Crack and Flaw Detection in Glass Objects
Glass is commonly used specifically in medicine because it can be tailored to meet exact specifications. Glass is ideal for medical uses since it can be comprised of different compositions and manufactured in precise specifications.
Quality Inspection of Syringes Using Resonance Ultrasonic Vibrations
Unsolved problem in a medical equipment production industry producing glass syringes and their systems is a failure to timely and accurately detect cracks in the product as well as during consecutive steps of the manufacturing process. Companies struggle with reduced manufacturing yield due to breakage and performance failure in a volume ranging from a fraction of a percent and above in various production lines. The problem is due to the lack of a proven, quick and efficient method to detect cracks in syringe components. The example is a J&J recall of 70,000 syringes
[http://www.fiercepharma.com/story/jj-recalls-long-lasting-invega-syringe-cracks/2011-02-16].
Optical (including infrared) crack inspection is the method currently employed in glass industry. Optics is limited to detecting relatively large and clearly visible cracks which constitute a small percentage of all cracks. Optics is also unusable if the inspected part is covered by a non-transparent body, which is the case of medical auto injector devices (see the picture).
Smaller cracks or closed cracks are left undetected contributing to substantial quantities of defective parts. The entire product may become defective and exhibit degraded performance due to development of invisible cracks in the manufacturing process with potential breakage.
Solution
Implementation of a quick and accurate automated crack detection method will give customers a highly demanded unit for state-of-the-art glass syringe production. Producers will achieve a leading edge in the industry benefiting from high yields of “crack-free” syringes possessing high mechanical quality and stability.
Ultrasonic Technologies is an exclusive provider of patented, cost effective and robust solutions to crack detection in the production environment using a proprietary Resonance Ultrasonic Vibration (RUV) technology. Model RUV-2.3 will provide a solution to quickly, with a throughput of 1 unit every few seconds, and non-destructively detecting mm-size cracks in bare syringes and syringe systems. Our RUV systems utilized in other industries have a cycle time of 1.85 seconds per sample, which can be further reduced with multi-head ultrasonic probe offering a possibility for in-line, real-time crack detection. It is anticipated that RUV modules can be integrated into a syringe production line or testing station and customized according to specific features of the manufacturing environment.