Bottle Label Verification
Challenge
The food and beverage industry often requires verification of labels on products, including labels on bottles. The presence of reflective backgrounds is a limitation of standard diffuse mode sensors.
Solution
Banner’s Q3X versatile, rugged laser contrast sensor including background suppression is ideal for contrast applications where there is also a fixed background that needs to be ignored. In this application, the Q3X background suppression sensor detects the contrast difference between a bottle with and without a label for reliable label detection. With a range up to 50 mm, the Q3X has a tight laser spot able to detect a small change in contrast reliably.
When the Q3X detects the tan label, the intensity readout increases and a discrete output is triggered, indicating the wine label is present. If the label is not present, the intensity readout decreases, and the output remains off. In addition, the Q3X can ignore object greater than 60 mm away, in this case the shiny metal rail which could a false trigger for other sensors.
The Q3X has an intuitive setup, with two tactile buttons located below the display, which provides clear user feedback during configuration and operation. The rugged, metal, laser-marked housing makes the sensor suitable for many environments, even in high pressure wash down situations or where cutting fluids and oils may be present. Several brackets are available to suit many application requirements.