Conveyor inspection device

Abstract

To provide a conveyance inspection device which can inspect the formation state of a columnar rotating body at a high speed in such a state that the number of cameras is reduced.SOLUTION: A conveyance inspection device 1 for inspecting the formation state of a columnar rotating body 8 such as a columnar article and a cylindrical article comprises: a guide member 2 which guides conveyance of the columnar rotating body 8 along the central axis of the columnar rotating body 8; and a circular plate 31 on which the columnar rotating body 8 is placed. The device conveys the columnar rotating body 8 guided by the guide member 2 along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2 while rotating the columnar rotating body by rotating the circular plate 31, acquires an image of the rotating columnar rotating body 8 with a camera 42 and performs an inspection in an inspection unit 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a conveying inspection apparatus capable of inspecting the formed state of a cylindrical container or a cylindrical article (hereinafter referred to as a "columnar rotating body"). More specifically, the present invention relates to a conveying inspection apparatus configured to convey a columnar rotating body while rotating it and inspect the appearance of the article.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, when inspecting the formed state of a columnar rotating body such as a cylindrical container or a screw, the inspection is performed by the following method.

[0003] First, in the first method, the columnar rotating body is erected on an inspection table, and images of the appearance are acquired by cameras from a plurality of directions, and the inspection is performed using the images. Further, in the second method, the columnar rotating body is gripped by a robot arm and rotated 360 degrees, and an image of the outer periphery is taken by a camera for inspection (Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, such methods have the following problems.

[0006] First, in the method of inspecting with a plurality of cameras as in the first method, since it is necessary to provide a plurality of cameras, not only does the cost increase, but depending on the installation position of the cameras, there is also a case where appropriate images cannot be acquired, so there is a problem that the installation position of the cameras must be adjusted.

[0007] Next, in the method of gripping and rotating the columnar rotating body as in the second method, since it takes time to perform the operation for gripping the columnar rotating body with a robot arm or the like, it is not possible to perform the inspection quickly. Further, in the method of gripping the columnar rotating body with the robot in this way, since it is not possible to acquire an image of the gripped portion, the columnar rotating body has to be moved and inspected, which causes a further problem of taking more time.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a conveying inspection apparatus that can inspect the formed state of a columnar rotating body at high speed with a reduced number of cameras in order to solve the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] That is, in order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a conveying inspection apparatus for inspecting the formed state of a columnar rotating body such as a columnar article or a cylindrical article, wherein a guide member for guiding the conveyance of the columnar rotating body along the central axis of the columnar rotating body, and while rotating the columnar rotating body about the central axis, conveying the columnar rotating body in the central axis direction along the guide member Composed of disks a rotation conveyance unit, and an image acquisition unit that acquires an image from the columnar rotating body conveyed by the rotation conveyance unit Rotating and moving while being placed on and an inspection unit that inspects the formed state of the columnar rotating body based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit.

[0010] With this configuration, by rotating and conveying the columnar rotating body about the central axis of the columnar rotating body, it is possible to inspect the entire circumference of the columnar rotating body with a single camera, and by conveying it simultaneously with the rotation, the inspection time can be shortened. Further, since the distance between the camera and the columnar rotating body does not change, it becomes possible to acquire an accurate image with the camera. 。

[0011] Also, such a Rotation conveyance unit is configured of a transparent member.

[0012] With such a configuration, Rotation it becomes possible to install a camera, a lighting device, etc. below the conveying unit for inspection.

