Resin inspection method and resin inspection apparatus

Abstract

The present application relates to a resin inspection method and a resin inspection apparatus. Provided is a resin inspection method capable of accurately determining the degree of deterioration of a recycled material for an inspection object containing the recycled material. The resin inspection method is a method of inspecting a resin material containing a recycled material or a molded product formed of the resin material as an inspection object, including: a spectral characteristic value calculation step (S2) of acquiring a spectral characteristic value of the inspection object at an optical absorption wavelength; and a degree of deterioration estimation step (S5) of estimating a degree of deterioration of the recycled material contained in the inspection object based on the spectral characteristic value of the inspection object. The degree of deterioration estimation step includes: a step of calculating a first regression line corresponding to a recycled material content rate of the inspection object and indicating a correlation between the spectral characteristic value and the degree of deterioration based on a correlation database containing a plurality of correlation data different in at least the degree of deterioration; and a step of calculating the degree of deterioration corresponding to the spectral characteristic value of the inspection object based on the first regression line.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a resin inspection method and a resin inspection apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, there are known inspection devices for optically inspecting the degree of deterioration of resin materials. For example, the device described in Patent Document 1 includes: a light irradiation unit that irradiates light onto the resin material; a light intensity detection unit that receives the light after it has passed through the resin material; and a judgment unit that determines the degree of deterioration of the resin material caused by heating during injection molding based on the detection value of the light intensity detection unit.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-189211

[0004] In recent years, resin materials used for resin molding have incorporated recycled materials. Since the degree of degradation of recycled materials varies depending on the number of times they are recycled, and this affects the quality of the molded product, a method for determining the degree of degradation of recycled materials is desired. However, the optical inspection results of resin materials are affected not only by the degree of degradation but also by the content of recycled materials in the resin material. Therefore, in the detection apparatus of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to accurately determine the degree of degradation of the recycled materials contained in the resin material. Summary of the Invention

[0005] One aspect of this disclosure relates to a resin inspection method that inspects resin materials containing recycled materials or molded articles formed from said resin materials as inspection objects. The resin inspection method includes: a spectroscopic characteristic value calculation step, obtaining the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object at the light absorption wavelength; and a degradation degree estimation step, estimating the degradation degree of the recycled materials contained in the inspection object based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object. The degradation degree estimation step includes: a step of calculating a first regression line based on a relevant database, the relevant database containing multiple relevant data with at least different degradation degrees, the relevant data correlating the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degradation degree of the recycled materials, and the content rate of recycled materials in the resin material; the first regression line corresponding to the content rate of recycled materials in the inspection object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree; and calculating the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object based on the first regression line.

[0006] Another aspect of this disclosure relates to a resin inspection apparatus that inspects resin materials containing recycled materials or molded articles formed from said resin materials as inspection objects. The resin inspection apparatus includes: a spectroscopic analysis unit for acquiring spectroscopic characteristic values ​​at the light absorption wavelength of the inspection object; a storage unit for storing a correlation database containing multiple correlation data with at least different degrees of degradation, the correlation data relating the spectroscopic characteristic values, the degree of degradation of the recycled materials, and the recycled material content of the resin material; and a degradation degree estimation unit that, based on the correlation database, calculates a first regression line corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspection object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​and the degree of degradation, and calculates the degree of degradation corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​of the inspection object based on the first regression line. Attached Figure Description

[0007] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram showing a simplified configuration of the resin inspection apparatus according to this embodiment.

[0008] Figure 2 This is a block diagram showing a simplified configuration of the resin inspection apparatus according to this embodiment.

[0009] Figure 3 This is a graph showing the spectroscopic spectra of multiple resin components (virgin and recycled materials) with different degrees of degradation.

[0010] Figure 4 This is a flowchart used to explain the resin inspection method of this embodiment.

[0011] Figure 5 It is a graph showing the correlation between the degree of degradation of recycled materials and their spectroscopic characteristic values.

[0012] Figure 6 This is a graph showing the correlation between the degree of degradation of recycled materials and the mechanical property values ​​of resin materials when the recycled material content is 100%.

[0013] Figure 7 It is a chart that shows the correlation between the content of recycled materials and the mechanical property values, corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspected object.

[0014] Figure 8 This is a graph showing the correlation between the degree of degradation of recycled materials and their spectroscopic characteristic values ​​when the recycled material content is 100% and 30%, respectively.

[0015] Figure 9 It is a graph showing the correlation between spectroscopic characteristic values ​​and mechanical characteristic values.

[0016] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0017] 1: Resin inspection device; 10: Injection molding machine; 11: Resin feeding section; 111: First feeding section; 112: Second feeding section; 113: Mixing section; 12: Injection section; 13: Molding section; 14: Injection control section; 2A: Spectrophotometer; 2B: Spectrophotometer; 3: Inspection and processing section; 31: Storage section; 32: Processor; 321: Database creation section; 322: Spectrophotometric analysis section; 323: Deterioration estimation section; 324: Mechanical property value estimation section; 325: Molding management section; L1-1, L1-2: First regression line; L2: Second regression line; L3: Third regression line; L4: Fourth regression line; P1: First resin material; P2: Second resin material; P3: Mixed resin material; T1: Inspection table; T2: Inspection table; W: Molded part; DB: Related database. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The following describes one embodiment of this disclosure.

[0019] like Figure 1 As shown, the resin inspection device 1 of this embodiment can inspect both the first resin material P1 added to the injection molding machine 10 and the molded article W injected by the injection molding machine 10. Furthermore, the resin inspection device 1 of this embodiment can manage the injection molding machine 10 based on the inspection results.

[0020] The injection molding machine 10 of this embodiment injects the molded article W into a mixed resin material P3 obtained by mixing a first resin material P1 and a second resin material P2 in any proportion. Here, the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2 have, for example, a granular shape.

[0021] In this embodiment, the first resin material P1 is a recycled resin material (hereinafter referred to as recycled material), and the second resin material P2 is a new resin material (hereinafter referred to as virgin material). Furthermore, recycled material refers to resin material that has undergone recycling treatment, while virgin material refers to resin material that has not undergone recycling treatment, i.e., unused resin material.

[0022] It should be noted that the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2 can be the same type of resin material or different types of resin materials. Furthermore, the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2 can each be a mixture of multiple resins. The type of resin is not particularly limited; examples include ABS resin, polycarbonate resin, polypropylene resin, and talc resin.

