JP2005043210A - Method and apparatus for inspecting inside of product - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for inspecting the inside of a product, which can easily adjust radiosensitivity and freely expand the range of the radiosensitivity with which imaging can be carried out, by adding more radiation imaging means having different radiosensitive properties as necessary. <P>SOLUTION: In the apparatus, radiation passing through the product 20 is imaged by using a plurality of X-ray pickup tubes having different radiosensitive properties, i.e., a low sensitive X-ray pickup tube 15, a medium sensitive X-ray pickup tube 16 and a high sensitive X-ray pickup tube 17, and then a plurality of images, i.e., a low sensitive X-ray image 15a, a medium sensitive X-ray image 16a and a high sensitive X-ray image 17a are combined, thereby inspecting inside states of the product 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-product inspection method and an in-product inspection apparatus for inspecting an internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances.

  In recent years, most industrial products have been automated for production and product inspection. For example, in the case of pharmaceutical products, PTP (Press Through Package) sheets (plastic sheets for protecting drugs such as tablets and capsules) are used as tablets. The process of encapsulating PTP sheets, the process of encapsulating the PTP sheet in an aluminum package, the process of placing the aluminum package in a product packaging container, the process of placing an effect statement in the product packaging container and encapsulating it are automated as a series of production processes.

  In each process, the state before enclosing the product, for example, the state of the tablet before encapsulating in the PTP sheet, the state of the PTP sheet before encapsulating in the aluminum package, the aluminum package before sealing the product packaging container, the effect statement Confirmation of the state of charging, etc. is also automated, and various inspections are performed so that defective products are not mixed into the final product.

  In particular, for pharmaceutical products, it is legally required to attach an indication of efficacy, and it is not allowed to ship defective products. For this reason, in particular, in the inspection of the presence / absence of indication of the efficacy note, there is a method of confirming that the indication of the efficacy note has been enclosed in the product by combining the number of the written indications with the number of manufactured products. It was.

  However, in such a conventional inspection method, it is difficult to detect defective products such as overwriting of effect writing, encapsulation failure, etc., even if it can be detected, it is defective product detection in lot units, All of the lots had to be discarded or re-inspected visually and again subjected to the manufacturing process.

  Therefore, it is desirable to inspect the contents of all the products in the process after the products are essentially sealed.

  In order to solve such a problem, in the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-159770, an inspection area is defined so as to include the darkest part of the transmitted image of the book, and the density in the inspection area is determined. The level is measured, and the presence / absence of a booklet is determined based on the concentration value.

  However, when trying to observe the inside of an individual product with X-rays, the X-ray transmittance of the contents varies. For example, when trying to see whether or not there is an effect statement in a sealed package Because of its high X-ray transmittance, the sensitivity of the imaging system has to be set low, and it has been difficult to inspect foreign matter in the aluminum package.

  Even when only the effect writing is detected, the state of the aluminum package around the effect writing and the shape of the effect writing itself are not always constant. Then, there was a problem that it was difficult to judge whether or not the effect was written.

  In the examination of the effect writing using the conventional X-ray, it is difficult to obtain the shadow of the paper effect writing by the X-ray imaging due to the high X-ray transmittance, and various measures such as devising the X-ray irradiation direction etc. Consideration has been added. However, particularly when the thickness of the effect writing is thin (that is, when the X-ray absorption rate is low) or the like, when X-rays are irradiated from the direction perpendicular to the plane of the effect writing paper, an image that can withstand the shading in the image processing. It was difficult to grasp as a difference in brightness.

  Further, when X-rays are irradiated from the horizontal direction on the plane of the effect writing paper, the X-ray absorption distance becomes longer in the width direction of the effect writing, so that the shadow is captured more clearly. When the writing is in the product box and is sandwiched between the inner wall and the contents of the product box, the shadow of the effect writing in the transmission image is separated from the shadow of the inner wall of the product box and the contents, and the presence or absence is judged. It was difficult to do.

  In order to solve such a problem, the technique described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-360554 has different sensitivity characteristics depending on the color light emitting sheet in which the light emission amount is adjusted according to the X-ray absorption state or the like by the subject. An apparatus for obtaining image information of a plurality of colors has been proposed.

JP-A-9-159770 JP 2002-360554 A

  However, in the above-described conventional example, since the radiation sensitivity of the color light emitting sheet is fixed within a predetermined region, the radiation sensitivity cannot be easily adjusted. When changing the radiation sensitivity, the type of the color light emitting sheet is changed. It was necessary to replace it.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide radiation that can be adjusted by easily adjusting the radiation sensitivity and can be imaged by adding radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities as necessary. It is an object of the present invention to provide a product internal inspection method and a product internal inspection device that can freely expand the sensitivity range.

