Application of Image-Pro Plus to Measure Characteristic Parameters of Grooved Filter Rod

To describe and measure the characteristic parameters of grooved filter rod accurately, a measuring system based on Image-Pro Plus(IPP) technology was developed. Five groups of standard grooved filter rods with known groove area ratios together with ten sliced grooved filter rods were put under a microscope with their groove ends facing up. The images of the rods were taken sequentially. IPP software was adopted to calculate the characteristic parameters of the filter rods and MINTAB software to analyze the accuracy and precision of IPP measuring system. The results showed that: 1) IPP measuring system was convenient in operation with a simple measuring process and could measure the characteristic parameters(groove area ratio, groove depth, groove number) of grooved filter rods rapidly. 2) There was no linear bias in the measurements of IPP system for groove area ratio and groove depth with acceptable precision of Gage RR 24.66% and 26.40%, respectively. 3) There was no significant difference between the measurements of IPP system under manual mode and automatic mode(P > 0.05). This measuring method provides technical support for studying the tar reducing mechanism of grooved filter and improving the process control in production.