Beverage
Tooheys Brewery
Simple vision system achieves 100% fault detection rate on high-speed bottle crowning line.
Integrating a user-friendly vision system into a multiple-product bottle crowning line provides a simple solution to fault detecting for leading Australian brewery.
Tooheys currently produces more than 300 million litres of beer annually from its Lidcombe-based brewery in Sydney’s west. Any company operating in a production critical industry on this scale knows just how damaging undetected product defects can be to business and understands the true value of an effective product defect inspection system. At Tooheys, two product lines running multiple bottled products are required to make frequent product changes – often in the course of a 24-hour period. With each product change requiring a change in bottle crown or cap incorrect bottle crowning can occur. Add to this a line speed running at 1200 bottles per minute and it is easy to see why a fast and reliable defect inspection solution was necessary to satisfy Tooheys’ stringent quality controls.
A high-tech solution for high-speed production
Machinery Automation & Robotics’ (MAR) approach to the bottle crowning inspection project at Tooheys was simple. Use advanced technology to create a user-friendly solution. The result is the Cognex Insight 5400 vision system and complementary lighting system selected for its speed and interface ability, its capacity to detect defects in any 360-degree orientation and its robust design – the system undergoes regular wash downs. And the ability to make changes to the threshold determining acceptance of variable product qualities – detecting scratches, water blobs, misprints or print faults, for example – means that the defective product rejection accuracy rate of the Cognex Insight vision system is extremely high.
The vision system at work
Two Cognex Insight 5400 inspection systems are installed on Tooheys’ AB2 bottling lines, each inspecting for correct crown placement on the product selected. Product selection itself is achieved simply via a touch screen/HMI. The camera is mounted on an adjustable post, specifically designed to allow for bottle height variations. Upon product selection the camera is simply would up or down to maintain a camera focal length of 125mm from the top of the bottle crown. Along with the camera itself, the mounting bracket houses a DOAL lighting system, used to emit a red light on to the crowns. The red-cut lens cover filters out ambient light, resulting in a highly accurate image being captured by the camera.
All controls for the camera systems are wired back to the line’s main electrical panel. Within the panel lies the power supply for the DOAL lighting system and the Insight camera. The panel also houses the I/O module. This module interfaces with the camera and the PLC, allowing product changes to be loaded into the camera and output changes to be relayed to the reject mechanism. Consequently, if an incorrect crown is detected the bottle is rejected further down the line via a delayed signal sent from the PLC.
For ease, the cameras can be monitored via an Ethernet connection back to a local PC. Programme changes can also be made at this point with the Cognex Insight Explorer software, making new product changes very simple.
Working together for independence
By adopting a strong teamwork approach to this project MAR has designed and engineered a vision system solution employing user-friendly software, which Tooheys are able to fully operate independently. Acting in an advisory capacity MAR provided assistance with the initial integration process enabling Tooheys’ staff to undertake the vision system installation autonomously. Comprehensive training provided to Tooheys’ staff by MAR on software installation, programming and modifications, bottle crown changeover processes, and basic operational procedures for the Cognex Insight vision system package has allowed Tooheys to undertake subsequent unit installations and programming.
Adding up the benefits
Addressing the issue of defect production detection on high speed, multiple product lines with a simple yet effective integrated vision system solution has provided Tooheys with many benefits including:
• An integrated vision system including electrical and mechanical design, software and functional design, vision I/O interface to PLC, installation, modification and on-line commissioning
• A user-friendly vision system solution and comprehensive training package enabling independent installation, programming and operation by the client
• An effective partnership of world-leading Cognex vision technology and MAR’s extensive vision system integration experience
• Expertise in lens, lighting and camera selections
• A robust and reliable vision system designed for high-speed lines
Tooheys
A canny automation upgrade for brewery’s canning line.
Maintaining peak capacity machine operation while retaining the flexibility to accommodate a number of products were the key elements determining the 2002 automation upgrade by Tooheys brewery in the packaging facility at their Lidcombe site in Sydney’s west. An overhaul of the canning line resulted in a major upgrade of the electrical control by Silverwater-based local systems integrator Machinery Automation & Robotics Pty Ltd.
