VISUAL INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR A SPREAD-OUT PRODUCT

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a visual control system for an extended product according to the preamble of claim 1.

[0002] In order to control the quality of extended products such as wire, tube, plate, strip or a series of juxtaposed elements, visual control systems for said product are known and include: a measurement zone comprising an automatic and real-time inspection unit for a portion of product moving along a longitudinal path, said inspection unit delivering at least one map comprising qualitative information of said inspected portion of the product.

[0003] After this automatic inspection phase, it is thus possible for an operator of a production line, treatment, coating, etc. of the said product to detect potential defects or other characteristics of the product by means of a mapping monitor, in order to guarantee a quality of prescribed tolerances.

[0004] An example of application is the field of automatic control of extended metallurgical products, including wire, tube, plate, strip, and for which the applicant has developed an automatic and real-time inspection unit under the internationally registered trademark SIAS ®< well known to the largest metal producers.

[0005] Other applications of such an automatic inspection unit are also possible, for example in the field of series of juxtaposed elements, such as those of the continuous production of mass products on a scrolling line. For example, we can cite production lines for consumables (chocolates, breads, cakes, medicines, etc.), containers (yogurts, bottles, cups, etc.), mechanical or electronic parts (screws, washers, printed circuits, etc.), flat products (paper, glass, fabric, leather, rubber, etc.): see WO2014 / 041416A1 for example.

[0006] Such an inspection unit thus makes it possible to automatically detect, locate, classify and then visualize product defects scrolling on a monitor by presenting a mapping record (including for example images of the product and in particular its defects) comprising the qualitative information of each of said inspected portions of the product. Document JPH0989803A is dedicated to a method and a device for inspecting surface scratches on a metal strip.

[0007] This visualization via a monitor is certainly very practical but can reach its limits for real-time visual control by an operator, especially if the inspected product passes at high speed under the inspection unit, for example at more than 0.1 m / s. This is why, for higher product movement speeds, additional visual control via a monitor can be done at least by a slowed-down replay of the cartographic recording coming from the inspection unit.

[0008] Finally, it is customary, once the operator has taken note of the cartographic recording of the presence of defects to be visually checked, to pass the product back into another visual inspection module such as a table or conveyor at a scrolling speed adapted to human vision and even able to stop a precise portion of product under a visual inspection zone where the mapping would indicate a defect to be checked. In this way, the operator can visually relocate, then physically recheck the presence of the defects previously recorded by mapping on his monitor (or PC / tablet) and if necessary mark them in order to resolve them or otherwise highlight them as a portion of product unfit for sale, for example.

[0009] However, if it turns out that one of the detected defects was an artifact due to some unexpected measurement condition of the automatic inspection unit, the operator will not be able to easily and therefore quickly find the location of the artifact to finally deduce that it was not a defect.

[0010] Document US2017074805A1 discloses an interface for a sorting control operator for lumber.

[0011] An aim of the present invention is to provide a visual control system for an extended product which makes it possible to simplify and improve the visual (human) control required following an automatic inspection of said product as presented above.

[0012] Such a system is provided through the features of claim 1.

[0013] From a visual control system for an extended product of the wire, tube, plate, strip or series of juxtaposed elements type comprising:a first measurement zone comprising an automatic inspection unit for at least one portion of product moving along a longitudinal path, said inspection unit delivering, if possible in real time, at least one map comprising qualitative information of said inspected portion of the product, the invention provides that said system comprises a second control zone arranged downstream of the first zone and comprising a means for overprinting at least the qualitative information on the portion of the product in said second zone, the second zone being dedicated to allowing a control operator to view said portion upon its arrival in the second zone. For this purpose, a tracing module (by means of recognition, metric values, etc.) of said portion can deliver an identification signal of the portion of the product inspected by the first zone to the overprinting means of the second zone.Thus, the qualitative information of the portion measured by automatic inspection in the first zone can be accurately overprinted on the same portion of the product in the second zone.

[0014] The operator-product interface during the visual inspection required following an automatic inspection of said product is thus advantageously carried out directly thanks to the overprinting means allowing the operator to see in superposition the real product, its defects or real qualities, and the qualitative information measured upstream by the automatic inspection unit (defects or artifacts measured). Said interface is also carried out in a simpler manner, because during the physical visual inspection, there is no longer the need to also have to view a recording (on screen / PC / tablet) coming from maps previously pre-recorded by the automatic inspection unit, then to have to find them on the product in the physical visual inspection area.

[0015] This simplification allows an operator to save valuable time and allows him to simply let himself be guided by the automatic location of overprinted defects or other artifacts without having to search for them or even ever find them.

[0016] A set of subclaims also presents advantages of the invention.

[0017] In particular, in the second zone, the overprinting means can dynamically display location marks (markers, arrows, etc.), characterization (type of defects) and / or quantification (intensity of the defect) linked to the qualitative information detected for portions of the product during the automatic inspection in the first zone.

