Method for detecting curved liquid drop angle and device thereof

Abstract

The present application provides a curved surface liquid drop angle detection method for detecting a curved surface on a workpiece, comprising maintaining a drop port at a drop position capable of dropping downward, and moving the workpiece to below the drop port, so that a constant drop height is maintained between the curved surface and the drop port, then allowing the drop port to release a liquid drop to at least one measured point on the curved surface, thereby generating the liquid drop angle, and then detecting the liquid drop angle to determine the quality of the curved surface. To this end, the present application also provides a curved surface liquid drop angle detection device for implementing the above method, thereby improving the problem that the conventional liquid drop angle detection module is difficult to automatically detect the liquid drop angle of the curved surface of the workpiece.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the automatic detection of droplet angles, particularly for workpieces with curved surfaces, involving the release of droplets onto the curved surface and the detection of the droplet angle, and especially to a method and apparatus for detecting droplet angles on curved surfaces. Background Technology

[0002] The droplet angle (also known as the contact angle or water droplet angle) is the angle formed between the interface between a liquid (e.g., water) and a gas (e.g., air) and a solid surface. When the droplet angle is greater than 90 degrees, it indicates that the solid surface is more hydrophobic, meaning that the liquid is less likely to penetrate the solid surface, and the solid surface has better antifouling properties; conversely, when the droplet angle is less than 90 degrees, it indicates that the solid surface is more hydrophilic, meaning that the liquid can easily penetrate the solid surface, and the solid surface has poorer antifouling properties.

[0003] The surfaces of transparent, light-transmitting, or reflective glass or panels (hereinafter collectively referred to as workpieces) widely used in automobiles, solar panels, displays, and other fields generally require cleaning, coating treatment, and droplet angle testing. The purpose of coating the glass is to enhance the smoothness (or flatness) and hardness of the glass surface. Therefore, performing droplet angle testing on the workpiece surface after coating treatment can verify the smoothness and stain resistance of the coated surface.

[0004] Furthermore, it is known that most existing droplet angle detection technologies use a droplet angle detection instrument containing a liquid cylinder and a charge-coupled device (CCD). The liquid cylinder releases droplets onto the surface of the workpiece, and the CCD detects the droplet angle formed between the droplet and the workpiece surface in order to accurately determine whether the smoothness and anti-fouling properties of the workpiece surface meet the established quality standards.

[0005] However, currently, most of the objects that can be tested by droplet angle measuring instruments are only suitable for workpieces with flat surfaces, meaning that after the liquid drips onto the test surface, it can stably stay at the test point on the flat surface for droplet angle detection. In other words, existing droplet angle measuring instruments cannot perform droplet angle detection on workpieces with curved surfaces. However, since the workpieces used in the above-mentioned applications have transparent, light-transmitting, or reflective surfaces, in addition to being planar, they are gradually moving towards a design trend of curvature. For example, the surfaces of automotive reflectors or rearview mirrors, or lamp housings, have mostly evolved from planar to curved shapes. However, existing droplet angle measuring instruments cannot adapt to the curvature changes of curved surfaces to perform droplet and droplet angle detection operations.

[0006] Furthermore, existing droplet angle detection technologies still rely on manual wiping of residual droplets on the tested surface after detecting the droplet angle. In other words, existing droplet angle detection instruments do not have the function of automatically wiping droplets. Summary of the Invention

[0007] This invention aims to address the shortcomings of existing droplet angle detection instruments, which struggle to automate droplet angle detection on curved surfaces and lack automated wiping capabilities for residual droplets on the tested surface. Specifically, this invention focuses on the concept of automatically following the curvature of the surface during droplet detection and automatically wiping away residual droplets from the tested surface, thereby overcoming the deficiencies of existing technologies.

[0008] Therefore, a preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a method for detecting the droplet angle on a curved surface, used to detect a curved surface on a workpiece. The method includes: maintaining a droplet orifice at a position where a droplet can be dropped downwards, and moving the workpiece below the droplet orifice to maintain a constant droplet height between the curved surface and the droplet orifice; then releasing a droplet from the droplet orifice onto at least one test point on the curved surface to generate the droplet angle; subsequently detecting the droplet angle to determine the quality of the curved surface; wherein the curved surface has at least one two-dimensional curvature in space, and the workpiece moves along at least one arc path generated by the curvature.

