Abstract: An electric wire testing apparatus tests the condition of an end portion of an electric wire including a plurality of core wires and a sheath for covering the core wires. The electric wire testing apparatus includes an imaging device arranged to photograph an end surface of the core wires that have been exposed by stripping off the sheath, a counting unit arranged to count the number of the core wires from an image photographed by the imaging device, and a determining unit arranged to determine pass/fail of the condition of the end portion of the electric wire based on whether or not the number of the core wires counted by the counting unit matches a predetermined number.

Abstract: A fiber measurement system for precision measurement of individual fiber properties, including length and fiber length distribution is provided. The fiber measurement system includes a fiber introduction system configured to introduce a plurality of individualized fibers. A fiber guidance enclosure is configured to receive the fibers from the fiber introduction system. The fiber guidance enclosure has an enclosed pathway and a viewing area. The viewing area has a height that limits mobility of the fibers in a Z-direction and the viewing area has a width that is wider than the enclosed pathway. A sensing system is provided for detecting the presence of the fibers within the fiber guidance enclosure. An imaging system is positioned proximal the viewing area of the fiber guidance enclosure to capture an image of the individualized fiber as the fibers pass through the viewing area. A controller is provided for analyzing the image data to determine at least one property of the fibers.

Abstract: A device is disclosed for determining the possible presence of contamination of a container with a decorative exterior, for instance provided with a labelling and/or relief patterns, for liquids such as a drink such as beer or a soft drink. The device includes an irradiating device for irradiating the container with at least a first wavelength (for instance visible light, infrared, ultraviolet, x-radiation), and a recording device for recording a radiation sample of radiation after it has had interaction with at least a part of the container. Further, an orientation determining device is included for determining the orientation of the container relative to the recording device, along with a comparing device for comparing the sample to a reference matching the orientation of the container relative to the recording device during the recording to determine the possible presence of contamination.

Abstract: Apparatus and systems for relatively high throughput counting of elongated strands including silks of a plant are disclosed. One apparatus or system includes segregating similar sized pieces of silks from a section of the plant's silk brush using a tool adapted to obtain uniform samples and system quantitatively counting the pieces by automation. The automated system can be a digital image of the pieces distributed across or above a surface, and image analysis to derive a count of individual pieces. An alternative automated system moves the pieces sequentially and substantially singulated past a detector.

Abstract: The process for the on-line characterization of a surface in motion, preferably a galvannealed sheet, essentially comprises an industrial microscope associated with a stroboscopic laser illumination device, a positioning assembly, an assembly for acquiring and processing images. The obtained view fields vary between 125 ?m and 2000 ?m in width, the spatial resolution is at least 0.5 ?m, and the focussing of the system is precise to a micrometer. The images are taken on a product moving at a speed of between 1 m/s and 20 m/s and are frozen by the use of a stroboscopic illumination device with a duration of illumination of at least 10 ns. The obtained images are processed in several steps. A background average level is first of all regularly evaluated in order to be eliminated from each current image. The processed image is then divided into several zones. The sharpness of each zone is evaluated and stored in memory.