Challenge: Develop a Custom Force Sensing Application to Withstand Repeated, Abrasive Impacts from a Fill Line

For fill line operators, capturing real-time information of how force impacts within an operation are affecting a bottle or can could help reduce damage losses. The difficulty then becomes finding a force sensing solution that is thin, flexible, and can withstand the rigors of a fill line process.

This is the challenge that MMAAZZ – a Masitek division – sought to solve. Their idea was to develop a model bottle or can that would be sent through the manufacturing process to wirelessly monitor and relay real-time force data. This required embedding force sensors that would conform around the sidewalls of the model product and transmit RF signals through proprietary electronics developed by the company. Naturally, the force sensors needed to be made durable enough to endure repeated collisions from adjacent products, scrapes from rail lines, and impacts from robotic grippers commonly used in fill line operations.

Enter FlexiForce™ sensors.

On top of being thin, flexible, and requiring only simple electronics to operate, FlexiForce sensors are optimized to work in harsh operating environments. MMAAZZ (then Sensor Wireless, Inc.), worked with Tekscan to develop the PressureQC – a custom sensor that could be made to conform to most shapes of bottles and cans. According to Tom MacDonald – Director of Production and R&D for Sensor Wireless – some users have been using the same monitoring device for 2 ½ to 3 years with success. “An operator just needs to isolate a section of line and run the test bottle through anywhere from five to 10 times to get a force profile,” says MacDonald. “The monitoring device eliminates a lot of downtime because adjustments take a few minutes.”

See the PressureQC™ in Action!

Need a force sensing solution that can effectively stand up to the toughest applications? Contact our FlexiForce sales team today.