[0009] The aforementioned method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet, wherein: the droplet orifice is provided by a droplet angle detection module, and the droplet angle detection module maintains the droplet position of the droplet orifice via a horizontally moving slide.

[0010] The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet, wherein: maintaining includes stopping and moving the droplet position at the droplet orifice.

[0011] The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet further includes wiping the droplet on the curved surface after detecting the droplet angle.

[0012] The aforementioned method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet, wherein the wiping is performed by a wiping element provided by a droplet angle detection module, the droplet angle detection module driving the wiping element to wipe the droplet on the test point via a horizontally moving slide.

[0013] The aforementioned method for detecting the angle of a curved droplet, wherein: the droplet angle detection module carries at least one charge-coupled element, and the droplet angle is detected via the charge-coupled element.

[0014] The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet includes the following: the workpiece is moved along the curved path by a multi-axial actuator, and the movement includes midway stopping during the dripping and detection.

[0015] The method for detecting the angle of a curved droplet, wherein: the test point has a unit area for the droplet to adhere, and the tangent of the unit area is perpendicular to the droplet orifice.

[0016] To verify the feasibility of the above method, another preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a curved surface droplet angle detection device, characterized in that it includes:

[0017] A droplet angle detection module is configured to include a liquid cylinder and a charge coupling element, wherein the liquid cylinder has a droplet outlet capable of dripping liquid downwards;

[0018] A multi-axial actuator is disposed beside the droplet angle detection module. The multi-axial actuator can carry a workpiece with a curved surface to move it below the droplet nozzle. The droplet nozzle can release a droplet onto at least one test point on the curved surface, so that the droplet generates a droplet angle at the test point, and then be detected by the charge-coupled device.

[0019] The surface has at least one or two-dimensional curvature in space. The multi-axial actuator follows an arc path generated by the curvature to move the workpiece, thereby maintaining a constant droplet height between the droplet orifice and the measured point.

[0020] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein: the droplet angle detection module is configured on a horizontal moving slide, the horizontal moving slide, together with the multi-axial driver, controls the droplet height between the droplet orifice and the curved surface, and a detection distance between the charge-coupled element and the test point.

[0021] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein: the droplet angle detection module is disposed on the horizontal moving slide via an arm, so that a detection space is generated below the droplet angle detection module to provide movement for the workpiece.

[0022] The curved surface droplet angle detection device further includes at least one wiping element, which is driven by the horizontal moving slide to wipe the droplet on the test point.

[0023] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein: the wiping element is connected to the droplet angle detection module via at least one uniaxial driver, and the wiping element is able to reciprocate and extend to contact the test point on the curved surface via the drive of the uniaxial driver.

[0024] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein the wiping element is a wiping wheel that can rotate freely.

[0025] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein the multi-axial actuator is a robotic arm.

[0026] The curved surface droplet angle detection device, wherein: the test point has a unit area for the droplet to adhere, and the tangent of the unit area is perpendicular to the droplet orifice.

[0027] Based on the above embodiments, the technical effects achieved by this invention are as follows: it enables automated droplet angle detection on the curved surface of a workpiece; furthermore, this invention helps to automatically adjust the position of one or more test points to be dripped, adapting to different curvature variations of the surface while ensuring that the droplet height remains constant, thereby achieving consistent droplet angle detection accuracy and confirming the smoothness and anti-fouling quality of the tested curved surface. In addition, this invention also has the function of automatically wiping away droplets remaining on the tested curved surface after inspection, maintaining the cleanliness of the workpiece and its curved surface after testing.

[0028] Therefore, please refer further to the detailed embodiments and accompanying drawings described below to demonstrate the feasibility of the present invention and the practicality of its technical effects. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the workpiece to be inspected according to the present invention, revealing that the workpiece has curved surface features.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a three-dimensional configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of the droplet angle detection device of the present invention.

[0031] Figure 3 for Figure 2 A magnified 3D schematic diagram of the droplet angle detection module.

[0032] Figure 4 for Figure 2 A front view diagram of the droplet angle detection module when detecting curved surfaces.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of a program block for a preferred embodiment of the droplet angle detection method of the present invention.

[0034] Figures 6a to 6d Sequentially reveal and execute Figure 5 The program shown is a dynamic schematic diagram.

[0035] Figure 7 It is by Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the extended and additionally implemented program blocks.

