Blade inspection device and blade inspection method

Abstract

To provide a blade inspection device capable of easily detecting defects on blades, and a blade inspection method.SOLUTION: A blade inspection device 10 inspects defects on a blade M1 regarding an inspection object M with multiple blades M1 arranged in a circular pattern. The blade inspection device 10 includes: rotation means 11 for rotating the inspection object M; and a displacement sensor 12 placed in an area corresponding to the blade at a predetermined interval from the inspection object M. The displacement sensor 12 detects whether or not the blade M1 exists within a predetermined distance range and outputs an ON signal when the blade M1 exists, and outputs an OFF signal when the blade M1 does not exist. When an OFF signal time is longer than a predetermined time, the blade M1 is determined to be missing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a blade inspection device and a blade inspection method for detecting defects in a blade. [Background technology]

[0002] In the manufacture of pump impellers, turbine runners, or stator wheels used in torque converters, the presence or absence of defects in the blades of the manufactured pump impellers, turbine runners, or stator wheels is inspected. Conventionally, the presence or absence of defects in the blades was inspected visually, but in recent years, with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and cameras, automatic detection of the presence or absence of defects by image recognition is being considered.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a blade breakage detection device including a light detection unit having a light projecting unit that projects light toward the blade and a light receiving unit that is disposed opposite the light projecting unit across the blade and receives the light projected from the light projecting unit, and a chipping detection unit that includes a high-resolution light amount determination unit that can determine the amount of light received by the light receiving unit with high resolution and detects the shape of a chip that occurs on the blade edge based on the determination result of the high-resolution light amount determination unit. Patent Document 2 describes an inspection device for circular products that includes a rotating jig for rotatably mounting a circular product, a collimated illumination means for illuminating the circular product from one side, and an imaging means using a telecentric lens for capturing an inspection image by light transmitted through a slit in the circular product, and a comparison means for comparing the inspection image acquired by the imaging means with a master image while rotating the circular product with the rotating jig, and the comparison means has a matching processing means for a repeated pattern.

[0004] According to the image recognition and the method described in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, detailed positional deviations can be detected, but there is a problem in that the equipment required is expensive. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-133529 A [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6035116 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The present invention has been made in light of the above problems, and has an object to provide a blade inspection device and a blade inspection method that are simply configured and capable of easily detecting defects in a blade. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The blade inspection device of the present invention is used to inspect for defects in an inspection object which has a plurality of blades arranged in a circular ring, and is equipped with a rotation means for rotating the inspection object, and a displacement sensor arranged in an area corresponding to the blades and spaced a predetermined distance from the inspection object.

[0008] The blade inspection method of the present invention inspects for blade defects on an inspection object which has a number of blades arranged in a circular ring shape, and detects whether or not the blades are present within a predetermined distance range while the inspection object is rotated using a displacement sensor arranged in an area corresponding to the blades at a predetermined distance from the inspection object.

[0009] Another blade inspection method of the present invention inspects for defects in an inspection object having a plurality of blades arranged in a circular ring, and detects changes in the distance to the blades while rotating the inspection object using a displacement sensor arranged in an area corresponding to the blades and spaced a predetermined distance from the inspection object. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, since the displacement of the blade can be detected while rotating the inspection object, damage to the blade can be detected by outputting whether the blade is present within a predetermined distance range. Also, damage to the blade and defects in the shape can be detected by outputting the change in the distance to the blade. Therefore, blade defects can be easily detected with a simple configuration. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a blade inspection device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an inspection object to be inspected by the blade inspection device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a displacement sensor of the blade inspection device shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of output data of a displacement sensor in the blade inspection device shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of output data of a displacement sensor in the blade inspection device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] (First embodiment) 1 shows the configuration of a blade inspection device 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This blade inspection device 10 inspects defects in blades M1 of an inspection object M having a plurality of blades M1 arranged in a circular ring shape.

[0014] The object M to be inspected may be, for example, a pump impeller, a turbine runner, or a stator wheel used in a torque converter. FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of a stator wheel. The stator wheel is disposed, for example, in a torque converter, between a pump impeller connected to the input side and a turbine runner disposed so as to face the pump impeller, and generates a torque amplification effect by rectifying the exhaust flow from the turbine runner and returning it to the pump impeller. The stator wheel has, for example, an opening M2 formed in the center, and a vane portion M3 formed in an annular shape around the opening M2. A plurality of blades M1 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vane portion M3 along the circumferential direction. Similarly to the stator wheel, the pump impeller and the turbine runner also have an opening M2 formed in the center, and a vane portion M3 is formed in an annular shape around the opening M2. A plurality of blades M1 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vane portion M3 along the circumferential direction.

[0015] The blade inspection device 10 includes, for example, a rotating means 11 for rotating the inspection object M, and a displacement sensor 12 disposed in a region corresponding to the blade M1 at a predetermined distance from the inspection object M. The rotating means 11 has, for example, a rotating table 11A that can rotate in a horizontal direction. For example, an insertion protrusion 11B that is inserted into the opening M2 of the inspection object M is formed on the upper part of the rotating table 11A, and a placement part 11C that places the peripheral part of the opening M2 of the inspection object M around the insertion protrusion 11 is formed. For example, a motor 11D for rotating the rotating table 11A is connected to the rotating table 11A.

