some companies have attempted to use infrared thickness measurement technology for non-contact inspection. However, traditional single-point infrared inspection cannot achieve rapid scanning of the entire surface of the preform, resulting in low inspection efficiency and difficulty in fully reflecting the wall thickness distribution of the preform, thus affecting product quality control. Utility Model Content

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide an online PET preform wall thickness detector based on infrared array.

[0005] The technical solution of this utility model to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is as follows:

[0006] An online PET preform wall thickness detector based on infrared array includes: a base and a pushing mechanism, a feeding mechanism, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism, and a fixing mechanism, which are sequentially fixed on the base; the feeding mechanism includes a base plate with a feeding groove on its top; the infrared thickness measuring mechanism includes an infrared emitting component and an infrared receiving component, which are respectively arranged on both sides of the straight line where the feeding groove and the fixing mechanism are located; the infrared emitting component includes a first bracket and multiple transmitters arrayed on the first bracket; the infrared receiving component includes a second bracket and multiple receivers arrayed on the second bracket; the transmitters and receivers are in one-to-one correspondence, and the straight line where two corresponding transmitters and receivers are located passes through the central axis of the preform; the fixing mechanism includes a second motor fixed on the base and a three-jaw cylinder fixedly connected to the second motor, the three-jaw cylinder being used to clamp the preform, and the second motor being used to drive the three-jaw cylinder to rotate.

[0007] In one embodiment, the sidewalls of the first bracket and the second bracket are provided with annular mounting surfaces, the transmitter annular array is on the annular mounting surface of the first bracket, and the receiver annular array is on the annular mounting surface of the second bracket.

[0008] In one embodiment, the propulsion mechanism includes a push cylinder fixed to the upper surface of the base and a pusher cylinder fixed to the output end of the push cylinder.

[0009] In one embodiment, the output end of the push cylinder faces the feeding mechanism, and the bottom of the pusher cylinder is at the same height as the bottom of the feeding trough.

[0010] In one embodiment, the top of the base plate is provided with a feeding box, the feeding box is provided with a feeding chamber and a driving chamber, and a baffle is provided between the feeding chamber and the driving chamber; the top of the feeding box is provided with a feeding port, and the side wall of the feeding box is provided with a discharging port, and both the feeding port and the discharging port are connected to the feeding chamber.

[0011] In one embodiment, the feeding chamber is a horizontal cylindrical structure, and a feeding shaft is provided inside the feeding chamber. Multiple contoured grooves are provided around the outer side wall of the feeding shaft. A first motor is provided inside the driving chamber, and the output end of the first motor passes through the baffle and is fixedly connected to the end of the feeding shaft.

[0012] In one embodiment, the end of the three-jaw cylinder away from the second motor is provided with a high-pressure air nozzle, which is connected to a high-pressure air pump located inside the base via an air pipe.

[0013] In one embodiment, the upper surface of the base is provided with a good product discharge port and a bad product discharge port. The good product discharge port is located below the three-jaw cylinder, and the bad product discharge port is located on the side of the good product discharge port away from the three-jaw cylinder.

[0014] In one embodiment, the base is provided with a good product collection box and a bad product collection box inside, the good product collection box is located below the good product discharge port, and the bad product collection box is located directly below the bad product discharge port.

[0015] In one embodiment, the upper surface of the base is further provided with a control box, and the control box is provided with a display screen.

[0016] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows: This utility model provides an online PET preform wall thickness detector based on an infrared array. The detector comprises a pushing mechanism, a feeding mechanism, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism, and a fixing mechanism arranged sequentially from left to right on a base. The feeding mechanism includes a base plate and a feeding box mounted on the base plate. The base plate has a feeding groove, and the feeding box contains an infeed chamber and a driving chamber. The infeed chamber and driving chamber are respectively equipped with a feeding shaft and a first motor. After the preform enters the infeed chamber from the inlet, it falls into the contour groove of the feeding shaft and rotates with the feeding shaft to the outlet, where it falls... The preforms are fed into the feeding trough, where a pusher cylinder driven by a pusher cylinder pushes them to the clamping position of a three-jaw cylinder in the fixing mechanism. A second motor drives the three-jaw cylinder to rotate, allowing the preforms to undergo 360-degree all-around wall thickness detection in the infrared thickness measuring mechanism to ensure accurate data. The infrared thickness measuring mechanism is connected to the control box, which displays the detection results in real time. When the detection data is abnormal, the control box controls a high-pressure air pump to spray high-pressure gas through an air pipe into the high-pressure nozzle on the three-jaw cylinder, quickly expelling the unqualified preforms into the defective product collection box, preventing the mixing of qualified products, and improving detection efficiency and product quality. Attached Figure Description