[0023] For example, the first resin material P1 can be a recycled ABS resin, and the second resin material P2 can be a virgin ABS resin. Alternatively, the first resin material P1 can be a recycled ABS resin, and the second resin material P2 can be a virgin material composed of a mixture of ABS resin and polycarbonate resin.

[0024] [Composition of Injection Molding Machine 10]

[0025] First, the structure of the injection molding machine 10 will be briefly described. The injection molding machine 10 includes a resin feeding unit 11, an injection unit 12, a molding unit 13, and an injection control unit 14.

[0026] The resin addition unit 11 includes: a first addition unit 111 for adding a first resin material P1; a second addition unit 112 for adding a second resin material P2; and a mixing unit 113 for mixing the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2 supplied from the first addition unit 111 and the second addition unit 112, and adding the mixed resin material P3 to the injection unit 12. Since the first addition unit 111 and the second addition unit 112 are configured to adjust the supply amount to the mixing unit 113, the proportion of the first resin material P1 in the mixed resin material P3 can be adjusted.

[0027] It should be noted that the proportion of the first resin material P1 in the mixed resin material P3 is equivalent to the content of recycled materials in the molded article W, for example, expressed as a weight percentage. Additionally, an inspection table T1, serving as an inspection environment for inspecting the first resin material P1, can be provided upstream of the first addition section 111.

[0028] The injection section 12 and the molding section 13 are not particularly limited, as long as they have the same configuration as conventional ones. For example, the injection section 12 includes: a cylinder for flowing resin material added from the mixing section 113; a heater for heating the resin material in the cylinder; a screw for feeding the resin material in the cylinder to the molding section 13; and a drive section for driving the screw. The resin material added to the injection section 12 melts during the flow in the cylinder and is then injected into the molding section 13.

[0029] The molding section 13 includes a mold, which is filled with resin material injected from the injection section 12; and a mold closing section for closing and opening the mold. The mixed resin material P3 filled into the mold is molded as a molded product W and then removed. The molded product W is sent to the inspection process based on the resin inspection device 1 by any means such as a conveying robot. It should be noted that an inspection table T2, which serves as an inspection environment for inspecting the molded product W, may also be provided downstream of the molding section 13.

[0030] The injection control unit 14 controls the operation of various parts of the injection molding machine 10. For example, the injection control unit 14 sets the supply amount of the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2, the amount of mixed resin material P3 added, the heating temperature, the screw rotation speed, the injection pressure, etc., according to the molding conditions of the molded article W. It should be noted that the injection control unit 14 in this embodiment can set the proportion of the first resin material P1 in the mixed resin material P3 (i.e., the content of recycled material in the molded article W) in accordance with the inspection results input from the resin inspection device 1.

[0031] [Composition of resin inspection device 1]

[0032] The resin inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment uses either a first resin material P1 added to an injection molding machine 10 or a molded article W formed by the injection molding machine 10 as the inspection object for inspection processing. The resin inspection apparatus 1 includes: a spectrophotometer 2A for acquiring spectrophotometric information of the first resin material P1; a spectrophotometer 2B for acquiring spectrophotometric information of the molded article W; and an inspection processing unit 3 for analyzing the spectrophotometric information acquired by either the spectrophotometer 2A or the spectrophotometer 2B.

[0033] Spectrophotometers 2A and 2B acquire spectrophotometric information at multiple wavelengths within a specified wavelength region (e.g., the near-infrared region) by performing spectrophotometric measurements on the object under inspection. Specifically, spectrophotometers 2A and 2B are configured to include: a spectrometer that separates light of the desired wavelength from measurement light reflected (or transmitted) from the object under inspection; and a light-receiving unit that receives the light obtained by the spectrometer and outputs a light signal based on the amount of light received. It should be noted that known spectrophotometers can be used for spectrophotometers 2A and 2B, and spectrophotometric images can be acquired as spectrophotometric information. Furthermore, although not shown in the figures, spectrophotometers 2A and 2B may also include a light source that illuminates the object under inspection with measurement light. Additionally, spectrophotometers 2A and 2B can be implemented using the same device.

[0034] The inspection and processing unit 3 controls the spectrophotometers 2A and 2B, and performs inspection and processing on the object to be inspected based on the spectrophotometric information acquired by the spectrophotometers 2A and 2B. Specifically, as follows: Figure 2 As shown, the inspection processing unit 3 has the basic structure of a general-purpose computer, including a storage unit 31 composed of a memory and the like, and a processor 32 composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. The processor 32 reads and executes the programs recorded in the storage unit 31, and functions as a database creation unit 321, a spectrophotometric analysis unit 322, a degradation estimation unit 323, a mechanical characteristic value estimation unit 324, and a molding management unit 325.

[0035] The database creation unit 321 creates a related database DB and stores it in the storage unit 31. In this embodiment, the related database DB contains multiple related data. Each related data includes various information such as spectroscopic characteristic values, the degree of degradation of recycled materials, the content of recycled materials, and mechanical property values, and these are interrelated. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the related database DB preferably contains at least multiple related data with different degrees of degradation, and includes related data corresponding to virgin materials.

[0036] It should be noted that the database creation unit 321 can also create a separate database DB for each type of inspection object. Furthermore, the database creation unit 321 can create separate databases DB corresponding to the resin material and to the molded article W, or it can create a general database DB.

[0037] The spectrophotometer 322 calculates the spectrophotometer spectrum of the object under inspection based on the spectrophotometer information acquired by the spectrophotometers 2A and 2B. It should be noted that the spectrophotometer 322 in this embodiment calculates the spectrophotometer spectrum using the absorbance spectrum as the spectrophotometer spectrum.

[0038] Furthermore, the spectroscopic analysis unit 322 calculates the spectroscopic characteristic value at the light absorption wavelength based on the spectroscopic spectrum of the object under inspection. Specifically, in this embodiment, the spectroscopic analysis unit 322 calculates the second-differential spectrum by performing a second-differential operation on the spectroscopic spectrum, and uses the second-differential value at the light absorption wavelength as the spectroscopic characteristic value. In addition, in this embodiment, the second-differential value that becomes the spectroscopic characteristic value is a value obtained by standardizing the second-differential value of the original material.

[0039] It should be noted that when the spectral information is a spectral image, any number of pixels can be used as measurement points, and the average value of the spectral feature values ​​obtained from multiple measurement points can be used.

