To meet production demands, large scale bottlers rely on automated equipment operating at high speeds over prolonged periods of intense use. Equipment accuracy and consistency are essential to maintain standards. Products that are not correctly filled, capped or labelled may have to be removed from the line and reprocessed, driving down efficiency and productivity and raising expenses.
A challenging application came from a leading manufacturer of labelling equipment who offers high-speed shrink sleeve label applicators designed to process 800 bottles per minute. The company had used standard retro-reflective sensors to detect bottles on the line and trigger a label sleeve to drop down. These sensors did not perform reliably at high speeds. To maximise the machine’s performance potential, the company wanted to install sensors capable of consistent detection and output for high-speed bottling. The manufacturer has integrated the Banner World-Beam QS18LLP series retro-reflective laser sensors onto their shrink sleeve applicators. The very small spot size of the QS18LLP created a more precise output trigger than would be possible using standard sensors; bottles travelled less distance to block the sensor’s effective beam, triggering the output. The QS18 was able to detect the bottles travelling on the line and respond within microseconds, matching throughput speeds of up to 800 bottles per minute.
The compact form factor and flexible mounting options of the QS18LLP allowed the manufacturer to integrate the sensor into its equipment without complicated alterations to design and function. The sensor’s sealed housing and protected circuitry ensured reliable operation in challenging environments and the crosstalk rejection algorithm provided interference immunity from neighbouring sensors. The Banner QS18LLP uses a class 1 visible laser and operates on 10-30 VDC. It offers both PNP and NPN output.
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