Mat inspection device

Abstract

To provide a mat inspection device with which it is possible to automatically and accurately inspect a mat for defects.SOLUTION: Provided is a mat inspection device 10 comprising a conveyance unit 2 for conveying a mat 1 aboard a conveyance plane 20, a conveyance control unit 3 for controlling the conveyance unit 2, an inspection unit 4 for inspecting the mat 1, and an inspection control unit 5 for controlling the inspection unit 4. The inspection unit 4 includes a defect detection mechanism 6 for detecting defects of the mat 1, the defect detection mechanism 6 being provided with an undulating conveyance unit 61 for conveying the mat 1 in a conveyance direction X while undulating it in the vertical direction along the widthwise direction that is orthogonal to the conveyance direction X, an illumination unit 62 for illuminating, with light from below, a portion of the mat 1 passing through the undulating conveyance unit 61, a light detection unit 63 for detecting light from the illumination unit 62 that has passed upward through the portion of the mat 1, and a defect determination unit 64 for determining that the mat 1 has a defect when light is detected by the light detection unit 63.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a mat inspection apparatus that can automatically and accurately inspect whether a mat has defects, particularly.

Background Art

[0002] Defects may occur in mats during manufacturing or use. Mats with defects need to be discarded without being put on the market. Therefore, after manufacturing or after a certain period of use, the presence or absence of defects in mats is inspected. Conventionally, such quality inspection of mats has been performed visually, one by one.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When visually inspecting the quality of mats, there were the following problems. That is, visual variations occur among workers, and there is a risk of overlooking small defects, etc., which also places a physical and mental burden on the workers.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a mat inspection apparatus that can automatically and accurately inspect whether a mat has defects, particularly.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention includes a conveyance unit that places a mat on a conveyance surface and conveys it, a conveyance control unit that controls the conveyance unit, an inspection unit that inspects the mat, An inspection control unit that controls the inspection unit, A mat inspection apparatus comprising: The inspection unit includes a defect detection mechanism for detecting defects in the mat. The defect detection mechanism includes: A wavy conveyor that conveys the mat in the conveyance direction while causing it to undulate in the vertical direction along the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction; An illumination unit that irradiates the portion of the mat passing through the wavy conveyor with light from above or below; A light detection unit that detects the light from the illumination unit that has passed through the portion of the mat downward or upward; A defect determination unit that determines that the mat has a "defect" when the light detection unit detects the light; Comprising and the corrugated conveyor unit has at least one pair of corrugated conveyor rollers, the illumination unit and the light detection unit are arranged at least on the downstream side in the conveying direction of the pair of corrugated conveyor rollers It is characterized by the above.

Advantages of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, even small defects can be expanded in the width direction by the wavy conveyor, so they can be surely detected. Therefore, the presence or absence of defects in the mat can be automatically and accurately inspected.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a mat inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view taken along arrow II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic view taken along arrow III in FIG. 1. This mat inspection apparatus 10 includes a conveying unit 2 that places and conveys a mat 1 on a conveying surface 20, a conveyance control unit 3 that controls the conveying unit 2, an inspection unit 4 that inspects the mat 1, and an inspection control unit 5 that controls the inspection unit 4.

[0010] Specifically, the conveying unit 2 includes an input conveyor 21, inspection conveyors 22 and 23, and a sorting conveyor 24. Each conveyor has a driving roller and a driven roller arranged at a distance from each other, and an endless annular belt wound around both rollers. The conveying surface 20 is composed of the upper surfaces of all the belts. The conveyance control unit 3 is configured to control the driving rollers of each conveyor.

[0011] The inspection unit 4 has a defect detection mechanism 6 that detects defects of the mat 1 and a defect detection mechanism 7 that detects defects on the surface of the mat 1. Here, "defects" include, for example, tears, cracks, or chips, and are mainly likely to occur in the rubber plate portion of the mat 1, particularly in the peripheral portion called the "ear part". "Defects" include, for example, stains, foreign matter attachment, wear, discoloration, pile flying out, base cloth fraying, pile coming off, or press marks.

[0012] Figure 4 is a schematic side cross-sectional view of the defect detection mechanism 6. The defect detection mechanism 6 is provided between the inspection conveyor 22 and the inspection conveyor 23 in the transport direction X. The defect detection mechanism 6 conveys the mat 1 in the transport direction X while causing it to undulate vertically along the width direction W orthogonal to the transport direction X. It includes a wave-shaped transport unit 61, an illumination unit 62 that irradiates the portion 100 of the mat 1 passing through the wave-shaped transport unit 61 with light from below, a light detection unit 63 that detects the light from the illumination unit 62 that has passed above the portion 100 of the mat 1, and a defect determination unit 64 that determines that there is a defect in the mat 1 when the light detection unit 63 detects light.