[0036] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached drawings: 10-Workpiece; 11-Curved surface; 110-Measured point; 110'-First measured point; 110”-Second measured point; 112-Tangent; 113-Arc path; 12-Jig; 13-Claw; 20-Droplet angle detection module; 21-Seat; 22-Liquid cylinder; 221-Droplet nozzle; 222-Droplet; 23-Charge coupling element; 231-Detection lens; 24-Arm; 25-Wiping element; 26-Single-axial actuator; 30-Multi-axial actuator; 40-Horizontal moving slide; H-Droplet height; θ-Droplet angle. Detailed Implementation

[0037] First, please refer to Figure 1 The present invention discloses that the workpiece 10 to be inspected has the feature of a curved surface 11, and the curved surface 11 has at least one two-dimensional curvature in space, such as at least one of the two-dimensional curvatures distributed in the XZ axis coordinates, or multiple of the curvatures distributed in the XYZ axis coordinates, all of which can be regarded as the workpiece and object to be inspected by the present invention. In addition, the workpiece 10 can be a transparent, light-transmitting or reflective glass or panel used in the fields of automobiles, solar panels or displays, for example, after being coated in the manufacturing process, and the hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, smoothness or stain resistance of the curved surface 11 needs to be detected. Furthermore, the shape of the workpiece 10 with the curved surface 11 feature can be a curved body with the corresponding curvature, a curved body with other curvatures, or a polygonal body without curvature. Therefore, the shape of the workpiece 10 should not be limited by the feature of the curved surface 11.

[0038] Secondly, please refer to both. Figures 2 to 4 This invention discloses a surface droplet angle detection device for performing droplet angle detection on the curved surface 11 of the workpiece 10. Wherein, as... Figure 2 As shown, the detection device includes a droplet angle detection module 20 and a multi-axial actuator 30; Figure 3 As shown, the droplet angle detection module 20 utilizes a base 21 configured with a liquid cylinder 22 and at least one charge-coupled device 23; Figure 4 As shown, the liquid cylinder 22 has a downward-facing drip nozzle 221, and the charge-coupled device (CCD) 23 has a detection lens 231 located beside the drip nozzle 221 and downward-facing to detect the surface condition of the object; in a preferred embodiment, the CCD 23 can follow at least one curved path 113 of the desired detected curved surface 11 (e.g., Figure 6a and Figure 6b As shown, two or more detector lenses are arranged so that they are located on both sides or around the liquid cylinder 22, enabling the two detector lenses 231 to be located close to both sides or around the droplet outlet 221, and to detect the three-dimensional image of the droplet released from the droplet outlet 221 on the curved surface 11.

[0039] More specifically, for example Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the droplet angle detection module 20 can be configured on a horizontal sliding stage 40, and the horizontal sliding stage 40 has the ability to move the droplet angle detection module 20 to at least one specific droplet position in at least the X-axis, so that it can subsequently work with the multi-axis actuator 30 to control the droplet height between the droplet orifice 221 and the curved surface 11, as well as the detection distance between the charge-coupled element 23 and at least one test point (described in detail later). Furthermore, the droplet angle detection module 20 can be configured on the horizontal sliding stage 40 via an arm 24, so that a detection space is generated below the droplet angle detection module 20 to provide movement for the workpiece 10.

[0040] In addition, as Figure 3 As shown, the base 21 of the droplet angle detection module 20 is also equipped with at least one wiping element 25, which can be driven by the horizontal moving slide 40 to wipe the droplet on the test point. In a further embodiment, the wiping element 25 can be connected to the base of the droplet angle detection module 20 via at least one uniaxial driver 26, so that the wiping element 25 can reciprocate in the Z-axis direction to contact the test point on the curved surface 11; wherein, the wiping element 25 can be a freely rotatable wiping wheel, which can be made of a water-absorbing cloth wheel.

[0041] For example Figure 4 As shown, the curved surface 11 has a test point 110 used as the droplet location. This test point 110 has a unit area that allows the droplet 222 to adhere, and the tangent 112 of this unit area is perpendicular to the droplet orifice 221. Furthermore, Figure 4 It also reveals that the droplet height H generated between the droplet outlet 221 and the test point 110 where the droplet 222 is attached is constant, and that for a single test workpiece 10, the droplet height H of multiple test points 110 remains constant to facilitate the measurement of the droplet angle.

