Automatic Cupping & Earing Measurement Unit featured in Aluminium International Today Publication

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Automatic Cupping & Earing Measurement featured in Aluminium International Today

Huxley Bertram’s Automatic Cupping & Earing Measurement unit is featured in the November/December 2022 issue of Aluminium International Today.  Aluminium International Today is a print and digital journal focused on the production and processing of Aluminium.

Click the link below to read the full article:

Rapid, accurate, repeatable earing measurement

“The above sounds implausible for many people involved in Earing measurement, but Huxley Bertram’s Earing measurement expertise and equipment are making this a reality.”

Innovating in the field of Earing measurement.  Huxley Bertram provide two earing measurement solutions to aluminium rolling mills, Can Body stock manufactures and organisations involved in aluminium research and development.

The ACEM automates the cup forming and earing measurement process.  Data is automatically uploaded to a data warehouse for batch release of aluminium coils. Additionally, the ACEM can be fitted with an automatic lubrication system to apply an exact sample dosage, and a rack in-feed system, for up to 50 aluminium sheet samples.

The Contactless Earring Measurement Unit utilizes laser technology to measure pre-formed aluminium cans, of varied height and width.  The CEMU diagnoses Can forming problems in seconds.

 

New Contactless Earing Measurement Brochure Completed

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Huxley Bertram have released a new brochure detailing the next generation in Earing Measurement, a Contactless Earing Measurement Machine.

Compliant to EN 1669 and ISO 11531, the CEMU diagnosis Can forming problems in seconds.  By utilizing laser technology the machine enables high speed earing measurement, analysis and results.  With the capability of measuring Cans or cups from 33mm to 100mm in diameter and 15mm to 200mm in height.

Key advantages of the Contactless Earing Meaurement Unit

  • Rapid precision Earing Measurement
  • Automatic Grain Detection
  • Cup size flexibility
  • Advanced Earing analysis software

In addition to the base CEMU, the unit can be fitted with wall thickness measurement and back end/lid scan functionality.  By measuring wall thickness, you can identify punch issues during the can drawing process, lubricant application issues or tool wear issues. 3D polar visualisation of the back end of the can or lids allows measurement of curl height, overall height, curl radius, panel depth, inner diameter, out diameter, curl opening and countersink depth.

Want to learn more ? download the Contactless Earing Measurement brochure, by following the link below.

Contactless Earing Measurement Brochure

What is Earing?

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An overview of Earing Measurement for Aluminium sheet metal and can manufacturers. As a leading provider of Earing Measurement Machines to sheet metal and can manufacturers around the world, Huxley Bertram is often asked, “What is Earing?”

“Earing” is a waviness in the top edge of a cup drawn from sheet metal. When a cup is drawn the top edge is noticed to naturally form an oscillating pattern. This results from anisotropy of the rolled sheet caused by the rolling process. Each peak is known as an “Ear” and “Earing” is the ring of ears around the top of the cup. Typically cups form with 4, 6 or 8 ears, in opposing pairs, at specific angles to the rolling direction of the sheet.

Why Measure Earing?

The type, size, position, and proportion of the ears can give significant insight into the quality, formability and crystalline structure of the metal. It is often used for batch release of sheet aluminium. To reduce waste in the can making process, as excess material has to be trimmed off, beverage can makers often specify a “Mean Earing” (% of variation in ear peak to trough vs can height) range from their sheet metal supplier.
Earing Measurement is also used in metal forming research and development.

How is Earing Measured?

All standard Huxley Bertram Earing Measurement machines use a low force high accuracy contact probe to measure the vertical displacement, while a high accuracy rotary encoder measures the rotation position. Contactless laser measurement of the profile is also an option. All our machines comply with EN1669 the European Earing Measurement standard.

How is Data Presented and Analysed

The data from our machines is output in a standard file format which provides easy file exchange and comparison between machines. Our Advanced Earing Analysis Software, which is provided with each machine or as a standalone package, reads the file, creates Cartesian and Polar plots of the data and carries out calculations to indicate the earing characteristics of the sheet metal.
The software uses sophisticated algorithms to compensate for the effects of skew often present in drawn cups due to uneven clamp forces or lubrication in the drawing process. This provides highly reliable and repeatable earing analysis results. After skew compensation a number of further calculations are provided:

  • Mean Earing percentage and absolute value
  • Mean Height
  • Numbers of ears
  • Max and Min Earing values
  • Additional values to indicate the validity of the earing measurement

Multiple different earing profiles can be loaded in the software at once to compare profiles and calculation values. The charts can be manipulated and scaled to make comparison easy.

For more information on Huxley Bertram Earing Measurement machines, visit here