The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 07, 1996
Filed:
Feb. 10, 1995
Peter W Sites, Knoxville, TN (US);
Bernard A Roche, Farragut, TN (US);
Creed F Jones, III, Knoxville, TN (US);
James C Griner, Knoxville, TN (US);
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA (US);
Abstract
On-line inspection of opaque, translucent and transparent elastomer sealed flexible and semi-rigid package seals is provided. In the case of highly reflective opaque seals of various elastomers and colors, low incident angle structured side lighting is used to locate and define the seal and highlight defects within the sealed area. For transparent i.e. highly light transmissive seals, not only is the low incident structured side lighting utilized to define the seal area, but back lighting of the package and seal is provided in order to then locate and classify defects within the seal boundaries. Multiple video images of portions of the area containing the seal and portions of the remaining lidstock are generated by CCD type cameras in response to one or more sensors which detect the presence and proper positioning of the package moving along a conveyor for image acquisition. The images generated are fed to one or more image processors which perform a series of stored program operations which determines if the package is accepted, possibly accepted, or rejected based upon the quality of the seal area and the presence of any defects in the seal boundaries.