[0042] Furthermore, the multi-axis actuator 30 can essentially be a multi-axis robotic arm (such as...). Figure 2(as shown), or other drive devices with multi-axis movement capability, are arranged beside the droplet angle detection module 20 to perform multi-axis movement, and the multi-axis drive 30 has a jig 12 that can automatically pick up and release the workpiece 10. The jig 12 is provided with a plurality of claws 13, which can be, for example, suction claws connected to a negative pressure power source, to pick up the workpiece 10 with curved surface 11 from a platform (not shown) and carry the workpiece 10 to move below the droplet port 221. When the drip nozzle 221 is fixed in position on the XYZ axis, the multi-axial actuator 30 can move the curved surface 11 of the workpiece 10 to a predetermined test point 110 directly below the drip nozzle 221 (in the Z-axis direction), maintaining a constant droplet height between the drip nozzle 221 and the test point. This allows the drip nozzle 221 to release a droplet onto the test point 110 of the curved surface 11, creating a droplet angle at the test point, which is then detected by the detection lens 231 of the charge-coupled device 23. Furthermore, the multi-axial actuator 30 can also carry the workpiece 10 along the curved path of the curved surface 11, selecting a second or more test points 110 on the curved surface 11 for dripping and droplet angle detection.

[0043] Next, please refer to Figure 5 This indicates that the process of detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet in this invention is performed in a fully automated manner. Therefore, based on the description of the detection device above, it can be used to implement the curved surface droplet angle detection method of this invention. The detection method sequentially includes the following steps S1 to S5:

[0044] Step S1: Maintain the position of a single droplet. As is known in the background art, detecting the droplet angle of a workpiece using a droplet (e.g., water) is a known technique; however, the feature of this invention in this step is maintaining the position of the known droplet (i.e., maintaining the droplet position). In specific implementation, this invention can rely on… Figure 2 and Figure 3 The liquid cylinder 22 inside the disclosed droplet angle detection module 20 controls the flow rate and timing of the droplets through the droplet outlet 221 at the bottom of the liquid cylinder 22. The droplet outlet 221 must be maintained at a position where it can drip downwards, so that when a droplet (or droplet) is released from the droplet outlet 221, it can fall onto the curved surface of the workpiece by means of gravity.

[0045] The term "maintaining" includes stopping the droplet position and moving the droplet position. Stopping the droplet position means that the position of the droplet nozzle 221 can be fixed by the installation of the droplet angle detection module 20; moving the droplet position means that the position of the droplet nozzle 221 can be moved to follow the curvature or the need to wipe the droplet (details to follow).

[0046] Step S2: Move the workpiece 10 below the droplet position, following the curvature of the side surface 11, and maintain the droplet height H. In specific implementation, the present invention can rely on... Figure 2 The multi-axial actuator 30 shown carries the workpiece 10, moving it along the curved path 113 of the tested surface 11, and maintaining a constant droplet height H at different test points. The curved path 113 is distributed in the XYZ axis coordinates according to the curvature of the surface 11.

[0047] Step S3: Obtain the test point. See details below. Figure 6a and Figure 6b As shown, Figure 6a The multi-axial actuator 30 carries the workpiece 10, enabling the curved surface 11 to move along the curved path 113 to a first test point 110', while maintaining the droplet height H. Figure 6b The multi-axial actuator 30 carries the workpiece 10, enabling the curved surface 11 to move along the curved path 113 to a second test point 110”, while maintaining the droplet height H.

[0048] Step S4: Release the droplet to the test point. For example... Figure 4 As shown, a liquid cylinder 22 filled with a test liquid (e.g., water) releases a droplet 222 through a droplet outlet 221 to the test point 110 on the curved surface 11 while maintaining the droplet height H, so that the droplet generates a droplet angle on the curved surface 11.

[0049] Step S5: Detect the droplet angle. Following step 4, repeat... Figure 6c As shown, the detection lens 231 at the bottom of the charge-coupled element 23 on the droplet angle detection module 20 immediately detects the three-dimensional image of the droplet 222 on the test point 110, thus determining the droplet angle θ, and thereby judging the quality of the test point 110 on the curved surface. The more test points on the curved surface 11 of a single workpiece 10, and the more droplet angles θ are detected, the more accurate the determination of the hydrophilicity, hydrophobicity, smoothness, or anti-fouling properties of the curved surface can be.