[0040] The degradation degree estimation unit 323 calculates the degradation degree of the recycled material contained in the inspection object based on the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​calculated by the spectroscopic analysis unit 322. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the number of times the recycled material has undergone recycling treatment, i.e., the number of recycling cycles, is used as a parameter to represent the degradation degree. For example, the degradation degree equivalent to the virgin material undergoing one recycling treatment is shown as "recycled once," and the degradation degree equivalent to the recycled material undergoing one recycling treatment after molding is shown as "recycled twice."

[0041] The mechanical property value estimation unit 324 calculates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material contained in the test object at any resin content. It should be noted that the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 in this embodiment calculates the Charpy impact strength as the mechanical property value.

[0042] The molding management unit 325 calculates the recycled material content rate corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material contained in the inspection object and the target value of the mechanical properties of the inspection object, and outputs the calculated recycled material content rate to the injection molding machine 10.

[0043] [Relationship between degradation degree and light absorption]

[0044] The relationship between degradation degree and light absorption in this embodiment will be explained.

[0045] In ordinary resin materials, light absorption occurs at the wavelength (light absorption wavelength) corresponding to the molecular vibrational energy of the functional groups. Here, as the degree of degradation of the resin material increases, the amount of light absorbed at the light absorption wavelength (light absorption amount) decreases because the chemical structure of the functional groups in the resin material is replaced by other structures.

[0046] For example, Figure 3 This shows the spectroscopic spectra (normalized second-differential absorbance spectra) of several resin materials with different degrees of degradation. It should be noted that... Figure 3 In this context, the resin material is ABS resin. Additionally, in... Figure 3 The image shows the spectroscopic spectra of the virgin material and the spectroscopic spectra of the recycled material at any one of the following degradation levels: 5, 10, and 20.

[0047] exist Figure 3 In the spectroscopic spectrum shown, peaks due to light absorption are observed in multiple light absorption wavelengths (e.g., light absorption wavelengths in the first overtone region, second overtone region, or combination region). Additionally, in Figure 3 In the spectroscopic spectrum shown, the greater the degradation, the higher the peak height at the light absorption wavelength. This means that the greater the degradation, the less light is absorbed at the light absorption wavelength.

[0048] The relationship between degradation degree and light absorption as described above can also be applied to mixed resin materials containing recycled materials and virgin materials in arbitrary proportions, and to molded articles W formed from such mixed resin materials. The rationale is that in the mixed resin materials and their molded articles W, the virgin materials and recycled materials are uniformly distributed while maintaining the structure of functional groups, thereby generating light absorption corresponding to the respective concentrations of the virgin and recycled materials.

[0049] Here, when the absorbance of the mixed resin material at the light absorption wavelength is set as Amix, the absorbance of the virgin material at the light absorption wavelength is set as Av, the absorbance of the recycled material at the light absorption wavelength is set as Ar, the content of the virgin material in the mixed material is set as Cv, and the content of the recycled material in the mixed material is set as Cr, the following formula (1) holds.

[0050] Amix = Av × Cv + Ar × Cr… (1)

[0051] Furthermore, the spectroscopic characteristic value of this embodiment is a value obtained by quantifying the amount of light absorption at the light absorption wavelength. Therefore, the spectroscopic characteristic value of this embodiment can be substituted into the absorbance in the above formula (1). Specifically, when the spectroscopic characteristic value of the mixed material at the light absorption wavelength is set as Fmix, the spectroscopic characteristic value of the virgin material at the light absorption wavelength is set as Fv, the absorbance of the spectroscopic characteristic value at the light absorption wavelength is set as Fr, the content of the virgin material in the mixed material is set as Cv, and the content of the recycled material in the mixed material is set as Cr, the following formula (2) holds.

[0052] Fmix=Fv×Cv+Fr×Cr…Equation (2)

[0053] [Relationship between mechanical properties and light absorption]

[0054] The relationship between the mechanical property values ​​and light absorption in this embodiment will be explained.

[0055] In common resin materials, the amount of light absorbed at the light absorption wavelength is strongly correlated not only with the degree of degradation but also with the mechanical properties. This can be attributed to the chemical structural changes caused by the degradation of the resin material, which affect not only the amount of light absorbed but also the mechanical properties.

[0056] Furthermore, the relationship between the mechanical property values ​​and light absorption of this embodiment can also be applied to mixed resin materials containing recycled materials and virgin materials in any proportion, and to molded articles W formed from such mixed resin materials.

[0057] Therefore, it can be said that the mechanical property values ​​are proportional to the light absorption (or spectroscopic characteristic value), the degree of deterioration, and the content of recycled materials.

[0058] [Resin Inspection Method]

[0059] The resin inspection method of the resin inspection apparatus 1 based on this embodiment will be described in more detail.

[0060] As described below, the resin inspection method of this embodiment includes the following steps: a preparation step, creating a relevant database DB; a first inspection step, taking the first resin material P1 added to the injection molding machine 10 as the inspection object; and a second inspection step, taking the molded article W formed by the injection molding machine 10 as the inspection object. It should be noted that the first inspection step and the second inspection step can be implemented independently, or either step can be omitted.

[0061] [Preparation Process]

[0062] The database creation unit 321 creates a related database DB corresponding to the type of inspection object (e.g., type of resin, condition of the inspection object, etc.). At this time, the database creation unit 321 creates the related database DB by acquiring relevant data from multiple samples (samples of the first resin material P1 or the molded product W) with at least different degrees of deterioration and storing it in the storage unit 31. It should be noted that the relevant data can be created by the resin inspection device 1 or provided externally.

[0063] For example, when the resin inspection device 1 generates relevant data, the spectrophotometers 2A and 2B perform spectrophotometric measurements on multiple samples with different degrees of degradation, and the spectrophotometric analysis unit 322 calculates spectrophotometric characteristic values ​​based on the spectrophotometric measurement results of the samples. Here, the degradation degree of the recycled material, the recycled material content, and the mechanical properties related to the sample are known and are input from the outside. The database creation unit 321 correlates the spectrophotometric characteristic values ​​calculated by the spectrophotometric analysis unit 322 with the known information input from the outside to form relevant data, and stores this relevant data in the storage unit 31.

