Method and device for visual inspection of portable terminal

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a method and device for efficiently acquiring imaging data for visual inspection of a terminal. [Solution] By using a camera 6 positioned so as to face the front surface or back surface of a terminal T and positioning mirrors 11-15 to correspond to the each of the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corner parts of the terminal T such that the reflective surfaces thereof are tilted to the outer side with respect to the optical axis of a lens 6L of the camera 6, the front surface or the back surface of the terminal T is captured at the same time as each of the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corner parts of the terminal T reflected in the mirrors 11-15 are captured, the imaging data of the front surface and back surface of this terminal T and each of the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corner parts of the terminal T is acquired by the camera 6, and after imaging, the positioned terminal T is inverted in the vertical direction and the terminal T is imaged in this orientation with the camera.

Description

Method and apparatus for visual inspection of mobile terminals

[0001] The present invention relates to visual inspection of mobile terminals such as mobile phones and tablets (hereinafter referred to as "terminals").

[0002] Used smartphones and other devices are collected by retailers through trade-ins or purchases, and then undergo a recycling process that includes data erasure, functional testing, visual inspection, and necessary part replacement before being supplied to the market as products known as second-hand smartphones.

[0003] It is known that the market price of a refurbished device is determined largely by factors such as the manufacturer, year, model, and performance, as well as the quality of its functionality and appearance.

[0004] For this reason, functional and visual inspections are considered important in the recycling process of used devices, and dedicated automatic inspection equipment has been proposed.

[0005] However, the dedicated automatic inspection devices proposed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are automatic devices used in recycling factories, and therefore the device structure is complex and large, and the equipment is also large-scale, so they cannot be placed in stores or used at retail outlets.

[0006] In particular, in conventional appearance inspections of used terminals, the appearance of the terminal is photographed with a camera, and the appearance grade is determined by referring to the photographed data against standard data for grading.

[0007] The external appearance of the terminal that is photographed by the camera for grading purposes covers a total of 10 points (10 surfaces) of the terminal, including the front, back, left side, right side, top, bottom, and four corners, so if the imaging system only has one camera, it is necessary to hold the terminal with a gripping means such as a robot hand and change the orientation of the terminal from a horizontal orientation by flipping it 180 degrees, rotating it 90 degrees forward and backward, and rotating it upside down. The need for such orientation changes is also necessary when inspecting the appearance of newly manufactured terminals.

[0008] However, because the mechanism for changing the terminal's orientation and the operations and movements required to change the orientation take a considerable amount of time, it ultimately takes too long to acquire image data for all 10 sides of the terminal, and the current situation is that it is not possible to efficiently and economically acquire image data for visual inspection of terminals.

[0009] Special table 2022-539909 publication Special table 2022-539912 publication

[0010] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for rationally acquiring image data for visual inspection of newly manufactured terminals as well as second-hand terminals. In this specification, when a long rectangular terminal is placed horizontally, the left-right direction of the terminal is defined as left and right, the up-down direction as front and back, and the vertical direction as up and down.

[0011] The method of the present invention for solving the above problem is configured as follows: a camera is placed facing the front or back of a terminal placed for imaging, and images of the left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners of the terminal are captured on a mirror that is placed so that the mirror corresponds to each of the surfaces of the left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners of the terminal and has a reflective surface tilted outward with respect to the optical axis of the camera's photographing lens; at the same time, the front or back surface of the terminal is captured, and imaging data of the front or back surface of the terminal, and both left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners of the terminal are obtained by the camera; and after the imaging, the terminal is flipped upside down, and the terminal in this position is imaged by the camera, thereby obtaining imaging data of the front or back surface of the terminal, and the bottom surface and lower left and right corners of the terminal.

[0012] In the above method, the orientation of the terminal placed for imaging can be selected to be horizontal, vertical, or an intermediate orientation between these two. In the device of the present invention described below, an apparatus in which the terminal is placed in a horizontal orientation will be described.