  In order to achieve the above object, an inspection method for the inside of a product according to the present invention is a method for inspecting the internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances. The radiation to be imaged is captured by a plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities, and the internal state of the product is inspected by combining these captured images.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, a plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities are used to capture, at a time, radiation that passes through a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances. By combining a plurality of captured images such as the above, it is possible to accurately inspect the internal state of the product from the plurality of captured images corresponding to the difference in radiation sensitivity of the subject.

  The plurality of captured images can be subjected to image processing using at least one of binarization processing, inter-image calculation processing, particle feature amount analysis processing, and pattern matching processing. Here, the inter-image calculation process refers to a process of calculating pixels between a plurality of multi-value images, between binary images, or between a multi-value image and a binary image. The particle feature amount analysis process is a process for analyzing the area, perimeter length, center of gravity position, etc. of the binarized extracted figure particle. The pattern matching process is a process of searching for a characteristic shape recorded in advance as a template in a specified area and obtaining a position where the shape exists.

  Further, in the inspection method inside the product, a captured image captured by a first radiation imaging unit that can capture an image of an accessory such as a paper manual or a product box as a shadow and can capture only a product content as a shadow. An image area of the product content portion is extracted from the image with a predetermined image brightness threshold, and a predetermined image is captured from the captured image captured by the second radiation imaging unit that can capture an attachment such as a paper manual or a product box as a shadow. The image area of the product box portion is extracted by the image brightness threshold of the image box, and the area of the number of pixels corresponding to the paper thickness of the product box is reduced from the image area of the product box portion to reduce the image area inside the outer wall surface of the product box And extracting the image contents of the product content portion from the image area inside the outer wall surface to extract the attachment storage space image area such as the instruction, and the attachment including the attachment image area such as the instruction Product storage space There is an accessory such as a manual in the accessory storage space image area by binarizing the area with a predetermined image brightness threshold or pattern matching processing of the characteristic shape of the accessory such as the manual. It is characterized by inspecting whether or not to do.

  According to the above method, the shadow difference between the product content portion and the attachment such as a paper manual or a paper product box portion is very large, and in the captured image captured by the first radiation imaging means, By setting an appropriate image brightness threshold, it is possible to easily extract the image area of the product content portion.

  In addition, an image area corresponding to the paper thickness of the product box is reduced from the image area of the product box portion imaged by the second radiation imaging means by arithmetic processing, and the image area inside the inner wall surface of the product box is easily extracted. I can do it.

  In addition, the image area of the product content portion can be removed from the inner wall surface internal image area by a calculation process, and an accessory storage space image area such as a paper manual can be easily extracted. Then, the accessory storage space image area including the accessory image area such as the instruction is binarized by the density difference of the shadow with a predetermined image luminance threshold, or the characteristic shape of the accessory such as the instruction is formed. By performing the pattern matching process, it is possible to easily inspect whether or not an accessory such as a manual exists in the accessory storage space image area.

  According to such a method, it is easy and reliable whether or not there is an accessory such as a manual even if the accessory such as a manual is sandwiched between the product contents and the inner wall of the product box. Can be inspected.

  Moreover, the internal state of the product can be inspected before the final packaging process in which the product is individually sealed and packed in a shipping box.

  Further, the inspection apparatus inside the product according to the present invention is an apparatus for inspecting the internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances, and radiation emitting means for emitting radiation, A plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities for imaging radiation emitted by the radiation emitting means and passing through the product; an image combination means for combining a plurality of captured images captured by the radiation imaging means; and the image combination And determining means for determining the internal state of the product from the image information combined by the means.

  According to the above configuration, the radiation that is emitted by the radiation emitting means and that passes through a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances is captured at a time by the plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities. I can do it. A plurality of captured images captured by the radiation imaging unit can be combined by the image combination unit, and the internal state of the product can be determined by the determination unit from the combined image information. Thereby, the internal state of the product can be accurately inspected from a plurality of captured images corresponding to the difference in radiation sensitivity of the subject.

  The radiation imaging means may include a phosphor that emits a different fluorescent color depending on a state of radiation absorption by the subject, and a color camera that detects the fluorescent color emitted by the phosphor. I can do it.

  Since the present invention has the above-described configuration and operation, it is possible to easily adjust the radiation sensitivity by appropriately using a plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities, and radiation imaging having different radiation sensitivities as necessary. The area of radiation sensitivity that can be imaged can be freely expanded by adding means.

