Equipment supplier Olympus has released a portable thickness gauge to measure packaging material integrity.
The Magna-Mike 8600 offers quality control testing of plastic and glass packaging material from as little as 0.001mm through to 25.4mm.
However, it can be extended to other non-ferrous products such as aluminium, paper, wood and foam containers, or used for detecting air bag tear seams.
It is comprised of two main components – a sensor and a test target which can be a ball or wire.
The test target is inserted into the bottle and the sensor emits a small magnetic field that induces a voltage in the target, taking advantage of the Hall Effect.
Variations in material thickness influence the induced voltage, which the sensor records in real time.
The instrument’s display provides easy to read data as the sensor moves along the packaging material, giving minimums, maximums and deviations in thickness.
The Magna-Mike gauge is used by container manufacturers for quality control and assurance as it can thickness-test odd shapes and forms, giving end users assurance that their products are well protected by the container.