[0013] That is, the configuration of the device of the present invention for carrying out the method of the present invention is a base board provided with a mounting stand on which a terminal can be placed in a horizontal position, an erection frame section provided on the base board so as to surround the mounting stand, a camera arranged on the upper part of the erection frame section with its lens facing directly towards the terminal, an illumination device arranged around the camera so as to irradiate illumination light towards the terminal, and a lighting device arranged around the camera at positions corresponding to each of the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal placed in a horizontal position on the mounting stand. The device is characterized in that it comprises mirrors each mounted on the base stand with their reflective surfaces tilted outward relative to the optical axis of the lens, and a light-shielding curtain member disposed on the mounting frame that surrounds the mounting frame in a darkroom-like manner, and for a terminal placed in a horizontal position on the mounting stand, the lighting device is activated to control the illumination light while the camera captures images of the front or back of the terminal, as well as the images reflected in the mirrors on both left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners, and the terminal is upside down on the mounting stand and imaged with the camera.

[0014] Here, the camera may be a regular film camera, but a digital camera equipped with a wide-angle lens is preferable for handling and processing image data. The mirror's outward tilt with respect to the camera's optical axis (vertical) is preferably approximately 45 degrees from the optical axis. Furthermore, when capturing images with the front side of the device facing up and when capturing images with the back side of the device facing up, it is desirable to capture images of each side of the device at least twice to obtain image data for each side of the device, in order to ensure accuracy. In the following description, the camera will be described as a digital camera.

[0015] In the device of the present invention, when a terminal is placed on a stand with its LCD screen (front) facing up, the mirrors arranged on both sides of the stand and around the top and upper left and right corners act to capture image data of the terminal's left and right sides, top surface, and upper left and right corners, as well as image data of the terminal's front surface. The rear surface, bottom surface, and lower left and right corners of the terminal have not yet been captured by the camera.

[0016] Therefore, in order to capture images of the back, bottom, and left and right corners of the terminal with the camera, the terminal is manually lifted from the stand, rotated 180 degrees in the vertical direction, and placed back on the stand in this position. In this way, the terminal is flipped over and placed on the stand with its back side facing up, so that the unimaged bottom side of the terminal faces the upper mirror, and the lower left and right corners face the upper left and right corner mirrors. Therefore, when the terminal in this orientation is captured with the camera, image data of the back, bottom, and lower left and right corners of the terminal is obtained. Note that while the image of the back of the terminal also provides image data of both the left and right sides of the terminal, it is optional whether or not to use this image data of both the left and right sides.

[0017] When taking pictures with a digital camera, the images of each side of the device are converted into electrical signals by the digital camera's light-receiving surface (e.g., CCD), processed by a processing circuit such as an LSI, and saved as digital image files on a recording medium. In this case, the location of each image data on the light-receiving surface of the device is specified by digital data, so the first image capture will provide image data for six sides of the device: the front or back, both left and right sides, the top, and the top left and right corners.

[0018] When the terminal from which image data on the front side has been acquired in the first image acquisition as described above is inverted on the mounting base, the back side faces upward and the bottom side returns to the original top side position. Therefore, when an image is acquired with the camera in this inverted position, image data on the back side of the terminal, the bottom side, and the four sides of the lower left and right corners, i.e., the back side of the terminal, can be acquired.

[0019] In this way, with the device that executes the method of the present invention, it is possible to obtain image data of 10 surfaces of a terminal (front, back, both left and right sides, both top and bottom, and four top and bottom corners) of the terminal set on the mounting stand with just two imaging operations.

[0020] The present invention uses a camera that is placed facing the front or back of a terminal that is placed for imaging, and captures images of both left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal reflected in a mirror that is placed so that the mirror corresponds to each of the surfaces of the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal and has a reflective surface that is tilted outward with respect to the optical axis of the camera's photographing lens, while simultaneously capturing images of the front or back surface of the terminal, and capturing image data of the front or back surface of the terminal, both left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal with the camera.After capturing the images, the placed terminal is flipped upside down, and the terminal in this position is captured with the camera to capture image data of the front or back surface of the terminal, and the lower surface and the lower left and right corners of the terminal.By simply performing at least two imaging operations of the terminal with the camera and flipping the terminal in the upside down direction in that orientation, it is possible to capture image data of 10 surfaces (10 locations) of the terminal, namely the front, back surface, both left and right side surfaces, both top and bottom surfaces, and the four corners.

[0021] 1. A perspective perspective view for explaining the configuration of an example of the device of the present invention. 2. A plan view for explaining the configuration of the upper half side of the temporary frame body of the device of the present invention in Fig. 1 (arrangement of the camera and the lighting device). 3. A plan view for explaining the configuration on the base board (arrangement of the mounting table and the mirror) in the device of the present invention in Fig. 1. 4. A view taken along the arrow A-A in Fig. 3.