[0017] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of this application and should not be regarded as a limitation of the scope. For those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0018] Figure 1 This is a front view of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 2 This is a top view of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 3 This is a cross-sectional structural diagram of the feeding box of this utility model;

[0021] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the feeding shaft of this utility model;

[0022] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the infrared thickness measuring mechanism of this utility model.

[0023] In the attached diagram, 100 is the base; 110 is the door; 200 is the propulsion mechanism; 210 is the push cylinder; 220 is the pusher cylinder; 300 is the feeding mechanism; 310 is the bottom plate; 311 is the feeding trough; 320 is the feeding box; 321 is the baffle; 322 is the first motor; 323 is the feeding shaft; 324 is the contour groove; 325 is the feed inlet; 326 is the discharge outlet; 400 is the infrared thickness measuring mechanism; 410 is the infrared emitting component; 411 is the first bracket; 412 is the transmitter; 420 is the infrared receiving component; 421 is the second bracket; 422 is the receiver; 500 is the fixing mechanism; 510 is the three-jaw cylinder; 520 is the second motor; 530 is the high-pressure nozzle; 600 is the good product discharge port; 610 is the inferior product discharge port; 700 is the control box; and 701 is the display screen. Detailed Implementation

[0024] It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described in these embodiments of the present invention can be combined with each other. The technical solutions of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings of the embodiments. The present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described below.

[0025] It should be understood that the same or similar reference numerals in the accompanying drawings of the embodiments correspond to the same or similar components. In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that if terms such as "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "top," and "bottom" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, they are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, the terms describing positional relationships in the accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and should not be construed as limiting this patent. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms according to the specific circumstances.

[0026] In one embodiment, such as Figures 1 to 5As shown, an online PET preform wall thickness detector based on an infrared array includes: a base 100 and a pushing mechanism 200, a feeding mechanism 300, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism 400, and a fixing mechanism 500 sequentially fixed on the base 100; the feeding mechanism 300 includes a base plate 310, and a feeding groove 311 is provided on the top of the base plate 310; the infrared thickness measuring mechanism includes an infrared emitting component 410 and an infrared receiving component 420, which are respectively arranged on both sides of the line where the feeding groove 311 and the fixing mechanism 500 are located; the infrared emitting component 410 includes a first support... The first support 411 includes a bracket 411 and multiple transmitters 412 arrayed on the first support 411; the infrared receiving component 420 includes a second support 421 and multiple receivers 422 arrayed on the second support 421; the transmitters 412 and receivers 422 are in one-to-one correspondence, and the straight line of two corresponding transmitters 412 and receivers 422 passes through the central axis of the preform; the fixing mechanism 500 includes a second motor 520 fixed on the base 100 and a three-jaw cylinder 510 fixedly connected to the second motor 520, the three-jaw cylinder 510 is used to clamp the preform, and the second motor 520 is used to drive the three-jaw cylinder 510 to rotate.

