JP2005189196A - Inspection device of foreign matter in liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device of foreign matter in a liquid capable of certainly detecting foreign matter such as glass pieces or the like present in the liquid charged in a container such as a glass bottle or the like. <P>SOLUTION: The inspection device for inspecting whether foreign matter 3 is present in the liquid charged in the glass bottle 1 is equipped with an inclined support part 2 for supporting the glass bottle 1 in an inclined state so that the shoulder part 1b of the glass bottle 1 is positioned under the bottom part of the glass bottle 1, the luminare 4 arranged obliquely under the glass bottle 1 to illuminate the shoulder part 1b of the glass bottle 1 from an obliquely lower part, the CCD camera 5 arranged obliquely above the glass bottle 1 to image the light transmitted through the shoulder part 1b of the glass bottle 1 and an image processor 6 for processing the image captured by the CCD camera 5 to judge the presence of the foreign matter 3. The luminaire 4 is not present on the optical axis of the CCD camera 5 but arranged at a position spaced apart from an optical axis. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a submerged foreign matter inspection device, and more particularly to a submerged foreign matter inspection device that optically detects that a foreign matter such as a glass piece is mixed in a liquid filled in a container such as a glass bottle. is there.

  A glass beverage or other foreign matter may be mixed in soft drinks such as juice filled in transparent containers such as glass bottles, alcoholic beverages such as beer, and nutritional drinks called drinks. . In order to detect foreign matter such as glass pieces existing in the liquid, a liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus has been conventionally used. In the conventional foreign matter inspection apparatus, the container body is illuminated from an illuminating device provided on the side of the transport path of a container such as a glass bottle that is transported upright, and light is incident on the bottom of the container. The bottom of the container is imaged by a CCD camera installed below the bottom, and a bright image due to scattered light is determined and detected as a foreign object such as a glass piece.

  Next, a method for inspecting a transmissive foreign matter in a conventional submerged foreign matter inspection apparatus will be described. In a conventional in-liquid foreign substance inspection apparatus (for example, Patent Document 1), using the property that a foreign substance sinks to the bottom, the foreign substance deposited on the bottom of the container is imaged from the direction of the bottom of the container by a CCD camera, and image processing is performed. A foreign object is detected. In this case, the lighting device irradiates light from the side near the bottom of the container. That is, since the optical axis direction of the CCD camera and the light irradiation direction of the illumination device are different, the image captured by the CCD camera is an image with a dark background because light does not enter directly from the background direction. At this time, since the glass piece at the bottom of the container scatters the irradiated light, when the image is taken from the bottom direction, the glass piece is imaged brighter than the background by the scattered light (or refracted light) scattered therefrom. . Therefore, in the image processing for foreign object detection, if there is a portion brighter than the background by a predetermined value, it is processed as a glass piece.

JP-A-7-174715

In the above-mentioned conventional foreign matter inspection apparatus for liquids, the illumination device cannot be installed before and after the conveyance direction of a container such as a glass bottle. There is a problem that the accuracy may decrease.
In addition, the bottom of a container such as a glass bowl has irregularities such as knurling and engraving, and the bottom of the container is usually a medium-high chevron, and the thickness at the center is thicker than the thickness at the periphery. It has become. Thus, in order to image the inside of the container through the bottom of the container with unevenness and uneven thickness, the captured image is difficult to distinguish from foreign objects due to the influence of unevenness and uneven thickness. It is difficult to increase detection accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and provides an in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus capable of reliably detecting foreign matters such as glass pieces present in a liquid filled in a container such as a glass bottle. With the goal.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for inspecting whether or not there is a foreign substance in the liquid filled in the container, the container shoulder is positioned below the container bottom. An inclined support portion that supports the container in an inclined state, an illumination device that is disposed obliquely below the container and that illuminates the container shoulder from an obliquely lower side, and a transmission that is disposed obliquely above the container and transmits through the container shoulder. An imaging device that captures light, and an image processing device that processes an image obtained by the imaging device to determine the presence or absence of a foreign object, and the illumination device is not on the optical axis of the imaging device and the light It is arrange | positioned in the position spaced apart from the axis | shaft.