[0022] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a base board having a horizontally elongated rectangular shape that is nearly square when viewed from above. A mounting table 2 on which a terminal T is placed is provided at approximately the center of the base board 1.

[0023] Here, the mounting table 2 has a shape in which its lower surface is raised a small distance a (for example, about 20 to 30 mm) above the upper surface of the base board 1, and is about one size smaller than the outer shape of a typical terminal T. In addition, in the base board 1, the left-right direction is left and right, the front-rear direction is front and rear, and the up-down direction is up and down.

[0024] In the present invention, the planar shapes of the base board 1 and the mounting table 2 are not limited to a rectangle, but may be other planar polygonal shapes, or shapes such as a circle, an oval, or an ellipse.

[0025] Reference numeral 3 denotes four pillars erected at the four corners of the base board 1. Adjacent pillars 3 are connected at their upper ends by beam members 4, and the intermediate portions of each pillar 3 are connected to each other by intermediate beams 5, except for the front side of the front of the base board 1, to form a temporary frame Fb. Note that intermediate beams 5 are also provided on the upper half of the front side of the temporary frame Fb. Some temporary frame Fb have panels (not shown) stretched between adjacent pillars 3, 3, excluding the front side, for the four pillars 3 when viewed from above, and panels (not shown) stretched on the upper half of the pillars 3, 3 on the left and right sides of the front of the temporary frame Fb. In the case of the panel type, no intermediate beams 5 are required except for the intermediate beam 5 for the upper stage Us on which the camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10 are arranged.

[0026] In the temporary frame body Fb, the upper stage Us is formed in the area surrounded by the intermediate beam 5 on the upper half side, and is equipped with a camera (digital camera) 6 equipped with a wide-angle lens 6L, and four lighting devices 7, 8, 9, 10 using multiple LEDs as light sources are arranged on the left and right sides and front and rear sides surrounding this camera 6.

[0027] Here, the camera 6 is a commercially available digital camera equipped with a wide-angle lens 6L, and the left and right lighting devices 7 and 8 are longer than the front and rear lighting devices 9 and 10 and are configured to have a larger number of LED light sources, so that they fit the planar shape (vertically long rectangle) of the terminal T they illuminate.

[0028] The performance, size, and arrangement of the camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10 described above in the present invention are merely examples and are not limited thereto. Here, the camera 6 can be remotely controlled by automatically setting its on / off, aperture, focus, and shutter speed, and the lighting devices 7-10 can also be remotely controlled by automatically setting its on / off, dimming, and other settings. Although not shown, a control unit related to the functions of the camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10 may be disposed on the upper stage Us on which the camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10 are disposed. In the present invention, a separate control unit including a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as PC) may control the operation of the camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10 and instruct the position of the terminal T placed on the mounting table 2. A touch panel TP having a monitor function for inputting information to the control unit and displaying the control status is disposed on the upper half of the front surface of the temporary frame Fb as an input / output unit for the control unit (or PC).

[0029] Meanwhile, around the mounting table 2 of the base board 1 forming the lower stage Bs, left and right mirrors 11, 12, an upper mirror 13, and left and right corner mirrors 14, 15 are installed corresponding to the left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal T placed on the mounting table 2, respectively.

[0030] The left and right mirrors 11, 12 are positioned at positions corresponding to the left and right sides of the terminal T placed on the mounting table 2, with the reflective surfaces (mirror surfaces) of the mirrors 11, 12 tilted outward to the left and right at angles adjusted and set between approximately 40 degrees and 60 degrees relative to the optical axis of the lens 6L of the camera 6.

[0031] The upper surface mirror 13 is positioned at a position corresponding to the upper surface of the terminal T placed on the mounting table 2, with the reflective surface (mirror surface) of the mirror 13 tilted upward and outward at an angle adjusted and set between approximately 40 degrees and 60 degrees with respect to the optical axis of the lens 6L of the camera 6.

