100% In-line Seal Inspection and Monitoring for Better Packaging Results

The need for in-machine 100% seal inspection:
An extra line of defence in (automated) fast production lines requiring high quality packaging

The sealing of premade pouches is a critical phase in the packaging process for many food manufacturers. Wrinkles, folds, and product in the sealing area are the main causes of leaking packages. As food products are often packed under modified atmosphere conditions or contain fluid content, even the smallest leaks result in spillage, reduce shelf life, induce changes in taste, pose health risks, and may also lead to expensive re-calls with potential brand damage.

Engilico, PACRAFT´s subsidiary since 2021,  offers solutions for inline, 100% seal inspection of flexible packages enabling customers to realize better packaging quality, higher productivity, and elimination of manual inspection.

WHAT IS SEALSCOPE®?

Main functionalities:

• Detection and rejection of compromised packages due to wrinkles or product in seal
• Optimization of your packaging process for higher outgoing packaging quality and higher packaging equipment performance and availability
• Monitoring of your sealing process and issuing alarms when exceeding user defined thresholds
• Logging and visualization of production data

SealScope® is compatible with almost all PACRAFT´s pouch packaging machines can verify up to 300 packages per minute.

Using the detection and monitoring tools of SealScope®, the outgoing number of packages with defective seals can be reduced by a considerable factor . Additionally, the overall packaging machine effectiveness can be increased while monitoring the sealing quality.

SEALSCOPE® COMPONENTS

SealScope® consists of one or multiple sensors, a controller cabinet with touchscreen and the intuitive SealScope® software. SealScope® is compatible with a wide range of PACRAFT’s pouch packaging machines with single, duplex or quadruple lanes. Because the pouch packaging can imply different seal steps (pre-heat, seal, cool down). SealScope® can be applied at multiple seal stations to reduce the risk that defective packages are missed at each step, resulting in an effective inspection.

Using the detection and monitoring tools of SealScope®, the outgoing number of packages with defective seals can be reduced by a considerable factor. Alarms can be configured to halt the machine after a user defined number of consecutive defective seals or when the process variation is increasing to allow for timely maintenance. Additionally, the overall packaging machine effectiveness can be increased while monitoring the sealing quality.

SealScope® also offers a solution where other non-destructive inspection technologies, such as vision or infrared cameras all short. Examples are reflections, non-transparent packages, steam-flushed applications

SEALSCOPE® WORKING PRINCIPLE

SealScope® operator view

Auto-calibration results in dynamic limits that follow small process variations 

Different sensitivity levels allow the user to tune rejection rate

 select th

SEALSCOPE® BENEFITS

		INCREASING PACKAGING QUALITY Detection and rejection of compromised seals results in higher outgoing quality. This means longer shelf life, higher customer satisfaction and ultimately a stronger brand image.
		INCREASING PACKAGING LINE PERFORMANCE AND AVAILABILITY Often packaging machines run either too slow (to get acceptable quality) or too fast (with adverse effect on quality). With SealScope® you can determine the optimal machine speed where production output and package quality are maximized. Additionally, rejection of open packages will reduce downstream contamination and standstills.
		END-OF-LINE AUTOMATION SealScope® enables safe end-of-line automation by automating the seal inspection process.
		ELIMINATING MANUAL INSPECTION SealScope® allows the replacement of manual verification by 100% automated seal inspection.
		UNIFORMIZING PRODUCTION PERFORMANCE By comparing SealScope® data from various operators and machines, a better overall production performance can be achieved.
		OPTIMIZED MACHINE OPERATION By verifying the bad packages, the root cause of rejection can be faster determined. This makes it easier for operators and maintenance to keep the machines in optimal operation conditions.

SEALSCOPE® POUCH PACKAGING APPLICATIONS

Pouches are more and more popular and available in different types and materials and ideal for retort applications. They are packaged on rotary or horizontal pouch packaging machines. Example applications are powder, juices, sauces, ready foods (rice/pasta) pet food. Its main field of application includes loose products, granulated products or doughy products.

Application video

Typical products

Powders, pellets, vegetables, ready-foods (rice, pastas), fruits, sauces, meatballs, pet food, nuts, cereals etc

Pouch rejection units (for PACRAFT)

The (single or duplex) pouch rejection unit equipped with SealScope® in-line seal inspection eliminates efficiently defective packages from a pouch packaging line. The unit uses one or two flipping conveyor units operated by pneumatic drives.  Rejected pouches are collected in an easy-to-access removable box. The unit is designed for PACRAFT TT pouch packaging machines.

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SEALSCOPE® REPORTING

Visualization of production data

SealScope® logs hourly production data to visually compare performance over various operators, products and packaging lines.

Logging of production data

SealScope® logs date, time, total packages, number of good/bad packages per product type. This data is available in .txt-format for offline statistical analysis.

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MQTT Connector

All measurement data can be shared to the company network via MQTT connectors. This allows big data analysis & processing to monitor the line performance.

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Operator interactions with SealScope® are logged to obtain 100% traceability.

SEALSCOPE® Options

Thanks to the open system architecture of SealScope®, other measurement sensors/ peripherals can be integrated for seal inspection and monitoring. Following options in SealScope® are available:

Seal Height Measurement: By adding the Seal Height Measurement sensor to a SealScope® setup for pouch packaging applications, it is possible to automatically eliminate pouches where the seal height is too large, too narrow or tapered, during the packaging process.

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Rejection unit: By adding The (single or duplex) pouch rejection unit equipped with SealScope® in-line seal inspection eliminates efficiently defective packages from a pouch packaging line. The unit uses one or two flipping conveyor units and is designed for PACRAFT TT pouch packaging machines.

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Contact Engilico for more information via info@engilico.com
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