Medicine Cup Inspection System

This automated inspection system was developed and programmed for inline inspections of human readable information on the tops of 2” diameter medicine cups.

The system was installed over a packaging line and inspected cups as they traveled through the machine on the customer’s existing conveyor. Once a cup traveled into the inspection area, it triggered the camera to read Serial#, as well as Day/Lot code. If the cup passed inspection for correct printing, the cup continued down the conveyor into the pack-out area of the cell. If the cup failed the inspection, the cup was blown off the conveyor into a reject containment bin. After 3 consecutive rejects, the machine shutdown the line.

The system utilized a Keyence Vision Controller with 2MP camera for all inspections and had a handheld barcode reader to input the required inspection information for each specific run. The data was collected and displayed locally on the vision screen during tests and communicated with the line for pass/fail results. A micro-PLC and a color touch screen HMI were used to control this machine and display run data. All electrical components were housed inside a Nema-12 enclosure on the front of the system. The compact footprint allowed for this unit to be directly integrated onto the customer’s line.