Straw attachment inspection on drink cartons
A straw visible beside a drink carton is not necessarily attached to it. Distinguish absence from misplaced presence in the saved result.
Line solution
Test this on your samplesStraw applicator inspection for juice boxes
// Short answer
Straw applicator inspection is a camera check of every carton leaving the straw applicator: one vision sensor confirms that a single straw is on the panel, straight and in place, and that a cap is on where the pack has one; a second reads the date code on the carton. Failed cartons are rejected before they are grouped into trays. addaScan builds it on HIKROBOT vision sensors. An indicative installed budget for a typical application is R 110 000 – R 390 000 excluding VAT.
// At a glance
The station in three lines
- Faults caught
- Straw missing, doubled, skew or hanging off the panel; cap missing; date code missing or unreadable
- Configuration
- Two HIKROBOT vision sensors after the straw applicator: straw and cap view, date code view; reject at the filler line
- Line link
- Digital I/O to the reject, or PROFINET or EtherNet/IP where the chosen sensor lists it
// Fit & limits
What this station will not do, and what it needs
What it will not do
- Aseptic integrity: seal strength, leaks and sterility of the aseptic carton are not visual checks and are not claimed.
- Straw glue: how well the straw is glued is not seen; a straw that falls off later is not caught here.
- Contents: fill level and the product inside the carton are not checked.
- Hidden faces: only the panels the two sensors look at are checked.
What makes it work
- Samples: good cartons and cartons with no straw, two straws, a skew straw, no cap and a bad date code.
- Steady cartons: cartons upright and guided at a fixed distance from the straw view.
- A reject point: the filler line’s reject, or room for an air jet and bin before the tray packer.
- The expected date: from the coder or PLC, so the code check follows each date change.
// On South African lines
Juice boxes and portion packs on South African filling lines
Juice boxes and other portion packs with a straw can be filled from cartons made in South Africa: when the President reopened Tetra Pak’s upgraded carton packaging plant in Pinetown, he said it would have the capacity to produce 1,8 billion packs a year (The Presidency, 2024). Tetra Pak makes the packaging; the straw applicator, and the camera that checks it, sit on the juice or dairy filling line that fills the aseptic carton.
The rules that apply are about marking, not straws. For juice, the labelling regulations require every container to carry a batch number that makes the batch traceable, and a date mark that is clearly indicated and may not be removed or altered (R146, 2010). For dairy portion packs, the dairy regulations require the best-before or use-by date and the batch code on each container (R260, 2015). A camera reading the date code on every carton is one way to show the mark is there. The straw is a customer complaint, not a legal duty: a juice box without a straw comes back as a complaint from the shop or the buyer.
What the line reports, and what straw applicator inspection checks
| What the line reports | What a station checks | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| “Packs are going out without straws” | Straw present on the side panel of every carton, after the straw applicator. | A straw that is present but only lightly glued, and falls off later, is not found: glue strength is not visible. |
| “The straw is stuck on skew and sticks out past the edge” | Straw position and angle inside a taught window on the panel. | Small shifts within the window are passed; the window is set on your samples. |
| “Some packs get two straws after the applicator jams” | Straw count on the panel: exactly one. | Two straws lying exactly on top of each other look like one from the side view. |
| “The cap is missing on the bigger cartons” | Cap present on cartons that carry one, from the same view or a second recipe. | Cap tightness and the cap seal are not checked. |
| “The date code on the top is faint or missing” | Date code read by OCR and compared with the expected date and batch for the run. | Reading the code is not grading print quality; the code must be in the camera’s view on every carton. |
// The complete solution
Straw applicator inspection station: hardware, software and installation
Two vision sensors are mounted on the conveyor after the straw applicator: one looks at the straw side of the carton, the other at the date code. Their results go to the PLC, which removes failed cartons before the tray packer and confirms the reject.
[Schematic]Plan view, not to scale
Swipe sideways to see the whole drawing →
[1]: A photoelectric sensor tells the vision sensors a carton has arrived.
[2]: Side-view vision sensor checks the straw is there, single and straight, and the cap is on.
[3]: Top-view vision sensor reads the date code on the carton.
[4]: An air knife on a fast valve removes failed cartons (or the filler’s own reject).
[5]: Confirms the rejected carton left the conveyor.