[0027] In this embodiment, the base 100 is a hollow rectangular box with an openable door 110 on one side. From left to right, the upper surface of the base 100 is provided with a pushing mechanism 200, a feeding mechanism 300, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism 400, and a fixing mechanism 500. The feeding mechanism 300 includes a base plate 310 fixed to the top of the base 100 and a feeding trough 311 on the upper surface of the base plate 310. The fixing mechanism 500 includes a second motor 520 and a three-jaw cylinder 510. The second motor 520 is fixed to the top of the base 100. One end of the three-jaw cylinder 510 is fixedly connected to the output end of the second motor 520, and the other end of the three-jaw cylinder 510 is provided with a gripper for fixing the preform. Rubber pads are provided on the gripper. The pushing mechanism 200, the feeding trough 311, and the three-jaw cylinder 510 are on the same straight line. The preform is placed on the feeding trough 311. The preform in the feeding trough 311 is pushed to one end of the fixing mechanism 500 by the pushing mechanism 200. The bottle mouth of the preform is held by the three-jaw cylinder 510 and driven to rotate by the second motor 520, thereby rotating the preform. The infrared thickness measuring mechanism 400 is set between the feeding mechanism 300 and the fixing mechanism 500. The infrared emitting component 410 in the infrared thickness measuring mechanism 400 is located on one side of the extension line of the feeding trough 311, and the infrared receiving component 420 is located on the other side of the extension line of the feeding trough 311. The transmitter 412 in the infrared emitting component 410 and the receiver 422 in the infrared receiving component 420 correspond one-to-one. The infrared light emitted by the transmitter 412 passes through the central axis of the preform and is captured by the receiver 422. The preform wall thickness is calculated by the change in the intensity of the received infrared light, realizing accurate online detection and improving the stability of product quality.

[0028] Furthermore, the infrared emitting component 410 includes a first bracket 411 and a transmitter 412, and the infrared receiving component 420 includes a second bracket 421 and a receiver 422. The opposing surfaces of the first bracket 411 and the second bracket 421 are both annular arc surfaces, and the center of the arc surface coincides with the central axis of the preform, ensuring that the infrared rays accurately penetrate the preform and improving the thickness measurement accuracy. The transmitters 412 are arranged on the first bracket 411, with multiple transmitters 412 arranged in a row. The length of each row is equal to the length from the bottom of the preform to the bottle mouth. Multiple rows of transmitters are provided, and the transmitters 412 are equally spaced so that the axis from the bottom of the bottle mouth to the bottom of the preform can be passed through by infrared light. The transmitters 412 in different rows are fixed at different heights on the arc-shaped mounting surface of the first bracket 411, and the infrared light emitted by each transmitter 412 is perpendicular to the central axis of the preform. The receiver 422 and the second bracket 421 are installed in the same way as the transmitters 412 and the first bracket 411. The infrared emitting component 410 and the infrared receiving component 420 are symmetrically arranged so that the transmitters 412 and the receivers 422 correspond one-to-one. The infrared light emitted by the transmitters 412 passes through the preform and is accurately captured by the receivers 422.

[0029] Specifically, the propulsion mechanism 200 includes a push cylinder 210 mounted on the base 100 and a pusher cylinder 220 fixed on the output end of the push cylinder 210. The pusher cylinder 220 has an opening at its front end and a hollow internal structure. The diameter of the pusher cylinder 220 is larger than the diameter of the preform, and the distance between the opening end and the other end of the pusher cylinder 220 is greater than half the height of the preform. The lower end of the pusher cylinder 220 is at the same height as the bottom of the loading groove 311. Furthermore, a connecting rod can be added between the output end of the push cylinder 210 and the pusher cylinder 220 to increase the pushing distance of the propulsion mechanism. When the push cylinder 210 is started, the pusher cylinder 220 smoothly pushes the preform out of the loading groove 311, so that the preform enters the clamping range of the three-jaw cylinder 510 and is firmly fixed by the jaws, ensuring that the preform is stable and does not shake during rotation.

[0030] Furthermore, to improve the feeding efficiency of preforms and enhance automation, a feeding box 320 is provided on one side of the feeding trough 311. The feeding box 320 is divided into two chambers by a baffle 321: a feeding chamber and a driving chamber. A first motor 322 is installed in the driving chamber, and the output end of the first motor 322 passes through the baffle 321 and enters the feeding chamber. The feeding chamber is cylindrical and contains a feeding shaft 323. The outer diameter of the feeding shaft 323 is equal to the inner diameter of the feeding chamber. One end of the feeding shaft 323 is fixedly connected to the output end of the first motor 322. Multiple contour grooves 324 with the same shape as the preforms are provided on the outer wall of the feeding shaft 323; the upper end of the feeding box 320 is provided with a feed inlet 325 that connects to the feeding chamber, and a feed hopper is provided on the feed inlet 325 for temporarily storing the preforms. The bottom opening of the feed hopper is connected to the feeding chamber; a discharge port 326 is provided on the side of the feeding box 320 near the feeding trough 311. The discharge port 326 is connected to the feeding chamber. When the first motor 322 is started, the feeding shaft 323 rotates, and the contour grooves 324 drive the preforms to slide into the feeding trough 311 one by one, realizing continuous automatic feeding.

