JP6067407B2 - Inspection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus capable of accurately inspecting the appearance of an end surface of a minute object to be inspected such as an electronic component.

  As an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of electronic components and the like, an inspection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-288527 has been known. This inspection apparatus has means for moving a printed circuit board placed on a table in the X and Y directions and a plurality of LEDs arranged in a dome shape, and illuminating means for illuminating the part to be inspected on the printed circuit board And a television camera that images the portion to be inspected on the printed circuit board from a hole formed in the top of the illumination means.

  According to this inspection apparatus, the portion to be inspected on the printed circuit board is illuminated by the illumination means, and an image of the portion to be inspected is captured by the television camera. Then, by analyzing the image data captured in this way, the quality of the appearance property of the inspected part is determined.

  Conventionally, such an inspection apparatus includes a means for moving the inspection object, a means for illuminating the inspection object, and a means for capturing an image of the inspection object. Although not provided, a mode designed and deformed according to the shape of the inspection object that is the inspection object and the inspection site is employed.

  For example, when inspecting an end face (end face in the direction of arrow D) Wa of a hexahedral electronic component (for example, a capacitor) W as shown in FIG. 6, as shown in FIG. It is transported in a predetermined transport direction (arrow E direction) by the transport mechanism 100, and the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W is illuminated by the illumination mechanism 102 from the front in the transport direction at the inspection position P set at a predetermined position in the middle of the transport. In addition, a mode is adopted in which the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W is imaged from the diagonally front by the imaging camera 101 as appropriate. 6A is a plan view of the electronic component W, and FIG. 6B is a side view in the direction of arrow D in FIG.

  In this case, as the illumination mechanism 102, the above-described illumination means in which the LEDs are arranged in a dome shape is divided by a vertical plane perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the conveyance mechanism 100, and the front part in the conveyance direction is used. It is comprised so that the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W may be illuminated.

  In the illumination mechanism 102, a through hole 102a is formed at a place where the LED 103 is not disposed, and the imaging camera 101 images the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W through the through hole 102a.

JP-A-5-288527

  By the way, in the case of inspecting the appearance property of the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W as described above, in order to inspect it with high accuracy, as shown in FIG. It is preferable to arrange the imaging camera 101 so that the angle (elevation angle) formed with the imaging optical axis becomes as small as possible, and to image the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W from the front as much as possible. By capturing the front end face Wa from the front, the obtained image data becomes the maximum, and more accurate analysis can be performed.

  The illumination mechanism 102 is located at a position where the illumination optical axis is as close as possible to the front end surface Wa of the electronic component W, in other words, as close as possible to the conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism 100. The LED 103 is preferably disposed. Thus, by providing the LED 103 at a position close to the transport path, as described above, the imaging camera 101 arranged so that the elevation angle of the imaging optical axis is as small as possible can be increased from the front end surface Wa. The reflected light can be taken in, so that the image picked up by the image pickup camera 101 becomes clearer. Thus, by obtaining such a clear image, it is possible to improve the accuracy of analysis based on this image.

  In recent years, miniaturization of the electronic component W has accelerated, and the size of the cross section of 3 mm × 2 mm has been reduced to that of a cross section of 0.4 mm × 0.2 mm. In order to cope with miniaturization, the arrangement of the imaging camera 101 and the LED 102 as described above is preferable.

  However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 7, when the elevation angle of the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera 101 is set as small as possible and the LED 103 is disposed as close to the conveyance path of the conveyance mechanism 100 as possible, the configuration shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera 101 and the LED 103 are in a positional relationship so that the through hole for imaging the electronic component W cannot be provided in the illumination mechanism, that is, the electronic component W is imaged. There was a problem that could not be done.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above situation, Comprising: It aims at provision of the inspection apparatus which can test | inspect the external appearance property of the end surface of a to-be-inspected object with higher precision.

