What could banknote scanning technology do for your productivity?

Mitsubishi Electric has developed a series of high speed contact image sensor (CIS) for production machines. Originally used for copiers and flat-bed scanners contact image sensors are in almost direct contact with the object to be scanned and offer significant advantages over line-scan cameras including almost instant set-up.

Offering high quality surface inspection with distortion-free image acquisition right up to the edges of the material, the new Mitsubishi Electric Line Scan Bar CIS scans surfaces at speeds up to 1000m per minute and above, in a compact, easy to install format.

Distortion free alternative to line-scan cameras

The CIS offers an ideal alternative to line scan cameras for inspecting defects on flat surfaces. Compared with a line scan camera, the CIS is simple to install, held in place directly above the surface of interest at a fixed height, with all LED illumination and optics built in. Installation is quick and simple compared with the time required to install and align a line scan camera system with its complex set-up and numerous ancillaries.

By being close to the material instead of mounted high above, the CIS also helps to significantly reduce the overall footprint, and therefore the costs and complexity of the machine. Ease of installation and removal means maintenance and support requirements are also significantly reduced. This benefits not only machine builders but also end users who now no longer need to have specialist engineers on standby and who can be assured of minimal downtime in the event of a problem.

Full material width by cascading sensors

Typical application areas for the CIS include the print and thin film production industries, where it can be used to detect surface defects on paper, plastics, fabrics, banknotes and even holograms. The CIS is available in a range of widths that match the most common print sizes, and for larger material widths multiple CIS sensors can be cascaded side-by-side with seamless image acquisition right across the full width of the material. The CIS can also be used for the surface inspection of wood, glass and other materials. In addition, the CIS can form the heart of an automated optical inspection system for circuit boards.

For the end user, this latest advance in high speed imaging offers assurance that the documents/images they print are complete, correct and acceptable in terms of print quality. It also mitigates the risks associated with the printer sending out sensitive financial information to the wrong recipient and maintains client satisfaction levels. For the OEM, this technology can be seamlessly integrated without costly additional rollers, redesigned web paths or complex optical assemblies that are typical with standard camera inspection technologies.

Markus Köhler, Mitsubishi Electric Business Development Manager, comments: “The new CIS offers high quality image acquisition in the smallest footprint ever. Taking up so little space, and with its ease of installation and integration, the CIS is a solution that all machine builders, system integrators and end users have been waiting for. By addressing the widely appreciated challenges associated with using line scan cameras we have a potentially popular, game changing solution. With guaranteed distortion-free image acquisition right up to the edges of the material, and no need to sacrifice resolution for larger material widths, the CIS improves both defect detection and machine throughput.”

Go to Mitsubishi Electric Automation for more information