[0032] The mirrors 14 and 15 for the upper left and right corners are positioned corresponding to the upper left and right corners of the terminal T placed on the mounting table 2, with the reflective surfaces (mirror surfaces) of the mirrors 14 and 15 tilted outward from the upper corners at an angle adjusted between approximately 40 and 60 degrees relative to the optical axis of the lens 6L of the camera 6. The tilt angles of the mirrors 11 to 15 are set, for example, taking into account the horizontal distance between each mirror and each component of the terminal T and the angle of view of the wide-angle lens 6L of the camera 6. While the arrangement of the mirrors 11 to 15 shown in FIG. 1 is generally inverted U-shaped in plan view, the arrangement of the mirrors 11 to 15 may also be generally U-shaped horizontally or upright. In this case, the arrangement of the lighting devices 7 to 10 and the orientation of the mounting table 2 are changed to match the orientation of the mirrors 11 to 15.

[0033] The upper stage Us is equipped with a camera 6 and lighting devices 7-10, and the lower stage Bs is equipped with a mounting base 2 and mirrors 11-15. The installation frame Fb is provided with a light-shielding member Bcl on three sides (excluding the lower half of the front surface) and on the ceiling. The upper half of the front surface is equipped with a light-shielding member Bc2, which opens and closes in the vertical direction. The interior of the installation frame Fb is formed into a substantially closed imaging space with the lower half of the front surface open. The light-shielding member Bc2 can be opened and closed in any direction. The touch panel TP is provided on the front surface of the light-shielding member Bc2. The touch panel TP can also be used as the light-shielding member Bc2. The materials for the light-shielding members Bc1 and Bc2 can be selected from a variety of materials, from panel-like hard materials to soft cloth-like materials. The interior of the imaging area is preferably a light-diffusing surface. This is to ensure uniform illumination of the target terminal T. When an openable / closable light-shielding member Bc2 is provided, operations such as placing, inverting, and removing the terminal T from the mounting base 2 are performed by opening the member, and when capturing an image, the member Bc2 is closed. In the case of a type in which the lower half of the front of the capturing space is open, the light-shielding member Bc2 does not need to be opened or closed. The captured image in the capturing space is displayed on the touch panel TP as an external monitor using the video function of the camera 6.

[0034] In the present invention, the mirrors 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 are arranged around the mounting table 2 with the above-mentioned inclination angles given to them. Therefore, when a terminal T is placed on the mounting table 2 in a horizontal position with its surface facing upwards, when the camera 6 on the upper stage Us is aimed (focused) at the terminal T and the shutter is released, the angle of view of the light-receiving surface of the camera 6 receives an image of the surface of the terminal T (surface image) in the center of the angle of view, and at the same time, images of the left and right sides of the terminal T are received on the left and right sides of this surface image, an image of the top surface of the terminal T is received above the surface image, and images of the upper left and right corners of the terminal T are received on the upper left and right sides of the surface image.

[0035] That is, in the device of the present invention, image data of the front (or back) surface, both left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal T can be simultaneously obtained with one shot of the camera 6.

[0036] Next, once image data on the front side of the terminal T has been obtained as described above, the terminal T is inverted in the vertical direction on the mounting base 2, and an image is taken in this position with the camera 6, thereby obtaining image data on the back side, bottom side, and lower left and right corners of the terminal T.

[0037] In the present invention, with the above two shots, it is possible to obtain image data for a total of 10 surfaces of the terminal T, including the front, back, both left and right sides, both top and bottom, and all four corners. Therefore, the image data required for the appearance inspection of the terminal can be obtained easily and with simple operations.

[0038] In practice, it is desirable to appropriately change the illuminance of the lighting devices 7 to 10, take at least two shots of the front side of the terminal T, and then turn the terminal T over and take at least two shots of the back side of the terminal T. This is to improve the accuracy of determining the appearance of the terminal T.

[0039] The image data of the 10 faces of the terminal T obtained by the above imaging is sent to a grade determination unit (not shown), where it is referenced to standard data for grade determination in accordance with the handling manual for each image data and used to determine the appearance grade of the terminal T.

