Fused glass detector

Abstract

There is disclosed herein apparatus which views a glass container from above while the container is rotated about its vertical axis. A source of light, preferably a laser, has its beam swept diametrically back and forth across the bottom of the container to be examined. The inclusion of a piece of stuck or fused glass in the container will create a light output in the form of a pair of concentric halos of light above the container finish. The halos are sensed by two concentric arrays of solar cells positioned above the container. The output of the solar cells is fed to logic and reject electronics for selected rejection from a line of ware moving along a conveyor, depending upon whether or not the container has a piece of stuck glass therein. The apparatus and method of determining stuck glass is generally insensitive to mold numbers and other types of optical discontinuities that may be found in the container bottom because of the requirement that an output reject signal is obtained only when a plurality of solar cells are illuminated at the same time.