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Beverages · Bottle · Can · Carton

Machine vision for beverage lines

Thousands of packs pass through a beverage line every hour. A skewed cap, an underfilled bottle, a dented can or a multipack missing a unit cannot be seen in a sample: they are seen if every pack is checked. With machine vision we check everything at line speed, and any pack that fails is rejected with its photo.

What we check

Each format, with its own faults

Each pack is inspected from where its fault can be seen: from above, from the side or from below. A line can have several cameras, each with its own recipe.

Bottle

Cap, level and label

Cap present, straight and at the right height; fill level within tolerance; label present and correctly applied; neck coding readable; base free of defects.

Can

Dents, tab and coding

Dented or deformed cans, tab present and base coding readable and correct for the current batch.

Carton

Date, cap, straw and seal

Date and batch readable, cap and straw present, and bottom seal correctly made, also with deep learning when the defect varies.

Flavour

The right product

Each flavour has its own recipe: if the wrong one is loaded or a label from another product goes through, the camera detects it.

Label inspection →

Level

Fill level

On clear or translucent bottles, the level of every pack is measured with backlighting.

Fill level inspection →

Bottling line with machine vision inspection

Real speed

Up to 24,000 packs per hour

We work on lines of up to 24,000 packs per hour: around 150 ms per pack to capture the image, inspect it and decide. In real installations we check straw presence and read the coding at 16,000 packs per hour, and cap presence, seal measurement and a three-line code at 14,400.

  • HIKROBOT smart cameras with on-camera processing
  • One recipe per format and flavour: changing over means loading another recipe
  • Photo of every reject, with time, recipe and reason
  • Integration through digital I/O or Modbus TCP, with a rejecter acting on the pack that fails
  • IP65 and IP67 enclosures for the filling area

More than a camera

What happens on the line, on one screen

With TIVOX Sentinel PLUS, the operator sees every camera live, the latest rejects with their photo and the good and bad counters. With TIVOX Cockpit, the plant manager sees the line's OEE and which machine is holding the others back. You can try both without installing anything.

Simulator

TIVOX Sentinel PLUS

Set up an installation for bottles, cans or cartons, trigger faults and see how they are rejected.

Open the simulator →

Demo

TIVOX Cockpit

The OEE of a packaging line, machine by machine, with simulated data.

Open the demo →

FAQ

Answers to the most common questions

What can machine vision inspect on a beverage line?

On bottles: cap, fill level, label, coding and base. On cans: dents, tab and coding. On cartons: date and batch, cap, straw and seal. And on packs and multipacks, that no unit is missing and no other SKU slips in.

How fast does it work?

Today we work on lines of up to 24,000 packs per hour. The exact rate depends on the vision tools in each inspection and is confirmed in the feasibility test.

Can fill level be checked with a camera?

Yes, on clear or translucent packs, with backlighting. On opaque packs (cans, cartons) the camera cannot see the liquid; there another technology is used, such as checkweighing or X-ray, and we tell you so in the study.

How many cameras does a line need?

One for each viewpoint required: from above for the cap or the date, from the side for the level and the label, from below for the base or the base coding, and another for the packs. You can start with one and expand.

What if my case doesn't fit?

We run a remote feasibility test at no cost: you send us photos, videos or samples of your good and bad packs (travel to your plant is not included). What cannot be guaranteed, we tell you up front.

Free remote feasibility test

Does every bottle, can or carton leave as it should?

Send us photos, videos or samples of your packs. We'll tell you what can be checked in-line and at what speed.