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Fill Level and Damaged or Missing Pull Tabs in Canned Beverages

X-Ray technology is used to measure the product fill level in steel, aluminum, glass, plastic and paper containers. An X-Ray tube energized at high voltage is used to produce a low energy X-Ray beam. This X-Ray beam is focused to look through the container in the expected fill level region. As the X-Ray beam penetrates the container, it is attenuated by the amount of product blocking the beam. The beam is monitored by a scintillation detector, which counts the X-Ray intensity after it goes through the container. The level of intensity is proportionate to the fill level of the container. User set rejection limits defines the high or low fill threshold. Five cans of craft beer with proper fill levels were passed through the X-Ray sensor with one can intentionally made to represent a “bad” can with a reduced f ill level. This series of tests clearly demonstrates the abilities of the TapTone T-550 X-Ray sensor to identify and reject cans with improper fill level.