Mitsubishi Electric Europe's new KD series of contact image sensors (CIS), which are now available from Stemmer Imaging, feature a Camera Link interface, increased working distance and high speeds, and are the first sensors Mitsubishi Electric Europe has produced targeted at the machine vision industry.
Samples of the new KD series will be available before the end of 2012 with mass production starting in the second quarter of 2013. The colour quality in combination with the very high scan rates of this system is impressive. Applications for the CIS technology can be found in all areas where flat objects and materials need to be tested quickly and with high resolution, such as for the inspection of printed circuit boards, printed matter or LCD panels.
The products feature scan widths of 309, 617 and 926mm and have a colour resolution of 600dpi and a working distance of 12mm. The line rate of 23kHz allows scan rates of 960mm/s equivalent to 44µs/line. The contact image sensors supply data in both 8- or 10-bit formats over a configurable Camera Link output. The use of the integrated tri-linear sensors with filter-on-chip and white LED illumination is unusual in industrial CIS products, but is proven in existing line scan cameras.