[0016] The displacement sensor 12 measures the distance to the inspection object M, specifically, the distance to the blade M1, and is configured to detect, for example, whether or not the blade M1 is present within a predetermined distance range. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the displacement sensor 12 is preferably configured to detect whether or not the blade M1 is present within a predetermined distance range from the displacement sensor 12, and to output an ON signal if the blade M1 is present and an OFF signal if the blade M1 is not present.

[0017] FIG. 4 shows an example of output data of the displacement sensor 12 in which the inspection object M is a pump impeller part, a turbine runner part, or a stator wheel part. In FIG. 4, the vertical axis is voltage and the horizontal axis is time, and shows a case where, when the blade M1 exists within a predetermined distance range, no voltage, i.e., 0V, is output as an ON signal, and when the blade M1 does not exist within the predetermined distance range, a voltage is output as an OFF signal, i.e., a predetermined voltage value is output. As shown in FIG. 4, when the voltage (i.e., OFF signal) and the voltage (i.e., ON signal) are repeated at a predetermined interval (part indicated by I in FIG. 4), it is determined that the blade M1 is disposed at a predetermined interval, and when the time when the voltage (i.e., OFF signal) is present is longer than a predetermined time (part indicated by II in FIG. 4), it can be determined that the blade M1 is missing. Note that, regarding the output from the displacement sensor 12, when the blade M1 exists within a predetermined distance range, the ON signal is voltage, i.e., a predetermined voltage value, and when the blade M1 does not exist within the predetermined distance range, the OFF signal is voltage, i.e., 0V.

[0018] This blade inspection device 10 is used in a blade inspection method for inspecting defects in a blade M1 as follows. For example, an inspection object M is placed on a rotating means 11, and while rotating the inspection object M by the rotating means 11, a displacement sensor 12 disposed in an area corresponding to the blade M1 at a predetermined distance from the inspection object M detects whether the blade M1 is present within a predetermined distance range. For example, the displacement sensor 12 outputs an ON signal if the blade M1 is present within the predetermined distance range, and an OFF signal if the blade M1 is not present, and a defect in the blade M1 is determined from the length of the OFF signal.

[0019] As described above, according to this embodiment, the displacement of the blade M1 can be detected while rotating the inspection object M, and therefore, damage to the blade M1 can be detected by outputting whether the blade M1 is present within a predetermined distance range. Therefore, defects in the blade M1 can be easily detected with a simple configuration.

[0020] (Second embodiment) In the first embodiment, the displacement sensor 12 is specifically described as being configured to detect whether or not the blade M1 is present within a predetermined distance range, but it may be configured to detect a change in the distance to the blade M1. The rest is the same as in the first embodiment. Therefore, in this embodiment, the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment are used, and detailed descriptions of the same parts are omitted.

[0021] FIG. 5 shows an example of output data of the displacement sensor 12 when the object M to be inspected is a pump impeller, a turbine runner, or a stator wheel. In FIG. 5, the vertical axis is voltage, and the horizontal axis is time, and a voltage value according to the distance to the blade M1 is output. Specifically, for example, when the blade M1 is not present, no voltage, i.e., 0V, is output, and when the blade M1 is present, the closer the distance to the blade M1, the higher the voltage value is output. This makes it possible to determine, from the waveform of the output data of the displacement sensor 12, that the blade M1 is missing when the time during which the blade M1 is not present is longer than a predetermined time (part II in FIG. 5), and to determine that the shape of the blade M1 is defective when the waveform deviates from the normal waveform (part III in FIG. 5). Even with this configuration, it is possible to easily detect defects in the blade M1 with a simple configuration.

[0022] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiment, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified in various ways. For example, in the above embodiment, each component is specifically described, but the specific structure or shape of each component may be different, and the present invention may not include all of the above-mentioned components, and may include other components. [Explanation of symbols]

[0023] 10...Blade inspection device, 11...Rotation means, 11A...Rotary base, 11B...Insertion protrusion, 11C...Placement portion, 11D...Motor, 12...Displacement sensor, M...Inspection object, M1...Blade, M2...Opening, M3...Wing portion

Claims

1. 1. A blade inspection device for inspecting defects in a blade of an inspection object having a plurality of blades arranged in a circular ring shape, comprising: A rotating means for rotating the inspection object; a displacement sensor disposed in a region corresponding to the blade at a predetermined distance from the inspection object; A blade inspection device comprising:

2. 2. The blade inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the displacement sensor detects whether or not the blade is present within a predetermined distance range.

3. 2. The blade inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the displacement sensor detects a change in the distance to the blade.

4. 1. A blade inspection method for inspecting defects in a blade of an inspection object having a plurality of blades arranged in an annular shape, comprising the steps of: A blade inspection method, characterized in that a displacement sensor is arranged in an area corresponding to the blade at a predetermined distance from the object to be inspected, while rotating the object to be inspected, to detect whether the blade is present within a predetermined distance range.

5. 1. A blade inspection method for inspecting defects in a blade of an inspection object having a plurality of blades arranged in an annular shape, comprising the steps of: A blade inspection method, comprising: detecting changes in the distance to the blade while rotating the object to be inspected using a displacement sensor disposed in an area corresponding to the blade at a predetermined distance from the object to be inspected.

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