[0013] And, Convey the columnar rotating body at a position away from the central axis of the rotary conveyor section composed of disks it is configured as follows.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, in a conveying and inspecting apparatus for inspecting the formed state of a columnar rotating body such as a columnar article or a cylindrical article, a guide member for guiding the conveyance of the columnar rotating body along the central axis of the columnar rotating body, and the columnar rotating body is rotated about the central axis, and the columnar rotating body is conveyed in the central axis direction along the guide member Composed of disks a rotating and conveying unit, and the rotating and conveying unit Rotating and moving while being placed on an image acquisition unit for acquiring an image from the columnar rotating body to be conveyed, and an inspection unit for inspecting the formed state of the columnar rotating body based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit are provided. Thus, it is possible to inspect the entire circumference of the columnar rotating body with a single camera, and by conveying it simultaneously with rotation, the inspection time can be shortened. Also, since the distance between the camera and the columnar rotating body does not change, an accurate image can be acquired by the camera.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] The conveyance inspection apparatus 1 in this embodiment is configured to be able to inspect the formed state of the columnar rotating body 8 that is the inspection object. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, with the columnar rotating body 8 laid horizontally, the columnar rotating body 8 is rotated (self-rotated) about the central axis CL of the columnar rotating body 8, and it can be inspected while being conveyed along the direction of the central axis CL. More specifically, a guide member 2 that guides the horizontally laid columnar rotating body 8 from the side, a rotary conveyance unit 3 that rotates the columnar rotating body 8 in contact with the guide member 2 and conveys it along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2, an image acquisition unit 4 that acquires an image of the columnar rotating body 8 rotated by the rotary conveyance unit 3, and an inspection unit 5 that inspects the formed state of the columnar rotating body 8 using the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 4 (see FIG 4 reference), etc. are provided. Hereinafter, this embodiment will be described in detail.

[0018] First, the columnar rotating body 8 to be inspected is composed of a cylindrical bottle container formed of resin, glass, etc., or a columnar article such as a double screw or a parallel pin, etc. An article that can rotate on its own with the central axis CL of the article laid horizontally is used. Such a columnar rotating body 8 may be composed of a transparent member such as resin or glass, or may be composed of an opaque or translucent member such as a metal or a colored article.

[0019] The conveyance inspection apparatus 1 for inspecting such a columnar rotating body 8 is provided with a guide member 2 that guides the side of the conveyed columnar rotating body 8. This guide member 2 may be any member as long as it guides the conveyance direction of the columnar rotating body, and a flat plate, a columnar rod-shaped member, etc. can be used. In addition, since this guide member 2 will be photographed simultaneously with the columnar rotating body 8 when the columnar rotating body 8 is photographed by the camera 42, it is preferably colored so as not to cause misrecognition when inspecting the article to be inspected.

[0020] On the other hand, the rotary conveyance unit 3 that conveys the columnar rotating body 8 while rotating it under the guidance of the guide member 2 is configured as follows.

[0021] <First Embodiment>

[0022] First, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the rotary conveyance unit 3 is constituted by a rigid disk 31, and the disk 31 is rotated by a motor 32 so that the columnar rotating body 8 guided by the guide member 2 can be conveyed while being rotated. When the columnar rotating body 8 sandwiched by the guide member 2 is placed on the disk 31, due to the rotation of the disk 31, the columnar rotating body 8 tends to move in the circumferential direction along the rotation direction. However, since the columnar rotating body 8 is guided by the guide member 2, among the velocity components along the rotation direction of the disk 31, friction is generated by the velocity component in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2, and due to this friction, the columnar rotating body 8 rotates (spins). On the other hand, based on the velocity component along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2 among the velocity components along the rotation direction of the disk 31, the columnar rotating body 8 is conveyed. Thereby, by the rotation of the disk 31, the columnar rotating body 8 can be rotated and conveyed at the same time.

[0023] Incidentally, when the columnar rotating body 8 is rotated and conveyed at the same time while being placed on the disk 31 in this way, at the portion closer to the outside of the disk 31, the rotation speed and the conveyance speed become high, and the closer to the center of the disk 31, the lower the rotation speed and the conveyance speed become. And when the columnar rotating body 8 moves away from the central axis of the disk 31, it will be conveyed more slowly while rotating in the reverse direction. For this reason, the camera 42 is installed so that it can be photographed at the optimal location of such rotation speed, rotation direction, and conveyance speed. At this time, if the image acquisition speed is fast, inspection is performed near the outside of the disk 31, and if it is desired to acquire an image of the columnar rotating body 8 that rotates slowly, inspection is performed near the center. Also, when it is desired to perform inspection by rotating in the reverse direction, an image can be acquired and inspected near the end portion on the opposite side of the guide member 2 of the disk 31.

[0024] When the rotary conveyance unit 3 is configured by such a disk 31, the disk 31 may be made of a metal member, or may be made of transparent glass or plastic. At this time, when it is made of a transparent member, as shown in FIG. 3, an illumination device 41 may be arranged below the disk 31 so that the columnar rotating body 8 can be irradiated with light from below. When irradiating light from below in this way, particularly when the inspection object is a transparent article, there is an advantage that inspection can be performed based on transmitted light and defects such as cracks can be inspected.

