Battery Separator AI Visual Inspection Equipment
Battery separator AI visual inspection equipment: for PE/PP microporous films, inline inspection of pinholes, holes, uneven thickness, foreign matter, scratches, coating defects and more, with OK/NG output and line linkage.
Materials Overview
Micropores transmit light to reveal holes; safety-related, with extremely high cleanliness requirements
Battery separator AI visual inspection equipment images PE/PP microporous film; the algorithm identifies pinholes, holes, uneven thickness, foreign matter, scratches, and coating defects, outputs OK/NG results, and interlocks with the production line. It is a key inspection step for lithium battery safety.
The battery separator is the microporous film inside a lithium battery (usually PE/PP), only microns thick, whose role is to isolate the positive and negative electrodes. Its difficulty is "micropores + safety": pinholes and holes directly cause micro-short circuits and are critical defects, while the film is extremely thin and extremely clean, placing very high demands on imaging resolution and the clean environment.
Defects specific to the separator include pinholes, holes, uneven thickness (stripes), foreign matter (metal / dust), scratches and coating defects (uneven or detached ceramic layer). Of these, pinholes are the most critical item to intercept and must be caught exhaustively using transmitted light.
Inspection uses a line-scan camera for continuous full-width imaging, combined with transmitted light and multi-angle reflected light; where cleanliness requirements are high, ambient dust must be controlled so that it does not interfere with imaging. Changing the thickness or whether the material is coated mainly means adjusting the recipe.
Applicable Type
PE Separator
Focus on pinholes and thickness
PP Separator
Focus on pinholes and foreign matter
Coated Separator
With a ceramic layer, the focus is on coating uniformity
Separator Rolls
Continuous material feed, line-scan full-width inspection
Narrow-Width Separator
Special specifications, with the focus on the edges
Common defect
| Defect Types | Typical Manifestations | Inspection Focus Points |
|---|---|---|
| Pinholes | Micropore Penetration | Light transmission is the most critical; a critical item |
| hole | Large Short Shot | Transmitted Light Is the Most Direct |
| Uneven Thickness | Streaks / Local | Externally visible portion |
| foreign matter | Metal, Dust | Cleanliness Metric |
| Scratches | Surface Damage | Requires multi-angle reflected light |
| Coating Defect | Uneven ceramic, detachment | Focus on Coated Surface |
| Edge Defect | Cracked Edge, Serrated Edge | Must Cover Full Width |
| wrinkle | Bending Marks | Low-angle light forms a clear image |
inspection Workflow
Complete chain from loading to judgment
- 01 Separator roll loading and unwinding
- 02 Flattening and tension control in a clean environment
- 03 Line-scan continuous imaging (transmitted light + reflected light)
- 04 Dedicated pinhole inspection
- 05 Defect segmentation and classification
- 06 Edge and web width inspection
- 07 Cleanliness Statistics
- 08 Synthesized OK / NG
- 09 Marking / rejection and image archiving
AI Inspection Principles
AI Visual Inspection Principles
Battery separator inspection relies on "transmitted light + reflection": transmitted light is the most critical for pinholes and holes (fatal items); foreign matter and scratches are made visible with multi-angle reflected light. The film is extremely thin and safety-related, so resolution and a clean environment determine the ceiling.
For illumination, backlight / transmitted light is used for pinholes and holes; low-angle or oblique light for scratches and foreign matter; diffuse light for coating uniformity and color difference. In a cleanroom, ambient dust must be controlled so that it is not falsely judged as a defect.
For judgement, we recommend setting pinholes as the highest priority and counting them separately, and grading foreign matter by size. The specific thresholds must be confirmed by measured testing with OK / NG samples.
Applicable Industry
Applicable equipment
Common Question
Why are pinholes in separators a critical item?
The separator is so thin, can pinholes be imaged?
Can coating problems on coated separators be detected?
Does Ambient Dust Interfere with Inspection?
What is the inspection accuracy?
What samples are needed to develop a solution?
Can It Be Integrated Into an Existing Production Line?
Submit sample testing
Send us OK and NG samples of battery separators of different thicknesses, coated and uncoated. We will run dedicated pinhole and cleanliness measurements and provide an illumination plan with statistical recommendations.
Submitted successfully
We have received your sample testing request. A solution engineer will contact you within 1 business day via contact you.
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Send Us Your Material and We Will Show You the Measured Results
Provide several OK and NG samples of the material, and a solution engineer will run actual imaging and judgement tests on the equipment to give a workable inspection configuration recommendation, rather than reading the datasheet alone.