JP2002148205A - Surface-inspecting apparatus for bar-shaped body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surface-inspecting apparatus for bar-shaped bodies which can efficiently inspect surfaces of a plurality of bar-shaped bodies while continuously transferring the bodies at high speeds. SOLUTION: The bar-shaped body (A) such as a cigarette or the like is transferred with the use of a first and a second transfer drums (1 and 2) while the bar-shaped body is sucked with its suction surface reversed. The bar-shaped body being transferred is imaged with the use of a plurality of solid state imaging devices (5) for each of surface regions (a, b, c and d) divided about an axis of the bar-shaped body, whereby the surface of the bar-shaped body is inspected. Particularly, an imaging face of each solid state imaging device is divided to a plurality of strip-like imaging regions (5a, 5b, 5c and 5d) extending in a longitudinal direction along the axis of the bar-shaped body, and each predetermined surface region of the plurality of bar-shaped bodies is imaged at each imaging region concurrently and subjected to image processing. An actual imaging time for obtaining an image over the entire surface of the bar-shaped body is shortened accordingly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a simple structure capable of efficiently inspecting the surface condition of a rod-shaped body such as a cigarette or a filter rod, for example, the presence or absence of a defect such as a hole, a spot, or a turn in the covering. The present invention relates to a rod-shaped surface inspection apparatus.

[0002]

[Related Background Art] One of the inspection items for controlling the quality of rods such as cigarettes and filter rods is discoloration caused by holes or stains generated in a cover (wrapping paper) forming the surface of the rods. There is a surface inspection to check for defects such as turning over. This type of surface inspection is performed mainly by imaging the surface of the rod-shaped body using a camera and processing the surface image. At this time, in order to obtain a surface image over the entire circumference of the rod-shaped body, for example, the surface of the rod-shaped body is imaged while rotating the rod-shaped body. However, there is a problem that the mechanism for this is complicated.

[0003] In this respect, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-15426 discloses a first transport drum for adsorbing and transporting a rod-shaped body on its surface and a rod-shaped body delivered from the first transport drum. And a second transfer drum that sucks and conveys at a site on the opposite side of the transfer drum and uses a rod-shaped body exposed on each of the transfer drums (the surface on the opposite side to the suction site). It is disclosed that an image is taken by a camera to obtain a surface image over the entire circumference of the rod without rotating the rod.

[0004]

By the way, this kind of surface inspection apparatus is incorporated in a rod-shaped body manufacturing (processing) line such as a cigarette manufacturing apparatus, and is used for transporting a continuously manufactured (processed) rod-shaped body. If the surface inspection is performed continuously in synchronization with each other, it is unavoidable that the imaging time of the camera becomes a problem. For example, when imaging the surface of the rod using a normal video camera (television camera) having an imaging speed of 30 frames / sec, the speed of transport of the rod by the first and second transport drums described above is determined by the imaging speed. Is subject to significant restrictions.

For this reason, it is difficult to set the transport speed of the rod by the first and second transport drums in accordance with the transport speed of the continuously produced (processed) rod. Problems arise. In this regard, it is conceivable to use a high-speed camera as a camera for imaging the rod-shaped body,
Use of a special camera causes new problems such as an increase in the price of the device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to inspect a surface state of a continuously transported rod-like body by efficiently taking an image in a short time. An object of the present invention is to provide a rod-shaped body surface inspection apparatus having a simple configuration. In particular, the present invention aims to shorten the imaging time of a rod-shaped body, thereby enabling the surface inspection of the rod-shaped body to be efficiently performed while continuously transporting a plurality of rod-shaped bodies at a high speed. It is intended to provide a device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a rod surface inspection apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of rods which are continuously supplied and which are sequentially adsorbed on the surface thereof and conveyed. A second transport drum that transports the rod-shaped body sequentially transferred from the first transport drum and the first transport drum while adsorbing and transporting the surface of the rod at a location opposite to a location at which the first transport drum is attracted; A transport drum, and a plurality of solid-state imaging devices that image the rods respectively adsorbed on the surfaces of the first and second transport drums, obtain a surface image of the rods, and perform a surface inspection by image processing. In particular, the imaging surface of each of the solid-state imaging devices is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped imaging regions extending in the longitudinal direction along the axis of the rod-shaped body, and the surface of the rod-shaped body is aligned with its axis. Divide multiple surface areas divided around the line It is characterized in that so as to image the parallel above each surface region by field individually in each imaging region.

