JP2002107795A - Photographing device for discriminating work - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a work discriminating photographing device capable of accurately photographing a work to be discriminated on a conveyer without being interrupted by external light and obtaining a suitable image. SOLUTION: The photographing device is provided with a cylindrical hood 5 arranged on the conveyer C for carrying the work W close to the top face of the conveyer C, having a notch-like gateway 16 for allowing the entrance/exit of the work W on the back-and-front part along the advancing direction A of the conveyer C and covering the work W entering into the gateway 16, a ring-like illumination means 17 attached to the inside of the hood 5 so as to surround a range wider than the top face of the work W on the upper part of the work W when the work W arrives at a prescribed photographing position in the hood 5 and illuminate the center part of the range and a camera 15 attached to the ceiling part of the hood 5 and capable of photographing the top face of the work W arriving at the prescribed photographing position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a work discriminating photographing apparatus used for photographing a work conveyed by a conveyor and determining whether or not the work is a specific one.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, whether or not a work conveyed by a conveyor is a specific one relies on visual inspection by an inspector.

[0003]

In the conventional discriminating method, since individual differences between inspectors and the degree of fatigue may affect the discriminating accuracy, it is necessary to improve the reliability of discriminating.
Discrimination by several persons is required, and it is difficult to increase the discrimination efficiency.

Therefore, if a work on a conveyor is photographed and the image is compared with a specific image stored in a computer in advance, it is possible to automatically determine whether the work is a specific work or not. It will be possible to improve the reliability and efficiency of the discrimination. In this case, it is necessary to take a picture of the work on the conveyor without being disturbed by the external lighting such as the illumination of the lighting equipment in the factory or natural light. Unnecessary patterns that do not exist in a specific original image also appear in a captured image, and therefore, the computer may make an erroneous determination unless this is a specific one.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and has been made in consideration of the above circumstances. It is an object to provide a photographing device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a work-identifying photographing apparatus according to the present invention is provided near a top surface of a conveyor for conveying a work, and includes a front and rear portion along a traveling direction of the conveyor. A cylindrical hood that has a notch-shaped entrance and exit that allows the workpiece to enter and exit, and that can cover the entered workpiece, and that when the workpiece on the conveyor reaches a predetermined shooting position in the hood, An annular illumination means mounted in the hood so as to surround a range wider than the upper surface of the work and illuminate toward the center of the range, and an upper surface of the work which is mounted on the ceiling of the hood and has reached a predetermined photographing position. A first feature is that a camera for photographing is provided.

According to the first feature, when a work carried by the conveyor into the hood is photographed by the camera, the work is surrounded by the hood, is substantially shielded from external rays, and has a circular shape. The entire upper surface is uniformly illuminated by the illumination toward the center of the illuminating means, and the upper surface cannot be shaded. Therefore, an appropriate image of the upper surface of the work can be obtained by photographing with a camera. In addition, since the hood has entrances at the front and rear portions that allow the work to enter and exit, it is not necessary to raise and lower the hood every time the work is introduced into the hood, thereby improving the efficiency of the photographing operation.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first feature, there is provided a work position sensor for detecting that the work on the conveyor has reached a predetermined photographing position in the hood and operating the camera. Features.

According to the second feature, the work can be automatically photographed and labor can be saved.

Further, in addition to the first or second feature, the present invention further comprises a work guiding means for guiding the work to a predetermined photographing position in the hood when the work is carried into the hood by a conveyor. This is the third feature.

According to the third feature, no matter what position the work on the conveyor is at, when the work enters the hood, it is automatically moved to a predetermined photographing position by the work guiding means. By guiding, it is possible to accurately perform photographing with the camera.

The work guiding means corresponds to a pair of work guide plates 22 in an embodiment of the present invention described later.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on one embodiment of the present invention shown in the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view in use of the photographing apparatus for work identification according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a main part of FIG. 1 (sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 3), and FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the above-described work determination photographing apparatus in an unused state.

