Glass manufacturing requires special infrared thermometers for noncontact temperature measurement, owing to its physical properties, says innovation leader Optris.

The company introduced the first industry-specific thermal imaging camera Optris PI 450 G7 with 7.9 μm filter to the market at the Glasstec exhibition in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Distributor and manufacturer of control instrumentation and specialised systems Instrotech sales director Scott Hunter says that the Optris cameras are highly regarded in the industry, owing to its compact design and the excellent price:performance ratio, explaining that, with the new G7 model of the PI series, processes in the glass industry can now be regulated by even more highly accurate temperature measurement on glass surfaces.

Application Processes
Further, the Optris PI 450 G7 infrared camera can be used for various tasks in the production, refinement and processing of glass panes, glass bottles and other glass products.

The line-scan camera function – in the tempering of toughened glass – measures the temperature distribution between the heating zone and the cooling zone and automatically regulates heating or cooling elements where necessary.

It can also measure pane temperature during transport of glass panes on conveyor belts using the line-scan feature of the licence-free Optris PI connect software.

Another feature of the Optris is that, at an ambient temperature of up to 70 °C, the infrared camera is fully operational without a cooling jacket. With a jacket size of 46 × 56 × 90 mm3 and a weight of 320 g including the lens, the Optris PI 450 G7 is particularly suited for applications in confined spaces and for installation in industrial facilities.

Moreover, owing to an imaging frequency of 80 Hz, glass products can be continuously tested, even in fast processing. The typical parameters of Optris cameras thus have a high measurement speed of 80 Hz, high optical resolution of 382 × 288 pixels and the compact design has been kept to allow for the capturing of real-time thermal images of everything from glass beads right up to large panes.

The infrared camera is used as a line-scan camera in the field of sheet glass production and offers various possibilities for documenting and controlling the process. This compact, high-performance infrared camera for the glass industry is available with interchangeable lenses and industrial accessories. The camera is shipped with Optris PI Connect – an extensive thermographic analysis software package.