[0013] Specifically, the wave-shaped transport unit 61 has a wave-shaped transport roller pair 611 on the upstream side in the transport direction and a wave-shaped transport roller pair 612 on the downstream side in the transport direction, which are arranged at a predetermined interval X1 in the transport direction X. Figure 5 is a schematic view of the wave-shaped transport roller pair 611 seen from the downstream side in the transport direction. As shown in Figure 5, the wave-shaped transport roller pair 611 is composed of two plate rollers 613 arranged facing each other vertically, and the mat 1 is sandwiched between the two plate rollers 613. The plate roller 613 is configured by arranging a plurality of plates 6132 along the rotation axis 6131. The upper plate roller 613 and the lower plate roller 613 are arranged such that the plates 6132 are staggered so that the mat 1 passing between them undulates vertically. The wave-shaped transport roller pair 612 also has the same configuration as the wave-shaped transport roller pair 611. Figure 6 is a partially enlarged view of the wave-shaped transport roller pair 611 in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 6, the amount of indentation α of the plates 6132 of the upper plate roller 613 with respect to the plates 6132 of the lower plate roller 613 is specifically set within the range of 2 to 15 mm.

[0014] The lighting unit 62 is configured to irradiate light downward onto the portion 100 of the mat 1, that is, the portion of the mat 1 located between the corrugated conveying roller pair 611 and the corrugated conveying roller pair 612. Specifically, it has a light 621 that irradiates light over the entire area of the mat 1 in the conveying direction X and the width direction W at a predetermined interval X1. Therefore, the lighting unit 62, that is, the light 621, is disposed within the range of the predetermined interval X1 and below the conveying surface 20.

[0015] The light detection unit 63 is configured to detect the light from the lighting unit 62 that has passed upward through the portion 100 of the mat 1. Specifically, it has a camera 631 that detects light with a predetermined brightness or more. Therefore, the light detection unit 63, that is, the camera 631, is disposed within the range of the predetermined interval X1 and above the conveying surface 20.

[0016] The defect determination unit 64 processes the image data acquired by the camera 631 to detect light with a predetermined brightness or more, and is provided within the inspection control unit 5.

[0017] The defect detection mechanism 7 includes a light 71 that illuminates the surface of the mat 1 being conveyed by the inspection conveyor 22, a camera 72 that photographs the surface of the mat 1 illuminated by the light 71, and a detection unit 73 that processes the image data acquired by the camera 72 to detect defects. The light 71 is provided so as to illuminate a part of the mat 1 in the conveying direction X and the entire width direction W of the part. The camera 72 is provided so as to photograph the entire area of the portion of the mat 1 illuminated by the light 71, and has a plurality, for example, three camera units 721, 722, and 723. The detection unit 73 is provided within the inspection control unit 5.

[0018] Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, a downward conveying unit 25 for conveying the mat 1 downward toward the lower side of the conveying surface 20 is disposed on the sorting conveyor 24. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of part A in FIG. 3. The downward conveying unit 25 includes support poles 251 provided on both sides in the width direction W, telescopic rods 252 extending from each support pole 251 upward in the conveying direction and obliquely downward, and a conveyor portion 241 at the upstream end of the sorting conveyor 24 in the conveying direction, which is a conveyor portion that can rotate up and down around a horizontal axis 253 on the downstream side in the conveying direction. When the detection unit 73 detects a defect or the defect determination unit 64 determines that there is a defect, the conveyance control unit 3 operates the downward conveying unit 25. Specifically, the conveyance control unit 3 controls the downward conveying unit 25 so as to extend the telescopic rod 252 and rotate the conveyor portion 241 downward as shown by the arrow R, and controls the sorting conveyor 24 so as to reversely rotate the drive roller, thereby operating the downward conveying unit 25.

[0019] Below the sorting conveyor 24, a stock mechanism 26 for storing the mat 1 conveyed by the downward conveying unit 25 is installed. The stock mechanism 26 has a mounting table 261 on which the mat 1 is placed. The mounting table 261 is provided so as to be slidable between a position below the sorting conveyor 24 and a position below the inspection conveyor 23. When operating the downward conveying unit 25, the conveyance control unit 3 controls the stock mechanism 26 so that the mounting table 261 moves to a position below the inspection conveyor 23. The mat 1 conveyed by the downward conveying unit 25 is placed on the mounting table 261 at a position below the inspection conveyor 23 and then transported to a position below the sorting conveyor 24.

