Adaptive lighting system and method for inspection of complex objects

Abstract

To disclose a lighting system, and a designing method and structure thereof.SOLUTION: A lighting system obtained by forming both a front light module and a back light module provides selectable and programmable lighting according to the requirements of the invention for optimal performance of highlighting defects on a multidimensional object. Light guides are suitably aligned to the back light module and mechanically integrated with spring loaded mechanisms to enable them to move freely and re-position them to a reference home position as determined at the time of setup of the lighting assembly. The front light module is utilized to highlight surface defects and mechanically integrated to the lighting system. The lighting modules may include multiple discrete light emitting components having various spatial intensity distributions and color spectra mounted in specific layout such that the application oriented combined lighting effect is created.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Claims

1. A lighting system for substantially illuminating a three-dimensional object including punched holes and angular surfaces for inspection of defects, wherein the lighting system comprises: a) A high-resolution camera mounted on an XY table for positioning at a predetermined location and for acquiring images, b) An array of LEDs mounted on a flat plate, which illuminates one end of a series of parallel-mounted acrylic light guides and operates as a suitably segmented backlight, enabling strobe-based illumination of pre-programmed and selected sections; c) A ring light based on circular LEDs, used as front lighting for the LEDs, which are preferably divided to enable strobe lighting in pre-programmed and selected sections, d) A plurality of light-transmitting light guides arranged parallel to each other on a pair of plates to which retractable springs are attached and which are mechanically coupled to the backlight illumination, e) A displacement mechanism based on at least one pair of air cylinders for moving the backlight illumination to multiple predetermined positions, f) A first mounting system for rotating the backlight illumination sub-assembly around the central axis of the high-resolution camera, g) A second mounting system for rotating the backlight illumination sub-assembly on an axis perpendicular to the first mounting system, h) An object placement mechanism for suitably arranging the object to be inspected at several predetermined positions, i) A strobe system that controls the trigger pulse width and illuminance, A lighting system equipped with [specific features / features].

2. The illumination system according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the object to be inspected includes several types of cavities, holes, and angular surfaces that are not equidistant from the high-resolution camera.

3. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the end of the light guide is mechanically integrated with a flatbed backlight.

4. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the ring light located on the opposite side of the backlight illumination is used for top illumination.

5. The lighting system according to claim 4, wherein the ring light is programmed to be used to illuminate a marking on the surface of the object in order to inspect for defects in the symbol.

6. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the backlight illumination is divided so that programmable illumination can perform selective illumination, intensity control and trigger pulse width control.

7. The lighting system according to claim 1, wherein the retractable light guides, which are arranged on at least two mounting plates, are uniquely positioned to acquire a profile of the object being inspected so as to enable a substantially uniform illumination distribution.

8. A method for substantially illuminating a three-dimensional object including punched holes and angular surfaces for inspection of defects, wherein the method comprises: j) A placement method in which the object to be inspected is positioned close to the light guide in order to ensure that all uneven surfaces are illuminated uniformly, k) A program that causes the backlight illumination and frontlight illumination to flash simultaneously or alternately in a strobe to highlight different feature parts of the object at different angles, l) A set of air cylinders mechanically integrated with a vertically movable backlight illumination that emits light at one end of each light guide and propagates the light to illuminate the object under inspection at the other end, m) After image acquisition is complete, move a set of air cylinders mechanically integrated with the backlight illumination to reset the light guide unit to a predetermined reference position. n) A movable front light illumination ring light preferably integrated with a camera XY table positioned at different locations to illuminate the area of ​​the object under inspection, o) An angular positioning method that rotates the object to several preset positions determined during calibration, ensuring that an image of the entire area of ​​the object is acquired in high resolution, p) A method for operating a first motor to rotate a backlight illumination sub-assembly around the central axis of the inspection system, q) A method of operating a second motor to rotate the backlight illumination sub-assembly on an axis perpendicular to the first backlight illumination system so as to position the object at a certain angle on several angular planes of the object, r) A method for triggering a strobe system to control the trigger pulse width, LED segment selection, and illumination intensity, Lighting methods, including

9. The illumination method according to claim 8, wherein the surface of the object to be inspected includes several types of cavities, three-dimensional holes, and angular surfaces that are not equidistant from the camera.

10. The illumination method according to claim 8, wherein the ends of several light guides rest on the surface of the object to achieve uniform illumination of the entire inspection area and to illuminate angular and uneven surfaces.

11. The illumination method according to claim 8, wherein the illumination source is selectively illuminated by a division of LEDs to enable illumination of a specific predetermined area in order to detect marking defects, the presence or absence of foreign matter, abnormal punching holes, and surface damage.

12. The illumination method according to claim 8, wherein the arrangement method is programmed to uniquely align the object with respect to an array of light guides in order to highlight and illuminate all predetermined surface areas so as to enable detection of marking defects, the presence or absence of foreign matter, abnormal punching holes, and surface damage.

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