  An embodiment in the case of applying a product internal inspection method and apparatus according to the present invention to pharmaceutical product inspection will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of a first embodiment of a product internal inspection method and apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  1 and 2 are diagrams for explaining a final step of packaging pharmaceutical products provided with a product internal inspection device according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of the product internal inspection device according to the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a plurality of captured images captured by a plurality of radiation imaging units having different sensitivities, FIG. 5 to FIG. 10 are diagrams illustrating a state in which an internal state of a product is inspected by being combined by an image combination unit, and FIG. It is a figure explaining the subject at the time of binarizing using a low-sensitivity X-ray picked-up image in the state accommodated in the outer box in the state which contacted the product aluminum package.

  1 and 2, a tablet 1 which is a medicine conveyed by a belt conveyor 12 serving as a conveying means is further processed as a PTP sheet 3 through a PTP packaging process in which the tablet 1 is enclosed in a PTP sheet and packaged by a PTP packaging machine 2. A product aluminum package 5 that becomes a product content is further passed through an aluminum package packaging process that is conveyed to the aluminum package packaging machine 4 by the belt conveyor 12 and enclosed and packaged in an aluminum package made of aluminum by the aluminum package packaging machine 4. A product aluminum package 5 is housed in a paper product box 7 together with a paper attachment 8 such as an effect note, which is an example of a manual, which is conveyed to the final packaging machine 6 by a belt conveyor 12. An individual product sealing process is performed in which the product 20 is sealed.

  The product 20 is further conveyed by the belt conveyor 12 to an X-ray inspection apparatus 9 which will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 3, and after the internal state of the product 20 is inspected by the X-ray inspection apparatus 9, it is further packed in a shipping box by the belt conveyor 12. A final packaging step is carried out in which the plurality of products 20 are stored in the shipping box 11 and packed by the shipping box packing machine 10.

  The product 20 includes a tablet 1, a PTP sheet 3, a product aluminum package 5 as a product content, a product box 7, and an attachment 8 such as an effect statement as an example of a manual. A low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, a medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and a high-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 that serve as a plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities depending on the radiation transmittance of these subjects. The equipped X-ray inspection apparatus 9 images X-rays that are radiation that passes through the product 20.

  In the present embodiment, a case where X-rays are used as an example of radiation will be described. However, γ-rays, β-rays, thermal neutron rays, and the like can also be applied.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an X-ray inspection apparatus 9 serving as an inspection apparatus inside the product 20, and 13 is an X-ray tube serving as a radiation emitting means for emitting X-rays as an example of radiation. The X-ray emitted from the X-ray tube 13 passes through the product 20 placed and conveyed on the X-ray low absorption belt conveyor 14 serving as a conveying means, and the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15 serving as a radiation imaging means. Images are sequentially picked up by a sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16 and a high-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17.

  The low-sensitivity X-ray image A shown in FIG. 4 is an example of an image picked up by the low-sensitivity X-ray tube 15. The outline of the product aluminum package 5 that is the contents, and paper accessories such as a utility note 8 and the paper product box 7 are set so as to be darkly imaged as shadows. Therefore, in this low-sensitivity X-ray image A, it is possible to distinguish the inner and outer wall surfaces of the product box 7 and the accessory 8 such as an effect note. The contents of the product aluminum package 5 are too dark to be recognized.

  The medium-sensitivity X-ray image B shown in FIG. 4 is an example of an image captured by the medium-sensitivity X-ray tube 16 and is not captured as a shadow through the paper accessory 8 and the product box 7. It is set so that only the product aluminum package 5 of the product can be darkly imaged as a shadow. The attachment 8 such as a paper effect book and the product box 7 have insufficient contrast at this medium sensitivity.

  A high-sensitivity X-ray image C shown in FIG. 4 is an example of an image picked up by the high-sensitivity X-ray tube 17, and the tablet 1 that passes through the product aluminum package 5 and is packaged by the PTP sheet 3 inside thereof is shown. Imaged. Other parts are saturated and cannot be recognized due to high sensitivity.

  In FIG. 3, reference numeral 18 denotes an image combination means for combining a plurality of captured images sequentially taken by a low sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, a medium sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and a high sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 serving as radiation imaging means; Image processing constituted by a computer system equipped with a control means such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that also serves as a determination means for determining internal information of the product 20 from the image information combined by the image combination means and a storage means such as a memory Device.