[0020] The mat inspection apparatus 10 configured as described above operates as follows.

[0021] (1) First, place the mat 1 to be inspected on the conveying surface 20 of the input conveyor 21 and turn on an operation switch (not shown).

[0022] (2) The mat 1 is conveyed from the input conveyor 21 to the inspection conveyor 22, and the defect detection mechanism 7 operates on the mat 1. That is, the surface of the mat 1 is illuminated by the light 71 and photographed by the camera 72, and the defect on the surface of the mat 1 is detected by the detection unit 73.

[0023] (3) Further, the mat 1 is conveyed from the inspection conveyor 22 to the inspection conveyor 23. At this time, the defect detection mechanism 6 operates on the mat 1. That is, while the mat 1 is being conveyed between the undulating conveyor roller pair 611 on the upstream side in the conveying direction and the undulating conveyor roller pair 612 on the downstream side in the conveying direction, it assumes an undulating state as shown in FIG. 5. In the portion 100 of the mat 1 in the undulating state, a tensile force acts along the width direction W, so that even a small defect such as a "tear" along the width direction W will expand along the width direction W. Then, the light from the illumination unit 62 passes through the expanded defect and is detected by the light detection unit 63, and the defect determination unit 64 determines that there is a "defect" in the mat 1. When the light detection unit 63 does not detect the light from the illumination unit 62, the defect determination unit 64 does not determine that there is a "defect" in the mat 1.

[0024] (4) Further, the mat 1 is conveyed from the inspection conveyor 23 to the sorting conveyor 24. (4-1) When no defects or malfunctions are detected, the operator manually picks up the mat 1 from the sorting conveyor 24 and stores it as a good product. (4-2) When a defect or malfunction is detected, the downward conveying unit 25 operates on the mat 1 conveyed to the sorting conveyor 24. When the downward conveying unit 25 operates, the mat 1 on the sorting conveyor 24 passes through the conveyor portion 241 inclined downward and is placed on the placement table 261 located below the inspection conveyor 23 and carried to a position below the sorting conveyor 24. Then, the operator picks up the mat 1 from the placement table 261 and stores or discards it as a defective product.

[0025] According to the mat inspection device 10 having the above configuration, the following operational effects can be exhibited.

[0026] (a) Defects and flaws can be automatically detected for Mat 1. Therefore, the efficiency of the inspection work for Mat 1 can be realized. In addition, visual inspection work by the operator can be eliminated, and as a result, the burden on the operator can be reduced.

[0027] (b) Since defects and flaws are detected based on the image data captured by camera 631 and camera 72, they can be detected accurately. Therefore, the accuracy of the inspection work for Mat 1 can be improved.

[0028] (c) In particular, since defects can be detected in a state where they are enlarged along the width direction W in the undulating conveying unit 61, even small defects in the width direction W can be surely detected. Therefore, in the inspection work for Mat 1, the detection accuracy of defects can be further improved. For example, even a "tear" with a width of 0.5 mm can be surely detected.

[0029] (d) The good Mat 1 and the defective Mat 1 can be sorted by the downward conveying unit 25. Therefore, the sorting work of Mat 1 by the operator after the inspection work can be reduced.

[0030] [Another Embodiment] The present invention may adopt the following modified configurations for the mat inspection device 10 having the above configuration.

[0031] (i) In the defect detection mechanism 6, the lighting unit 62 is arranged above the conveying surface 20, and the light detection unit 63 is arranged below the conveying surface 20.

[0032] (ii) Among the defect detection mechanism 6 and the malfunction detection mechanism 7, the malfunction detection mechanism 7 is not provided.

[0033] (iii) The downward conveying unit 25 is not provided.

[0034] (iv) In the undulation conveying unit 61, the conveying speed of the undulation conveying roller pair 612 on the downstream side in the conveying direction is set to be higher than the conveying speed of the undulation conveying roller pair 611 on the upstream side in the conveying direction. This can be executed by the control of the conveyance control unit 3. According to this, a tensile force along the conveying direction X acts on the portion 100 of the mat 1 located between the undulation conveying roller pair 611 and the undulation conveying roller pair 612. Therefore, even for a defect such as a small "tear" along the conveying direction X, it can be expanded along the conveying direction X and reliably detected. Thus, also from this point, the defect detection accuracy can be further improved in the inspection work for the mat 1.

