JP2005078105A - Method and apparatus for counting bar material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for counting bar materials for counting bar materials without generating any erroneous counting even when the counting side end faces of conveyed bar materials deviate from an imaging reference line. <P>SOLUTION: The counting apparatus for counting intermittently conveyed bar materials W during the conveyance is provided with an end face imaging means 12 and a control counting part 20, and the end face imaging means 12 is configured to image a range beyond a conveyance distance for two times, and arranged at a position where the end faces of bar materials W in the range can be imaged, and the control counting part 20 is provided with an image processing counting part 22. The image processing counting part 22 performs: first counting processing to count the bar materials W based on a first counting reference image G1 where end faces WT of the bar materials W are extracted from a front image in continuously imaged two images; second counting processing to count the bar materials based on a second counting reference image obtained by erasing a wrap image in a counting preliminary image G2 where the end faces WT of the bar materials W are extracted from the rear image; and processing to total the counted number of the first counting procedure and the counted number of the second counting procedure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rod counting method and a counting apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a rod counting method and a counting device that accurately counts a rod using an imaging device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, in a round bar steel rolling production facility, round bar steel cut into a predetermined length after rolling and forming is bundled and shipped every predetermined number (for example, one lot). In such a case, in the rolling production facility for the round bar steel, the number of round bar steels is usually counted in any step before and after binding in order to manage the number of shipments.
[0003]
Various counting methods and apparatuses for automatically and accurately performing such counting have been proposed. However, when round steel bars are loaded or transported in a pyramid shape, there is a problem that erroneous counting occurs. was there.
[0004]
In order to solve such a problem, the present applicant illuminates the end surface of the steel bar at a predetermined angle from a predetermined position, and images of the end surface obtained by imaging the illuminated end surface at a predetermined angle of view (hereinafter referred to as the following). (Referred to as an end face image), a counting method for counting the number of steel bars has already been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-99755).
[0005]
According to the counting method, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the end faces of the round steel bars W′1, W′2, and W′3 are on the reference line, and the round steel bar W′1. , W′2, W′3 sequentially pass through the imaging region in the left direction in the figure, images captured in synchronization with the conveyance of the round steel bars W′1, W′2, W′3 are shown in FIG. As shown in (a) and (b), accurate counting can be performed even if the round steel bars W′2 and W′3 are pyramidal. In other words, it can be accurately counted as three.
[0006]
However, each end face of the round steel bars W′1, W′2, and W′3 may be displaced from the reference line due to impact or vibration during transfer to the transport device or during transport.
[0007]
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the end faces of the round bar steel W′1 and the round bar steel W′3 are positioned substantially on the reference line a ′, and the end face of the round bar steel W′2 recedes from the reference line a ′. When the round steel bars W′1, W′2, and W′3 are transported in the left direction in the figure in the state far from the CCD camera 101, FIG. 6A and FIG. Images taken at the camera angle of view θ by the CCD camera 101 at each position in b) are as shown in FIGS. The number counted based on the images shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B is four, which is one more than the actual number of three. This is because the end face of the round steel bar W′2 is located far from the CCD camera 101, so that the moving speed in the captured image is relatively slow, and the round steel bar W′2 is counted twice. An erroneous count has occurred.
[0008]
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8, the end faces of the round bar steel W′1 and the round bar steel W′3 are substantially located on the reference line a ′, and the end face of the round bar steel W′2 is significantly different from the reference line a ′. When the protruding or end face is extremely close to the CCD camera 101 and the round bars W′1, W′2 and W′3 are conveyed in the left direction in the figure, the figure is synchronized with the conveyance. Images taken at the camera angle of view θ by the CCD camera 101 at the positions 8 (a) and 8 (b) are as shown in FIGS. 9 (a) and 9 (b). The number counted based on the images shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is two, which is one less than the actual number of three. This is because the end surface of the round steel bar W′2 is extremely close to the CCD camera 101, so that the moving speed in the captured image is relatively fast and the round bar steel W′2 is not counted. An erroneous count has occurred.