  The image processing device 18 includes a low-sensitivity X-ray image A taken by the low-sensitivity X-ray tube 15, a medium-sensitivity X-ray image B taken by the medium-sensitivity X-ray tube 16, and a high-sensitivity X-ray tube. In combination with the high-sensitivity X-ray captured image C imaged by 17, for example, the binarization processing, the inter-image calculation processing, the particle feature amount analysis processing, the pattern matching processing, etc., which will be described in detail later, are used as appropriate. The internal state of the product 20 is inspected by performing image processing by appropriately combining the above.

  FIG. 5 is a view showing a state in which inspection of the tablet 1 in the product aluminum package 5, the shortage of the PTP sheet 3, the sealing failure, and the foreign matter is performed. For example, in the medium-sensitivity X-ray image B shown in FIG. 4, the inside of the product aluminum package 5 is entirely dark and the contrast is low, so that it is difficult to extract the content image. Therefore, the product aluminum package 5 is inspected using the high-sensitivity X-ray image C shown in FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, a binarized image D is obtained by binarizing the high-sensitivity X-ray captured image C with a predetermined image luminance threshold. Then, the binarized image D is contracted and expanded to obtain a contracted and expanded image E. In this contraction / expansion image E, the area of the bright portion, the number, the position shape in the image, and the like are extracted, and the tablet 1, the PTP sheet 3 in the product aluminum package 5 are inspected, defective packaging, and foreign matter are inspected.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how the image area 5 a of the product aluminum package 5 is extracted. Using the medium sensitivity X-ray captured image B shown in FIG. 4, an image region 5 a occupied by the product aluminum package 5 is extracted from the medium sensitivity X-ray captured image B. First, the binarized image F is obtained by binarizing the medium sensitivity X-ray captured image B with a predetermined image luminance threshold. As a result, the image area of the product aluminum package 5 can be extracted. And the area of the bright part is calculated | required in this binarized image F, and it is test | inspected whether the product aluminum package 5 is enclosed by the prescribed number.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the inner wall surface inside image region 21 of the product box 7 is extracted. Using the low-sensitivity X-ray image A shown in FIG. 4, the inner wall surface inside image region 21 of the product box 7 is extracted. First, the binarized image G is obtained by binarizing the low-sensitivity X-ray image A with a predetermined image brightness threshold. Then, the inner wall surface inside image region 21 of the product box 7 is subjected to a white hole filling process to obtain a hole filling image H. This inner wall surface internal image region 21 is an image region extracted from the product box 7 portion, and is an image region inside from the inner wall surface of the product box 7.

  Thereafter, a contracted image I is obtained by performing contraction processing for subtracting and reducing the area of the number of pixels corresponding to the paper thickness of the product box 7 from the hole-filled image H that is the image area of the product box 7 portion. The outer wall surface inner image region 22 of the product box 7 formed of the white portion of the contracted image I is obtained by extracting the inner image region from the outer wall surface of the product box 7. Then, the low-sensitivity X-ray captured image A and the contracted image I are combined to obtain an internal space region image J excluding the product box 7.

  That is, the low-sensitivity X-ray captured image A that is a multi-valued image shown in FIG. 4 is added with an image obtained by reversing the contracted image I that is a binarized image shown in FIG. At this time, among the pixels of the low-sensitivity X-ray image A, the portion of the contracted image I corresponding to the pixel luminance of 0 has the maximum luminance by adding 1. On the other hand, the pixel luminance of the contracted image I corresponding to 1 is incremented by 0, so that the pixel luminance of the low-sensitivity X-ray image A remains unchanged.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing how the storage space image area 19 of the accessory 8 such as an effect note is extracted. Using the binarized image F of the image area occupied by the product aluminum package 5 obtained in FIG. 6 and the internal space area image J obtained in FIG. 7, the internal space area image J is binarized. By performing mask processing with F, an accessory storage space area image K obtained by extracting the accessory storage space image area 19 is obtained.

  That is, the binarized image F shown in FIG. 6 is added to the internal space area image J which is a multi-valued image shown in FIG. At this time, of the pixels of the internal space area image J, the portion of the binarized image F in which the pixel luminance corresponds to 0 becomes the maximum luminance by adding 1. On the other hand, the pixel brightness of the binarized image F corresponding to 1 is incremented by 0, so that the pixel brightness of the internal space area image J remains unchanged.

  The product aluminum package image area 5a shown in the binarized image F of FIG. 6 is removed from the inner wall surface image area 22 shown in the contracted image I of FIG. 7, and the effect writing shown in the accessory storage space area image K of FIG. It is possible to extract an attachment storage space image area 19 such as. Such mask processing performs image processing using binarization processing and inter-image calculation processing.

  FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are diagrams showing a state in which the presence / absence of the accessory 8 such as an effect note is inspected. When the attachment image area 8a which is a shadow of the attachment 8 such as an effect note can be stably extracted by the binarization process, as shown in FIG. 9, the attachment storage space area obtained in FIG. In the image K, the accessory storage space image area 19 including the accessory image area 8a for effect writing or the like is binarized by a predetermined image luminance threshold value to obtain a binarized image L obtained by extracting the accessory image area 8a. .

  Next, in the binarized image L shown in FIG. 9, a particle feature amount analysis process for analyzing the area, perimeter length, center of gravity position, etc. of the binarized extracted graphic particle is performed. That is, in the binarized image L shown in FIG. 9, it is confirmed that the shape is an elongated shape that is characteristic of the effect writing from the area of the attachment image region 8a that is the shadow of the attachment 8 such as the effect writing, the perimeter, and the like. .

  Thereafter, an inter-image calculation process for superimposing the product aluminum package image region 5a shown in the binarized image F shown in FIG. 6 on the binarized image L shown in FIG. That is, the binarized image F shown in FIG. 6 is added to the binarized image L shown in FIG. Then, by the particle feature amount analysis processing, a particle feature amount analysis image M in which the gravity center positions 5a1 and 8a1 of the product aluminum package image region 5a and the accessory image region 8a are obtained is obtained.

  If the center-of-gravity positions 5a1 and 8a1 of the product aluminum package image region 5a and the accessory image region 8a are within a predetermined range, the binary image obtained by extracting the accessory image region 8a shown in FIG. The extraction result of the digitized image L is an image of the accessory 8 such as an effect note, and it is determined that it is enclosed in a predetermined place in the accessory storage space image area 19.

  Next, in the case where the brightness of the entire image varies and a specific extraction binarization threshold value cannot be determined, the attachment image area 8a which is a shadow of the attachment 8 such as an effect writing is binarized. When the extraction cannot be stably performed, as shown in FIG. 10, in the accessory storage space region image K obtained in FIG. 8, the accessory storage space image region including the accessory image region 8a for the effect writing etc. By performing a pattern matching process 19, a part having a characteristic shape of the accessory 8 such as an effect note is searched to determine the presence or absence of the accessory 8.

  That is, in the shade of the accessory image area 8a such as an effect note in advance, it is characteristic and common to all inspection samples, for example, in this embodiment, both ends of the accessory image area 8a and bent corners. A template image (representative image) is recorded.

  Then, in the extracted accessory storage space region image K shown in FIG. 8, the region of the accessory storage space region image K (the contracted image I which is a binarized image shown in FIG. 7)-[shown in FIG. A portion having a similar shape is searched for by scanning within the bright portion of the difference of the binarized image F] using the template image, and its position is obtained.

  In the accessory storage space area image K shown in FIG. 10, the positional relationship between the characteristic shape points 8a2, 8a3, 8a4 of the searched accessory image area 8a and the binarized image F shown in FIG. A search image N indicating a positional relationship with the center of gravity position 5a1 of the product aluminum package image area 5a obtained by performing particle feature amount analysis processing on the product aluminum package image area 5a shown is obtained.

  In the search image N shown in FIG. 10, the positional relationship between the characteristic shape points 8a2, 8a3, 8a4 of the accessory image region 8a and the center of gravity position 5a1 of the product aluminum package image region 5a are preliminarily determined. If it is within the set range, it can be determined whether or not the accessory 8 such as an effect writing exists in the accessory storage space image area 19.

  Here, the reason why the medium sensitivity X-ray image B taken by the medium sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16 shown in FIG. 4 is used when extracting the image region 5a of the product aluminum package 5 will be described with reference to FIG. For example, in the low-sensitivity X-ray image A taken by the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15 shown in FIG. 4, the accessory 8 such as the effect writing is also dark, so the accessory such as the effect writing depends on the state inside the product box 7. When 8 is in contact with the product aluminum package 5, as shown in FIG. 11, when the binarization process is performed, the product aluminum package 5 and the accessory 8 are in a state like a binarized image O in which the integrated image region is formed. This makes it difficult to separate the image area between the product aluminum package 5 and the accessory 8.

  Therefore, in the present invention, the product aluminum package image region 5a is separately obtained using the medium sensitivity X-ray image B taken by the medium sensitivity X-ray tube 16 shown in FIG. Since the medium sensitivity X-ray image B has a clear contrast between the product aluminum package image region 5a and other portions, the image region of the product aluminum package 5 and the accessory 8 can be easily separated.

  Accordingly, it is possible to easily inspect the product 20 for the presence of content, foreign matter, missing parts, product instructions, and the like.

