A customer approached Lumetrics with a desire to better understand the thickness profile during the molding process of manufacturing a plastic bottle. Due to cycling mechanical machinery within a 24-inch window around the pre-form, a standard probe (with standoff maximum of 2 inches) could not be used while the machine was running.
Lumetrics designed a custom probe with a standoff distance of over two feet that could be mounted to allow in-situ wall thickness measurement of molten pre-formed plastic bottles just prior to the blow molding operation and the customer was able to obtain thickness data at discrete areas of the bottle and generate the required thickness profile to generate their molding simulation to further understand the science behind their molding process and optimize their feed, pressure, and temperature profiles in their molding machine.
By utilizing Lumetrics OptiGauge technology for thickness measurements the customer was able to significantly reduce their line start up costs as well as reduce the amount of scrap materials based on more accurate real time measurement data. The OptiGauge allows them to fine-tune their setup in a matter of minutes versus the previous hour or more setup time. This is just one example of how Lumetrics delivers cost savings to its customers through the use of our precision metrology solutions.
Lumetrics Principal Opto-Mechanical Engineer, Kyle Hadcock
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