[0064] Furthermore, when the resin inspection device 1 generates relevant data, the spectrophotometer 322 can also specify the light absorption wavelength based on the spectrophotometric measurement results of the sample. In this case, the spectrophotometer 322 can calculate the spectrophotometer spectrum based on the spectrophotometric measurement results of the sample, and specify any wavelength showing a peak in the calculated spectrophotometer spectrum as the light absorption wavelength. At this time, the spectrophotometer 322 can also specify the wavelength where the difference in the second derivative value between resin materials with different degrees of deterioration reaches a predetermined value or higher as the light absorption wavelength. For example, in this embodiment, the wavelength is... Figure 3 In the second derivative absorbance spectrum, 1144 nm is set as the light absorption wavelength.

[0065] It should be noted that information about the wavelength of light absorption can also be provided externally.

[0066] For ease of explanation, the relevant database DB in the following description includes data on virgin materials (0 times recycled, 0% recycled material content) and data on each recycled material (100% recycled material content) with any degree of degradation (e.g., 5 times recycled, 10 times recycled, and 20 times recycled).

[0067] [First Inspection Step]

[0068] Reference Figure 4The flowchart below describes the first inspection step. It should be noted that, as described above, the first inspection step is performed on the first resin material P1 added to the injection molding machine 10. In this embodiment, the first resin material P1 is a recycled material, therefore its recycled material content is known to be 100%. The timing of the first inspection step can be any time before the first resin material P1 and the second resin material P2 are mixed.

[0069] First, the spectrophotometer 2A performs spectrophotometry on the object under inspection (step S1). The spectrophotometer 322 calculates the spectrophotometer spectrum of the object under inspection based on the spectrophotometer measurement results, and calculates the spectrophotometric characteristic value at the light absorption wavelength based on the calculated spectrophotometer spectrum (step S2).

[0070] Next, the degradation estimation unit 323 refers to the relevant database DB to determine whether there is relevant data corresponding to the recycled material content (=100%) of the inspected object (step S3). In this embodiment, since the relevant database DB contains relevant data on recycled materials (i.e., recycled material content 100%) (step S3; yes), the degradation estimation unit 323 estimates the degradation degree of the recycled material of the inspected object by directly utilizing the relevant database DB (step S5).

[0071] Specifically, the degradation estimation unit 323 calculates, based on the relevant database DB, the first regression line L1-1 (referring to) that corresponds to the recycled material content (=100%) of the inspected object and represents the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree. Figure 5 It should be noted that the first regression line L1-1 is expected to be calculated using a linear approximation method. Then, the degradation estimation unit 323 calculates the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object based on the first regression line L1-1. Here, the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object is the value calculated in step S2. Figure 4 The example first regression line L1-1 calculates a degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value (=0.248) of the inspected object as 15 regenerations. Therefore, the degradation degree estimation unit 323 can estimate that the degradation degree of the recycled material in the inspected object is 15 regenerations.

[0072] Next, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 refers to the relevant database DB to determine whether there is relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material of the inspection object (= 15 times of recycling) (step S6). In this embodiment, since the relevant database DB does not contain relevant data for 15 times of recycling (step S6; no), the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 estimates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material of the inspection object (= 15 times of recycling) (when the recycled material content is 100%), and interpolates the relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object into the relevant database DB (step S7).

[0073] Specifically, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 calculates, based on the relevant database DB, a second regression line L2 (referring to) that corresponds to a 100% recycled material content and represents the correlation between the degree of degradation and the mechanical property value. Figure 6 It should be noted that the second regression line L2 is expected to be calculated using a linear approximation method. Then, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 calculates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material in the inspection object based on the second regression line L2. Here, the degree of deterioration of the recycled material in the inspection object is the value calculated in step S5. Figure 5 The example of the second regression line L2 yielded a mechanical property value of 13.3 kJ / m corresponding to the degree of degradation of the recycled material in the inspected object (= 15 recycling cycles). 2 Therefore, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 can estimate the mechanical property value (in the case of 100% recycled material content) corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material of the inspection object (= 15 times of recycling) as 13.3 kJ / m. 2 Then, the mechanical property estimation unit 324 will estimate or set relevant data related to the object under inspection (spectral characteristic value: 0.248, degradation degree: 15 regenerations, mechanical property value: 13.3 kJ / m). 2 The recycled material content (100%) is stored in the storage unit 31, thereby enabling the interpolation of the relevant database DB.

[0074] Next, the molding management unit 325 calculates the recycled material content corresponding to the target value of the mechanical properties (step S8). Here, the target value of the mechanical properties is not particularly limited, for example, it is a value input from an external source.

[0075] Specifically, the Molding Management Department 325, based on the relevant database DB, calculates the third regression line L3 (referring to the correlation between the degree of degradation of recycled materials in the inspected objects and the mechanical property values) that corresponds to the degree of degradation of recycled materials. Figure 7 At this point, the relevant data available from the relevant database DB for calculating the third regression line L3 is the relevant data corresponding to the degree of degradation of the inspection object interpolated in step S7 (recycled material content 100%, mechanical property value 13.3 kJ / m). 2 ) and relevant data on virgin materials pre-included in the related database DB (recycled material content 0%, mechanical property value 18.4kJ / m 2 It should be noted that the third regression line L3 is expected to be calculated using a linear approximation method. Then, the molding management unit 325 calculates the recycled material content corresponding to the target value of the mechanical properties based on the third regression line L3. Figure 7The example third regression line L3 can be used to calculate the target value of the mechanical properties (e.g., 16.0 kJ / m). 2 The corresponding recycled material content is 46.9%.

[0076] Finally, the molding management unit 325 outputs the recycled material content (=46.9%) calculated in step S8 to the injection control unit 14 of the injection molding machine 10 (step S9). The injection control unit 14 can control the resin addition unit 11 based on the input recycled material content and adjust the proportion of the first resin material P1 in the mixed resin material P3 (i.e., the recycled material content in the molded article W). As a result, the injection molding machine 10 can mold an article W with the desired mechanical properties.

[0077] [Second Inspection Step]

[0078] Refer again Figure 4 The flowchart below illustrates the second inspection process. It should be noted that, as described above, the second inspection process is performed on the molded product W formed by the injection molding machine 10. The timing of the second inspection process is not particularly limited; it can be performed at any time after the injection molding machine 10 begins forming the molded product W. For example, each molded product W continuously formed by the injection molding machine 10 can be inspected. It should be noted that the recycled material content of the molded product W being inspected is known (e.g., 30%).

[0079] First, the spectrophotometer 2B performs spectrophotometry on the object under inspection (step S1). The spectrophotometer 322 calculates the spectrophotometer spectrum of the object under inspection based on the spectrophotometer measurement results, and calculates the spectrophotometric characteristic value at the light absorption wavelength based on the calculated spectrophotometer spectrum (step S2).