First, in FIGS. 1 and 4, a work W after casting is conveyed in the direction of arrow A by a belt conveyor C, and an inspection station for determining whether or not the work W is a specific one is provided during the conveyance. Can be In the example shown,
The work W is an engine piston, and the piston W
On the upper end face, a symbol m indicating the corresponding engine model is displayed by casting, and the inspection station determines from the symbol m whether the conveyed piston W is a specific piston. For the determination, the work determination photographing device 1 of the present invention is installed in the inspection station.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the photographing apparatus 1 for work discrimination includes a box-shaped machine base 2 having a caster 3 for movement on the lower surface. Located at the bottom. A pair of right and left columns 4 and 4 are fixedly mounted on the front surface of the machine base 2. A support plate 6 is connected to these columns 4 and 4 via female rails 7 and 7 and male rails 8 and 8 which are slidably engaged with each other so as to be able to move up and down. The hood 5 is supported via 18 '. One of the female rails 7, 7 and the male rails 8, 8 is attached to the columns 4, 4, and the other is attached to the support plate 6.

The upper ends of the right and left columns 4 and 4 are connected to each other via a cross member 9.
The upper end bend 6a of the support plate 6 bent so as to face the upper surface of the cross member 9 contacts the upper surface of the cross member 9.
That is, the lower limit stopper bolt 10 that defines the lower limit (use position) of the hood 5 is screwed in an adjustable manner. The lower limit of the hood 5 can be adjusted by moving the lower limit stopper bolt 10 forward and backward with respect to the cross member 9.

An operation plate 12 is integrally connected to the support plate 6 through an angle member 11 extending between the columns 4, 4, and a pair of upper limit stopper pins is connected to the operation plate 12. 13, 13 are provided so as to be able to protrude and retract toward the back side of the operation plate 12. These upper limit stopper pins 13, 13
The knobs 14, 14 arranged on the front side of the operation plate 12
And a spring (not shown) for urging the stopper pins 13 and 13 in the protruding direction is connected. Thus,
While holding the knobs 14 and 14 and retracting the stopper pins 13 and 13, the support plate 6 is pulled up, and the stopper pins 1
The support plate 6, that is, the hood 5 can be held at the upper limit (unused position, see FIG. 5) by projecting the upper and lower members 3 and 13 above the cross member 9 and receiving the upper and lower members on the upper surface of the cross member 9. .

The hood 5, which is attached to the support plate 6 and rises and descends together therewith, has a rectangular cylindrical shape with an open lower end surface. When the hood 5 comes to the use position, its lower end surface is placed on the upper surface of the belt conveyor C. As it approaches, it covers a part of the belt conveyor C beyond its lateral width. This hood 5 has a body portion that is gradually squeezed upward,
A camera 15 is attached to the narrow ceiling with the lens facing downward, and the camera 15 photographs the piston W that has reached a predetermined photographing position in the hood 5. The inner surface of the hood 5 is blackened to prevent light reflection.

At the lower end of the hood 5, a belt conveyor C is provided.
A pair of notched entrances 16, 16 are provided at the front and rear portions along the traveling direction A of the vehicle to allow the piston W conveyed by the belt conveyor C to enter and exit. These doorways 16,
16 is formed as small as possible so that an external light beam does not enter the hood 5.

An illuminating means 17 is disposed slightly above the entrances 16,16. As shown in FIG. 4, the illumination means 17 includes an annular LED holder 19 having an inner diameter larger than the width of the belt conveyor C, and an annular LED holder 19.
And a large number of LEDs 20 whose light-emitting surfaces are arranged in a ring shape toward the center of the holder 19 and are mounted.
The LED holder 19 is mounted horizontally on the inner wall of the hood 5 and coaxially with the lens of the camera 15 via a pair of brackets 21 and 21 arranged in the longitudinal direction of the belt conveyor C.

