Other

Wilco Ag

Martin Lehmann

Urban Schnell

Jean-Noel Fehr

Martin Liechti

Karsten Riemer

J&uuml;rgen Steck

A coarse-fine two-stage leak detection is carried out on sealed, filled containers loaded into container holders or 'pucks'. Failure of the first, coarse leak detection stage, e.g. a pressure-course or impedance or laser-absorption based leak detection stage, causes containers to be rejected together with their corresponding container holders. These are then separated, and the container holder is cleaned and dried before being returned to the system. Any leaking product from inside a grossly leaking container is thus retained within the container holder, thus reducing contamination of subsequent containers and their container holders, preventing such contamination from reaching the fine leak detection stage, e.g. a mass-spectrometer-based leak detection stage.

Multistage container leak testing

Inspecting and/or testing of inline conveyed devices is performed in that a monitoring unit is applied to a device. The monitoring unit is removed in a removing area. Within the timespan the monitoring unit is applied to the device, the monitoring unit is operated in a standalone operating mode. During a timespan information about the device to which the monitoring unit is applied is collected in the monitoring unit. This timespan of collecting includes at least a part of the timespan during which the monitoring unit is operated in standalone mode.

Method of inline inspecting and/or testing devices and apparatus to perform such method

Method and system for x-ray detection of flaws in containers or their contents wherein containers are conveyed on a circular path around a central axis upon which an x-ray source is situated below the plane of the base of the containers. The x-ray source emits x-ray radiation obliquely upwards through the containers to a plurality of imaging x-ray detectors. Analysis of the images provided by these x-ray detectors determines the presence of a flaw in a container or its contents and is used to command a rejection mechanism to reject the container in question.

X-ray detection of flaws in containers and/or in their contents

For leak testing closed containers () which are filled with a filling product containing at least one liquid component the container is introduced in a test cavity () which is evacuated at least down to vapor pressure of that liquid component. The pressure in the surrounding of the container () and thus within test cavity () is monitored. Monitoring is performed by a vacuum pressure sensor (), whereas lowering pressure surrounding the container () is performed by a vacuum pump (). Leakage is detected by monitoring a pressure change in the surrounding of the container which is due to evaporation of liquid emerging from a leak and being evaporated in the low pressure surrounding.

Method for leak testing and leak testing apparatus

The present invention relates to methods and an apparatuses for loading and unloading objects into/from corresponding cavities in holders at a high count rate. For loading, a plurality of objects are present on an object path which mutually converges with a holder path. For unloading, the object path mutually diverges from the holder path. Integration of this method and apparatus respectively into a method of manufacturing unleaky containers and a corresponding apparatus for leak testing containers is also proposed.

High-speed loading/unloading of objects

Close containers which are filled with a consumer product are tested on leakiness by means of mass spectrometry () in that an impact (AN(P)) by the consumer product (P) upon the surrounding atmosphere (A(P)) of the container to be leak tested is monitored by the mass spectrometry ().

Method and apparatus for leak testing containers

Closed containers which are filled with a consumer product are tested on leakiness by means of mass spectrometry () in that an impact (AN(P)) by the consumer product (P) upon the surrounding atmosphere (A(P)) of the container to be leak tested is monitored by the mass spectrometry ().

For testing metered-dose-ejection devices, whether the ejected dose accords with a rated dose, the device () is sealingly applied () to a test compartment () and upon machine manipulation on the device (M,) a dose is ejected into the test compartment (). Pressure difference established by such injection and with respect to a pre-established reference pressure () in the test compartment () is monitored by a pressure sensor (). The output signal (o) of this sensor () is indicative of the extent of the addressed dose.

Method for manufacturing or testing metered-dose-ejection devices and testing apparatus therefore

In a leak testing apparatus and a method for manufacturing unleaky closed containers having first and second flexible wall areas with different flexibility characteristics, a biasing member is moved toward and onto the first flexible area and a force detector monitors a biasing force at the second flexible area. A container is considered unleaky if a difference signal from force measuring signals at first and second points in time fulfills a test criteria. Sampling the biasing force monitored which results in the first force measuring signal includes determining maximum biasing force signal value which occurs during a time span up to and including the first point in time.

Methods for manufacturing unleaky closed containers and leak testing apparatus

A method and device for testing containers, the method calling for a difference in pressure to be generated between the pressure inside the container and the pressure immediately surrounding the container, the behavior of one of these pressures permitting the gas tightness of the container to be assessed. A pressure value is stored and subsequently compared with one of the pressures, the stored pressure value being stored electronically and compared with at least one value of the output signal from a pressure sensor. The container is housed in an enclosure which is connected to a pressure or suction line, and a pressure-value storage unit, a comparator unit and a pressure sensor are associated with the pressure or suction line.

Method for testing containers, use of the method, and a testing device

A method of monitoring pressure of a gas species up to at most a predetermined maximum pressure value is disclosed. The method includes exposing the gas species to transmission of laser light, periodically modulating the wavelength of the laser light over a wavelength band including at least one absorption line of the gas species, optoelectrically converting the transmitted laser light, thereby generating an electric output signal, performing at least one of first filtering the electric output signal with a filter characteristic having a lower cut-off frequency not lower than a transition frequency and of second filtering the electric output signal with a bandpass filter characteristic having an upper cut-off frequency not higher than the transition frequency and a lower cut-off frequency above the modulation frequency of the periodic wavelength modulation. The output of at least one of the filterings is evaluated as a pressure indicative signal.

Method of monitoring pressure of a gas species and apparatus to do so

For leak testing closed containers () which are filled with a filling product containing at least one liquid component the container is introduced in a test cavity () which is evacuated at least down to vapour pressure of that liquid component. The pressure in the surrounding of the container () and thus within test cavity () is monitored. Monitoring is performed by a vacuum pressure sensor (), whereas lowering pressure surrounding the container () is performed by a vacuum pump (). Leakage is detected by monitoring a pressure change in the surrounding of the container which is due to evaporation of liquid emerging from a leak and being evaporated in the low pressure surrounding.

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Wohlen AG, Switzerland

Martin Lehmann