  In the embodiment, the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, the medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and the high-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 are sequentially arranged in the conveyance direction of the product 20 conveyed by the X-ray low absorption belt conveyor 14. The line-belt-type imaging configuration that sequentially captures images of the product 20 is provided, but the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, the medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and the high-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 are arranged on the rotation axis. A revolver-type imaging configuration in which images of the product 20 are sequentially rotated around the center may be used, or a low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, a medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and a high-sensitivity X-ray imaging arranged in three directions. The tube 17 may be configured to have an imaging configuration based on a refraction method in which images are sequentially captured using a refraction or reflection by a prism or mirror.

  Further, as described above with reference to FIG. 11, in order to prevent the product aluminum package 5 or product box 7 and the accessory 8 such as the effect writing from becoming an integral image region, the low-sensitivity X-ray tube 15, Vibrating means for oscillating the product 20 by ultrasonic vibration or the like is arranged in the previous stage of imaging the product 20 by radiation imaging means such as the medium sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16 and the high sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 and the vibration. After physically separating the attachment 8 such as an effect note from the product aluminum package 5 or product box 7 by means of vibration by means, the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, the medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and the high-sensitivity X-ray Imaging of the product 20 can be performed by radiation imaging means such as the imaging tube 17 to prevent the product aluminum package 5 or product box 7 and the accessory 8 such as an effect note from becoming an integral image region.

  In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of radiation imaging units having different radiation sensitivities are used, and the internal state of the product 20 is inspected by combining a plurality of captured images captured by the plurality of radiation imaging units. In the present embodiment, instead of the low-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 15, the medium-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 16, and the high-sensitivity X-ray imaging tube 17 described above, the fluorescence varies depending on the radiation absorption state by the subject as a radiation imaging means. Product 20 comprising a fluorescent substance that emits color and a color camera that detects the fluorescent color emitted from the fluorescent substance, and a combination of a plurality of captured images of different fluorescent colors taken by the color camera. The internal state is inspected.

  X-rays absorbed or scattered by the tablet 1, the PTP sheet 3, the product aluminum package 5, the product box 7, the attachment 8 and the like serving as a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances are irradiated to the phosphor. As the phosphor, for example, a phosphor that emits light in at least two colors of blue light emission, green light emission, and red light emission, that is, a phosphor having a sub-light emission component in addition to the main light emission component and two or more kinds of mixed phosphors are used. It is done. A plurality of emission colors (for example, red light, green light, and blue light) emitted from such a phosphor have a luminance distribution according to the distribution of X-rays absorbed or scattered by the subject.

  Further, the light emission amount of the phosphor is adjusted according to the X-ray absorption state by the subject. A color CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera that collectively receives light of a plurality of colors from the phosphor is disposed behind the phosphor. In a color CCD camera, light emission of a plurality of colors (image information of a plurality of colors) having a light emission distribution based on distribution information of X-rays absorbed or scattered by a subject is received in a lump.

  Image information including a plurality of color signals received and detected by the color CCD camera is separated into RGB signals by the image processing device 18 and detected as individual image information of each color. Each color image information is stored as a digital signal. At this time, the dynamic range can be adjusted by changing the ratio of the RGB signals after separating the white component. Further, the image processing device 18 also serves as a display device and can directly display image information of each color.

  Each signal separated for each color can be stored in a storage means such as a memory provided in the image processing apparatus 18 as a result of mutual calculation with each signal. For example, when the difference in density of a certain substance can be confirmed with a red component and the difference in density of another substance can be seen with a green component, it can be displayed in a pseudo color so that each can be seen.

  It is also possible to cut out only that part and display it separately. Furthermore, the noise in the red component can be corrected with the green component and the blue component, or the portion in which some data is missing and white can be corrected.

  The means for collectively receiving light of a plurality of colors from the phosphor is not limited to a color CCD camera, and for example, a color photographic film can be used. When light is received by a color photographic film, the RGB signal is separated and detected from the image (for example, a mixed image of red, green and blue) formed on the color photographic film using a film scanner or the like. Thus, for example, a red image, a green image, and a blue image are obtained as individual images. The image information of each color is stored as a digital signal, for example.

  Also, separation of light emission of multiple colors by combining means (spectral device) for separating light such as optical filters and optical prisms for each wavelength and a plurality of monochrome CCD cameras for detecting each separated light signal. Detection means can also be configured. The light signal is not limited to the CCD camera, and various light detection elements can be used.

  The phosphor has a sheet substrate made of, for example, a plastic film or a non-woven fabric, and a phosphor layer is provided as a light emitting layer on the sheet substrate. For the sheet base material, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate film kneaded with carbon black is used so as to absorb the light from the phosphor, or white titanium dioxide is kneaded so as to reflect the light from the phosphor. An embedded polyethylene terephthalate film or the like can be used. A protective film made of a transparent protective film, for example, a polyethylene terephthalate film having a thickness of about several μm, is disposed on the phosphor layer as necessary.