The present invention for solving the above-described problems is an inspection apparatus that conveys an inspection object in a set conveyance direction and inspects at least the front end surface or the rear end surface of the inspection object as the inspection surface. ,
A transport mechanism that has a transport path along the transport direction, a transport mechanism that transports the test object on the transport path in the transport direction, and is disposed on the same side as the test object with the transport path as a boundary, A first illumination mechanism that illuminates the surface to be inspected of the inspection object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism at a preset inspection position on the conveyance path, and is also disposed on the same side as the inspection object, In an inspection apparatus comprising at least an imaging camera that images the inspection surface of the inspection object at the inspection position,
The first illumination mechanism includes a plurality of light emitters that illuminate a surface to be inspected of the inspection object, and a support that supports the plurality of light emitters,
The support is configured to support at least a light emitter closest to the conveyance path at a position farther from the inspection position than a group of other light emitters, and the separated light emitter and other light emitters. Between the group of light emitters, provided with a space for observing the inspection surface of the inspection object from the back side opposite to the inspection position,
The imaging camera is disposed on the back side of the support and is configured to image the inspection surface of the inspection object through the space of the support, and relates to an inspection apparatus.

  According to the inspection apparatus, the object to be inspected is transported on the transport path by the transport mechanism, and the imaging camera is in a state where the surface to be inspected is illuminated by the first illumination mechanism at the inspection position on the transport path. Thus, the surface to be inspected is imaged.

  And since the 1st illumination mechanism has arrange | positioned the light emitter nearest to the said conveyance path at the position spaced apart from the said test | inspection position rather than another group of light emitters, it is light emission nearest to the said conveyance path. With the device as close as possible to the transport path of the transport mechanism, an appropriate interval can be set between this and the other group of light emitters. A space for imaging the inspection surface can be provided.

  And by setting it as such a structure, the said imaging camera is made as close to the said conveyance path as possible so that the angle (elevation angle) which the imaging optical axis and the said conveyance path make may become as small as possible. This imaging camera can image the inspection surface of the inspection object from the front as much as possible. Thereby, the image of the surface to be inspected captured by the imaging camera can be captured as a larger image, and as a result, the appearance property of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

  Further, as described above, since the light emitter closest to the transport path can be arranged as close as possible to the transport path, more reflected light is taken into the imaging camera from the surface to be inspected. Thus, an image captured by the imaging camera can be made clearer. Thus, by obtaining a clear image of the surface to be inspected, the appearance properties of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

  In addition, although LED can be illustrated typically as said light emitter, if the said to-be-inspected surface can be illuminated with sufficient light quantity required for a test | inspection, it will not be limited to LED at all.

  As described above, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the appearance property of the inspection object can be inspected with high accuracy.

  In the inspection apparatus, the imaging camera is disposed so that an imaging optical axis thereof is in a plane orthogonal to the conveyance path and intersects the conveyance path at an angle in a range of 10 ° to 35 °. In addition, the spaced light emitters of the first illumination mechanism are preferably arranged so that the illumination optical axis intersects the transport path at an angle in the range of 3 ° to 15 °. .

  By setting the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera and the illumination optical axis of the first illumination mechanism to an angle in the above range, the image of the inspection object captured by the imaging camera is more appropriate. The inspection surface of the inspection object can be inspected with high accuracy.

  In the inspection apparatus, it is preferable that the first illumination mechanism is configured to be capable of dimming the separated light emitters and the other group of light emitters separately.

  By making it possible to separately adjust the intensity (illuminance) of the separated light emitters and the other group of light emitters, the luminance of the inspected object image captured by the imaging camera is made uniform over the entire area. can do. That is, since the separated light emitters are further away from the inspection position than the other group of light emitters, the luminance of the surface to be inspected at the portion illuminated by the separated light emitters is the other group. However, by increasing the intensity of the separated light emitters, the luminance of the entire surface to be inspected can be made substantially uniform. Also, depending on the shape of the surface to be inspected, the brightness of the surface to be inspected may be uneven due to this, but by adjusting the intensity of the light emitter according to the shape of the surface to be inspected, The luminance of the entire surface can be made almost uniform.