[0080] Next, the degradation estimation unit 323 refers to the relevant database DB to determine whether there is relevant data corresponding to the recycled material content (=30%) of the inspected object (step S3). In this embodiment, since there is no relevant data corresponding to the 30% recycled material content in the relevant database DB (step S3; no), the degradation estimation unit 323 interpolates the relevant data corresponding to the 30% recycled material content in the relevant database DB (step S4).

[0081] Specifically, the degradation degree estimation unit 323 uses the correlation formula between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the recycled material content (refer to formula (2) above) to calculate the relevant data corresponding to a 30% recycled material content based on the relevant data already included in the relevant database DB. For example, the degradation degree estimation unit 323 can calculate the spectroscopic characteristic value Fmix corresponding to any degradation degree (e.g., 5, 10, or 20 times of recycling) and a 30% recycled material content using the following formula (3) (refer to formula (2) above). Figure 8 Here, Fv is the spectroscopic characteristic value of the original material, and Fr is the spectroscopic characteristic value of the regenerated material with the same degree of degradation (regenerated 5, 10, or 20 times) as the relevant data created.

[0082] Fmix=Fv×(70 / 100)+Fr×(30 / 100)…Equation (3)

[0083] Then, the degradation estimation unit 323 stores the spectroscopic characteristic value Fmix calculated by the above formula (3) and the corresponding data together as related data in the storage unit 31.

[0084] It should be noted that the spectroscopic characteristic value Fr used as the source of relevant data can be either the value in the relevant database DB or the value calculated from the first regression line L1-1 mentioned above.

[0085] In addition, assuming that relevant data exists in the relevant database DB corresponding to the recycled material content (=30%) of the inspected object (step S3; yes), then step S4 can be omitted, just like the first inspection process.

[0086] Next, the degradation estimation unit 323 estimates the degradation degree of the recycled material of the inspection object based on the interpolated related database DB (step S5).

[0087] Specifically, the degradation estimation unit 323 calculates, based on the interpolated correlation database DB, the first regression line L1-2 (refer to) that corresponds to the recycled material content (=30%) of the inspected object and represents the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree. Figure 8 It should be noted that the first regression line L1-2 is expected to be calculated using a linear approximation method. Then, the degradation estimation unit 323 calculates the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection based on the first regression line L1-2. Here, the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection is the value calculated in step S2. Figure 8 The example first regression line L1-2 calculates a degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value (=0.007) of the inspected object as 15 regenerations. Therefore, the degradation degree estimation unit 323 can estimate that the degradation degree of the recycled material in the inspected object is 15 regenerations.

[0088] Next, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 refers to the relevant database DB to determine whether there is relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration (= 15 times) of the recycled material of the inspection object (step S6).

[0089] Here, similar to the first inspection step described above, if the relevant database DB does not contain data related to 15 regenerations (step S6; no), the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 estimates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material of the inspection object (= 15 regenerations) (when the recycled material content is 100%), and interpolates the relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object into the relevant database DB (step S7). It should be noted that since the specific method of step S7 can be referred to in the description of the first inspection step described above, the description here is omitted.

[0090] On the other hand, if relevant data corresponding to the degradation degree (= 15 regenerations) exists in the relevant database DB (step S6; yes), step S7 is omitted, and the process proceeds to the next step S8.

[0091] Next, the molding management department 325 calculates the recycled material content corresponding to the target value of mechanical properties (step S8). It should be noted that since the specific method of step S8 can be referred to in the description of the first inspection process above, the description here is omitted.

[0092] Finally, the molding management unit 325 outputs the recycled material content calculated in step S8 to the injection control unit 14 of the injection molding machine 10 (step S9). The injection control unit 14 can control the resin addition unit 11 based on the input recycled material content and adjust the proportion of the first resin material P1 in the mixed resin material P3 (i.e., the recycled material content in the molded article W). As a result, the injection molding machine 10 can mold an article W with the desired mechanical properties.

[0093] [Effects of this implementation method]

[0094] (1) In the resin inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the processor 32 of the inspection processing unit 3 implements the resin inspection method of this embodiment by reading and executing the program stored in the storage unit 31. The resin inspection method of this embodiment is a method for inspecting a molded article W formed from a first resin material P1 containing recycled material or a mixed resin material P3 as the inspection object. It includes: a spectroscopic characteristic value calculation step (step S2), which obtains the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object at the light absorption wavelength; and a degradation degree estimation step (step S5), which estimates the recycled material in the inspection object based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object. The degradation degree estimation step includes: calculating first regression lines L1-1 and L1-2 based on a relevant database DB, where the relevant database DB contains multiple relevant data with at least different degradation degrees. The relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degradation degree of the recycled material, and the content of recycled material in the resin material. The first regression lines L1-1 and L1-2 correspond to the content of recycled material in the inspection object and represent the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree; and calculating the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object based on the first regression lines L1-1 and L1-2.

[0095] Therefore, according to the resin inspection apparatus 1 or resin inspection method of this embodiment, even when the object to be inspected contains recycled materials at various contents, the degree of deterioration of the recycled materials in the object to be inspected can be accurately determined.

[0096] (2) The method of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value of this embodiment is based on the spectroscopic measurement results obtained by performing spectroscopic measurement on the object under inspection using multiple wavelengths to calculate the spectroscopic spectrum of the object under inspection, and the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection at the light absorption wavelength is calculated based on the spectroscopic spectrum.

[0097] In this method, there is no need to apply a load to the object being inspected, and the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​of the object can be easily obtained.

[0098] (3) The method for calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value in this embodiment is based on the spectroscopic spectrum or the differential spectrum obtained by performing one or more differential operations on the spectroscopic spectrum to calculate the spectroscopic characteristic value.

[0099] In this method, since the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​appropriately reflect the changes caused by the deterioration of the recycled material, the degree of deterioration of the recycled material can be determined with high accuracy through the spectroscopic characteristic values.

[0100] (4) The step of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value in this embodiment is based on the spectroscopic spectrum or the differential spectrum obtained by performing one or more differentials on the spectroscopic spectrum, and specifies the light absorption wavelength of the object to be inspected.

[0101] In this method, a suitable light absorption wavelength can be specified for each object being inspected, thus enabling the degree of degradation of the recycled material to be determined with high precision using the spectroscopic characteristic value corresponding to the light absorption wavelength.