[0040] An example of the procedure and format for actually performing a terminal T visual inspection using the device of the present invention described above will be described in steps S1 through S9. S1: Fingerprints on the surface of the terminal T are wiped off with cleaning paper or similar. This is to prevent fingerprints from appearing as tiny scratches in images. S2: The terminal T's serial number (or a scanned QR code (registered trademark), etc.) is entered into the control unit via the touch panel TP (or PC keyboard). S3: The lighting output is controlled based on the terminal's external appearance (whether it has a bezel or not, and if so, whether it is white or black) and its size, and the size of the red frame marker for the placement position displayed on the touch panel screen is selected. S4: The camera 6 is activated. Check items (cleaned or powered off) are displayed on the touch panel TP. Confirm the appropriate items and press "Checked." S5: Once the check is complete, a red frame marker is displayed on the placement platform displayed on the touch panel TP, and the camera 6 shutter operation counts down (5 seconds, freely adjustable). S6: The terminal T is then placed on the red frame marker on the mounting base 2 with the front (screen side) facing up while looking at the monitor. The shutter of the camera 6 is then released and an image is captured. This completes the capture of the front, left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners of the terminal T. S7: For the back surface of the terminal T, the above steps S4 and S5 are also performed, and the terminal T is placed backside up on the mounting base and captured. This completes the capture of the back surface, left and right side surfaces, bottom surface, and bottom left and right corners. S8: The captured image data for a total of 10 surfaces of the terminal T, including the front, back surface, left and right side surfaces, top and bottom surfaces, and four corners, obtained as described above, is sent to a grading determination unit within the PC or a separate unit, where the grading is determined. The determination results are saved and displayed on the monitor of the touch panel TP. S9: The terminal T is then removed from the mounting base 2, and the appearance inspection is completed.

[0041] As described above, the present invention makes it possible to easily and quickly obtain image data for visual inspection of terminals using a device with a simple structure and simple operations, thereby making a significant contribution to the rationalization and automation of visual inspection of terminals.

[0042] T Terminal Bs Lower stage 1 Base board 2 Mounting table Fb Erection frame 3 Column body 4 Beam member 5 Intermediate beam Us Upper stage 6 Camera 6L Wide-angle lens 7 to 10 Lighting device 11 to 15 Mirror Bcl, Bc2 Light-shielding member TP Touch panel

Claims

1. A method for visual inspection of a terminal, comprising: using a camera positioned to face the front or back of a terminal placed for imaging, imaging images of both left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal as reflected in a mirror positioned with the reflective surface tilted outward with respect to the optical axis of the camera's shooting lens, while simultaneously imaging the front or back of the terminal, and obtaining imaging data of the front or back surface of the terminal, both left and right side surfaces, the top surface, and the upper left and right corners of the terminal with the camera; and after said imaging, flipping the placed terminal upside down and imaging the terminal in this position with the camera, thereby obtaining imaging data of the front or back surface of the terminal, and the lower surface and the lower left and right corners of the terminal.

2. The appearance inspection method according to claim 1, wherein the inclination angle of the mirror is adjusted and set to an angle between approximately 40 degrees and 60 degrees outward with respect to the optical axis of the camera lens.

3. A visual inspection method according to claim 1 or 2, in which the terminal is illuminated by a lighting device provided around the camera and an image is taken.

4. The method for inspecting the appearance of claim 1 or 2, wherein the arrangement and inversion of the terminals are performed manually.

5. a mounting frame section that is raised on the base board so as to surround the mounting stand; a camera that is positioned on the upper part of the mounting frame section with its lens facing directly towards the terminal; a lighting device that is positioned around the camera so as to irradiate illumination light towards the terminal; mirrors that are provided on the base board with their reflective surfaces inclined outward with respect to the optical axis of the camera lens at locations corresponding to each of the left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners of the terminal that is placed in a horizontal position on the mounting stand; and a light-shielding curtain member that is disposed on the mounting frame section and surrounds the mounting frame section in a darkroom-like manner, and the lighting device is activated to control the illumination light for the terminal that is placed in a horizontal position on the mounting stand, while the camera captures images of the front or back surface of the terminal and the respective images reflected in the mirrors of the left and right side surfaces, top surface, and upper left and right corners, and the terminal is captured by the camera when it is inverted in the up-down direction on the mounting stand.

6. An appearance inspection device according to claim 5, wherein the inclination angle of said mirror is adjusted and set at an angle between approximately 40 degrees and 60 degrees outward with respect to the optical axis of said camera lens.

7. An appearance inspection device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the upper surface of said base plate and the inner surface of said light blocking member are formed as light diffuse reflecting surfaces.

8. An appearance inspection device according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a touch panel with a monitor function is provided on the front surface of said temporary frame portion as an input / output device for the control unit of said camera and said lighting device.

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