[0050] Based on the above description, the surface droplet angle detection method of the present invention can be implemented; in addition, please refer to Figure 7 The method of the present invention is disclosed, except for Figure 5 In addition to the steps described above, step S6, which involves wiping the droplet, is performed following step 5, which involves detecting the droplet angle. Please refer to [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 6dAs shown, the wiping element 25 configured on the droplet angle detection module 20 can follow the curved path 113 and contact the curved surface 11 by means of the horizontal moving slide 40 in the X-axis and the single-axis driver 26 in the Z-axis, so that the wiping element 25 can wipe the droplet 222 on the test point 110 to maintain the cleanliness of the workpiece 10 and its curved surface 11 after the test.

[0051] The above description is illustrative only and not restrictive of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that many modifications, variations or equivalents can be made without departing from the spirit and scope defined by the claims, and all such modifications, variations or equivalents will fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for detecting the angle of a droplet on a curved surface, used to detect a curved surface on a workpiece, the curved surface having at least one test point, characterized in that, include: A droplet is maintained at a position where it can drip downwards, and the workpiece is moved so that the test point on the curved surface is below the droplet, maintaining a constant droplet height between the test point and the droplet. Then, the droplet is released from the droplet onto at least one test point on the curved surface, thereby generating the droplet angle. The droplet angle is then detected to determine the quality of the curved surface. The curved surface has at least one two-dimensional curvature in space, and the workpiece moves along at least one curved path generated by the curvature. The test point has a unit area for the droplet to adhere to, and the tangent of the unit area is perpendicular to the droplet.

2. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The droplet is provided by a droplet angle detection module, which maintains the droplet position of the droplet via a horizontally moving slide.

3. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The maintenance includes stopping and moving the droplet position.

4. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes wiping the droplet on the curved surface after the droplet angle is detected.

5. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 4, characterized in that: The wiping is performed by a wiping element provided by a droplet angle detection module, which drives the wiping element to wipe the droplets on the test point via a horizontally moving slide.

6. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 3, characterized in that: The droplet angle detection module contains at least one charge-coupled element, and the droplet angle is detected by the charge-coupled element.

7. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The droplet angle detection module contains at least one charge-coupled element, and the droplet angle is detected by the charge-coupled element.

8. The method for detecting the angle of a curved surface droplet as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The workpiece is carried along the curved path by a multi-axial drive, and the movement includes midway stops during dripping and detection.

9. A device for detecting the angle of a curved liquid droplet, characterized in that, include: A droplet angle detection module is configured to include a liquid cylinder and a charge coupling element, wherein the liquid cylinder has a droplet outlet capable of dripping liquid downwards; A multi-axial actuator is disposed beside the droplet angle detection module. The multi-axial actuator can move a workpiece with a curved surface so that at least one test point on the curved surface is located below the droplet orifice. The droplet orifice can release a droplet onto the at least one test point on the curved surface, so that the droplet generates a droplet angle at the test point, and then be detected by the charge-coupled device. The surface has at least one two-dimensional curvature in space. The multi-axial actuator carries the workpiece along an arc path generated by the curvature, thereby maintaining a constant droplet height between the droplet orifice and the test point. The test point has a unit area that provides for the adhesion of the droplet, and all tangents of the unit area are perpendicular to the droplet orifice.

10. The curved surface droplet angle detection device as described in claim 9, characterized in that: The droplet angle detection module is configured on a horizontal moving slide, which, together with the multi-axial driver, controls the droplet height between the droplet orifice and the curved surface, as well as a detection distance between the charge-coupled element and the test point.

11. The curved surface droplet angle detection device as described in claim 10, characterized in that: The droplet angle detection module is mounted on the horizontal sliding table via an arm, thereby creating a detection space below the droplet angle detection module that allows the workpiece to move.

12. The curved surface droplet angle detection device as described in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that: The droplet angle detection module is also configured to include at least one wiping element, which is driven by the horizontal moving slide to wipe the droplet on the test point.

13. The curved surface droplet angle detection device as described in claim 12, characterized in that: The wiping element is connected to the droplet angle detection module via at least one uniaxial driver, and the wiping element can reciprocate and extend to contact the test point on the curved surface via the drive of the uniaxial driver.

14. The curved surface droplet angle detection device as described in claim 13, characterized in that: The wiping element is a wiping wheel that can rotate freely.

15. The curved surface droplet angle detection device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The multi-axis actuator is a robotic arm.

Images