In high-output bottling plants, the cap infeed must be continuously monitored. For this task, the R201 series diffuse mode sensors offer maximum precision at close range. They reliably detect even the smallest infeed errors, such as misaligned or damaged bottle caps.

Whether clear glass or PET—bottle materials can present a challenge for the sensor technology used. The R201 series retroreflective sensors are the ideal solution for monitoring transparent bottles under dynamic process conditions. Aligned with a reflector located behind the bottle flow, the sensor detects each bottle with absolute accuracy.

When bundling individual bottles with heat-shrinkable PET film, the technical challenge is to ensure uninterrupted feeding of the film into the shrink unit. For this purpose, Pepperl+Fuchs offers a sensor system consisting of an R201 series retroreflective sensor and a reflector with integrated polarization filter. This allows transparent and reflective objects to be reliably detected.

In modern packaging machines, the sensors often have IO-Link interfaces for transmitting various diagnostic data. In order to enable seamless communication between IO-Link devices and higher-level control systems, Pepperl+Fuchs offers IO-Link masters with OPC UA.

Many packaging machines, for example cartoners, run at high speed around the clock. To immediately detect faults such as carton jams, the VOC industrial event camera provides real-time video feedback. The camera allows event-driven video recording up to 60 seconds before and after a trigger signal. In this way, it enables simple and targeted remote diagnostics.

RFID technology makes it possible to efficiently control containers in conveyor systems. RFID tags in the containers integrate all the required information. In combination with compact RFID read/write devices mounted on the conveyor system, the next process step and the best conveyor route can be determined.