  The inspection apparatus further includes a second illumination mechanism that is disposed on the opposite side of the inspection object from the conveyance path and that illuminates the inspection surface of the inspection object at the inspection position. It is preferable.

  By illuminating the surface to be inspected by the second illumination mechanism, a clearer image of the surface to be inspected can be obtained, and a more accurate inspection can be performed.

  As described above in detail, according to the inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the appearance property of the inspection object can be inspected with high accuracy.

It is the front view which showed the inspection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the enlarged view of FIG. 1, Comprising: It is the enlarged view which showed the 1st and 2nd illumination mechanism in the cross section. It is a side view of the arrow BB direction in FIG. It is a side view of the arrow CC direction in FIG. It is the front view which showed the inspection apparatus which concerns on the modification of this embodiment. (A) is a top view of a to-be-inspected object, (b) is the side view of the arrow D direction. It is the front view which showed the inspection apparatus which concerns on a prior art example. It is explanatory drawing for demonstrating the problem in the conventional inspection apparatus.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view showing an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 3 is a side view in the direction of arrow BB in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view in the direction of arrow CC in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the inspection apparatus 1 of this example includes a transport mechanism 2 that transports an inspection object W in the direction of arrow A, which is the transport direction, and an inspection object that is transported by the transport mechanism 2. The first illumination mechanism 5 and the second illumination mechanism 25 that illuminate the front end face (end face in the transport direction) Wa of W at the inspection position P, and the front end face Wa of the inspection object W at the inspection position P are imaged. An imaging camera 4 is provided.

  In this example, the hexahedral electronic component shown in FIG. 6 is the inspection object W, and its front end surface Wa is the inspection surface.

[Transport mechanism]
The transport mechanism 2 includes a disc-shaped rotary table 3 made of a transparent or translucent glass plate, and a drive motor (not shown) that horizontally rotates the rotary table 3 in the direction of arrow A. The inspection object W supplied onto the rotary table 3 is transported in the transport direction by the rotation of the rotary table 3 so that the front end face Wa faces the transport direction. As a matter of course, the conveyance path of the inspection object W conveyed by the rotary table 3 is an arc-shaped path.

[Imaging camera]
The imaging camera 4 is a camera that captures a two-dimensional image of the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W. At the inspection position P, the imaging optical axis is located in a vertical plane including a tangent to the transport path. In addition, the rotation table 3 is disposed such that the angle formed with the upper surface, that is, the conveyance path, is in the range of 10 ° to 35 °.

[First illumination mechanism]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first illumination mechanism 5 includes a first support 6 and a second support 6 fixed to the end surface 9 of the first support 6 on the downstream side in the transport direction. , A plurality of LEDs 12 supported by the first support 6 and a plurality of LEDs 20 supported by the second support 13, and downstream of the inspection position P in the transport direction. On the side and above the rotary table 3.

  The first support 6 includes a concave curved surface 10 formed from an end surface 7 on the upstream side in the transport direction to a lower surface 8, and the plurality of LEDs 12 are fixed on the concave curved surface 10. As shown in FIG. 4, these LEDs 12 are arranged on the concave curved surface 10 so as to be positioned on substantially concentric three arc rows, and in this example, 17 LEDs 12 are arranged on the outermost arc row. Thus, 13 LEDs 12 are arranged in the arc array closer to the center, and 9 LEDs 12 are arranged in the arc array closest to the center.

  Further, the lower surface 8 of the first support 6 is formed with a concave groove 11 that opens to the end surface 9 and the concave curved surface 10, and the second support 13 has an opening on the end surface 9 side. It is fixed to the end face 9 so as to close the upper part of the cover.

  On the other hand, a plurality (six in this example) of LEDs 20 are fixed on the end surface 14 of the second support 13 on the upstream side in the transport direction, and the LEDs 20 are arranged on the turntable 3 more than the LEDs 12. In addition, the LED 12 is disposed at a position farther from the inspection position P than the LED 12 in the transport direction.