That is, each of the image pickup surfaces of the plurality of solid-state image pickup devices is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped image pickup areas, and the first image pickup area is divided into a plurality of first image pickup areas.
Each of the plurality of surface areas divided around the axis of the rod-shaped body adsorbed on the surface of the second transport drum is individually viewed, and these surface areas are imaged in parallel to be divided. It is characterized in that a surface image over the entire circumference of the rod-shaped body indicated by a series of a plurality of surface regions is obtained in a short time (high speed), and the surface inspection is executed.

Preferably, in the solid-state image pickup device, a plurality of rod-like elements adsorbed on the surface of the first or second transport drum in a plurality of divided strip-like image pickup areas. It is configured such that different surface areas of the body are individually viewed and surface images of the rod-shaped bodies in the respective surface areas are obtained in parallel. At this time, the solid-state imaging device is configured to control the first or second transport drum via an optical system provided corresponding to each of a plurality of strip-shaped imaging regions divided as described in claim 3. Each of the plurality of rod-shaped bodies adsorbed on the surface is configured to individually view different surface areas.

Alternatively, the solid-state imaging device is separated into a plurality of strip-shaped imaging regions obtained by dividing the imaging surface of the solid-state imaging device and is attracted to the surface of the first or second transport drum. The plurality of rods are arranged so as to face each other on different surface regions, and are configured to individually view the respective surface regions. At this time, the chips (divided bodies) of the solid-state imaging device separated for each of the plurality of strip-shaped imaging regions are arranged along the peripheral surface of the transport drum that transports the plurality of rod-shaped bodies by suction at predetermined intervals. It is desirable to do.

[0011]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rod-like surface inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; Will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a rod-shaped surface inspection apparatus according to this embodiment, in which a plurality of continuously supplied cigarettes (rods) A are adsorbed on the surface at a predetermined arrangement interval. The first transport drum 2 transports the cigarettes A sequentially transferred from the first drum 1 on a surface opposite to the location where the first transport drum 1 is sucked. This is a second transport drum that sucks and transports.

These transport drums 1 and 2 are configured to adsorb the cigarette A on the surface thereof by using a negative pressure, and transport the cigarette A by rotation thereof. Especially the second
Transport drum 2 absorbs the cigarette A adsorbed on the surface of the first transport drum 1 and transported over approximately 3/4 circumference on the surface opposite to the suction surface of the first transport drum 1 By receiving the cigarette A, the opposite surface of the cigarette A is exposed to be absorbed on the surface, and has a role of transporting the cigarette A over approximately 3/4 circumference. In the drawing, reference numeral 3 denotes a supply drum for sequentially supplying a plurality of cigarettes A to the first transport drum 1 one by one.
Is a discharge drum for discharging the cigarette A transferred from the second transport drum 2 to the next step.

At a predetermined position of the transport path of the cigarette A formed by the first and second transport drums 1 and 2, an image of the surface of the cigarette A adsorbed by the transport drums 1 and 2 is taken. In this example, four solid-state imaging devices 51, 52, 53, and 54 are provided. Specifically, the first and second solid-state imaging devices 5
1,52 view the cigarettes A adsorbed and conveyed on the surface of the first conveying drum 1 from different directions,
Further, the third and fourth solid-state imaging devices 53 and 54 are
Are provided so that the cigarettes A adsorbed and conveyed on the surface of the conveying drum 2 are viewed from different directions.

