Concrete block, paver and slab production places the highest demands on quality control in order to fulfil the constantly growing market requirements. The Hess Inline QC, a system for automatic, non-contact quality control on the production line, offers an innovative solution. This minimises the time required for manual inspection, while ensuring very high accuracy in real-time defect detection.
Function: Automatic quality control in real-time
Inline QC offers automatic quality control on the wet side of the production line. Each production batch undergoes a comprehensive surface inspection to ensure that the concrete blocks, pavers and slabs meet the highest quality standards. The height measurement with color indication ensures intuitive recognition of product quality through objective evaluation.
The freshly produced concrete blocks, pavers and slabs are tested on the wet side immediately after production on the production line using various individually adjustable parameters. Ongoing concrete block, paver and slab production is not interrupted, but continues without delay or stopping the conveyor line. The measurement is carried out using appropriate hardware such as a 3D scanner and a high-resolution color camera. The most important quality parameters are analysed.
Pilot project: Testing during production
An Inline QC prototype was used in a pilot project to test the system as close to production as possible. Over the past months, extensive validation has taken place under real production conditions, with continuous improvements being made. The prototype has now successfully passed all tests in the production environment.
Performance features of the Inline QC
The Inline QC performs a precise height measurement over the entire product layer and can detect height differences with an accuracy of 0.5 mm. These measurements are suitable for product heights from 25 mm to 500 mm.
The color indication in the relief can be used to quickly and easily determine the different heights over a measured layer of product.
Defects are detected from an area of 1 mm², while lift-offs and cracks are detected from a height difference or a width of 0.5 mm. In addition, Inline QC can distinguish between surface pollution and actual defects, achieving an impressive defect detection ratio of 99%, according to the manufacturer.
Using a high-resolution gradient display, even defects on the product’s surface can be detected that are otherwise difficult to recognise.
The minimum sizes for defects can be customised for specific products so that a wide range of quality requirements can be taken into account. Tolerances are entered directly into the plant control.
When defects are determined, a color distinction is made between break-outs (blue), lift-offs (yellow) and cracks (pink) to differentiate between the causes.
Optimisation of production processes
The Inline QC optimises quality control in concrete block, paver and slab production thanks to its precise automatic defect detection and real-time monitoring. The system enables early detection of deviations and defects, helping to improve concrete block, paver and slab production efficiently.
Production statistics allow identifying correlations based on recorded parameters and associated scans. This minimises waste, improves production processes and ensures consistently high quality.