[0102] (5) The resin inspection method of this embodiment also includes: a first interpolation step (step S4), which, before the degradation estimation step, interpolates the relevant data corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspection object to the relevant database DB based on the correlation formula between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the recycled material content.

[0103] In this method, even if the recycled material content of the inspected object is not pre-included in the relevant database DB, the first regression line L1-2 corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspected object can still be obtained. Therefore, even if the inspected object contains recycled materials with more diverse content, the degree of degradation of the recycled materials in the inspected object can be accurately determined.

[0104] (6) The relevant database DB of this embodiment contains at least a number of relevant data with different degrees of deterioration. The relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, degree of deterioration, content of recycled materials and mechanical property value of resin material. The resin inspection method of this embodiment also includes: a content calculation step (step S8), which calculates the third regression line L3 corresponding to the degree of deterioration of recycled materials in the inspection object and representing the correlation between the content of recycled materials and mechanical property value based on the relevant database DB, and calculates the content of recycled materials corresponding to the target value of mechanical property based on the third regression line L3; and an output step (step S9), which outputs the content of recycled materials calculated by the content calculation step to the injection molding machine 10.

[0105] In this method, when using recycled materials with an estimated degree of degradation, the recycled material content for achieving the desired mechanical property values ​​can be determined. Furthermore, by outputting the determined recycled material content to the injection molding machine 10, a molded article W with the desired mechanical property values ​​can be manufactured.

[0106] (7) The resin inspection method of this embodiment further includes: a mechanical property value calculation step, which calculates a second regression line L2 representing the correlation between the degree of deterioration and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database DB, and calculates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object based on the second regression line L2; and a second interpolation step (step S7), which interpolates relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object and including the mechanical property value calculated by the mechanical property value calculation step before the recycled material content calculation step.

[0107] In this method, even if the degree of degradation of the inspected object is not pre-included in the relevant database DB, the second regression line L2 corresponding to the degree of degradation of the inspected object can still be obtained. Therefore, even if the inspected object deteriorates to various degrees, the above-mentioned calculation steps of recycled material content can be performed accurately by interpolating relevant data on the degree of degradation of the recycled material of the inspected object.

[0108] (8) Furthermore, in this embodiment, the recycled materials contained in the resin material or molded article can be inspected in a non-destructive, non-contact, and simple manner. This makes it possible to perform full inspection of mechanical properties that were previously determined through sampling. In addition, since the quality of the molded article W can be managed at a high level, stable quality can be achieved even in recycled products with previously large quality deviations. Furthermore, because full inspection is possible, the required product specifications can be met, increasing the amount of recycled materials used.

[0109] [Variation Example]

[0110] This invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Any modifications and improvements made within the scope of achieving the purpose of this invention are included in this invention.

[0111] (Variation Example 1)

[0112] In the second inspection step of the above embodiment, the mechanical properties of the molded article W are managed by outputting the content of recycled material corresponding to the target value of mechanical properties to the injection molding machine 10, but the mechanical properties of the molded article W can also be managed in other ways.

[0113] Specifically, in the second inspection process of the above embodiment, steps S8 and S9 can also be omitted. In this case, after step S7, the molding management unit 325 performs the following steps: an increase / decrease determination step, which determines the increase or decrease of the recycled material content based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object; and an output step, which outputs the increase / decrease instruction determined by the increase / decrease determination step to the injection molding machine 10. The increase / decrease determination step includes: calculating, based on a relevant database, the fourth regression line L4 (refer to) that corresponds to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object and represents the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the mechanical property value. Figure 9 The steps include: comparing the spectroscopic characteristic value F1 corresponding to the target value of the mechanical properties with the spectroscopic characteristic value F2 of the inspected object on the fourth regression line L4, and determining the increase or decrease of the recycled material content based on the comparison results. It should be noted that the fourth regression line L4 is expected to be calculated using a linear approximation method.

[0114] Here, Figure 9Regarding the data points on the quadratic regression line L4, as exemplified, higher recycled material content shifts the data points to the right, while lower recycled material content shifts them to the left. Therefore, when the "spectral characteristic value F1 corresponding to the target mechanical property value" < the "spectral characteristic value F2 of the object under inspection," the molding management unit 325 determines to reduce the recycled material content. On the other hand, when the "spectral characteristic value F1 corresponding to the target mechanical property value" > the "spectral characteristic value F2 of the object under inspection," the molding management unit 325 determines to increase the recycled material content. It should be noted that when the "spectral characteristic value F1 corresponding to the target mechanical property value" = the "spectral characteristic value F2 of the object under inspection," the molding management unit 325 determines that maintaining the current state is sufficient. Furthermore, the amount of reduction or increase can be, for example, a predetermined amount.

[0115] Assume the target value for mechanical properties is 16.0 kJ / m. 2 According to the situation Figure 9 The example quadratic regression line L4 corresponds to the target value of 16.0 kJ / m for the mechanical properties. 2 The corresponding spectroscopic characteristic value is 0.011. Therefore, when the mechanical property value of the object under inspection is greater than 16.0 kJ / m², the relevant characteristic value is 0.011. 2 In this case, it was determined that increasing the recycled material content would shift the data point on the fourth regression line L4 to the right. On the other hand, when the mechanical property value of the object under inspection is less than 16.0 kJ / m... 2 In this case, we determined to reduce the content of recycled materials so that the data points on the fourth regression line L4 would shift to the left.

[0116] (Variation Example 2)

[0117] In the above embodiment, the estimated mechanical property value is included as a step in the second interpolation step (step S7), but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, in the resin inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the estimated mechanical property value can also be estimated in a timely manner, separately from the first inspection step or the second inspection step. Specifically, the mechanical property value estimation unit 324 can also perform a mechanical property value calculation step in a timely manner. The mechanical property value calculation step includes: calculating a second regression line L2 representing the correlation between the degree of deterioration and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database DB, and calculating the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the recycled material in the inspection object based on the second regression line L2.

[0118] (Variation Example 3)

[0119] In the above embodiments, the relevant data included in the relevant database DB are exemplified by relevant data for virgin materials (0 times recycled, 0% recycled material content) and relevant data for recycled materials of any degree of degradation (more than one time recycled, 100% recycled material content). However, the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the relevant database DB only needs to contain multiple relevant data with at least different degrees of degradation, and relevant data can be interpolated as needed.