In particular, these solid-state imaging devices 5 (51, 52,
53, 54) are divided into a plurality of strip-shaped imaging areas extending in the longitudinal direction along the axis of the cigarette A, for example, into four strip-shaped imaging areas 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d. And the four divided imaging regions 5
a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are configured to function independently of each other. In particular, these four imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, 5
By operating d in parallel, each imaging region 5a, 5b, 5c,
It is designed to be used as four independent area sensors that output images taken in 5d in parallel. And these solid-state imaging devices 5 (51, 52, 53, 54)
Are the respective imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, as shown in FIG.
At 5d, each surface of the four continuous cigarettes A on each of the transport drums 1 and 2 is provided to be individually imaged from a predetermined direction.

That is, in this apparatus, the cigarette A adsorbed and conveyed on the surfaces of the first and second conveying drums 1 and 2 is divided into four surface areas around its axis as shown in FIG. a, b, c, and d, and the solid-state imaging device 5 (51, 52, 53, 54) individually captures an image for each of the surface regions a, b, c, and d. . In the first solid-state imaging device 51, each surface area a of four cigarettes A adjacent on the transport drum 1
Are individually imaged, and the second solid-state image sensor 52
, The surface area b of each cigarette A is individually imaged. On the second transport drum 2 side, as described above, the first transport drum 1
The third solid-state imaging device 53 uses the fact that the second transport drum 2 turns over and absorbs the cigarette A sucked and conveyed by the third solid-state imaging device 53. The areas d are individually imaged, and the fourth imaging element 54 is used to individually image the surface area c of each cigarette A.

Thus, each solid-state image sensor 5 (51, 52, 5)
3, 54) basically reads out a captured image signal at a scanning speed of 30 frames / sec. Here, as described above, each of the four divided imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d has its own image signal. By reading image signals individually, [1/4]
The reading (scanning) of the image signal is completed in the reading time. These solid-state imaging devices 5 (51, 52, 53, 54) are provided with the transport drum 1,
2, the surface images of the four cigarettes A are taken in parallel in synchronization with the transport of the cigarettes A by 2 and the image signals are output as described above.

In this manner, each of the solid-state imaging devices 5 (5
1, 52, 53, and 54), the image signals read from the respective imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d divided as described above are temporarily stored in the image memory once, as described later. Thereafter, the image data is read out from the image memory at a predetermined timing and provided for image processing. In this image processing, for example, the surface image of the cigarette A divided and taken for each of the predetermined surface areas a, b, c, and d by each solid-state imaging device 5 (51, 52, 53, 54) is used, for example. The surface images of the entire periphery of each cigarette A are obtained by associating the cigarettes A with each other in association with the imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d. Then, the surface image is subjected to a binarization process, and the presence of a defect generated on the surface is checked by comparing it with regular color information.

According to the surface inspection apparatus thus constructed, the peripheral surface of the cigarette A is divided into four surface regions a, b, c, and d in the direction around the axis, and each of these surface regions a ,
b, c, and d are each set to four solid-state imaging devices 5 (51, 52,
53, 54), the surface image over the entire circumference is divided and obtained, so that although there is a time lag in the imaging timing, it is necessary to obtain a surface image over the entire circumference of one cigarette A. The imaging time (scanning time) per camera (or solid-state imaging device) can be substantially reduced to [1/4]. Moreover, in this embodiment, one solid-state imaging device 5 (51, 52, 53, 54) is divided into four imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, and these imaging regions 5a, 5b,
Since the four adjacent cigarettes A on the transport drums 1 and 2 are simultaneously imaged by individually driving 5c and 5d, the time required for imaging per cigarette is further reduced to [1/4]. be able to.

In other words, one of four surface areas a, b, c, and d obtained by dividing the peripheral surface of the cigarette A in the direction around the axis is imaged in each of the imaging areas 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d. , The time required to obtain the image signal is the solid-state imaging device 5 (5
(1, 52, 53, 54) may be [1/4] of the time required to sequentially scan the entire imaging surface. Moreover, as mentioned above, 4
The four solid-state imaging elements 5 (51, 52, 53, 54) individually image the surface areas a, b, c, and d of the cigarette A in parallel. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the surface images of the cigarettes A that are continuously conveyed in a total of [1/16] of the imaging time, and it is possible to greatly speed up the time required for the imaging. Become.