[0009]
In the case shown in FIG. 6, the round steel bar W′2 may not appear in the captured image due to insufficient exposure. In order to cope with such a situation, the present applicant has already proposed a lighting device for a material to be counted (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-191013). However, in this device, the problem of double counting of the round steel bar W′2 is Still not resolved.
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and even when the counting side end face of the bar being transported deviates from the imaging reference line, the bar is not counted without erroneous counting. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bar counting method and a counting apparatus.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The rod counting method of the present invention is a rod counting method using an imaging means that is fixed during conveyance of rods that are intermittently conveyed, and each time the rods are conveyed. In addition, the end face of the bar material obtained by image processing of the procedure for imaging the end face of the bar material in a range exceeding the transport distance of two times and the previous image in the two images taken in succession was extracted. The first counting procedure for counting the bars based on the first counting reference image and the end face of the bars obtained by image processing of the subsequent images in the two images that were successively captured were extracted. A second counting procedure for counting bars based on a second counting reference image obtained by deleting the lap image from the previous image from the counting preliminary image, the number counted by the first counting procedure, and the first count And a procedure for summing the number counted by the two-counting procedure. That.
[0012]
In the rod counting method of the present invention, the deletion of the wrap image is, for example, a procedure for calculating the moving distance in the subsequent image of the wrap image by pattern matching between the search model region of the previous image and the search region of the subsequent image; This is performed by a procedure for generating a counting auxiliary image obtained by moving the image of the search model area of the previous image by the moving distance, and an inter-image subtraction processing procedure for subtracting the counting auxiliary image from the preliminary counting image.
[0013]
In the rod counting method of the present invention, it is preferable that a procedure for performing mask processing by shape recognition or the like and erasing the remaining image is added after the inter-image subtraction processing procedure.
[0014]
On the other hand, the bar counting device of the present invention is a bar counting device that performs counting during the transport of the bar that is intermittently transported, and includes an end face imaging means and a control counting unit, The end surface imaging means is supposed to be able to image a range exceeding the transport distance of two times, and is arranged at a position where the end surface of the bar in the range can be imaged. The control counting unit has an image processing counting unit. Then, the image processing counting unit is configured based on the first count reference image obtained by performing image processing on the previous image in the two images captured successively and extracting the end face of the bar. A first counting process for counting, and a lap image of the previous image from the preliminary counting image obtained by extracting the end face of the bar, obtained by performing image processing on the subsequent image in the two images captured successively. A second meter that counts bars based on the second counting reference image obtained by deletion And processing, characterized by comprising configured to sum a number which is counted as the number counted by the first counting process by the second counting process.
[0015]
In the bar counting device of the present invention, it is preferable to include an end surface illumination device that illuminates the end surface of the bar.
[0016]
[Action]
Since the present invention is configured as described above, even if the positions of the end surfaces of the rods to be conveyed are uneven and there is considerable variation in the relative moving speed of the end surfaces in the captured image, the present invention is accurate. The bar can be counted.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, although the present invention is explained based on an embodiment, referring to an accompanying drawing, the present invention is not limited only to this embodiment.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a bar counting device (hereinafter simply referred to as a counting device) S to which a bar counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
[0019]
The counting device S is configured to be able to count the number of round bars W, W,... Transported by the walking beam type transport device 1.
[0020]
Here, in order to facilitate understanding later, the walking beam type conveying apparatus 1 used in the present embodiment will be described slightly.
[0021]
The walking beam type conveying device 1 is cut into a predetermined length by a cutting device (not shown) and receives the round steel bars W, W,... Carried out from the cutting device by a carry-out device (for example, a roller table) 2 and proceeds to the next process. It shall be transported.
[0022]
Specifically, the walking beam type conveying apparatus 1 includes a fixed beam 1A, 1A, 1A in which V-shaped mounting grooves 1a, 1a,... It is assumed that a movable beam 1B, 1B in which V-shaped grooves 1b, 1b,... Similar to the fixed beam 1A are continuously formed is provided.
