JP2000036298A - Molten-lead liquid level control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a molten-lead liquid level control device capable of controlling a liquid level in a molten-lead container with high accuracy, and capable of keeping the level surely at a prescribed value. SOLUTION: A conical detection pole 5 is erected in a molten-lead container 1. Pumps 3, 4 supply and discharge molten lead to and from the molten-lead container 1. A CCD camera 6 photographs a plane region including a draft border line between the detection pole 5 and a molten-lead liquid level from an upper part of the detection pole 5. An image processing device 8 takes in an image data obtained by the camera 6, operates the area of the inside region of the draft border line and determines propriety of the liquid level of the molten lead by comparing the operated value with a reference data. The liquid level of the molten lead in the molten-lead container 1 is kept at a present value by controlling the pumps 3, 4 by a sequencer 11 based on the data of the image processing device 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a lead liquid level control device used for forming a strap by welding the same polarity lugs of a group of electrodes of a lead storage battery to each other with lead.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one method of forming a strap on an electrode plate group of a lead storage battery, a cast-on strap method using a mold having a strap-shaped recess is known. In this method, the same polarity ear portion of the electrode group is inserted into the concave portion of the mold, and in this state, the mold together with the electrode group is immersed in the molten lead in the molten lead container, and the molten lead is placed in the concave portion of the mold. This is a method of forming a strap that connects the ear portions to each other.

[0003] The molten lead is supplied to the molten lead container via a pump. Conventionally, by controlling the driving time of the pump, the amount of lead in the lead container, that is, the liquid level of the lead is kept constant.

[0004]

However, the supply amount of molten lead per hour by the pump is liable to fluctuate. Therefore, the means for controlling the liquid level in the molten lead container based on the driving time of the pump is not reliable. And the height of the actual liquid level in the molten lead container often becomes higher or lower than the set value.

It is important that the height of the liquid level in the molten lead container is always kept at a specified value when the strap is formed by the cast-on-strap method. The amount of lead formed in the strap decreases, making it difficult to pass a large current. Conversely, if the liquid level is too high, the amount of lead formed in the strap increases, the weight increases, stability decreases, and material is wasted. Becomes

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to control the liquid level in a molten zinc container with high accuracy and to surely maintain a prescribed set value. To provide a liquid level control device for a molten lead.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a conical detection pole is erected in a molten lead container to supply and discharge molten lead to the molten lead container. A lead supply / discharge unit is provided, and an imaging unit is provided for imaging a plane area including a draft boundary line between the detection pole and the liquid level from above the detection pole, and captures image data obtained by the imaging unit. The image processing means for calculating the area of the inner region of the drafting boundary line, comparing the calculated value with the reference data to determine the suitability of the liquid level of the molten lead, based on the data of the image processing means The lead supply / discharge means is controlled by a control means to maintain the liquid level of the lead in the lead container at a set value.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a control system for controlling the level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1,
A supply pump 3 that supplies the molten lead in the molten lead furnace 2 into the molten lead vessel 1 as a molten lead supply / discharge means on a side surface of the molten lead vessel 1.
A discharge pump 4 for discharging the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 into the molten lead furnace 2 is connected.

In the molten lead container 1, a conical detection pole 5 having a peripheral surface inclined at a predetermined angle is vertically provided. The detection pole 5 is fixed to the bottom surface of the molten lead container 1. A CCD camera 6 is provided above the detection pole 5 as an image pickup means, and an illuminator 7 is provided beside the CCD camera 6. Have been. The CCD camera 6 is the lead container 1
It is provided at a position immediately above the detection pole 5 which is hardly affected by the heat of the molten lead therein.

The detection pole 5 is made of, for example, stainless steel, and its surface is subjected to a black surface treatment. Approximately one third of the upper side of the detection pole 5 is in a state of protruding from the liquid surface of the lead in the lead container 1.

An illuminator 7 illuminates the detection pole 5 at a portion protruding from the liquid surface of the lead and its peripheral portion, and a CCD camera 6 provides a detection pole 5 at a portion protruding from the liquid surface of the lead and a certain area around the detection pole. That is, an image of a plane area including a draft boundary between the detection pole 5 and the liquid surface of the lead is taken, and the image data is output to the image processing device 8 as image processing means. The image processing device 8 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM.
And the like.