Tooheys’ canning line comprises two key components: the filler and the seamer. While some dedicated high-speed electronics were in place, both components relied largely on relay control for operation, leading to difficulty in troubleshooting faults. The solution presented by MAR combined all associated inputs and outputs into a single processor and provided operator control via a PanelView and dedicated pushbutton operator stations. A new cabinet to house the PLC was fabricated and the entire system complied with Australian Standards for safety.
The canning line PLC was upgraded to an Allen Bradley ControlLogix, an impressive PLC chosen by Tooheys for its future expansion capabilities. The ControlLogix at Tooheys has both a data highway port and an Ethernet port and functions as the central gateway to the remaining on-site PLC's. During development the programming and testing of the ControlLogix was performed via the Ethernet LAN located at the MAR office. Staff working at the Silverwater premises then mounted the PLC onto a new control panel and the equipment was subjected to extensive testing before transportation to the site for installation.
With a standard production rate of 2000 cans per minute, unidentified problems in the filler or seamer components can be costly to production. The PanelView 550 operator workstation was provided to enable effective operator interaction with the canning process. Where previously faults caused the machinery to halt operation without identifying where the problem had occurred, clear fault indicators on the PanelView now allow operators to quickly locate and eliminate a problem anywhere in the canning process.
Guided by the brewery’s directive for a flexible, highly productive system and with strict adherence to safety guidelines MAR introduced a number of innovative design features:
- inching - allowing the machine to inch forward rather than run at peak capacity reduces set-up times and product wastage;
- upended can detection - immediate detection and ejection of an upended can eliminates problems occurring at both the filler and seamer components and ensures continuous peak capacity production throughout the process;
- missing can detection - detection and removal of a stray can in the seamer component is crucial to maintaining production levels;
- fault indicators - operators no longer need to waste valuable production time investigating machine failure with clear fault indicators incorporated into the new PanelView graphic workstation;
- operator-controlled speed facility - allowing the operator to simply alter the speed of the filler through the PanelView workstation has eliminated the need for an electrician callout to change the variable speed drive;
- enhanced speed control - with a far smoother control of the drive speed, the new system allows the speed of the filler ramp to be reduced more gradually improving overall performance of machinery;
- improved safety mechanisms - automatic door- and gate-locking devices allowing operator access to machinery only when drives are stationary greatly reduce safety hazards and risk of personal injury.
Tooheys’ Packaging Engineer Manager Shane Hawken commends 'the increased reliability and consistently high production in the canning process’ following completion of the upgrade. Initially, the brewery contracted MAR to complete a backup of all PLC programs on site, including a full documentation printout of each PLC in the packaging area and storage of the PLC’s both on fileserver at the Tooheys site and on removable disk. This completed, the brewery then elected to make use of MAR’s off-site program storage service - a service providing the added value of a known backup on a secure MAR fileserver. In the unlikely event of a system failure Tooheys is guaranteed an effective disaster recovery plan through immediate access to their off-site backup.
Ongoing collaboration with Tooheys has guaranteed not only the success of individual projects but also MAR’s understanding of the brewery’s future directives for engineering and maintenance expansion.
With this in mind MAR has recommended all PLC’s be connected via Ethernet or, in the case of the older PLC’s, the data highway. This will enable all PLC’s to be programmed directly from the engineering workstation located at the engineer’s office. Even the outdated PLC’s with only serial port access for programming will be brought on to the Ethernet LAN via RS232 to Ethernet converter boxes. Furthermore, MAR’s extensive knowledge of PLC products will ensure the smooth integration of all Tooheys’ packaging area PLC’s, which currently include equipment manufactured by Siemens, Mitsubishi, Allen Bradley and Schleike.
Tooheys continue to enjoy the benefits of MAR’s partnership style of working. MAR currently provides support across all brands of PLC and is set up to provide assistance with further projects including automation, safety and 24-hour breakdown support. The success of the canning line automation upgrade has ensured that Tooheys’ plans for future enhancements with MAR are already in the pipeline.