JP2002209559A - Apparatus for inspecting right side and back side of sheet laver - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve inspection accuracy and operating efficiency by automating the inspection of right side and back side of a sheet laver (i.e., the inspection whether the surface of object to be inspected is the right side or back side). SOLUTION: This apparatus for inspecting the right side and back side of the sheet laver 1 is capable of irradiating the top surface (surface o the object to be inspected) of the sheet laver 1 having a rougher back side than the right side with light in the oblique direction from a projecting part 23 of a photosensor 21 and receiving the light intermittently reflecting from the top surface of the sheet laver 1 in the light irradiating position and direction with a receiver part 24 and carrying out the inspection whether the top surface of the sheet laver 1 is the right side or back side based on the frequency of receiving the light.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a front and back inspection apparatus for determining whether a surface to be inspected is a front surface or a rear surface of a sheet laver.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hand-rolled rice balls sold at convenience stores and the like are in a state where sheet laver is wrapped in a wrapping film to keep the sheet laver dry, and the sheet laver and rice for onigiri are separated. And

[0003] Sheet laver used for hand-rolled rice balls and the like has a smooth surface on one side and a rough surface with fine irregularities in some places due to the manufacturing process. The “front side” and the rough side are treated as “back side”.

[0004] In a packaging apparatus for packaging this type of sheet laver in the form of onigiri (onigiri sheet laver packaging), the sheet laver is supplied to the transport path so that the front side is the upper surface, and the packaging film is formed. It forms a package in which the surface of the sheet laver is arranged on the front side. However, the sheet laver is not always supplied to the transport path in a state where the surface of the sheet laver is always on the upper surface. A step of inspecting whether the upper surface is a front surface or a rear surface is inserted.

[0005]

A conventional apparatus for packing a sheet of laver for a rice ball is provided with a supply step, a single sheet take-out step, a cutting step, a shape inspection step, a front and back inspection step, on a sheet laver transport path. Each step, such as the packaging process, is provided.In the front and back inspection process, the operator inspects whether the upper surface of the sheet laver conveyed on the conveyance path is the front surface or the back surface by visual inspection, and the upper surface is the back surface. Sheet nori was removed from the transport route by hand.

[0006] In such a visual inspection by an operator, there are many mistakes in inadvertent discrimination, and the sheet laver conveyed with the back side facing upward may be overlooked as it is. With the back side facing up, the sheet laver conveyed to the subsequent packaging process has the back side placed on the front side of the packaging film, and as a result, packaging products with low commercial value may be mixed into the production lot. there were. In addition, the work of discriminating the front and back of sheet laver by visual inspection of a worker is complicated, and the work efficiency is low. Under such circumstances, regarding the front and back inspection of the sheet laver, it has been desired to improve the inspection accuracy and the work efficiency by automation.

In view of the above, there is a conceivable method of performing a front and back inspection of the conveyed sheet laver using an image inspection apparatus provided in a shape inspection step of a packaging apparatus for onigiri sheet laver. However, since the existing image inspection apparatus is used for inspecting a shape defect such as perforation and overhang of the sheet nori, the front and back of the sheet nori which need to be distinguished from the difference in surface roughness and the like are used. Inspection with high accuracy was difficult.

Further, as shown in FIG.
It is also conceivable to arrange the sheet laver in the normal direction with respect to the conveying surface 101 of the sheet laver and inspect the front and back from the difference in reflected light due to the difference in color, contrast, surface shape, etc. Little difference in color and contrast. Furthermore, although there is a difference in the surface shape that fine irregularities are formed in some places on the back surface with respect to the smooth surface,
Usually, since the irregularities on the back surface are smaller than the light irradiation area 102 of the light sensor 100, the amount of light reflected in the normal direction of the transport surface 101 is small between the front and back sides, and it is difficult to determine.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has been made to improve the inspection accuracy and work efficiency by automating the front and back inspection of sheet laver (that is, inspection of the surface to be inspected whether front or back). It aims at improvement. In addition,
In the present specification, the rough surface having a relatively large amount of unevenness with respect to the sheet laver is defined as a “back surface”, and the opposite surface is defined as a “front surface”.

