Quality measurement for non-extrudable materials: OCS expands its product range with the OTT100 Offline Tape Tester

With the new OTT100 Offline Tape Tester, OCS is introducing a measurement system for the optical quality inspection of polymer materials that cannot be processed using conventional extrusion methods. The system enables automated offline analysis of small film samples, thereby expanding the possibilities for quality control, particularly for speciality polymers and materials with limited processability.

The development of the OTT100 addresses a key challenge in polymer analysis: due to their material properties, some speciality polymers cannot be processed on standard extrusion lines. As a result, continuous optical quality assessment has, until now, been possible only to a limited extent or at great expense.

The OTT100 is based on the tried-and-tested camera technology of the OCS Film Surface Analyser (FSA100V2) and carries out surface inspection fully automatically in offline mode. For analysis, film samples with a typical length of three to ten metres are wound onto specially developed core tubes and then automatically transported through the measuring system. Both material transport and the optical analysis and evaluation are carried out without any manual intervention.

A key feature of the system is the particularly short film path within the unit. This minimises material loss during threading, meaning that even samples as short as approximately two metres are sufficient to yield reproducible and meaningful measurement results. An integrated sequence controller synchronises film transport with the camera-based real-time analysis, ensuring a stable and reproducible measurement process.

The entire measurement and camera system is housed in a sealed industrial enclosure. This reliably eliminates disruptive environmental influences such as dust, extraneous light or air movement, and ensures consistent measurement conditions. The compact system is therefore particularly suitable for laboratory applications, material development, quality control, and research and development processes where only limited quantities of samples are available.

With the OTT100 Offline Tape Tester, OCS is expanding its portfolio in the field of optical polymer inspection to include a solution for applications where online or in-line measurement is not feasible due to the material properties. The system enables objective and reproducible quality assessment even for demanding polymer materials and supports users in the rapid evaluation of material quality and process development.