ImageFlow

Complete inspection for every converting process

Tried and tested vision inspection software for high-speed roll and sheet manufacturing. Pipeline processing, recipes configured in minutes without a programmer, and every existing ImageFlow capability carried into One Box unchanged.

Inspection solutions built on ImageFlow

One platform, every inspection tool

ImageFlow runs tools in a configurable pipeline. Record production video once, then tune and verify each recipe against it.

100% surface inspection

Adaptive surface inspection for film, paper, foil and nonwovens. Holes, gels, contamination, scratches, wrinkles and splices, classified with up to 40 features per anomaly.

Print inspection

Pattern-adaptive golden-template inspection for flexo, gravure, offset, inkjet and screen. Missing print, smearing, streaks, colour variation and registration, with no operator interaction from job to job.

Web edge and material edge

Tracks cross-direction movement, applies trim, alarms on wander or cracked edges, and keeps the roll map correctly located.

Colour, opacity and formation

Live grid analysis for the slow-moving issues 100% inspection misses: opacity, Delta-E colour, coating variation and nonwoven formation.

Perforation, seam and tear

Learns hole and seam profiles, checks intervals and continuity, and masks them from downstream tools.

Codes, calipers and verification

1D/2D code reading and grading, serialisation checks, caliper measurements and PDF design verification.

Three interfaces for three people

ImageFlow RT

The operator interface. Play, pause, record and stop; one touch to snap a defect, view live video, recall the last defect or toggle the overlay. Recipe selection by product, algorithm and quality level. Operators are trained in minutes.

Tool Manager

The process engineer's configuration tool, at the line or at a desk. Product and recipe management, playback of recorded video through the pipeline, benchmarking of every step's run time, and process profiling.

Inspection Browser

The quality manager's view. A graphical roll map of every run, defect list and measurement tables, Excel reports with a summary page, archived defect images, batch and job IDs, and a link to the rewind module.

ImageFlow operator display
ImageFlow RT operator display.
ImageFlow operator assist
Defects shown in the context of the whole web.

Defects detected

Typical defects on film, foil, paper and nonwovens.

GelsFish eyesHolesSpotsCreasesFractured meltsContaminationBubblesWrinklesSplicesScratchesCoating voidsWater stainsDensity and opacity variation

Astro vision systems

ImageFlow ships on Astro hardware, built entirely from commercial off-the-shelf components to industrial standards.

CamerasLine scan, TDI, contact image sensors, matrix and thermal; colour or monochrome; CameraLink, USB 3 and GigE; unique stitching and blending across multiple cameras
LightingLotus low-power backlight for clear and translucent film; Corona high-power LED for dark field, bright field, backlight and cloudy-day configurations; Ethernet control with closed-loop PID brightness
ProcessingIntel industrial PC with image-pipeline processing; any commercial frame grabber; 1x to 4x speed options
I/O and encoderNational Instruments I/O for sensors, line controller, alarms, taggers and spray markers; encoder interface for real-time defect mapping and rewind control
EnclosuresRittal wall-mounted mini and max units, and an operator workstation with 19-inch touchscreen and tree alarm; fan or AC cooled
Web width and speed150 mm to multi-metre webs; line speeds to 500 m/min and beyond with multi-camera arrays
LocalisationOperator interface in any language from a simple phrase map
LicensingPerpetual, per line

Explore the camera, optics, lighting and software technology behind every system.