[0010]

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting whether a surface to be inspected of a sheet laver conveyed on a conveying path is a front surface or a rear surface, A light emitting unit that irradiates light from the oblique direction to the inspection surface of the sheet laver, and an inspection other than an angle symmetric to the incident angle of the light on the inspection surface with respect to the normal to the inspection surface of the laver. An optical sensor including a light receiving unit that receives light intermittently reflected from the target surface, and reflected light received by the light receiving unit of the optical sensor at least within a timing period in which the sheet laver passes through the light irradiation area of the optical sensor. And a front / back discrimination means for discriminating whether the inspection surface of the sheet laver is the front surface or the back surface based on the counted number.

According to the present invention, when the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver is a surface, since the surface has little unevenness and is smooth, most of the light irradiated from the oblique direction is on the surface to be inspected. Reflect at an angle symmetrical to the surface normal. Therefore, the amount of light reflected in directions other than the symmetrical angle is extremely small. On the other hand, when the inspection target surface of the sheet laver is the back surface, the surface is a rough surface having irregularities in some places. Is intermittently reflected in a direction other than an angle symmetric with respect to the normal to the inspection target surface. In this manner, light is irradiated from an oblique direction to the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver, and the number of light receptions in directions other than the symmetric angle of the reflected light reflected from the surface is counted within a predetermined timing period, and As a result of inspecting whether the inspection target surface of the sheet laver is the front surface or the rear surface based on the count number, an efficient and highly accurate front and back inspection of the sheet laver can be realized without visual inspection.

Further, the optical sensor integrates the light projecting portion and the light receiving portion, and receives the light reflected at substantially the same angle as the incident angle of the light emitted from the light projecting portion to the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver. The light receiving unit may be configured to receive light, and further, an angle adjusting unit that adjusts an installation angle of the optical sensor with respect to the inspection target surface of the sheet laver may be provided (claim 2). With this configuration, it is possible to easily set the optical sensor at an angle position that can efficiently receive only the light that is diffusely reflected from the back side of the sheet laver, enabling more accurate front and back inspection of the sheet laver. Becomes

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the sheet laver obverse and reverse side inspection device includes discharge means for discharging the sheet laver for which the inspection target surface has been determined to be the back side from the transport path based on the result of the discrimination by the front and back determining means. It is characterized by. According to the present invention, the sheet laver whose inspection target surface is determined to be the back surface by the inspection device is automatically discharged from the transport path by the discharging means, so that labor for discharging work can be saved.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a description will be given of a configuration in which the present invention is incorporated in an apparatus for packaging a rice ball nori.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an onigiri sheet laver packaging apparatus in which the sheet laver inspection apparatus according to this embodiment is incorporated. The packaging apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a sheet laver supply section 3, a sheet laver take-out section 4, a sheet laver cutting section 5, a sheet laver inspection section 6, a sheet laver front and back inspection section 7, It includes a non-defective product discharging unit 8, a packaging unit 9, a stacking unit 10, and a banding discharging unit 11.

The sheet laver 1 is stored in the sheet laver supply section 3 by a manual operation in a fixed number (for example, 100 sheets) of bundles.
Sent to The sheet laver extracting section 4 separates the sheet laver 1 bundle one by one and supplies it to the transport path 2. Here, the sheet laver 1 is supplied onto the transport path 2 with the front surface facing upward.

The sheet laver 1 supplied one by one from the sheet laver supply section 3 is cut into two sheets from the center by a sheet laver cutting section 5, and then the sheet laver inspection section 6 inspects the shape of the sheet laver 1 (holes). Inspection of defective shape such as perforation, overhang, etc.) and foreign matter inspection are performed, and the sheet laver front and back inspection unit 7 performs front and back inspection of the sheet laver 1. Next, the defective product elimination unit 8
Then, the defective sheet laver 1 is removed, and only the appropriate sheet laver 1 is conveyed to the downstream side.

Subsequently, in the wrapping section 9, wrapping in a wrapping film and corner cutting, center cutting, length-cutting and the like of the film are performed to form a predetermined wrapping form. The packaged articles formed in the predetermined packaging form are bundled in a predetermined number in a later process (first stacking unit 10a), and the package bundle is further stacked with the backing paper interposed therebetween (second stacking unit 10a).
b), it is banded and discharged (banded discharge unit 11).

