Optical on-line measurement of the thickness distribution of blow molding parisons

An optical sensor has been developed which can measure the thickness profile of the parison on line just prior to its enclosure in the mold. The device determines thickness by striking the parison at an angle with a laser beam and measuring the separation between the beams that are reflected from the outer and inner surfaces of the parison wall. A prototype was built and tested. The prototype uses three lasers at different angles and can make up to 250 point measurements during a one second scan. A personal computer uses specially developed software to reconstruct the profile of the parison wall from the raw data with an accuracy of ±5%.