[0120] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the relevant data includes spectroscopic characteristic values, degree of degradation, recycled material content, and mechanical property values, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the mechanical property values ​​in the relevant data may be omitted when no estimation related to mechanical properties is made.

[0121] (Variation Example 4)

[0122] The spectroscopic analysis unit 322 of the above embodiment performs a second differential on the spectroscopic spectrum and calculates a value corresponding to the light absorption wavelength of the second differential spectrum as a spectroscopic characteristic value, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the spectroscopic characteristic value is simply a quantified value of the amount of light absorption at the light absorption wavelength. The spectroscopic analysis unit 322 can calculate the value corresponding to the light absorption wavelength as a spectroscopic characteristic value based on the spectroscopic spectrum or a differential spectrum obtained by performing one or more differentials on the spectroscopic spectrum. In addition, the spectroscopic analysis unit 322 can also specify the light absorption wavelength based on the spectroscopic spectrum or a differential spectrum obtained by performing one or more differentials on the spectroscopic spectrum. Furthermore, the spectroscopic characteristic value may not be standardized using the original material.

[0123] (Variation Example 5)

[0124] The spectroscopic spectrum described in the above embodiments is an absorbance spectrum, but the present invention is not limited to this; it can also be a transmittance spectrum or a reflectance spectrum.

[0125] (Variation Example 6)

[0126] In the above embodiments, Charpy impact strength was used as the mechanical property value of the resin material, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the mechanical property value of the resin material can also be any strength property value such as tensile strength, flexural strength or impact strength, or any flow property value such as complex viscosity, storage modulus, loss modulus, melt flow rate (MFR) or melt volume rate (MVR).

[0127] (Variation Example 7)

[0128] The resin inspection apparatus 1 of the above embodiment includes spectrophotometers 2A and 2B for performing spectrophotometric measurements on the object under inspection, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the resin inspection apparatus 1 may also acquire the spectrophotometric characteristic values ​​of the object under inspection by inputting the spectrophotometric measurement results (spectral spectrum or spectrophotometric characteristic values, etc.) of the object under inspection obtained by other measuring devices into the resin inspection apparatus 1.

[0129] (Variation Example 8)

[0130] The regression lines described in the above embodiments or in the above variation 1 are linear functions calculated using the linear approximation method, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as long as the regression equation is monotonically increasing or monotonically decreasing, it can also be a regression line in the form of a higher-order equation, an exponential function, a logarithmic function, etc.

[0131] (Variation Example 9)

[0132] In the above embodiments, the resin material to be inspected is a first resin material P1, which is a recycled material (i.e., 100% recycled material content). However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above embodiments, a resin material with any recycled material content may be used as the inspection object. In other words, the resin material to be inspected may contain more than 0% and less than 100% recycled material.

[0133] (Variation Example 10)

[0134] In the above embodiments, the degree of deterioration of the recycled material is determined by the number of recycling cycles, but this is not limited to the actual number of recycling processes the recycled material undergoes. For example, the recycled material in the above embodiments may also be a mixed recycled material composed of multiple recycled materials that have undergone different recycling cycles (e.g., recycled material recycled once and recycled material recycled twice). Such a mixed recycled material has a degree of deterioration corresponding to the mixing ratio of the multiple recycled materials.

[0135] In addition, indicators other than the number of recycling cycles can be used to measure the deterioration of recycled materials. For example, parameters related to heat load (specifically, load temperature, load time, etc.) or parameters related to photoaging caused by ultraviolet light (specifically, irradiation power, wavelength, irradiation time, etc.) can be used to measure the deterioration of recycled materials.

[0136] (Variation Example 11)

[0137] The resin inspection method and resin inspection apparatus 1 described above are applied to injection molding machine 10, but the present invention is not limited thereto and can also be applied to resin molding machines other than injection molding machine 10. Furthermore, the resin material to be inspected is not limited to a granular shape and can have any granular shape or be in a fluid state.

[0138] [Summary of this disclosure]

[0139] The first aspect of this disclosure relates to a resin inspection method that inspects a resin material containing recycled material or a molded article formed from the resin material as the inspection object. The method includes: a spectroscopic characteristic value calculation step, obtaining the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object at the light absorption wavelength; and a degradation degree estimation step, estimating the degradation degree of the recycled material contained in the inspection object based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object. The degradation degree estimation step includes: a step of calculating a first regression line based on a relevant database, the relevant database containing multiple relevant data with at least different degradation degrees, the relevant data correlating the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degradation degree of the recycled material, and the recycled material content in the resin material; the first regression line corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspection object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree; and a step of calculating the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object based on the first regression line.

[0140] Preferably, the spectroscopic characteristic value calculation step of this aspect is based on the spectroscopic measurement results obtained by performing spectroscopic measurement on the object under inspection using multiple wavelengths, calculating the spectroscopic spectrum of the object under inspection, and calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection at the light absorption wavelength based on the spectroscopic spectrum.

[0141] Optionally, the spectroscopic characteristic value calculation step of this aspect is based on the spectroscopic spectrum or a differential spectrum obtained by differentiating the spectroscopic spectrum one or more times, to calculate the spectroscopic characteristic value.

[0142] Optionally, the step of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value in this aspect includes: specifying the light absorption wavelength in the object under inspection based on the spectroscopic spectrum or a differential spectrum obtained by differentiating the spectroscopic spectrum once or more.

[0143] Optionally, the resin inspection method involved in this aspect further includes: a first interpolation step, which, before the degradation estimation step, interpolates the relevant data corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspection object into the relevant database based on the correlation formula between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the recycled material content.

[0144] Optionally, the relevant database of this aspect contains at least a plurality of relevant data with different degrees of degradation. The relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method of this aspect further includes a mechanical property value calculation step, which calculates a second regression line representing the correlation between the degree of degradation and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database, and calculates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of degradation of the recycled material in the inspection object based on the second regression line.

[0145] Preferably, the relevant database of this aspect contains at least a plurality of relevant data with different degrees of degradation, the relevant data relating the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method of this aspect further includes: a recycled material content calculation step, which, based on the relevant database, calculates a third regression line corresponding to the degree of degradation of the recycled material in the inspection object and representing the correlation between the recycled material content and the mechanical property value, and calculates the recycled material content corresponding to the target value of the mechanical property based on the third regression line; and an output step, which outputs the recycled material content calculated by the recycled material content calculation step to the molding machine that molds the molded article from the resin material.