[0018] In addition, the second zone is located in a fixed area dedicated to visual inspection of the product by an operator, ideally in which the movement of the product can be slowed down or even stopped. In this way, it is advantageously possible to allow human visual inspection for high speeds (> 0.1 m / s) of movement of the product in the first automatic inspection zone. It is then finally possible for an operator to have time to be able to, if possible, resolve a defect locally, for example by means of a manual honing action, so that the product is immediately brought back under a tolerated quality standard.

[0019] The system according to the invention is particularly well suited in the case where the product is metallic, the inspection unit and the overprinting means being arranged downstream of a module for production, treatment or surface coating of the product. Indeed, in the field of extended metallic products such as wires, tubes, plates or strips in particular, production requires production, treatment or other coating speeds which often exceed 0.1 m / s while said products are inspected automatically in the first zone. These products are also very bulky and heavy, and their production, treatment or other coating is expensive and complex, it is essential to inspect them visually as soon as possible in the event of potential defects which would make them irremediably unsuitable for subsequent costly treatments.The overprinting method is therefore a very suitable solution for visualizing such defects early and interactively for a quality control operator, without having to repeat a new visual search for said defects after having obtained a complete mapping of the defects following the complete scrolling of the product in the first zone.

[0020] Examples of implementation and application are provided using described figures: Figure 1Visual control system according to a first embodiment of the invention, Figure 2Visual control system according to a second embodiment of the invention, Figure 3Visual control system according to a third embodiment of the invention.

[0021] Figure 1 presents a first embodiment of the invention in which is presented a visual control system for an extended product (1) of the wire, tube, plate, strip or series of juxtaposed elements type comprising: a first measurement zone (i1) comprising an inspection unit - camera (2), means of illumination (3) of a face of the product, data processing unit (4) - automatic of a portion of product scrolling along a longitudinal path (X), said inspection unit (4) delivering at least one map (7) comprising qualitative information of said inspected portion of the product, a second control zone (i2) arranged downstream of the first zone (i1) and comprising a means of overprinting (11) at least the qualitative information directly on the portion of the product (here the face inspected automatically under the first zone), the second zone being dedicated to allowing an operator (op) to view said portion of product on its arrival in the second zone.

[0022] A strip portion tracing module (not shown) provides a signal identifying the portion of the product inspected by the first zone by means of overprinting the second zone, so that the qualitative information of the portion measured by automatic inspection in the first zone can be overprinted with complete accuracy on the same portion of the product in the second zone.

[0023] The overprinting means dynamically displays location marks (markers, arrows, etc.), characterization (type of defects) and / or quantification (intensity of the defect) linked to the qualitative information detected for portions of the product. It can also display other information useful to the operator, such as the thickness of the product, its material, its production, treatment or coating tolerances, its speed recorded at different stages of the scrolling, as well as alerts of defects linked to marks of worn or damaged parts coming from the installations in which the product was scrolling.

[0024] The overprinting means (11) can be coupled to a database management system (12) of the qualitative information (7) emitted by the inspection unit (2, 3, 4), and optionally of interactive data emitted by an interactive interface (int) from the operator and intended to confirm, invalidate or modify said overprinted qualitative data. In this way, if for example the operator detects an artifact while the associated qualitative data indicated a specific defect, he can immediately modify it under a new “artifact” category. Thus, in the database (12), the mapping from the inspection unit (2, 3, 4) can be immediately updated with the corrected real information.

[0025] Such an interactive interface (int) can include a signal detector (gestures, stylus, pointers, etc.) and can be easily coupled to the overprinting means so that an operator can interact with the qualitative information overprinted on the product. Finally, the interactive interface then initiates an update of the real data bank but also of learning data linked to the qualitative information delivered by the inspection unit, which can in fact include artificial intelligence requiring learning, for example, when changing product parameters or their processing.

[0026] The overprinting means may also include one or more optical filters or other spectral illumination means that would enable the operator to better discern the actual defect in the overprinted product.

[0027] In the case of the figure 1 , the overprinting means is a video projector (11) which is preferably arranged above the operator and the second zone (here vertical). More generally, it is advantageous for the overprinting means (such as a video projector) to have projection / reflection axes close to the direction of movement of the product and, above all, far from the operator's vision axis. In this way, direct reflections from the projector which would dazzle the operator can be avoided, for example for a product with a reflective character (such as a product with a metallic texture).

[0028] Nowadays, such so-called "interactive" video projectors easily make it possible to create an interactive interface (int) as previously described on a flat area such as in the second zone (i2).

[0029] In the example according to figure 1 , the overprinting means such as a video projector very simply projects the qualitative information directly onto the product, more precisely onto the face of the product inspected automatically in the first zone (i1). However, it would also be possible for said overprinting means to project the qualitative information onto a transparent screen placed between the operator and the product and being of a size sized to allow an operator to view the entire portion of the product in the background of the screen. The operator could thus directly touch the screen with his hand (or a stylus) to interact with the projected data.