The image processing device 8 includes an image processing unit 9 and a comparing unit 10. The image data output from the CCD camera 6 is calculated by the image processing unit 9, and the calculated value is previously incorporated in the comparing unit 10. The reference data is compared. The comparison result is input to a sequencer 11 as a control means. When the liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 is less than a predetermined set value via the sequencer 11, the supply pump 3 is driven to The surface level is raised, and when the liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 exceeds a predetermined set value, control is performed to drive the discharge pump 4 to lower the liquid level. . The image data output from the CCD camera 6 is displayed on a monitor 12 of the image processing device 8.

The determination of the appropriateness of the liquid level is performed in the following procedure. The draft boundary line between the liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 and the detection pole 5 draws a circle A as shown in FIG. 2, and the area of the circle A decreases in proportion to the rise of the molten liquid level. It becomes larger if it descends. The fluctuation range of the liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 is usually about 5 mm.

Here, the liquid surface of the molten lead is silver-white, and the detection pole 5 is dark. Therefore, when this portion is imaged by the CCD camera 6, the reflected image shows a bright portion of the molten lead and the detection pole 5 Is the binarized image data that becomes a circular dark part, and this image data is sent to the image processing unit 9 of the image processing device 8.

The image processing section 8 fetches the binarized image data and calculates the area (the number of pixels) of the dark portion, that is, the circle A. Then, the area of the circle A calculated by the comparison unit 10 is:
The reference data, that is, the area of the reference circle drawn by the draft boundary between the detection pole 5 and the liquid level when the molten liquid level is at the set height is compared.

Since the liquid surface of the molten lead fluctuates, the reference circle has a width. That is, as the reference circle, FIG.
As shown in the figure, two circles S1 and S2 are set,
The area of the circle S1 is slightly larger than the area of the circle S2. When the area of the circle A calculated based on the image data is larger than the area of one of the larger circles S1 of the reference circle, the height of the lead liquid surface is lower than the set value. When the area of A is smaller than the area of the other small circle S2 of the reference circle, it is determined that the height of the molten lead surface is higher than the set value.

When it is determined by the image processing device 8 that the liquid level of the lead in the lead container 1 is lower than the set value, information on the determination result is input to the sequencer 11 and supplied via the sequencer 11. The pump 3 is driven, the supply pump 3 replenishes the molten lead into the molten lead container 1, and when it is determined that the liquid level is lower than the set value, information of the determination result is input to the sequencer 11, The discharge pump 4 is driven via the sequencer 11, and the lead pump 4 discharges the molten lead in the molten lead container 1. By such control, the liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container 1 is set to a set value. Is kept.

Under the above-mentioned control, while maintaining the liquid level of the lead in the lead container 1 at the set value, the same-polarity ears of the electrode plate group are inserted into the recesses of the mold. The mold together with the electrode group is immersed in the molten lead in the molten lead container 1, and the molten lead is caused to flow into the concave portion of the mold to form a strap by a cast-on-strap method of connecting ears to each other.

As described above, the liquid level of the lead in the lead container 1 is controlled by directly monitoring the liquid level of the lead in the lead container 1 and using data based on the monitoring. Therefore, even if the functions of the supply pump 3 and the discharge pump 4 may fluctuate, the function of the
The cast-on-strap method can be performed under the condition that the actual liquid level of the molten lead in the inside is always kept at a constant set value, so that the amount of lead in the strap to be formed is kept constant, and An appropriate strap can be formed.

In the above embodiment, a conical detection pole is used, but a truncated cone, a pyramid, or a truncated pyramid detection pole may be used.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The liquid level of the molten lead in the molten lead container can be controlled with high precision to keep it at a specified value, and therefore, when molding the strap by the cast-on-strap method, always form a precise and accurate strap. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing image data captured by a CCD camera.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view schematically showing a mode of comparison between data calculated by an image processing apparatus and reference data.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Lead container 2 ... Lead furnace 3 ... Supply pump 4 ... Discharge pump 5 ... Detection pole 6 ... CCD camera 7 ... Illuminator 8 ... Image processor 9 ... Image processor 10 ... Comparison part 11 ... Sequencer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A control device for controlling the liquid level of molten lead in a molten lead container, comprising: a conical detection pole erected in the molten lead container; and supply of molten lead to the molten lead container. And a lead supply / discharge means for performing discharge, and an imaging means for imaging a plane area including a draft boundary between the detection pole and the liquid surface of the lead from above the detection pole,
Image processing means for acquiring the image data obtained by the imaging means, calculating the area of the inner region of the draft boundary line, and comparing the calculated value with the reference data to determine whether or not the liquid level of the molten lead is appropriate; A control means for controlling the lead supply / discharge means based on the data of the image processing means.