The components of the front / back inspection apparatus according to the present invention are incorporated in the sheet laver front / back inspection section 7 and the defective product elimination section 8 in the packaging apparatus having such an overall structure.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the front and back inspection apparatus 20 has an optical sensor 21 in which a main body 22 is integrally provided with a light projecting section 23 and a light receiving section 24. This optical sensor 21
Has a function of irradiating light toward the upper surface (inspection target surface) of the sheet laver 1 conveyed along the conveyance path 2. The light receiving unit 24 has a function of inspecting light reflected from the inspection target surface in the light irradiation direction.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the optical sensor 21 is supported by a support member 25 (angle adjusting means) so that the installation angle with respect to the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 can be adjusted. The support member 25 includes a frame 26 fixed to a main body of a packaging device (not shown), and a mounting plate 27 rotatably mounted on the frame 26. That is, the mounting plate 27
Are fastened to the frame 26 by fasteners 28 such as bolts, and are rotatable about the fastening portion. Here, the rotation range of the mounting plate 27 is defined by engagement between an arc-shaped long hole 26 a formed in the frame 26 and a guide pin 27 a protruding from the mounting plate 27.

The optical sensor 21 is mounted on the mounting plate 27, rotates together with the mounting plate 27, and projects on the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 conveyed along the conveying path 2.
While irradiating light from a diagonal direction at a predetermined angle from 3,
Light reflected from the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 in the light irradiation direction is received by the light receiving unit 24, and a detection signal (electric signal) is output.

The rice laver packaging apparatus for rice balls shown in FIG. 1 is provided with two transport paths 2 in parallel.
The optical sensor 21 of the front and back inspection device 20 is installed on each of the transport paths 2. A plurality of (two in FIG. 2) optical sensors 21 are mounted side by side on the support member 25, and these optical sensors 21 are located at different positions on the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 conveyed along the conveyance path 2. Are irradiated with light, and reflected light is received. By thus expanding the inspection target range on the upper surface of the sheet laver 1, more accurate front and back inspection is realized.

As shown in FIG. 4, the discharge device 30 includes a path changing member 31 and an air cylinder 32. The path changing member 31 is formed in a rectangular tube shape, and both ends are open. The route changing member 31 is arranged over the entire width of the transport route 2 so that the sheet laver 1 can pass through the hollow portion. The path changing member 31 is supported by a support shaft 33 so as to be swingable. With the swing operation by the driving of the air cylinder 32, the downstream opening is selectively provided on the transport path 2 side or the discharge path 2 a side. It is configured to move. The upstream opening of the path changing member 31 is always disposed on the transport path 2 at each swing position.

The air cylinder 32 includes a cylinder body 32a.
Is mounted on the support shaft 33. Also, the drive rod 32b
Is connected to the path changing member 31 via a link mechanism 34. The air cylinder 32 selectively swings the path changing member 31 based on the detection signal output from the optical sensor 21 described above, and guides the sheet laver 1 having the upper surface on the back surface to the discharge path 2a for discharge. I do. In addition, the discharging device 30 also cooperates with the sheet laver inspection unit 6 to discharge the sheet laver 1 for which the sheet laver inspection unit 6 (see FIG. 1) has detected a shape defect such as perforation or a foreign matter or a foreign substance.
It is configured to lead to.

Next, based on the block diagram shown in FIG.
The control system 40 of the front and back inspection device 20 and the discharge device 30 will be described. As shown in the figure, the control system 40 includes a front / back discrimination unit 41, a central processing unit 42, a discharge device driving unit 43, and a motor driving unit 44.

The central processing unit 42 has a function of outputting an inspection timing signal a to the front / back discrimination unit 41.
The inspection timing signal a is output during the time when the sheet laver 1 passes through the light irradiation area of the optical sensor 21 by a time width extended before and after the time in consideration of the timing error. The inspection timing signal a corresponds to the timing at which the sheet laver 1 passes through the scanning position by the optical sensor 21. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the drive motor 46 for driving the conveyance conveyor of the sheet laver 1 It is generated by the central processing unit 42 based on a signal from the encoder 44 that detects the rotation angle.