Hardware
| Component | HIKROBOT example | Role in this station |
|---|---|---|
| Straw and cap vision sensor | HIKROBOT SC2000E colour vision sensor (budget priced on MV-SC2016EC) for the low configuration; an SC3000-series 5 MP sensor (budget priced on MV-SC3050M) for the high one | Checks straw presence, count and position, and cap presence |
| Date code vision sensor | HIKROBOT SC3000-series vision sensor with OCR (budget priced on MV-SC3016C) | Reads the date and batch on every carton |
| Lighting | Built-in light plus a HIKROBOT MV-LRSS-H ring light (low); MV-LRDS-H ring light and MV-LLDS-H bar light (high) | Lights the straw wrapper and the printed code without glare |
| Trigger | HIKROBOT MV-PE photoelectric sensor | Fires both sensors when the carton is in position |
| Reject | Not HIKROBOT: stainless air knife on a fast-switching valve, reject guide and bin (high); the low configuration signals the line’s existing reject | Removes failed cartons before the tray packer |
| Confirmation and mounting | Local supply: confirmation sensor, stainless brackets, cabling and a small panel | Proves the carton left; keeps both views fixed |
Software and vision tools
| Tool or software | What it does here |
|---|---|
| SCMVS existence and count tools | Straw present, exactly one straw, and cap present, in each carton’s image. |
| Pattern match and position tools | Straw angle and position inside the taught window on the panel. |
| OCR and character comparison | Reads the date code and compares it with the date and batch for the run. |
| Deep-learning presence (option) | Where the straw wrapper is hard to separate from the carton print, an SC3000X with DL object detection, trained on your cartons. |
| Recipe per carton size | One recipe per carton size and straw type, selected at changeover. |
Installation and integration
01
Mounting and enclosure
Both vision sensors on stainless brackets on the conveyor after the straw applicator, with a side guide so every carton passes at the same distance from the straw view.
02
Lighting and shrouding
Ring and bar lights angled so the clear straw wrapper does not throw a reflection into the image; a shroud where plant lights reach the conveyor.
03
Trigger and tracking
One trigger per carton; both results are tied to the same carton and tracked to the reject position.
04
PLC link
Pass, fail and reason over digital I/O, or over PROFINET or EtherNet/IP, which the SC2000E and SC3000X spec sheets list; the expected date comes from the coder or the PLC.
05
Reject and confirmation
Air jet with a confirmation sensor, or the filler line’s own reject; if a vision sensor is not ready, cartons are rejected or the line is held, not passed unchecked.
06
Recipes and operator screen
Carton size and straw recipes switched at changeover; reject counts by fault (no straw, two straws, skew, no cap, bad code) on the operator screen.
// Indicative cost in South Africa
What this station costs, excluding VAT
Indicative budget for a typical application of this kind. Every project involves custom requirements (your products, line speed, layout, PLC and acceptance criteria), so the final price differs from case to case. A firm price follows the sample test.
- Low
- R 110 000
- two sensors, existing reject
- High
- R 390 000
- own air-jet reject
- Basis
- Typical application of this kind, indicative
- South African rand, excluding VAT
- Prices as at 2 October 2026
- Travel (Gauteng): outside Gauteng quoted separately
// Included and excluded
The low figure is two vision sensors, one for the straw and cap and one for the date code, signalling the reject already on your line. The high figure uses two higher-resolution sensors and adds an air-jet reject with confirmation. Deep-learning presence is not in either figure; if your carton print needs it, it is priced after the sample test. Changes to the filler, the straw applicator, utilities and VAT are excluded.
Hardware is priced from public list prices converted at the ECB reference rate, plus freight, clearance and margin; engineering at R 900 – R 1 300 per hour. How these ranges are built →
Swipe the table sideways to see the high figure and the basis →
| Cost block | Low | High | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vision hardware (landed, with margin) | R 52 900 | R 140 600 | Low: one colour vision sensor for the straw and cap, one vision sensor for the code, a ring light. High: two SC3000-series sensors, ring and bar lights, stainless air knife and fast valve |
| Software licence | R 0 | R 0 | Vision sensor software is free; no separate licence in either case |
| Local materials and reject | R 15 000 | R 60 000 | Low: two brackets, cabling, light driver, signal to the existing reject. High: stainless mounts, reject guide and bin with confirmation sensor, panel |
| Engineering (recipes, PLC link) | R 27 000 | R 91 000 | 30 h at R 900 to 70 h at R 1 300 |
| Installation, FAT, SAT, training, documents | R 14 400 | R 52 000 | 16 h to 40 h |
| Project management | R 7 200 | R 20 800 | 8 h to 16 h |
| Travel (Gauteng) | R 2 000 | R 4 000 | Outside Gauteng quoted separately |
| Total (rounded) | R 110 000 | R 390 000 | Low: two sensors, existing reject. High: own air-jet reject |
// Related technology
Which technologies this scenario uses, and why
The technologies behind this station, how much each matters here, and where each is explained in depth.