Thereafter, the surface image of the cigarette A imaged as described above is digitized, and a predetermined image processing is performed to determine the discolored area and the size thereof. Perforation defects and discoloration defects due to stains,
Furthermore, it is possible to inspect defects such as defects due to the turning of the covering (wrapping paper) at a high speed. In particular, surface inspection by image processing can be performed at high speed by digital signal processing technology, and the overall processing speed is exclusively determined by the solid-state imaging device 5 (51, 52, 53, 54). Since the speed of image pickup input of the surface image depends on the speed, the surface of the cigarette A is divided around its axis as described above, and a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices 5 (51, 52, 53, 5) are formed.
It can be said that it is very useful to simultaneously capture images by 4) and to substantially increase the imaging speed.

The surface inspection of the cigarette A by image processing may be performed as shown in FIG. 3, for example. More specifically, at predetermined timings, pixel charging (imaging of cigarette A) is performed by the divided imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d of the plurality of solid-state imaging devices 5 [step S1], and the captured images are respectively processed. Each imaging area 5a,
Reading is performed at a predetermined speed over 5b, 5c, and 5d [Step S2]. Then, the captured image signals are sequentially A / D-converted [Step S3], and written to the primary image memory over one screen each [Step S4].

Thereafter, an image signal, which is a surface image of the cigarette A, is read from the image memory at a predetermined timing and transferred to a CPU for executing image processing [Step S].
5] For example, the color information is binarized and a part different from the normal color information is detected as a defective part [Step S]
6, S7]. By examining the size of the defect site, it is determined whether the defect impairs the quality of cigarette A (step S8). Then, an exclusion signal for eliminating defective products is output in accordance with the result of the judgment, and feedback is provided as control information for the subsequent manufacture of the cigarette A [Step S9].

At this time, instead of transferring the image signals obtained from the divided image pickup areas 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d of the solid-state image pickup elements 5 to the primary image memory as needed, a plurality of It is also possible to divide each image signal obtained by the solid-state imaging device 5 into a plurality of screens corresponding to a plurality of cigarettes A, and to transfer them to a separate primary image memory corresponding to each cigarette A on multiple screens [ Step S11]. Instead of binarizing the image signal transferred to the CPU while making partial judgments on a pixel-by-pixel basis, the image signal is binarized while merging pixel information between adjacent pixels for each screen. Processing can also be performed [Step S12]. In this case, the binarization processing can be performed by focusing on the amount of change in pixel information between adjacent pixels.

In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of solid-state image pickup devices 5 are prepared in accordance with the number of divided surface regions of the cigarette A, and each of the solid-state image pickup devices 5 separates each of the divided surface regions of the cigarette A. Although the respective regions are configured to be imaged, a plurality of divided surface regions of the cigarette A may be imaged in a plurality of divided imaging regions of one solid-state imaging device 5.

More specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the solid-state imaging device 5 is divided (divided) into four imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d, and two adjacent imaging regions on the transport drum 1 (2) are separated. The two surface areas a and b (c, d) of the cigarette A of the above can be respectively imaged in parallel. In this case, the divided imaging areas 5a, 5b,
An imaging optical system 6 (6a, 6b, 6c, 6d) comprising a prism, a lens, and the like is provided on the front surface thereof in correspondence with 5c, 5d, and the above-mentioned respective optical systems 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d are provided. It is preferable that the imaging areas 5a, 5b, 5c, and 5d are configured to image the two surface areas a and b of two adjacent cigarettes A on the transport drum 1 from different directions. At this time, the illumination light sources 7a, 7b, 7 for illuminating the surface of the cigarette A are provided between the optical systems 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d.
It is also useful to provide c. These illumination light sources 7
It is also preferable to integrate the optical systems 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d with the optical systems 6a, 7b, 7c.