[0146] Optionally, the resin inspection method involved in this aspect further includes: a mechanical property value calculation step, which calculates a second regression line representing the correlation between the degree of deterioration and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database, and calculates the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object based on the second regression line; and a second interpolation step, which interpolates the relevant database before the recycled material content calculation step, the relevant data corresponding to the degree of deterioration of the inspection object and including the mechanical property value calculated by the mechanical property value calculation step.

[0147] Optionally, the relevant database of this aspect contains at least a plurality of relevant data with different degrees of degradation. The relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method of this aspect further includes: an increase / decrease determination step, which determines the increase or decrease of the content of recycled material based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object; and an output step, which outputs an increase / decrease indication determined by the increase / decrease determination step to a molding machine that molds the molded article from the resin material. The increase / decrease determination step includes: a step of calculating a fourth regression line corresponding to the degree of degradation of the inspection object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database; and a step of comparing the spectroscopic characteristic value corresponding to the target value of the mechanical property and the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspection object in the fourth regression line, and determining the increase or decrease of the content of recycled material based on the comparison result.

[0148] The second aspect of this disclosure relates to a resin inspection apparatus that inspects a resin material containing recycled material or a molded article formed from the resin material as the inspection object. The apparatus comprises: a spectroscopic analysis unit for acquiring spectroscopic characteristic values ​​at the light absorption wavelength of the inspection object; a storage unit for storing a correlation database containing multiple correlation data with at least different degrees of degradation, the correlation data relating the spectroscopic characteristic values, the degree of degradation of the recycled material, and the recycled material content of the resin material; and a degradation degree estimation unit that, based on the correlation database, calculates a first regression line corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspection object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​and the degree of degradation, and calculates the degree of degradation corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​of the inspection object based on the first regression line.

Claims

1. A method for inspecting resin, characterized in that, The resin materials containing recycled materials or molded articles formed from said resin materials are inspected. The resin inspection method includes: The step of calculating the spectral characteristic value is to obtain the spectral characteristic value of the object under inspection at the light absorption wavelength; and The degradation degree estimation step estimates the degradation degree of the recycled material contained in the inspected object based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object. The degradation estimation step includes: The step of calculating a first regression line based on a relevant database, wherein the relevant database contains multiple relevant data with at least different degrees of degradation, and the relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation of the recycled material, and the content of recycled material in the resin material; the first regression line corresponds to the content of recycled material in the inspected object and represents the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degree of degradation; and The step of calculating the degree of degradation corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object based on the first regression line.

2. The resin inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value is based on the spectroscopic measurement results obtained by performing spectroscopic measurements on the object under inspection using multiple wavelengths, calculating the spectroscopic spectrum of the object under inspection, and calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection at the light absorption wavelength based on the spectroscopic spectrum.

3. The resin inspection method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value is based on the spectroscopic spectrum or the differential spectrum obtained by differentiating the spectroscopic spectrum one or more times, and calculates the spectroscopic characteristic value.

4. The resin inspection method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The step of calculating the spectroscopic characteristic value includes: specifying the light absorption wavelength of the object under inspection based on the spectroscopic spectrum or a differential spectrum obtained by differentiating the spectroscopic spectrum once or more.

5. The resin inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The resin inspection method further includes: In the first interpolation step, prior to the degradation estimation step, the relevant data corresponding to the recycled material content of the inspected object is interpolated to the relevant database based on the correlation formula between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the recycled material content.

6. The resin inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The relevant database contains at least a plurality of relevant data with different degrees of degradation, and the plurality of relevant data correlate the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method further includes a mechanical property value calculation step, which involves calculating a second regression line representing the correlation between the degree of degradation and the mechanical property value based on the relevant database, and calculating the mechanical property value corresponding to the degree of degradation of the recycled material in the inspection object based on the second regression line.

7. The resin inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The relevant database contains multiple sets of relevant data with at least different degrees of degradation, and the relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method further includes: The steps for calculating the recycled material content include: based on the relevant database, calculating a third regression line corresponding to the degree of degradation of the recycled material in the inspected object and representing the correlation between the recycled material content and the mechanical property value; and based on the third regression line, calculating the recycled material content corresponding to the target value of the mechanical property; and The output step outputs the recycled material content calculated by the recycled material content calculation step to the molding machine that forms the molded article from the resin material.

8. The resin inspection method according to claim 7, characterized in that, The resin inspection method further includes: The mechanical characteristic value calculation steps include: based on the relevant database, calculating a second regression line representing the correlation between the degree of degradation and the mechanical characteristic value; and based on the second regression line, calculating the mechanical characteristic value corresponding to the degree of degradation of the inspected object; and The second interpolation step involves interpolating the relevant database before the recycled material content calculation step, to correspond to the degree of deterioration of the inspected object and to include the relevant data of the mechanical property values ​​calculated through the mechanical property value calculation step.

9. The resin inspection method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The relevant database contains multiple sets of relevant data with at least different degrees of degradation, and the relevant data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation, the content of recycled material, and the mechanical property value of the resin material. The resin inspection method further includes: The increase / decrease determination step involves determining the increase or decrease in the content of the recycled material based on the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object; and The output step outputs an increase / decrease instruction determined by the increase / decrease determination step to the molding machine that molds the article from the resin material. The steps for determining the increase or decrease include: Based on the relevant database, the steps include calculating a fourth regression line corresponding to the degree of degradation of the inspected object and representing the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the mechanical characteristic value; and... The steps include comparing the spectroscopic characteristic value corresponding to the target value of mechanical properties with the spectroscopic characteristic value of the object under inspection in the fourth regression line, and determining the increase or decrease of the content of the recycled material based on the comparison result.

10. A resin inspection device, characterized in that, The resin materials containing recycled materials or molded articles formed from said resin materials are inspected. The resin inspection device includes: The spectroscopic analysis unit acquires the spectroscopic characteristic values ​​of the object under inspection at the light absorption wavelength; The storage unit stores a related database containing at least a plurality of related data with different degrees of degradation. The related data correlates the spectroscopic characteristic value, the degree of degradation of the recycled material, and the recycled material content of the resin material. as well as The degradation estimation unit calculates a first regression line based on the relevant database, which corresponds to the recycled material content of the inspected object and represents the correlation between the spectroscopic characteristic value and the degradation degree. Based on the first regression line, it calculates the degradation degree corresponding to the spectroscopic characteristic value of the inspected object.

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