Abstract

Apparatus for inspecting glass containers in which an indexing starwheel moves a plurality of containers in series through a plurality of positions or stations where the containers are physically and optically examined.One station, or position, is described in detail as the position where a glass container that is in a vertical position is rotated about its vertical axis by engagement of the finish thereof with a driven wheel. The container, as it is rotated, is viewed by a camera whose lens focuses the sidewall image of the bottle onto a vertical, linear array of light sensitive pick-ups in the camera. The camera is supported relative to the bottle handling system for adjustment up and down, back and forth and sideways so as to have the flexibility of viewing different size bottles. At the station where the sidewall of the bottles is to be inspected, a light source in the form of a tall housing is positioned in a vertical, annular recess of the starwheel. The light source is composed of three columns of five lamps plus a diffusion plate, with the outer columns being lit when viewing flint bottles and the center column is additionally lit when amber bottles are being viewed. The circuit for the lamps is provided with a means to detect the presence of burned out bulbs.