  The phosphor layer described above includes phosphors that emit light in a plurality of colors, that is, phosphors having a plurality of emission wavelength regions. In consideration of light receiving means such as a color CCD camera, it is preferable to use a phosphor that emits light in a wide wavelength range within a visible light region (for example, a region having a wavelength of 400 to 700 nm). Specifically, a phosphor having an emission spectrum corresponding to at least two emission colors in the visible light region, that is, a phosphor having an emission spectrum including a main emission component and a sub emission component having different emission colors is used. Is preferred.

  Typically, at least two emission colors selected from blue emission, green emission, and red emission are used as the emission colors of the phosphors. However, the present invention is not limited to these luminescent colors, and various luminescent colors can be applied as long as the luminescent colors can be distinguished from each other. good.

Specific examples of phosphors include europium activated gadolinium oxysulfide (Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Eu) phosphor, europium activated yttrium oxysulfide (Y ₂ O ₂ S: Eu) phosphor, terbium activated gadolinium oxysulfide. Examples include (Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Tb) phosphors, rare earth phosphors such as terbium-activated yttrium oxysulfide (Y ₂ O ₂ S: Tb) phosphors, and calcium tungstate (CaWO ₄ ) phosphors.

  The phosphor used in the present invention is not limited to the phosphor in which one phosphor particle as described above emits light in a plurality of colors, for example, a blue light emitting phosphor that emits mainly blue light, and a green that emits mainly green light. It is also possible to use a mixed phosphor in which at least two kinds of phosphors selected from a light emitting phosphor and a red light emitting phosphor that emits mainly red light are mixed.

The phosphors of the respective colors used in the mixed phosphor are not particularly limited. For example, phosphors emitting red light include GdBO ₃ : Eu, Gd ₂ O ₃ : Eu, Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Eu, Gd ₃ Al ₅ O 1 ₂ : Eu, Gd ₃ Ga ₅ O ₁₂ : Eu, GdVO ₄ : Eu, Gd ₃ Ga ₅ O ₁₂ : Ce, Cr, Y ₂ O ₃ : Eu, La ₂ O ₃ : Eu, La ₂ O ₂ S: Eu, InBO ₃ : Eu, (Y, In) BO ₃ : Eu, or the like is used.

Green phosphors include Gd ₂ O ₃ : Tb, Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Tb, Gd ₂ O ₂ S: Pr, Gd ₃ Ga ₅ O ₁₂ : Tb, Gd ₃ Al ₅ O ₁₂ : Tb, Y ₂ O ₃ : Tb, Y ₂ O ₂ S: Tb, Y ₂ O ₂ S: Tb, Dy, La ₂ O ₂ S: Tb, ZnS: Cu, ZnS: Cu, Au, Zn ₂ SiO ₄ : Mn, InBO ₃ : Tb, MgGa ₂ O ₄ : Mn, or the like is used.

Blue phosphors include YAlO ₃ : Ce, Y ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce, Gd ₂ SiO ₅ : Ce, YTaO ₄ : Nb, BaFCl: Eu, ZnS: Ag, CaWO ₄ , CdWO ₄ , ZnWO ₄ , MgWO ₄ , Sr ₅ (PO ₄ ) ₃ Cl: Eu, YPO ₄ : Cl, or the like is used.

  However, when a mixed phosphor is used, there is a possibility that a plurality of images based on the emission color of each phosphor may be shifted depending on the mixed state of the phosphors, the formation state of the phosphor layer, and the like. That is, there is a possibility that a plurality of completely matched images cannot be obtained. Further, when the RGB signal is separated and detected from the obtained image (mixed data of images of a plurality of colors), there may be a problem in image processing due to the edge effect.

  On the other hand, when a phosphor in which one phosphor particle emits light in a plurality of colors is used, basically, a plurality of images based on each emission color completely coincide. For this reason, the inspection accuracy can be further increased. In the present invention, it is desirable to use, for example, a phosphor having emission peaks in a plurality of emission wavelength regions, a phosphor having a wide emission peak extending over a plurality of emission wavelength regions, and the like.

  By using phosphors that emit light in a plurality of colors as described above, even if the imaging conditions (for example, irradiation X-ray dose) etc. are slightly deviated from an appropriate range, an image of a density that can be used for inspection inside the product 20 etc. Can be obtained. The manner of performing image processing by combining a plurality of captured images is configured in the same manner as in the first embodiment described above, and the same effect can be obtained.