[0030] The example of the figure 1 (like the following examples according to figures 2 And 3 ) shows an elongated product scroll line where: the second zone is located in a fixed zone dedicated to a visual inspection of the product by an operator (op), ideally in which the scrolling of the product is slowed down or even stopped in order to allow a visual check of the real product and its over-marked defects by a (human) operator; the first upstream zone and the second downstream zone are intercalated in one or more distinct longitudinal planes (8) (X, Z) with continuous scrolling of the product; in other words and for example, the line comprising the first zone (i1) can be a production line of the product in continuous scrolling coupled to another downstream line comprising an accumulator to slow down the continuous scrolling of the product and allow the inspection of the product using the system according to the invention in the second zone (i2); and / or in one or more longitudinal planes (8) (X, Z) with discontinuous scrolling of the product;in other words and for example, the line comprising the first zone (i1) can be a production line for the product in continuous scrolling which comprises a winder for the product, then the product is unwound again in another separate line and downstream of the production line at a sufficiently low speed of the product to allow inspection of the product using the system according to the invention in the second zone (i2). According to this scheme, it is then advantageously easier to automatically find and remove in the separate line downstream of the production line parts better delimited and inspected upstream as deficient of a strip placed under a "mother" reel and produced in the first line, then unwound in the separate line downstream to finally produce a "daughter" strip free of defects and which can be rewound under optimal guarantee of desired tolerances. ;

[0031] Figure 2 presents a visual control system according to a second embodiment of the invention, mainly identical to that of the figure 1 .

[0032] Alternatively, the overprinting means is a graphic screen (111) arranged facing the second zone (i2) and such as a partially if not completely transparent liquid crystal screen of a size sized to allow an operator to view the entire portion of the product in the background of the screen. This graphic screen can also be tactile (finger, stylus, etc.) to allow interactivity between the operator (op) and the qualitative data (7) or other additional data displayed by the screen.

[0033] Figure 3 presents a visual control system according to a third embodiment of the invention, mainly identical to that of the figure 1 .

[0034] Alternatively, the overprinting means is a virtual vision optic (112) worn by the operator (op), ideally in the form of glasses or a helmet. This optic is nowadays associated with interactive controllers to allow interactivity between the operator (op) and the qualitative data (7) or other additional data (so-called “Augmented Reality” data) displayed by said optic.

Claims

1. Visual control system for a product (1), comprising: - a first, measurement zone (i1) comprising an automatic inspection unit (2, 3, 4) for a portion of product advancing along a longitudinal path (X), - said inspection unit delivering at least one map (7) comprising qualitative information on said inspected portion of the product, - a second, control zone (i2) arranged downstream of the first zone and comprising a means (11, 111, 112) for overlaying at least the qualitative information onto the portion of the product, the second zone being dedicated to visualizing said portion as it arrives in the second zone, wherein: - the product (1) of metallurgical type is extended, of the wire, tube, plate or strip type, - an interactive interface (int) comprising a detector of signals is coupled to the overlaying means so that an operator interacts with the projected qualitative information, - the interactive interface initiates updating of a training data bank related to the qualitative information delivered by the inspection unit.

2. System according to Claim 1, wherein the overlaying means dynamically displays location marks, characterization marks and / or quantification marks related to the detected qualitative information for portions of the product.

3. System according to either of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the second zone is located in a fixed zone dedicated to visual inspection of the product by an operator (op), ideally in which the advancement of the product is slowed or even stopped.

4. System according to one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein the product is made of metal, the inspection unit and the overlaying means being arranged downstream of a module for producing, treating or surface-coating the product.

5. System according to one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the overlaying means comprises optical filters or spectral illumination means.

6. System according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the overlaying means is a videoprojector (11).

7. System according to Claim 6, wherein the overlaying means projects the qualitative information onto the product.

8. System according to Claim 6, wherein the overlaying means projects the qualitative information onto a transparent screen sized to allow an operator to view the entirety of the portion of product in the background of the screen.

9. System according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the overlaying means is a graphic screen (111) such as a partially if not completely transparent liquid-crystal display screen sized to allow an operator to view the entirety of the portion of product in the background of the screen.

10. System according to one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the overlaying means is a virtual vision optic (112) borne by an operator, ideally in the form of an eyepiece or a headset.

11. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a tracking module delivers an identification signal for the portion of the product that is inspected by the first zone to the overlaying means of the second zone.

12. System according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the first, upstream zone and the second, downstream zone are inserted: - into one or more distinct longitudinal (X, Z) planes (8) with continuous advancement of the product; - and / or into one or more longitudinal (X, Z) planes (8) with discontinuous advancement of the product.