[0031] Furthermore, in order to facilitate the timely removal of preforms with unqualified wall thickness, a high-pressure air nozzle 530 is provided in the middle of the jaw end of the three-jaw cylinder 510. The high-pressure air nozzle 530 is connected to a high-pressure air pump installed inside the base 100 through an air pipe. When the high-pressure air pump is started, the high-pressure air nozzle 530 sprays air to blow the unqualified preforms out of the jaws and into the defective product discharge port 610, thereby separating qualified preforms from unqualified preforms and improving the qualification rate of the produced products.

[0032] Specifically, a good product discharge port 600 and a defective product discharge port 610 are provided on the upper surface of the base 100. The good product discharge port 600 is located below the three-jaw cylinder 510. When the preform passes the inspection, the three-jaw cylinder 510 is released, and the preform falls into the good product discharge port 600 under gravity. The defective product discharge port 610 is located on the side of the good product discharge port 600 away from the three-jaw cylinder 510. Defective preforms are blown out by the high-pressure air nozzle 530 and fall directly into the defective product discharge port 610 to avoid confusion. The good product collection box and the defective product collection box are located inside the base 100, respectively, below the good product discharge port 600 and the defective product discharge port 610. The good product and defective product collection boxes can be easily removed and sorted by opening the box door 110 on the side of the base 100.

[0033] Specifically, a control box 700 is also provided on the upper surface of the base 100. The control box 700 is connected to the transmitter 412 and the receiver 422. By analyzing the intensity change of infrared light, the bottle wall thickness is calculated, and the bottle wall thickness data is displayed in real time on the display screen 701 on the control box 700. The propulsion mechanism 200, the first motor 322, the fixing mechanism 500 and the high-pressure air pump are all electrically connected to the control box 700. The control box 700 controls the coordinated operation of each component. When the detected bottle wall thickness exceeds the set range, the control box 700 controls the high-pressure air pump to start, blowing out the unqualified bottle preforms, so that the unqualified products fall from the inferior product discharge port 610 into the inferior product collection box, thereby effectively separating the qualified products from the unqualified products.

[0034] In addition, a cable management section is provided on the outer wall of the three-jaw cylinder 510. This section includes multiple protruding rings on the outer wall of the three-jaw cylinder 510, through which the air tube passes. After the three-jaw cylinder 510 clamps the preform, the second motor 520 drives the three-jaw cylinder 510 to rotate one revolution in one direction to detect the preform wall thickness. After the three-jaw cylinder 510 clamps the next preform, the second motor 520 drives the three-jaw cylinder 510 to rotate one revolution in the other direction, repeating the cycle to prevent air tube entanglement, ensuring a smooth detection process and improving equipment operational stability. The push cylinder is also connected to a conventional air pump located inside the base 100 via a connecting pipe. It is worth noting that controlling the cylinder's operation via an air pump is a technique known to those skilled in the art and is achievable; therefore, it will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

