SICK KTM: high-speed sensing performance in a "˜mini' package

With the SICK KTM contrast sensor, print marks are reliably detected on a wide range of packaging media, including reflective materials such as high-gloss foils or where contrast levels are low. So it is especially suited to high-speed packaging, food and drink, cosmetics, printing and other commercial wrapping and labelling operations.

David Hannaby, Product Manager, Imaging & Measurement, states: "The SICK KTM is the ideal solution wherever print marks are used to trigger a switching signal. It provides precise detection of print marks to support high-speed packaging processes such as cutting packaging to length from a pre-printed roll, or positioning and aligning cans, tubes, labels and pre-printed forms."

Whether black or white, colour, matte or shiny, print marks are reliably detected, even where there is a minimal difference in brightness between the print or contrast marks and the background. As well as differentiating between black and white, the sensor has a fine resolution of 20 grey tones to cope with a range of shades, so even minimum levels of contrast are detected.

The SICK KTM's short response time of 35us and wide dynamic range enable precise switching signals and positioning accuracy at high-throughput speeds. Easy to mount, even in restricted spaces, the SICK KTM's high-speed capability means the housing can be mounted perpendicular to the medium. The painstaking process of tilting the sensor to detect shiny materials is only necessary in exceptional cases.

There are two variants of the SICK KTM: the Core and Prime. The KTM Core with its white LED offers a high level of performance for standard applications with simple manual adjustment via an integrated potentiometer. The high-performance KTM Prime is suitable for more challenging applications. The white LED is used as a universal emitted light for the KTM Core. If contrast levels are high enough, a wide range of marks can be detected on the same background using the same switching threshold. When changing products or formats, the switching threshold of the Core versions can be adjusted quickly and simply at the housing without the need for tools.

The KTM Prime uses 3-colour LED technology to offer high-detection reliability for challenging materials with high-gloss surfaces or low levels of contrast. This makes its particularly suitable for any number of colour combinations between marks and backgrounds.

In addition to the intuitive and simple static teach-in function, all KTM Prime sensors have a dynamic teach-in function so that material flow does not need to be interrupted. Format changes can be completed quickly and easily by retrieving the parameter setting of previous jobs from the controller's memory. Further advantages include visualisation of the signal quality and the output of quality characteristics to perform and advanced diagnosis.

For more information on the new SICK KTM contrast sensor, or any of SICK's vision sensors, please contact email [email protected] or visit the website at www.sick.co.uk.