  As an application example of the present invention, it can be applied to an inspection method inside a product and an inspection device inside the product for inspecting the internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances, for example, By applying it to the inspection of the presence or absence of inclusion of a drug efficacy note in the final stage of drug packaging, it is possible to reliably attach an effect note that is required by law and is not allowed to ship defective products.

  In addition, as other applicability, it can be widely applied to inspection of the presence of instructions inside various products such as cosmetics, toothpaste tubes and other household items, toys such as models and plastic models, and industrial parts. .

It is a figure explaining the pharmaceutical packaging final process which provided the inspection apparatus inside the product which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the pharmaceutical packaging final process which provided the inspection apparatus inside the product which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the inspection apparatus inside the product which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the some captured image imaged with the several radiation imaging means from which radiation sensitivity differs. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure which shows a mode that the internal state of a product is test | inspected combining by an image combination means. It is a figure explaining the subject at the time of binarization using a low-sensitivity X-ray picked-up image in the state accommodated in the outer box in the state in which accessories, such as an effect note, were in contact with the product aluminum package.

Explanation of symbols

A: Low-sensitivity X-ray image B: Medium-sensitivity X-ray image C: High-sensitivity X-ray image D: Binary image E: Shrinkage expansion image F, G ... Binary image H ... Filling image I ... Shrinkage Image J ... Internal space area image K ... Attachment storage space area image L ... Binarized image M ... Particle feature analysis image N ... Search image O ... Binarized image 1 ... Tablet 2 ... PTP packaging machine 3 ... PTP sheet 4 ... Aluminum package packaging machine 5 ... Product aluminum package 5a ... Product aluminum package image area
5a1 ... Center of gravity position 6 ... Final packaging machine 7 ... Product box 7a ... Product box image area 8 ... Attachment 8a ... Attachment image area
8a1… Center of gravity position
8a2 ~ 8a4 ... Point 9 ... X-ray inspection equipment
10 ... Shipping boxing machine
11 ... Shipping box
12 ... belt conveyor
13 ... X-ray tube
14 ... X-ray low absorption belt conveyor
15 ... Low sensitivity X-ray tube
16 ... Medium sensitivity X-ray tube
17 ... High sensitivity X-ray tube
18 ... Image processing device
19… Attachment storage space image area
20 ... Product
21… Inner wall interior image area
22… Outer wall interior image area

Claims (6)

A method for inspecting an internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances,
A method for inspecting an inside of a product, comprising: imaging radiation transmitted through the product by a plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities; and inspecting an internal state of the product by combining the plurality of captured images. Inspecting the internal state of the product by performing image processing on the plurality of captured images using at least one of binarization processing, inter-image calculation processing, particle feature amount analysis processing, and pattern matching processing. The method for inspecting the inside of a product according to claim 1, wherein: The product content based on a predetermined image brightness threshold value from a captured image captured by the first radiation imaging means capable of capturing an attachment such as a paper manual or a product box as a shadow and capturing only the product content as a shadow Extract the image area of the object part,
Extracting an image area of the product box part from a captured image captured by a second radiation imaging unit capable of capturing an attachment such as a paper manual or a product box as a shadow, with a predetermined image brightness threshold,
Reducing the area of the number of pixels corresponding to the paper thickness of the product box from the image area of the product box part to extract an image area inside the outer wall surface of the product box;
Removing the image area of the product content part from the image area inside the outer wall surface and extracting the image storage area of the accessory storage space such as the manual;
By binarizing the accessory storage space image area including an accessory image area such as a manual with a predetermined image brightness threshold, or by pattern matching processing a characteristic shape of an accessory such as a manual The method for inspecting an inside of a product according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an inspection is made as to whether or not an accessory such as a manual exists in the attachment storage space image area. The method for inspecting the inside of a product according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the internal state of the product is inspected before the final packaging step in which the product is individually sealed and packed in a shipping box. An apparatus for inspecting the internal state of a sealed product containing a plurality of subjects having different radiation transmittances,
Radiation emitting means for emitting radiation;
A plurality of radiation imaging means having different radiation sensitivities for imaging radiation emitted by the radiation emitting means and transmitted through the product;
Image combining means for combining a plurality of captured images captured by the radiation imaging means;
Determining means for determining the internal state of the product from the image information combined by the image combining means;
A device for inspecting a product inside. The radiation imaging means includes a phosphor that emits a fluorescent color that varies depending on a radiation absorption state by the subject, and a color camera that detects a fluorescent color emitted by the phosphor. Item 6. A product internal inspection device according to Item 5.

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