Method and apparatus for detecting glass particles in glass bottles filled with beer
US6275603A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 24, 1998 |
| Grant date | Aug 14, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 24, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG01N21/9027
- WIPO fieldMeasurement
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
This invention provides a method and apparatus (100) for detecting small glass particles (12) in bottles (1) filled with beer (10). The beer (10) is caused to rotate with respect to the bottle (1), and successive images are obtained from the bottle by means of a CCD-camera (40) which is arranged such that its optical axis (41) makes an angle .alpha. of about 135.degree. with the axis (13) of the bottle (1), which is illuminated from below. The successive images are subtracted from each other to detect refracted light emanating from glass particles. These measurements are repeated a plurality of times. The invention thus offers an improvement in sensitivity and reliability of a detecting method. An apparatus (100) comprises a carousel (103) with a plurality of cameras dedicated to a single bottle. A system is described to reduce costs by having eight cameras share one image processing unit.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.