[0025] Next, regarding the inspection method using the conveyance inspection device 1 configured as described above, it will be described with reference to the 5 flowchart of FIG.

[0026] First, with the columnar rotating body 8, which is the inspection object, laid down horizontally, the columnar rotating body 8 is conveyed one by one by the feeder 6, delivered to the rotary conveyance unit 3, and guided along the guide member 2.

[0027] When the columnar rotating body 8 is placed on the rotary conveyance unit 3 in this way, when the rotary conveyance unit 3 is the disk 31 as in the first embodiment, the columnar rotating body 8 rotates based on the velocity component of the rotary conveyance unit 3 orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2, and at the same time, is conveyed by the velocity component along the longitudinal direction of the guide member 2 (step ST1). 。

[0028] Then, with the columnar rotating body 8 rotated in this way, the columnar rotating body 8 is irradiated with light using the illumination device 41, and the reflected light is acquired by the camera 42. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, when the illumination device 41 is provided below the rotary conveyance unit 3, the transmitted light from the rotary conveyance unit 3 is acquired by the camera 42 (step ST2).

[0029] Then, the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 4 is output to the inspection unit 5 and compared with the reference data to determine whether the formation state of the columnar rotating body 8 is good or bad (steps ST3, ST4).

[0030] Then, based on the quality of the inspection state, it is sorted into good products and defective products by the sorting device 7 provided on the downstream side of the rotary transfer unit 3 (steps ST5, ST6). For defective products, they can be inspected by subsequent visual inspection or the like, or discarded.

[0031] As described above, according to the above embodiment, in the conveyance inspection device 1 for inspecting the formation state of the columnar rotating body 8 such as a columnar article or a cylindrical article, a guide member 2 for guiding the conveyance of the columnar rotating body 8 along the central axis CL of the columnar rotating body 8, and the columnar rotating body 8 is rotated about the central axis CL, and the columnar rotating body 8 is conveyed in the direction of the central axis CL along the guide member 2 Composed of disks a rotary transfer unit 3, and the rotary transfer unit 3 Rotating and moving while being placed on an image acquisition unit 4 for acquiring an image from the columnar rotating body 8 to be transferred, and an inspection unit 5 for inspecting the formation state of the columnar rotating body 8 based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit 4 are configured. Thus, with a single camera 42, the entire circumference of the columnar rotating body 8 can be inspected, and by conveying it simultaneously with rotation, the inspection time can be shortened. Also, since the distance between the camera 42 and the columnar rotating body 8 does not change, an accurate image can be acquired by the camera 42.

[0032] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be implemented in various modes.

[0033] For example, in the above embodiment, an example of providing two guide members 2 is shown, but the guide member 2 may be provided only on the side where the columnar rotating body 8 is pressed. Also, when two guide members 2 are provided, they may be provided wider than the columnar rotating body 8 so that even when inspecting an article with a large diameter, it can be inspected without changing the gap between the guide members 2.

[0034] Also, in the above embodiment, it is rotated and conveyed using the disk 3 1 but it may be conveyed simultaneously with rotation by other methods.

Explanation of Symbols

[0035] 1 ··· Conveyor inspection device 2 ··· Guide member 3 ··· Rotation Conveyor section 31 ··· Disk 32 ··· Motor - 4 ··· Image acquisition section 41 ··· Lighting device 42 ··· Camera 5 ··· Inspection section 6 ··· Feeder 7 ··· Sorting device 8 ··· Columnar rotating body

Claims

1. In a conveying inspection apparatus for inspecting the formed state of a columnar rotating body such as a columnar article or a cylindrical article, a guide member for guiding the conveyance of the columnar rotating body along the central axis of the columnar rotating body; a rotating conveyance unit composed of a disk that rotates the columnar rotating body about the central axis and conveys the columnar rotating body in the central axis direction along the guide member; an image acquisition unit that acquires an image from the columnar rotating body that rotates and moves while being placed on the rotating conveyance unit; and an inspection unit that inspects the formed state of the columnar rotating body based on the image acquired by the image acquisition unit. The conveying inspection apparatus is characterized by comprising the above components.

2. The conveying inspection apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the rotating conveyance unit is composed of a transparent member.

3. The conveying inspection apparatus according to Claim 1, wherein the columnar rotating body is conveyed at a position away from the central axis of the rotating conveyance unit composed of a disk. ​ ​

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