The DELTA MASTER 3 system with its two-dimensional image evaluation offers accurate thickness measurements not only for materials with smooth and flat surfaces but also for materials with heavily structured surfaces. The integrated laser intensity control automatically adapts to the brightness of the surface so that a colour-independent measurement is possible.

Application examples:

-Bitumen sheets

-Rubber and caoutchouc

-Mineral wool

-Foams

-Felts

The Task:

A high percentage of all production goods is made from materials manufactured in continuous sheets. The continuous manufacture of sheets is a process which, although easy to automate, requires continuous monitoring of the sheet thickness.

The solution:

Typical applications can be found installed at companies which produce rubber, bitumen and foam sheets and mineral wool. The continuously produced jet black to light sheets are fed over a reference roller and monitored over the whole width of the sheet by several DELTA MASTER sensors.

The measuring technology:

The DELTA MASTER 3 sensors are based on the principle of optical triangulation. A semiconductor laser projects a fine measuring line onto the surface of the material. The image of this line is recorded by a geometrically ultra-stable matrix CCD camera and evaluated with progressive digital image processing methods.

An optical model of the surface is calculated and the material thickness determined from this which corresponds to that measured by conventional tactile, mechanical measuring instruments. A material thickness is measured without contact up to 50 times per second at any sheet speed even on difficult surfaces on which conventional spot laser triangulation sensors fail due to the surface structure. The DELTA MASTER sensor determines the material thickness from the distance between the sensor and the material surface. Various calibration, difference and compensation methods guarantee accurate and stable measurements even under harsh industrial conditions.

The measuring system:

The modular structure of the DELTA MASTER 3 system allows easy adaptation to the respective production conditions. This applies both for the number of measuring points and for the measuring technique used such as thickness measurement against a reference roller (plate) with permanently installed or traversing sensors and difference thickness measurement with one sensor above and one below the material sheet.

Your benefits:

-area measurement rather than spot measurement

-cotrolled laser intensity

-accuracy and temperature stability of the  CCD chip

-no dangerous radioactive radiation

-no diversion via area weight

-modularly expandable system

The possibilities:

The DELTA MASTER 3 graphic visualisation and operation interface allows production motoring tailored to the setpoints and tolerances of the individual products. The Product Management option offers simple management of the individual products with regard to nominal thickness, tolerances and other settings for every measuring point. The programmable storage of measuring results allows continuous logging of the entire production in the sense of ISO 900x requirements. Numerous interfaces for process control, log printout, warnings, large digit displays and so on are available as options and allow adaptation to practically every production line.

The application:

The DELTA MASTER 3 system offers accurate thickness measurements both for materials with smooth, flat surfaces and materials with heavily structured surfaces. The systems are camera-based and serve for online monitoring and control of the production of bitumen sheets, mineral wool, felts, rubber and caoutchouc sheets, floorings, carpets, open-pore foams, composite materials and much more besides.