Measurement Sensors for the Film and Sheet Industry

While there is no official definition on what separates a film from a sheet, both are relatively thin, flat, and uniformly shaped… especially when compared to material plates.

Measuring film thickness and width is extremely important when it comes to maintaining uniformity. Even slight deviations in dimensions can significantly affect a film or sheet’s performance.

Therefore, the production process relies on measurement sensors to ensure these dimensions stay within specified tolerances. In addition to enhancing product quality, precise measurements lead to greater cost-effectiveness of the entire process by minimizing material waste and optimizing production.

Precise measurement also ensures compliance with industry standards, ensuring correct thickness and width so the product meets regulatory requirements and customer expectations.

Generally speaking, precise measurement and inspection systems are indispensable when it comes to quality control in film and sheet manufacturing. Measurement sensors and the systems they’re integrated with continuously monitor and inspect various product characteristics and properties. This ensures that the end products adhere to the specified requirements and predetermined standards.

Sensor selection is also critical due to the fine thickness of these materials. Using physical sensors might impede the measurement process since the physical contact can deform or even damage the extremely thin object of measurement. Thus, non-contact sensors provide a more viable measurement approach.

As stated, measuring the thickness of these materials has been traditionally done using physical tools and sensors. However, modern laser scanning methods for the film and sheet industry take such measurements without any physical contact with the material surface.

This is where 1D confocal laser displacement sensors, such as the KEYENCE CL-3000 Series, come into play. By positioning these sensors on both sides of the material, opposite to each other, the measurement system can calculate the thickness by subtracting the cumulative displacement from the sensor’s overall distance with ±0.2 µm accuracy.

The same thing applies to 2D triangulation laser displacement; it can be used to measure the thickness and width of film and sheet products. The LJ-X8000 Series provides an in-line multi-point measurement with the world’s fastest sampling rate at 64,000 images per second.

Integration with automation and control systems provides continuous quality control, with sensors feeding vital data from the production lines into various measurement and logging systems. This provides automated feedback within the control system, which enables autonomous real-time adjustments and optimization of the manufacturing process.

Additionally, the data collected from these sensors proves to be invaluable for predictive maintenance and process analytics. This ultimately reduces downtime, cuts costs, and enhances the quality of film and sheet products.

Is your organization looking to improve your film and sheet production process? Look no further than KEYENCE's 1D confocal laser displacement sensors and 2D triangulation laser displacement systems. Contact us today for a consultation on how we can transform your production line!