  Further, a concave groove 17 is formed on the upper surface of the second support 13 so as to open to the end surface 14 on the upstream side in the transport direction and the end surface 16 on the downstream side. The concave groove 17 and the first support are formed. A space for imaging the front end face Wa of the inspection object W by the imaging camera 4 is formed by the concave groove 11 of the body 6. That is, the imaging camera 4 in which the angle of the imaging optical axis is set to the above angle can capture the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W through the space.

  Thus, the LED 20 disposed at a position close to the transport path of the turntable 3 is disposed at a position farther away from the inspection position P in the transport direction than the other group of LEDs 12. A space can be provided between them, and the front end face Wa of the inspection object W is imaged by the concave groove 11 formed in the first support body and the concave groove 17 formed in the second support body 13. It became possible to form a space for.

  A concave groove 19 is formed in the lower surface 15 of the second support member that is directly above the conveyance path of the rotary table 3, and the object W to be inspected conveyed by the rotary table 3 is formed in the concave groove 19. Can pass through.

  The LED 20 disposed at the closest position to the transport path of the turntable 3 is disposed such that the illumination optical axis intersects the transport path at an angle in the range of 3 ° to 15 °. Yes.

  Among the LEDs 12, a group (LED group G1) arranged in an outermost arc row, a group (LED group G2) arranged in another arc row, and a group of LEDs 20 (LED group G3) The light emission intensity can be dimmed separately.

[Second illumination mechanism]
The second illumination mechanism 25 includes a support body 26 and a plurality of LEDs 30 and 31 supported by the support body 26. The second illumination mechanism 25 is arranged directly below the first illumination mechanism 6 with the rotary table 3 interposed therebetween. Established.

  The support 26 includes a concave curved surface 29 formed from an end surface 27 on the upstream side in the transport direction to an upper surface 28, and the plurality of LEDs 30 and 31 are fixed on the concave curved surface 29. As shown in FIG. 4, the LEDs 30 are arranged on the concave curved surface 29 so as to be positioned on substantially three concentric circular arc rows, and in this example, 17 LEDs 30 are arranged on the outermost circular arc row, Thus, 13 LEDs 30 are arranged in the arc sequence on the center side, and 9 LEDs 30 are arranged in the arc sequence on the most center side. In addition, two LEDs 31 are disposed further from the center than the LEDs 30 in the arc array on the most central side.

  Further, among the LEDs 30, a group (LED group G4) arranged in the outermost arc row, a group arranged in other arc rows and a group of LEDs 31 (LED group G5) have their light emission intensities, respectively. It can be dimmed separately.

  According to the inspection apparatus 1 of the present example having the above-described configuration, a plurality of inspection objects W transport the front end surface Wa on the rotary table 3 that is driven and rotated by the drive motor (not shown). The inspection object W is sequentially supplied at predetermined intervals in a posture directed in the direction, and the supplied inspection object W is conveyed by the rotary table 3 so as to pass through the inspection position P.

  When the inspection object W reaches the inspection position P, the front end surface Wa, which is the inspection surface, is illuminated by the light emitted from the LEDs 12 and 20 of the first illumination mechanism 5, and the second Illuminated by the LEDs 30 and 31 of the illumination mechanism 25 and illuminated by the light transmitted through the rotary table 3. Thus, since the front end surface Wa is illuminated by the first and second illumination mechanisms 5 and 25 arranged above and below in this way, the front end surface Wa as the surface to be inspected is uniformly illuminated with high illuminance. The

  The front end surface Wa of the object W thus uniformly illuminated in this way is imaged by the imaging camera 4, and the imaged image data is analyzed by a discriminating device (not shown), and the appearance property of the front end surface Wa is analyzed. The quality is determined.

  In the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, the LED 20 of the first illumination mechanism 5 is disposed so that the illumination optical axis intersects the conveyance path at an angle in the range of 3 ° to 15 °. The front end surface Wa of the inspection object W can be illuminated almost from the front.

  In addition, since the LED 20 of the first illumination mechanism 5 is provided at a position farther from the inspection position P than the LED 12, an appropriate interval can be set between the LED 20 and the LED 12, A space for imaging the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W can be formed. By forming such a space, the imaging camera 4 is arranged such that an angle (elevation angle) between the imaging optical axis and the transport path is an angle in the range of 10 ° to 35 °. It can be arranged as close to the transport path as possible.