[0035] (v) As shown in FIG. 8, the undulation conveying unit 61 does not include the undulation conveying roller pair 612 on the downstream side in the conveying direction. Also by this, the portion of the mat 1 immediately after passing through the undulation conveying roller pair 611 can be made to undulate up and down, so that the defect detection accuracy can be improved in the inspection work for the mat 1.

[0036] (vi) The frustum 6132 of the frustum roller 613 does not have a cross-sectional diamond shape as shown in FIG. 5, but has a shape such as a cross-sectional elliptical shape or a cross-sectional rectangular shape, for example.

[0037] (vii) The undulation conveying roller pairs 611 and 612 do not have a form having a plurality of frustums as shown in FIG. 5, but have a form in which the entire roller undulates up and down along the width direction, for example.

Industrial Applicability

[0038] The mat inspection apparatus of the present invention can automatically and reliably detect particularly defects of the mat, so it has great industrial utility value.

Explanation of Signs

[0039] 1 Mat 2 Conveying Unit 20 Conveying Surface 25 Downward Conveying Unit 3 Conveyance Control Unit 4 Inspection Unit 5 Inspection control unit 6 Defect detection mechanism 61 Undulation conveying unit 611, 612 Pair of undulation conveying rollers 613 Komatsu roller 6131 Rotating shaft 6132 Komatsu 7 Malfunction detection mechanism

Claims

1. A conveying unit that places a mat on a conveying surface and conveys it, A conveyance control unit that controls the conveyance unit, An inspection unit that inspects the mat, An inspection control unit that controls the inspection unit, A mat inspection device comprising: The inspection unit includes a defect detection mechanism for detecting defects in the mat, The defect detection mechanism is A wavy conveyance unit that conveys the mat in the conveyance direction while causing it to undulate in the vertical direction along the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, An illumination unit that irradiates the portion of the mat passing through the wavy conveyance unit with light from above or below, A light detection unit that detects the light from the illumination unit that has passed through the portion of the mat downward or upward, A defect determination unit that determines that the mat has a "defect" when the light detection unit detects the light, Comprising The wavy conveyance unit has at least one pair of wavy conveyance rollers, The illumination unit and the light detection unit are arranged at least on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the pair of wavy conveyance rollers, A mat inspection device characterized by this.

2. The wavy conveyance unit has a pair of wavy conveyance rollers on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and a pair of wavy conveyance rollers on the downstream side in the conveyance direction, which are arranged at a predetermined interval in the conveyance direction, The illumination unit and the light detection unit are arranged within the range of the predetermined interval, The mat inspection device according to Claim 1.

3. The pair of wavy conveyance rollers consists of two comb rollers arranged facing each other vertically, The comb rollers are configured by arranging a plurality of combs in parallel along the rotation axis, The upper comb roller and the lower comb roller are arranged such that the combs are staggered so that the mat passing between them undulates, The mat inspection device according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. The pair of wavy conveyance rollers on the downstream side in the conveyance direction is set to have a higher conveyance speed than the pair of wavy conveyance rollers on the upstream side in the conveyance direction, The mat inspection device according to Claim 2.

5. A conveying unit that places a mat on a conveying surface and conveys it, A conveyance control unit that controls the conveyance unit, An inspection unit that inspects the mat, An inspection control unit that controls the inspection unit, A mat inspection device comprising: The inspection unit includes a defect detection mechanism for detecting defects in the mat, The defect detection mechanism is A wavy conveying unit that conveys the mat in the conveying direction while causing the mat to undulate in the vertical direction along the width direction orthogonal to the conveying direction; An illumination unit that irradiates the portion of the mat passing through the wavy conveying unit with light from above or below; A light detection unit that detects the light from the illumination unit that has passed through the portion of the mat downward or upward; A defect determination unit that determines that the defect "exists" in the mat when the light detection unit detects the light; It is provided with; On the downstream side in the conveying direction of the defect detection mechanism, a downward conveying unit for conveying the mat downward is arranged below the conveying surface; The conveyance control unit is configured to operate the downward conveyance unit when the defect determination unit determines "exists"; Mat inspection device.

6. The inspection unit has a defect detection mechanism that photographs the surface of the mat and detects defects on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the defect detection mechanism; The mat inspection device according to claim 1 or 5.

7. The defect is a tear, a crack, or a chip; The mat inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. The defect is stain, foreign matter adhesion, wear, discoloration, pile flying out, base cloth fraying, pile falling out, or press mark; The mat inspection device according to claim 6.

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