European glass container molds manufacturer Omco Group will use Nikon’s LC50Cx digital line scanner to digitize customers' bottle designs, reducing the lead-time from receipt of order to delivery of the finished moulds.
The LC50Cx digital line scanner, manufactured by Nikon Metrology is fitted to a C3V co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM) in one of Omco's seven mould shops, located in the north east Romanian town of Iasi.
The cast iron molds, which are intended for mass production of glass bottles and jars, are sold to fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturers and their supply chains in the beverage, food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and tableware industries, primarily.
In the first stage, Omco will input a customer's design details, which may include decoration as well as lettering that has to be superimposed on a bottle's curved surface.
The bespoke data arrives as a drawing or electronically as a DXF file and staff at the Iasi facility will processes the information and machines a sample of the bottle using CNC equipment such as a DMG / Mori Seiki machining centre, a Doosan lathe and a Baublys engraver.
The result is a physical facsimile of the bottle that is intended from which an epoxy resin copy is made.
Omco Iasi site quality manager Alexandru Geanta said conventional practice and the process route driven by the Nikon Metrology laser scanner differ significantly, in the next step.
"Historically, we sent the resin model to the customer for approval, most often by air due to the urgency of such projects," Geanta said.
The scanner also provides an alternative method to calculate the volume of glass in a bottle or jar that a mould will make, which is done by sealing the preliminary mould base and seeing how much water is required to fill the cavity.
The LC50Cx from Nikon has a 50mm stripe width and scanning rate of 45 stripes per second.