[0035] The general workflow of this utility model is as follows: The preform is placed in the feed hopper at the top of the feeding box 320, with the bottle opening facing the fixing mechanism 500. Under gravity, the preform falls from the feed inlet 325 into the contouring groove 324. The first motor 322 drives the feeding shaft 323 to rotate, and the contouring groove 324 causes the preform to slide from the discharge outlet 326 into the feeding groove 311. The drive cylinder is activated, causing the pusher cylinder 220 to move forward, sending the preform to the detection position. The three-jaw cylinder 510 in the fixing mechanism 500 clamps the bottle opening of the preform, and the high-pressure nozzle 530 is aligned with the opening of the preform. The second motor 520 rotates the three-jaw cylinder 510, causing the preform to rotate... The transmitter 412 and receiver 422 work synchronously and transmit the received information to the control box 700. The control box 700 calculates the bottle wall thickness based on the change in infrared intensity and displays it in real time on the display screen 701. When the preform wall thickness is qualified, the control box 700 instructs the three-jaw cylinder 510 to release, and the preform falls into the good product discharge port 600 under the action of gravity and enters the good product collection box. When the preform wall thickness is unqualified, the control box 700 immediately starts the high-pressure air pump, and the high-pressure air nozzle 530 sprays air to blow the unqualified preform to the inferior product discharge port 610, where it falls into the inferior product collection box, thus separating qualified and unqualified preforms and improving product quality.

[0036] Obviously, the above embodiments of this utility model are merely examples for clearly illustrating this utility model, and are not intended to limit the implementation of this utility model. Those skilled in the art can make other variations or modifications based on the above description. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively describe all embodiments here. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, and improvements made within the spirit and principles of this utility model should be included within the protection scope of the claims of this utility model.

Claims

1. An infrared array based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge, characterized in that, include: The system comprises a base and, sequentially, a pushing mechanism, a feeding mechanism, an infrared thickness measuring mechanism, and a fixing mechanism fixed to the base. The feeding mechanism includes a base plate with a feeding groove at its top. The infrared thickness measuring mechanism includes an infrared emitting component and an infrared receiving component, which are respectively positioned on opposite sides of the feeding groove and the fixing mechanism. The infrared emitting component includes a first support and multiple transmitters arrayed on the first support. The infrared receiving component includes a second support and multiple receivers arrayed on the second support. The transmitters and receivers are in one-to-one correspondence, and the straight line containing two corresponding transmitters and receivers passes through the central axis of the preform. The fixing mechanism includes a second motor fixed to the base and a three-jaw cylinder fixedly connected to the second motor. The three-jaw cylinder is used to clamp the preform, and the second motor is used to drive the three-jaw cylinder to rotate.

2. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 1, wherein, The first bracket and the second bracket have annular mounting surfaces on their opposite sidewalls. The transmitter annular array is mounted on the annular mounting surface of the first bracket, and the receiver annular array is mounted on the annular mounting surface of the second bracket.

3. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 1, wherein, The propulsion mechanism includes a push cylinder fixed to the upper surface of the base and a pusher cylinder fixed to the output end of the push cylinder.

4. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 3, wherein, The output end of the push cylinder faces the feeding mechanism, and the bottom of the pusher cylinder is at the same height as the bottom of the feeding trough.

5. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 1, wherein, The top of the base plate is provided with a feeding box, which contains a feeding chamber and a driving chamber, and a baffle is provided between the feeding chamber and the driving chamber; the top of the feeding box is provided with a feeding port, and the side wall of the feeding box is provided with a discharging port, both of which are connected to the feeding chamber.

6. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 5, wherein, The feeding chamber is a horizontal cylindrical structure, and a feeding shaft is provided inside the feeding chamber. Multiple contoured grooves are provided around the outer side wall of the feeding shaft. A first motor is provided inside the driving chamber, and the output end of the first motor passes through the baffle and is fixedly connected to the end of the feeding shaft.

7. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 1, wherein, The end of the three-jaw cylinder away from the second motor is equipped with a high-pressure air nozzle, which is connected to a high-pressure air pump installed inside the base via an air pipe.

8. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 1, wherein, The upper surface of the base is provided with a good product discharge port and a bad product discharge port. The good product discharge port is located below the three-jaw cylinder, and the bad product discharge port is located on the side of the good product discharge port away from the three-jaw cylinder.

9. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge of claim 8, wherein, The base is equipped with a good product collection box and a bad product collection box. The good product collection box is located below the good product inlet, and the bad product collection box is located directly below the bad product inlet.

10. The infrared array-based PET preform wall thickness on-line gauge according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein The upper surface of the base is also provided with a control box, and the control box is provided with a display screen.

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