The front / back discriminating section 41 receives a detection signal b output from the light receiving section 24 of the optical sensor 21 during a period when the inspection timing signal a is input from the central processing section a. The front / back determination unit 41 determines the front / back of the sheet laver 1 based on the input detection signal b, and outputs the front / back determination signal c to the central processing unit 42.
Output to The central processing unit 42 outputs a control signal to a driver 43 that drives and controls the air cylinder 32 of the discharging device 30 based on the front / back determination signal c. Further, under a certain condition, a control signal is also output to the driver 44 of the drive motor 46 for driving the conveyor of the sheet laver 1.

Next, the operation of the front / back discriminating section 41 will be described with reference to FIGS. As described above, the sheet laver 1 is formed with a smooth surface, and the back surface is formed with a rough surface having fine irregularities in some places.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the sheet laver 1 is conveyed while the surface of the sheet laver 1 is placed on the upper surface, the light emitted from the light projecting portion 23 of the optical sensor 21 emits the sheet laver 1. Incident obliquely on the surface side of
Since the light is reflected symmetrically from the sheet surface, the reflected light hardly reflects in directions other than the angle direction symmetric to the incident angle of the light on the sheet surface with respect to the normal line of the sheet surface. Is hardly output.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when the sheet laver 1 is conveyed with the back surface having fine irregularities in some places disposed on the upper surface, the light emitting portion 23 of the optical sensor 21
Is irregularly reflected by the uneven portion, and a part of the reflected light intermittently enters the light receiving section 24 of the optical sensor 21.
Therefore, the optical sensor 21 outputs the same number of pulse-like detection signals b as the number of times of receiving the intermittently reflected light.

Based on the detection signal b output from the optical sensor 21 in this manner, the front / back determination unit 41 determines that the case where the count number of the detection signal b is larger than a predetermined set value is determined as the back surface. On the other hand, the case where the count number of the detection signal b is smaller than the same set value is determined as the surface.

Since the sheet laver 1 may have undulations, chips, small holes, etc., the light receiving portion 24 of the optical sensor 21 may be affected by these effects even on a smooth surface. , A detection signal may be output intermittently, or a detection signal may be output (for example, 1 to 3 times) when the optical sensor 21 receives light reflected at the end of the sheet laver 1, Their detection signals are also significantly less than on the rough back side.

The set value serving as a reference for the front / back discrimination is based on statistics of the number of detection signals output intermittently to the front surface of the sheet laver and the number of detection signals output intermittently to the back surface. And it is preferable to set the output value to an intermediate value.

In the present embodiment, the front and back sides are determined based on the sum total of the number of detection signals b output intermittently from each of the optical sensors 21 mounted side by side on each of the transport paths 2. ing. By using the detection signals b from the plurality of optical sensors 21 as described above, the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver 1 can be scanned over a wide area and irregularities on the same surface can be picked up. Even with this, an average detection result can be obtained. Moreover, a plurality of optical sensors 2
By taking the sum of the number of outputs of the detection signal output from 1, the difference in the number of outputs between the front surface and the back surface is widened, so that the inspection accuracy is improved.

Next, the operations of the central processing unit 41 and the front / back determination unit 41 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the central processing unit 41 includes an encoder 45
When it is confirmed that the start timing of the front and back inspection has come based on the signal from (S1), an inspection timing signal a is output to the front and back determination unit 42. The front / back discrimination unit 42 starts the optical sensor 21
The detection signal b output from the light receiving unit 24 is counted (S2).

Next, the central processing unit 41 controls the encoder 4
When it is confirmed that the end timing of the front / back inspection has come (S3) based on the signal from S5, the inspection timing signal a
Is stopped, and at this point, the front / back determination unit 42 ends counting of the detection signal b output from the light receiving unit 24 of the optical sensor 21.

Subsequently, the front / back determination unit 41 determines whether the count number of the detection signal b input during the inspection timing is larger or smaller than a preset value (S).
4) When the count number of the detection signal b is smaller than the set value, the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 to be inspected is determined to be the surface, and the determination signal c is output to the central processing unit 42 (S5). ).

On the other hand, when the count number of the detection signal b is equal to or greater than the set value, the front / back discrimination section 41 discriminates that the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 to be inspected is the back surface, and outputs the discrimination signal c to the center. Output to the processing unit 42 (S6). The central processing unit 42 outputs an operation command to the driver 43 of the discharging device 30 based on the determination signal c to operate the discharging device 30 and guides the sheet laver 1 to the discharging path 2a to discharge (S).
7).