Further, as exemplified in FIG. 5, each of the divided imaging regions 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d,... Of the solid-state imaging device 5 is separated into individual segments, and these segments (imaging regions) 5a, .. May be arranged at a predetermined interval, and two surface areas a and b of two adjacent cigarettes A on the transport drum 1 may be imaged from different directions. In this case, each imaging region 5a, 5
Optical systems 6a, 6b, 6c, 6 provided corresponding to b, 5c, 5d,.
Since d,... can be shared, the configuration can be simplified. In this case, the segments (imaging areas) 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d,... Can be arranged along the peripheral surface of the transport drum 1, so that the configuration can be simplified also in this regard. It is possible to achieve effects such as being able to achieve.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. In the embodiment, in each solid-state imaging device 5, four adjacent cigarettes A on the transport drums 1 and 2 are simultaneously imaged, but generally two or more cigarettes A are imaged in parallel. What is necessary is just to make it comprise. Further, the peripheral surface of the cigarette A is divided into four surface regions around its axis and each of the four solid-state imaging devices 5 captures an image. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which each of these surface areas is separately imaged by the six solid-state imaging elements 5.

The point is that the exposed side surface of the cigarette A, which is held by the first and second transport drums 1 and 2 with their suction sites turned upside down, is divided into a plurality of areas around its axis. In order to simultaneously image a plurality of solid-state imaging devices 5 and a plurality of solid-state imaging devices 5 respectively, the imaging region may be divided to obtain a surface image over the entire circumference of each cigarette A. First, the imaging time required to obtain a surface image of one cigarette A can be substantially shortened. Therefore, even when a plurality of cigarettes A are continuously transported at high speed using the first and second transport drums 1 and 2 in accordance with the production speed,
The surface image of each cigarette A can be reliably obtained, and the surface inspection can be performed efficiently.

In the above-described embodiment, the surface inspection of the cigarette A has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to the case where the surface is inspected while manufacturing the filter rod. Needless to say, the surface condition of other rods can be similarly inspected.
In short, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

[0030]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of rod-like bodies such as cigarettes are transported using the first and second transport drums while transporting the rod-like body with its suction surface turned upside down. The solid-state imaging device of the above, further dividing the imaging surface of these solid-state imaging device into a plurality of imaging regions to be individually driven, for each surface region divided the rod-like body around its axis, Since the image is individually captured in each imaging region and provided for image processing, the substantial imaging time for obtaining an image over the entire surface of the rod-shaped body can be significantly reduced. As a result, even when the rod is transported at a high speed, the surface inspection of each rod can be performed according to the transport speed, and the practical advantage is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a rod-shaped body surface inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a surface region divided around an axis of a cigarette;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of image processing on a surface image of a cigarette.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a rod-shaped body surface inspection apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a rod-shaped body surface inspection apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first transport drum for adsorbing and transporting a plurality of rods continuously supplied to a surface thereof at predetermined intervals, and the rods sequentially delivered from the first drum. To
A second conveying drum that adsorbs and conveys the surface of the first conveying drum at a site opposite to the site where the first conveying drum is adsorbed, and a rod-shaped member that is adsorbed on the surfaces of the first and second conveying drums, respectively. A plurality of solid-state image sensors for imaging a body to obtain a surface image of the rod; and an image for inspecting the surface state of the rod by image-processing the surface image of the rod captured by the solid-state image sensor Processing means, wherein each of the solid-state imaging elements is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped imaging regions extending in the longitudinal direction along the axis of the rod-shaped body, the rod-shaped body A plurality of surface regions obtained by dividing the surface of the rod around the axis thereof are individually viewed in each of the imaging regions, and the surface regions are imaged in parallel. . 2. The solid-state imaging device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of divided strip-shaped imaging regions individually separates a plurality of rod-shaped bodies adsorbed on the surface of the first or second transport drum from different surface areas. 2. The rod surface inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein surface images of the rods in the respective surface regions are obtained in parallel with each other. 3. The plurality of solid-state imaging devices are attached to a surface of the first or second transport drum via optical systems provided respectively corresponding to a plurality of divided rectangular imaging regions. The surface inspection apparatus for a rod-shaped body according to claim 2, wherein different surface areas of the rod-shaped body are individually viewed. 4. The solid-state imaging device faces each of a plurality of divided strip-shaped imaging regions with different surface regions of a plurality of rod-shaped bodies adsorbed on the surface of the first or second transport drum. 3. The rod-shaped surface inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the surface areas are individually arranged so as to be individually viewed.