Plywood sheet thickness gauging

Production of plywood and OSB (oriented strand board) sheet is highly automated. Several Acuity customers are system integrators who develop specialized instruments for the forest products industry.

One machine builder develops digital instruments for thickness measurement of composites, honeycomb sandwiches, composite wood, concrete and other pultruded materials. He chooses AR600 laser dsiplacement sensors in opposing pairs to dimension wood sheets in several locations. The AR700 with a CMOS detector array performs well on plywood, despite the presence of dark-colored knots. Their systems also employ ceramic piezo transducers for defect recognition on their blow detector system. Thickness gauging is important becasue thin boards are inferior and sheets that are too thick waste materials and resources.

Sawmills and plywood manufacturing plants present special challenges becasue they are dusty environments. All sensor equipment is kept clean using forced air. Air nozzles blow pressurized air across the optical windows to prevent buildup of dust that could diminish the accuracy of measurements.

If you are interested in this application or a similar application of Acuity AR700 laser displacement sensors, please contact Acuity. We would be glad to put you in touch with this integrator located in California.