Further, the central processing unit 42 continuously inputs a discrimination result that the upper surface of the sheet laver 1 to be inspected is the back surface a predetermined number of times (for example, three times in succession) (S8). Then, it is considered that there is a mistake in storing the sheet laver 1 in the sheet laver supply section 3, and a stop signal is output to the driver 44 of the drive motor 46 to stop the drive motor 46 (S9).

In this embodiment, the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit are integrally provided in the main body of the optical sensor, and the light receiving unit intermittently reflects the light reflected from the sheet surface toward the light irradiation position. Is received to inspect the front and back, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. That is, any device may be used as long as it receives light reflected in a direction other than an angle symmetric to the incident angle of light on the sheet surface with respect to the normal line of the sheet surface and inspects the front and back sides. Apart from the light receiving section, the light projecting section may be arranged so that light is emitted from an oblique direction to the sheet surface, and the light receiving section may be arranged in the direction normal to the sheet surface.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Light is applied to the inspection surface of the sheet laver from an oblique direction, and the light irradiation position direction of the light reflected from the inspection surface in a direction other than the angle symmetric to the incident angle of light with respect to the normal of the surface As a result of inspecting whether the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver is the front surface or the back surface based on the difference in the number of times of light reception, efficient and highly accurate front and back inspection of the sheet laver can be realized without visual inspection.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a rice laver sheet laver packaging device incorporating a sheet laver front and back inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the structure of a sheet laver front and back inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view for explaining a positional relationship between the front and back inspection apparatus and an upper surface of a sheet laver.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the structure of the discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of a front and back inspection device and a discharge device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of a front / back determination unit.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an operation of a front / back discrimination unit, which is compared with FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a central processing unit and a front / back determination unit.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a conventional method for inspecting the front and back of sheet laver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: sheet laver 2: transport path 2a: discharge path 3: sheet laver supply section 4: sheet laver take-out section 5: sheet laver cutting section 6: sheet laver inspection section 7: sheet laver front / back inspection section 8: defective product discharge section 9 : Packaging unit 10: Stacking unit 10a: First stacking unit 10b: Second stacking unit 20: Front and back inspection device 21: Optical sensor 22: Main body 23: Light emitting unit 24: Light receiving unit 25: Support member 26: Frame 27: Mounting plate 28: Fastener 30: Ejector 31: Path changing member 32: Air cylinder 32a: Cylinder main body 32b: Drive rod 33: Support body 34: Link mechanism 40: Control system 41: Front / back discriminating section 42: Central processing section 43 : Driver 44: Driver 45: Encoder 46: Drive motor

Claims (3)

[Claims] An apparatus for inspecting whether a surface to be inspected of a sheet laver conveyed on a conveying path is a front surface or a back surface, and irradiating light to the surface to be inspected of the sheet laver from an oblique direction. And a light receiving unit that receives light intermittently reflected from the inspection target surface in a direction other than an angle symmetrical to the incident angle of light on the inspection target surface with respect to a normal to the inspection target surface of the sheet nori. An optical sensor provided, and counts the number of times of receiving the reflected light received by the light receiving unit of the optical sensor at least during a timing period in which the sheet laver passes through the light irradiation area by the optical sensor, and based on the counted number, the sheet A front and back inspection apparatus for sheet laver, comprising: front and back discrimination means for discriminating whether a surface to be inspected for laver is a front surface or a back surface. 2. The apparatus for inspecting front and back of sheet laver according to claim 1, wherein the light sensor integrates the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit,
The light receiving unit receives light reflected at substantially the same angle as the incident angle of the light emitted from the light emitting unit to the inspection target surface of the sheet nori, and the light sensor is configured to receive the light from the light detection unit with respect to the inspection target surface of the sheet nori. A sheet laver obverse / backside inspection device, comprising an angle adjusting means for adjusting an installation angle. 3. The sheet laver inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sheet laver whose inspection target surface is determined to be the back surface is discharged from the transport path based on the determination result by the front and back determination unit. A sheet laver front and back inspection device, comprising: