Packaging
Q-Test by Cerulean is the First Fully Automated Tube Testing Machine Allowing Manufacturers to Eliminate Manual Testing
Wednesday 23. March 2011 - Industries such as packaging and consumer goods will reduce time to delivery, eliminate labor intensive manual testing process
Today, Cerulean, part of Molins Plc, announced the launch of Q-Test, the first ever fully automated tube testing system for laminate and plastic tubes. Tube testing as part of the packaging process currently requires manual testing which is time consuming and can be inconsistent. Q-Test addresses these issues and is particularly suitable for the medical, personal care and consumer food product industries where high quality packaging is essential.
“Tube producers in these industries need to test a number of parameters during the production process to prevent possible product failures and expensive manufacturing downtime,” said Peter Wilson, global sales manager, Cerulean. “These tests are currently carried out manually, making them labor intensive and open to interpretation with potentially inconsistent results. Cerulean Q-Test removes the need for this manual testing and offers accuracy and repeatability as well as providing a full history of quantifiable results that can be used to help improve product quality.”
Manual testing is labor intensive, may lead to inconsistent results
One of the quality control tests currently carried out manually by tube manufacturers checks whether the weld between the body of the tube and the molded shoulder leaks. If the joint leaks, it is possible for the contents to become contaminated, or in some cases leak from the tube. To conduct this test, a tube is pressurized with an airline and then immersed, by hand, into a bucket of water to see if bubbles appear. This is not only messy, time consuming and involves having water in the production area, but the results from this method are also subjective and cannot always be quantified. Another important test which is currently carried out by hand, using a manual torque gauge, checks whether a tubes cap has been tightened too much, or is too loose.
Tube manufacturers also need to ensure that the joint along the length of the tube, known as the side-seam, is within specification. This is currently tested by cutting a section of the tube with a sharp knife and then examining the joint with a powerful microscope.
These measurements, together with a number of other important checks, are very labor intensive and open to interpretation, leading to inconsistent results depending upon the skill and experience of the operator.
Innovative system automates testing, drives efficiencies
Commented Wilson, “Using Q-Test, it is now possible for tube manufacturers to carry out all of these tests automatically and log the results for future reference.”
Q-Test has two measurement modules: Q-Test 1 is based on pneumatics and measures leak, burst and torque parameters of both plastic and laminate tubes using high quality precision transducers; Q-Test 2 adds the ability to measure length, diameter, ovality and side-seam parameters using both laser and high resolution optical systems. Tubes can be fed to the machine manually, via a hopper or by using an automated transfer system.
Q-Test is supplied with an industrial PC which controls all the mechanical and software aspects of the system. Results can be printed locally, on a network or shared on a company wide database if required, by linking the system to a network via Ethernet.