[0023]
In the present embodiment, the round steel bars W, W,... That have been transported in the longitudinal direction by the carry-out device 2 are brought into contact with the stoppers 2a installed at the end of the carry-out device 2 and are aligned with the end surfaces. The aligned round steel bars W, W,... Are placed on the transfer section 2b, which is arranged in parallel at the end of the unloading device 2 and is inclined downward toward the walking beam type conveying device 1, for example, a pusher (not shown). Is transferred. The round steel bar W first transferred to the transfer portion 2b is brought into a standby state by abutting against a stopper 2c provided at the lower end of the transfer portion 2b while rolling. Next, the round bar steel W transferred to the transfer part 2b is brought into a standby state by abutting against the round bar steel W in a standby state while rolling. Hereinafter, all of the round bar steels W, W,... That have reached the end of the carry-out device 2 by repeating this operation are transferred to the transfer unit 2b and set in a standby state.
[0024]
Thus, the round steel bars W, W,... Brought into the standby state by the transfer unit 2b are scooped one by one by the movable beam 1B and placed in the mounting groove 1a1 adjacent to the transfer unit 2b of the fixed beam 1A. After being placed, it is sequentially transferred to the adjacent placement grooves 1a2, 1a3,. The counting device S counts the round steel bars W, W,... In the process of being sequentially transferred and conveyed to the next process.
[0025]
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the counting device S controls the end surface imaging unit 10 that images the counting side end surfaces of the round steel bars W, W,. The control counting unit 20 that counts the number and the output means 30 that outputs the counting result are main components. The output means 30 is also controlled by the control counting unit 20.
[0026]
The end surface imaging unit 10 includes an end surface illuminator 11 that illuminates the counting side end surfaces of the round steel bars W, W,... Mounted on the predetermined mounting groove 1a of the fixed beam 1A, and an end surface illuminated by the end surface illuminator 11. And an end face image pickup means for picking up the image, for example, a CCD camera 12.
[0027]
The end surface lighting device 11 is, for example, a lighting device proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-191013.
[0028]
The CCD camera 12 is provided with a wide-angle lens, and is disposed at the center of the end surface illumination device 11 so as to image the counting side end surfaces of the round steel bars W, W,... Mounted on the mounting groove 1a. (Refer to Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-191013).
[0029]
Further, the CCD camera 12 has a distance (hereinafter referred to as a feed amount) by which the round steel bar W is conveyed by one operation of the movable beam 1B on the imaging reference line (extension line of the contact surface of the stopper 2a) a. It is adjusted so that a range of 2 times or more can be imaged. For example, if the feed amount is 160 mm, the imaging range is adjusted to have a width of 330 mm.
[0030]
The control counting unit 20 controls the end surface illumination device 11 of the end surface imaging unit 10, the CCD camera 12, the output unit 30, and the like. The control counting unit 20 performs image processing on the end surface image from the CCD camera 12 and the number of round bars W. It is assumed that the image processing counting unit 22 is provided.
[0031]
The control unit 21 controls the end illumination device 11 to illuminate the counting side end surfaces of the round steel bars W, W,... Placed in the placement groove 1a and cause the CCD camera 12 to take an image. In this control, imaging is performed by the CCD camera 12 every time the movable beam 1B of the walking beam type conveying device 1 operates.
[0032]
The image processing counting unit 22 performs known processes such as binarization, particle separation, normalization, and labeling on the end face image from the CCD camera 12 to extract the end face WT of the round steel bar W. An image or the like is generated, and then a round bar steel W, W,... The image processing counting unit 22 is realized, for example, by storing a program corresponding to counting processing described later in a computer.
[0033]
The output means 30 is, for example, a printer, a CRT display, or the like.
[0034]
Next, taking the case where round steel bars W1, W2, W3, W4, W5 are sequentially conveyed as an example, the counting of round steel bars W, W,... This will be described with reference to FIG.
[0035]
(1) The end face illumination device 11 illuminates the counting side end faces of the round steel bars W, W,... Placed on the placement groove 1a.