  Thus, according to the imaging camera 4 arranged in this way, the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W can be imaged from the front as much as possible, and the front end surface Wa imaged by the imaging camera 4 can be captured. The image can be taken as a larger image, and as a result, the appearance property of the front end face Wa can be inspected with high accuracy.

  Further, as described above, the LED 20 illuminates the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W from substantially the front, so that more reflected light can be taken into the imaging camera 4 from the front end surface Wa. Thus, the image captured by the imaging camera 4 can be made clearer. Thus, by obtaining a clear image of the front end face Wa, the appearance of the front end face Wa can be inspected with higher accuracy.

  In the first illumination mechanism 5 and the second illumination mechanism 25 of this example, the LED groups G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5 can be dimmed separately. By appropriately dimming the LED groups G1, G2, G3, G4 and G5 as appropriate, the front end face Wa can be illuminated uniformly. Further, the light can be dimmed according to the shape of the front end surface Wa which is the surface to be inspected, and when the luminance of the surface to be inspected is uneven due to the shape of the surface to be inspected, By adjusting the intensity of each LED group G1, G2, G3, G4, G5 according to the shape of the surface to be inspected, the luminance of the entire surface to be inspected can be made substantially uniform.

  Thus, according to the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, the appearance property of the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W can be inspected with high accuracy.

  The specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the specific modes that the present invention can take are not limited thereto. For example, in the above example, the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W in the transport direction is inspected, but the rear end surface of the inspection object W may be inspected as shown in FIG. The inspection apparatus 50 is obtained by inverting the transport apparatus 1 back and forth in the transport direction around the inspection position P. Therefore, in FIG. 5, the same components as those of the inspection apparatus 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the configuration and operation of each component are the same as those of the inspection apparatus 1, and thus the description thereof is omitted. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inspection apparatus 2 Conveyance mechanism 3 Rotary table 4 Imaging camera 5 1st illumination mechanism 6 1st support body 9 LED
12 Second support 30 LED
25 Second Illumination Mechanism 26 Support 30 LED
31 LED

Claims (4)

An inspection apparatus that conveys an inspection object in a set conveyance direction and inspects at least the front end surface or the rear end surface of the inspection object as an inspection surface,
A transport mechanism that has a transport path along the transport direction, a transport mechanism that transports the test object on the transport path in the transport direction, and is disposed on the same side as the test object with the transport path as a boundary, A first illumination mechanism that illuminates the surface to be inspected of the inspection object conveyed by the conveyance mechanism at a preset inspection position on the conveyance path, and is also disposed on the same side as the inspection object, In an inspection apparatus comprising at least an imaging camera that images the inspection surface of the inspection object at the inspection position,
The first illumination mechanism includes a plurality of light emitters that illuminate a surface to be inspected of the inspection object, and a support that supports the plurality of light emitters,
The support is configured to support at least a light emitter closest to the conveyance path at a position farther from the inspection position than a group of other light emitters, and the separated light emitter and other light emitters. Between the group of light emitters, provided with a space for observing the inspection surface of the inspection object from the back side opposite to the inspection position,
2. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging camera is arranged on the back side of the support and is configured to image the inspection surface of the inspection object through the space of the support. The imaging camera is disposed such that its imaging optical axis is in a plane orthogonal to the conveyance path and intersects the conveyance path at an angle in a range of 10 ° to 35 °,
The spaced apart light emitter of the first illumination mechanism is arranged so that an illumination optical axis thereof intersects the conveyance path at an angle in a range of 3 ° to 15 °. The inspection apparatus according to 1.   The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first illumination mechanism is configured to be capable of separately dimming the separated light emitters and the other group of light emitters.   A second illumination mechanism is further provided that illuminates a surface to be inspected of the inspection object at the inspection position, which is disposed on the opposite side of the inspection object with respect to the conveyance path. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1.