The hood 5 has front and rear entrances 16,
A pair of work guide plates 22, 22 extending inward and outward of the hood 5 through both sides of the hood 5 are provided. These work guide plates 22, 22 are supported by a pair of support pieces 23, 23 fixed to the outer wall of the hood 5 on both sides of each entrance 16. The two work guide plates 22, 22 have portions that protrude outward and forward and backward of the hood 5 are formed in the U-shaped portions 22a, 22a. Therefore, each of the C-shaped portions 22a, 22a The interval between 22 and 22 is widened. Thus, each of the C-shaped portions 22a is a belt conveyor C
Has a guide function of guiding the piston W carried to the hood 5 side to the center line position between the work guide plates 22, 22, and a position directly below the camera 15, that is, a predetermined position for the piston W on the center line. There is a shooting position.

The hood 5 has a belt conveyor C at its lower part.
Has a pair of overhangs 5a, 5a which overhang in the lateral width direction. Two sets of overhangs 5a, 5a for detecting arrival of the piston W to a predetermined photographing position in the hood 5 are provided in the overhangs 5a, 5a. Work sensors 25, 25 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the belt conveyor C. Each work sensor 25 is provided with an overhang 5
a, a light-emitting element 25a and a light-receiving element 25b attached to the support bases 26, 26a in the 5a. When the piston W on the belt conveyor C reaches a predetermined photographing position, the traveling direction of the piston W The front end blocks light emitted from the light emitting element 25a to the light receiving element 25b. Thus, when the light receiving element 25b cannot receive the light beam emitted from the light emitting element 25a, the shutter of the camera 15 is released by a detection signal generated accordingly.

The camera 15 inputs a photographed image to a computer 29 installed on the machine base 2. The computer 29 stores a specific image of the piston W in advance, compares and discriminates the image with the image input from the camera 15, and displays the discrimination result on a display.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

In order to determine whether the work, ie, the piston W, conveyed by the belt conveyor C is a specific one, the hood 5 is first set to the use position, and the lower end surface of the hood 5 is placed on the upper surface of the belt conveyor C. , The lighting means 17 is turned on, and the work sensor 25 on the front side in the traveling direction A of the belt conveyor C is turned on.

Now, when the piston W on the belt conveyor C is conveyed in the direction of arrow A and enters the inspection station, first, the two workpieces 22a, 22a of the pair of left and right work guide plates 22, 22 are used to move both workpieces. Guide plates 22, 2
Guided on the centerline between the two. Therefore, regardless of the position of the piston W conveyed to the inspection station at any position on the belt conveyor C, the piston W that has entered the hood 5 passes through a predetermined photographing position immediately below the camera 15.

When the piston W that has entered the hood 5 reaches a predetermined photographing position, the work sensor 25 in the operating state detects this, and the detection signal is transmitted to the camera 1 as described above.
5 is used for the operation. Therefore, the upper surface of the piston W is automatically photographed by the camera 15. in this case,
The piston W is covered with a hood 5 except for narrow front and rear entrances 16 and 16 and is substantially shielded from external light such as lighting in a factory or natural light. Since the entire top surface is uniformly illuminated by the illumination toward the center of the array, the top surface of the piston W, on which the symbol m is cast, is projected without shading. Images can be obtained. The hood 5 has a piston W
Is provided at the front and rear portions of the hood 5, so that the hood 5 does not have to be moved up and down every time the piston W is introduced into the hood 5, and the efficiency of the photographing operation can be improved.

It is effective to provide a light-shielding curtain at the entrances 16 so as to allow the piston W to pass therethrough in order to effectively prevent external light from entering the hood 5.

The image obtained by photographing with the camera 15 is input to the computer 29 as described above, and the computer 29 makes a comparison with a specific image of the piston W stored in advance and makes a determination on the display. To be displayed. When the determination is completed, the computer 29 restarts the belt conveyor C, and the same operation is repeated thereafter. As a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the piston W is not specified, the belt conveyor C is automatically stopped by the discrimination signal, the hood 5 is manually lifted, and the unspecified piston W is removed. Remove outside belt conveyor C. Thereafter, the hood 5 is returned to the use position, and the belt conveyor C is restarted to restart the inspection work.