[0036]
(2) The counting side end surfaces of the round bar steels W1, W2, W3 are imaged by the CCD camera 12 in synchronization with the transport of the round bar steels W1, W2, W3 by the walking beam type transport device 1 (FIG. 2A). Reference), and outputs the obtained image to the control counting unit 20.
[0037]
(3) The image processing counting unit 22 of the control counting unit 20 performs image processing such as particle separation on the input end face image to extract the end faces WT1, WT2, WT3 of the round steel bars W1, W2, W3. The first counting reference image G1 is generated (see FIG. 3A).
[0038]
(4) The image processing counting unit 22 counts the number of extracted end faces WT, and counts the round bar steel W in the generated first counting reference image G1. That is, the first counting process is performed. In this case, since there are three extracted end faces WT, WT1, WT2 and WT3, the number is counted as three.
[0039]
(5) The search model region R1 is set on the side overlapping the next image of the first count reference image G1. The width of the region R1 is about ¼ to ½ of the entire width, and the height can cover all the extracted end faces WT.
[0040]
(6) The counting side end surfaces of the round bar steels W1, W2, W3, W4 and W5 are synchronized by the CCD camera 12 in synchronism with the transport of the round bar steels W1, W2, W3, W4 and W5 by the walking beam type conveying device 1. An image is taken (see FIG. 2B), and the obtained image is output to the control counting unit 20.
[0041]
(7) The image processing counting unit 22 of the control counting unit 20 performs the same processing as (3) on the input end face image, and each end face WT1, WT2 of the round steel bars W1, W2, W3, W4, W5. , WT3, WT4, WT5 are generated to generate a preliminary counting image G2 (see FIG. 3B).
[0042]
(8) The search region R2 is set on the side overlapping the previous image of the counting preliminary image G2. The width of the region R2 is the same as that of the region R1.
[0043]
(9) Pattern matching of the region R2 is performed based on the image pattern of the region R1, that is, a position where the correlation between the images is maximized is searched, and the movement distances on the images of the end faces WT1, WT2, and WT3 are calculated.
[0044]
(10) A counting auxiliary image G1a is generated by moving the region R1 by the calculated moving distance (see FIG. 3C).
[0045]
(11) An inter-image subtraction process between the preliminary counting image G2 and the auxiliary counting image G1a is performed (see FIG. 3D).
[0046]
(12) Mask processing is performed on the image after the inter-image subtraction processing. That is, since it is rare that the images of the end faces WT1, WT2, and WT3 in the counting auxiliary image G1a and the counting preliminary image G2 completely coincide with each other, the image after the subtraction processing between images is shown in FIG. Since such unerased images WT1a, WT2a, and WT3a may occur, such unerased images are masked by shape recognition and deleted. Note that this masking process may be omitted if the unerased images WT1a, WT2a, and WT3a do not exist or can be ignored even if they exist.
[0047]
(13) Count the round steel bars W based on the image after mask processing, that is, the second count reference image. That is, the second counting process is performed. In this case, since there are two end faces WT, WT4 and WT5, present in the second counting reference image, the round steel bar W is counted as two.
[0048]
(14) Add the counting results of (4) and (13). In this case, 3 in (4) and 2 in (13) are added up and counted as 5.
[0049]
Hereinafter, the round bar steel W is counted by repeating the above procedure until the transport of the round steel bar W is completed.
[0050]
Thus, according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the positions of the end surfaces of the round steel bar W to be conveyed are uneven, for example, the positions of the end surfaces vary about 300 mm, and the end surface WT in the captured image Even when there is considerable variation in the relative moving speed of the round steel bars W, the round bar steel W can be accurately counted.
[0051]
As mentioned above, although this invention has been demonstrated based on embodiment, this invention is not limited only to this embodiment, A various change is possible. For example, in this embodiment, the mask process is performed after the inter-image subtraction process, but the process may be a process of deleting the wrap image instead of the inter-image subtraction process.
[0052]
Further, a mask process for deleting the extracted end face information, such as omitting them and subtracting the counted number, may be performed.
[0053]
Further, although the movement distance on the image is calculated with respect to the reference image from which the end face is extracted, the movement distance may be calculated with respect to the input end face image.