| Technology | Role | Why it matters in this scenario | Read more |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vision sensor (HIKROBOT SC1000–SC3000) | Core | Two fixed views with simple presence and OCR tasks suit vision sensors without a PC. | Choosing a smart camera |
| Presence detection and counting | Core | Straw present and exactly one straw are presence and count checks on every carton. | Presence and counting |
| OCR/OCV of printed codes | Supporting | The date code on each carton is read and compared with the run’s date and batch. | OCR/OCV inspection |
| Colour identification | Supporting | A colour sensor separates a coloured straw wrapper from the printed carton panel. | Surface and colour inspection |
| Deep learning (classification, segmentation, DL OCR) | Supporting | Where busy carton print hides the straw outline, DL presence trained on your cartons is the fallback. | Rule-based vs deep learning |
| PLC link and reject with confirmation | Supporting | Light cartons travel close together: the right one must be removed and the reject confirmed. | PLC and reject integration |
// Acceptance
How the station is proven before handover
Every station is accepted on your products, against numbers agreed in writing before the build. How we deliver →
01
Sample test
Your cartons with good straws and with every straw fault you see (none, two, skew, hanging off), cartons without a cap and with a bad date code, imaged with the proposed sensors and lights; the result says what is reliably found and what is not.
02
FAT with challenge cartons
Before delivery, marked challenge cartons for each fault must each be rejected, and good cartons of each size must pass.
03
SAT on the line
On your line, at production speed, the challenge cartons are run again, and false rejects and escapes are counted over an agreed run of production.
Check the correct attachment on the correct portion pack
Different carton or portion-pack variants may use different straws, caps or attachment positions. The expected attachment belongs to the approved product recipe.
| Decision or event | Check or action | Acceptance boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Attachment presence | Check the visible required component | Presence does not prove attachment strength. |
| Position | Compare with the allowed position for that variant | A shifted pack needs locating before the check. |
| Double or wrong attachment | Challenge examples that resemble a normal attachment | Some internal or hidden differences need another identifier. |
| Code and variant | Verify the required pack identity and variable print | Do not select the expected recipe from the wrong pack. |
Include gloss, folds and normal packaging variation in the sample set. Hold unknown variants and record which check failed.
// FAQ
Questions about straw applicator inspection
What does straw applicator inspection check?
Straw applicator inspection checks every carton after the straw applicator: that one straw is on the panel, in the right place and not skew, that a cap is on where the carton has one, and that the date code is printed and readable. Failed cartons are removed before the tray packer.
Can the camera tell whether a straw will fall off later?
No. The camera sees whether a straw is there and where it sits, not how strongly it is glued. A straw held by a weak glue spot looks the same as a well-glued one. Glue problems are found by the straw applicator’s own checks and by your QA pull tests.
Does it check the aseptic carton seal?
No. Seal strength, leaks and the sterility of an aseptic carton cannot be judged from an image of the outside. This station checks the straw, the cap and the date code only; package integrity stays with the filler’s own controls and your QA routine.
How much does straw applicator inspection cost in South Africa?
An indicative installed budget is R 110 000 – R 390 000 excluding VAT, at 2 October 2026 prices. The low figure is two HIKROBOT vision sensors signalling the reject already on your line; the high figure uses higher-resolution sensors and adds an air-jet reject with confirmation. Both include engineering, installation, FAT and SAT in Gauteng. This is a typical application: every project involves custom requirements, so the final price depends on your products, line and acceptance criteria.
Does it work on Tetra Pak and other portion pack cartons?
It works on the cartons your line runs, whatever the packaging supplier, because it looks at the straw and the code, not the machine. Each carton size and straw type gets its own recipe, taught from your samples. The station is mounted on the conveyor after the straw applicator; nothing inside the filler is changed.
Can the same station read the date code on the juice box?
Yes. The second vision sensor reads the date code by OCR and compares it with the date and batch for the run, so a missing, faint or wrong code fails. Where the code is printed on a different panel from the straw, the two sensors look at different sides of the carton.
Sources
- President Cyril Ramaphosa: opening of the Tetra Pak carton packaging plant, Pinetown, 4 April 2024 (government speech, checked 2026-10-02)
- Regulations relating to the labelling and advertising of foodstuffs (R146, 2010), regs 11 and 12 (regulation (law library copy), checked 2026-10-02)
- Dairy and imitation dairy products regulations (R260, 2015), regs 25 and 29 (gazette (FAO copy), checked 2026-10-02)
- HIKROBOT MV-SC2004EC SC2000E colour vision sensor (colour and OCR tools, protocols) (vendor product page, checked 2026-10-02)
- HIKROBOT MV-SC3013XC SC3000X vision sensor (OCR, DL object detection, protocols) (vendor product page, checked 2026-10-02)
Related:
More line solutions in food and beverage:
Returnable crates →Multipacks →Can ends and dents →Dairy cups →Bread bag closures →Meat tray labels →Wine labels →Sachets and pouches →Staple food bags →Egg cartons and trays →Bottled water (PET) →Food tray seal inspection →Food packaging version verification →Bakery product vision inspection →Returnable glass bottle inspection →
// Next step
Send us cartons with good and bad straws
Describe the line, the products and the fault. We test on your good and faulty samples and reply with a feasibility note and a budget.