The optical thickness sensors (TM(C) offer complete on-line inspection of container glass. Containers with thin spots are detected with high precision and are reliably rejected. A wide number of glass factories worldwide use these instruments to provide regular measurement of wall thickness. The measuring principle involves sending out light into the surface of the container to be measured. The reflections of the light coming back from the inner & outer surfaces are projected onto CCD lines using sophisticated optics. The space between the reflections represents the wall thickness. Around 1000 TM(C) sensor units are currently in operation at glass container plants around the world and in this article, the author discusses this instrument for the on-line inspection of glass container thickness & roundness.