[0054]
Further, for example, in this embodiment, the bar is a round bar steel, but the application of the present invention is not limited to the round bar steel, and can be applied to various shapes of bar bars. Applicable.
[0055]
Furthermore, although the end surface illumination device 11 is used in the embodiment, the end surface illumination device may be omitted depending on the end surface properties and the conveyance state of the bar.
[0056]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the present invention, even when the positions of the end surfaces of the bar to be conveyed are uneven and there is considerable variation in the relative movement speed of the end surfaces in the captured image, In addition, it is possible to obtain an excellent effect that the number of bars such as round bars can be counted.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a bar counting apparatus to which a bar counting method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an imaging state of a round bar material by an end face imaging unit of the apparatus, wherein (a) shows primary conveyance of round bar steel by a walking beam type conveyance apparatus; (B) shows the secondary conveyance.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of counting processing by an end surface image processing counting unit of the apparatus, in which FIG. 3A shows an end surface image at the time of primary conveyance, and FIG. 3B shows an end surface image at the time of secondary conveyance; (C) shows a state in which the image of (a) is moved in the lateral width direction by the amount of movement of the round bar steel, and (d) shows a state after the inter-image subtraction process.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of round bar counting by a conventional bar counting device, and shows a state in which round bars are sequentially conveyed by a walking beam type conveying device.
FIG. 5 is an end face image in the state of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram when a double count occurs in counting round bars by the same device.
7 is an end face image in the state of FIG.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram when counting down occurs in counting round bars by the same device.
FIG. 9 is an end face image in the state of FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Walking beam type conveying apparatus 10 End surface imaging part 11 End surface illumination apparatus 12 CCD camera (end surface imaging means)
20 control counting part 21 control part 22 image processing counting part 30 output means S round bar steel counting device W round bar steel (bar steel material)
WT end face

Claims (5)

A rod counting method that uses a fixed imaging means for counting during the conveyance of a rod that is intermittently conveyed,
A procedure for imaging the end face of the bar in a range exceeding the transport distance for two times for each bar transport;
A first counting procedure for counting the bar based on the first counting reference image obtained by image processing of the previous image in the two images captured in succession and from which the end face of the bar is extracted;
A second count obtained by deleting the lap image with the previous image from the preliminary count image obtained by extracting the end face of the bar, obtained by performing image processing on the subsequent image in the two consecutively captured images. A second counting procedure for counting bars based on the reference image;
A method of counting rods, comprising a step of summing the number counted by the first counting procedure and the number counted by the second counting procedure. The deletion of the wrap image
A procedure for calculating a moving distance in the subsequent image of the wrap image by pattern matching between the search model region of the previous image and the search region of the subsequent image;
A procedure for generating a counting auxiliary image obtained by moving the image of the search model area of the previous image by the moving distance;
2. The rod counting method according to claim 1, wherein the counting is performed by an inter-image subtraction processing procedure for subtracting the counting auxiliary image from the counting preliminary image. 3. The bar counting method according to claim 2, further comprising a step of erasing the remaining image by masking after the inter-image subtraction processing procedure. A bar counting device that performs counting during the transport of bars that are intermittently transported,
An end surface imaging means and a control counting unit;
The end surface imaging means is supposed to be able to image a range exceeding the transport distance for two times, and is disposed at a position where the end surface of the bar in the range can be imaged,
The control counting unit has an image processing counting unit,
The image processing counting unit counts a bar based on a first count reference image obtained by performing image processing on a previous image in two consecutively captured images and extracting an end face of the bar. The first counting process is performed, and the wrap image with the previous image is deleted from the preliminary counting image obtained by extracting the end face of the bar material, which is obtained by performing image processing on the subsequent image in the two images captured in succession. The second counting process for counting the bar based on the second counting reference image obtained in this manner, the number counted by the first counting process and the number counted by the second counting process are summed A bar counting device comprising a bar material. 5. The bar counting device according to claim 4, further comprising an end surface illumination device that illuminates an end surface of the bar.

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