Incidentally, a pair of left and right work guide plates 2
2, 22 are provided with C-shaped portions 22a, 22a at both ends,
Further, since two sets of the work sensors 25 are provided immediately before and after the camera 15, even if the traveling direction A of the belt conveyor C is reversed, the work sensor 25 has the same action as above without changing the direction of the work determination photographing device 1. The upper surface of the piston W can be photographed.

As shown in FIG. 5, the hood 5 can be held at a non-use position separated upward from the belt conveyor C. Therefore, when photographing of the piston W is unnecessary, the hood 5 is not used. By holding in the position, the work on the belt conveyor C can be performed without being disturbed by the hood 5.

Further, since the work discriminating photographing apparatus 1 is provided with the casters 3, it can be conveniently moved and installed to an inspection station of another conveyor.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, the work W to be photographed is not limited to the piston.

[0035]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the work discriminating photographing device is disposed close to the upper surface of the conveyor for conveying the work, and is arranged before and after along the traveling direction of the conveyor. A cylindrical hood that has a notch-shaped entrance and exit that allows the work to enter and exit, and that can cover the entered work, and that when the work on the conveyor reaches a predetermined shooting position in the hood, the work is placed above the work. An annular illuminating means mounted in the hood so as to surround a range wider than the upper surface and illuminate toward the center of the range, and an upper surface of the work which is mounted on the ceiling of the hood and has reached a predetermined shooting position. When shooting a work carried into the hood, the work
It is almost undisturbed by external light and is projected without any shadow by the illumination of the annular illumination means. Therefore, an appropriate image of the work can be obtained by photographing with the camera. Since the hood has front and rear entrances that allow the work to enter and exit, every time the work is introduced into the hood,
There is no need to raise and lower the hood, and the efficiency of the photographing operation can be improved.

Further, according to the second feature of the present invention, since a work position sensor for detecting that the work on the conveyor has reached a predetermined shooting position in the hood and operating the camera is provided, automatic work shooting of the work is provided. And labor savings can be achieved.

Further, according to the third feature of the present invention, when the work is carried into the hood by the conveyor, the work guide means is provided for guiding the work to a predetermined photographing position in the hood. Regardless of the position of the work, when the work enters the hood,
This can be automatically guided to a predetermined photographing position by the work guiding means, and photographing by the camera can be performed accurately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view in a use state of a photographing device for workpiece determination according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a main part of FIG. 1 (a sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 3).

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrow 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the photographing apparatus for workpiece determination in a non-use state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · ···· Camera 16 ··· Doorway 17 ··· Illumination means 22 ··· Work guidance means (work guide plate) 25 ··· Work sensor

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenichi Fukushima 1620 Kamegafuchi, Kawagoe-shi, Saitama F-term in Honda Metal Technology Co., Ltd. 3F079 AD00 BA11 CA44 CB29 CB35 CB37 DA11

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor (C) for conveying a work (W).
The work (W) has a notch-like entrance (16) at the front and rear portions along the traveling direction (A) of the conveyor (C), which allows the work (W) to enter and exit. When the workpiece (W) on the conveyor (C) reaches a predetermined photographing position in the hood (5) and the cylindrical hood (5) capable of covering the workpiece (W), the workpiece (W) is positioned above the workpiece (W). W) an annular illumination means (17) mounted in the hood (5) so as to surround a range wider than the upper surface and illuminate toward the center of the range; (W) reached the shooting position of
And a camera (15) for photographing the upper surface of the work. 2. The camera (15) according to claim 1, wherein the camera (15) detects that the workpiece (W) on the conveyor (C) has reached a predetermined imaging position in the hood (5). 1. A photographing device for determining a work, comprising: a work position sensor (25) for operating the work. 3. The photographing device for work discrimination according to claim 1, wherein when the work (W) is carried into the hood (5) by the conveyor (C), the work (W) is placed in the hood (5). A work guiding means (22) for guiding to a predetermined photographing position.