  According to the present invention, since the illumination device is not located on the optical axis of the imaging device and is disposed at a position away from the optical axis, the light from the illumination device is incident on the container shoulder from an oblique direction. However, when there is a foreign object such as a glass piece on the container shoulder, only the light that is refracted by the foreign substance and travels in the same direction as the optical axis direction of the imaging apparatus is photographed by the imaging apparatus. . Therefore, only the portion corresponding to the light reaching the imaging device out of the light refracted by entering the foreign matter is bright and the other portions are dark images, and this dark portion can be identified to detect the foreign matter. .

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for inspecting whether there is a foreign substance in the liquid filled in the container, the container is supported in an inclined state so that the container shoulder is positioned below the container bottom. An inclined support unit, an illuminating device that illuminates the container, an imaging device that captures transmitted light that has passed through the shoulder of the container, and an image processing device that processes an image obtained by the imaging device and determines the presence or absence of foreign matter It is characterized by having.

  According to the present invention, by tilting the container so that the shoulder portion of the container is positioned below the bottom portion of the container, the foreign matter existing on the bottom portion of the container when the container is in an upright state is transferred to the shoulder portion of the container along the container trunk portion. It can be moved to the position. Since the container shoulder has a relatively uniform wall thickness and no irregularities, foreign objects can be reliably detected by photographing the transmitted light transmitted through the container shoulder with the imaging device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the container is supported by the inclined support portion in a state where the container falls about 120 ° to 125 ° from the upright state.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the container is turned over from an upright state while being transported.

According to the present invention, the illumination device and the imaging device are arranged so as to face each other with the container interposed therebetween, and a configuration is adopted in which the illumination device projects light onto the container and the transmitted light transmitted through the container is photographed by the imaging device. Therefore, a sufficient amount of light can enter the container. Accordingly, it is possible to solve the problem of the conventional apparatus that the detection accuracy of the foreign matter is lowered due to the insufficient light quantity.
Further, according to the present invention, foreign matters such as glass pieces present in the liquid can be positioned on the container shoulder, and the container shoulder that transmits light from the lighting device has a relatively uniform thickness. In addition, since there is no unevenness, it is not difficult to distinguish from foreign matter due to uneven thickness or unevenness, and it is possible to reliably detect foreign matters such as glass pieces.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, since the container shoulder has a curved surface, it becomes possible to enlarge a foreign object by the lens effect of the curved surface, and as a result, even a fine glass piece can be detected. Can do.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the basic configuration of the in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a glass bottle filled with a liquid such as a beverage, and the glass bottle 1 is held in an inclined state with respect to a horizontal plane by an inclined support portion 2. The inclined support portion 2 is connected to a conveying device that conveys the glass bottle 1 in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 1, and the inclined support portion 2 swings around the support portion 2a. The glass bottle 1 is inverted by a predetermined angle θ (120 ° to 125 °) from the upright state (vertical direction V) to the state shown in FIG. 1 while being conveyed by the conveying device. The shoulder portion 1b is located below the saddle barrel portion 1a. Note that the bottom 1c is inclined to a medium height and knurled or engraved on the bottom. Therefore, there are irregularities and uneven thickness on the bottom of the heel. In the liquid in the glass bowl 1, foreign substances such as glass pieces may be mixed. However, the glass bowl 1 is inverted during conveyance and is 120 ° to the vertical direction as shown in FIG. Since it is in a state inclined by 125 °, the foreign material 3 existing at the bottom of the heel moves to the position of the curved shoulder portion 1b through the trunk portion and stays at the position of the shoulder portion 1b.

  The in-liquid foreign substance inspection device is disposed obliquely below the glass bottle 1 and illuminates the incident light 4 into the glass bottle from the oblique lower side of the glass bottle 1, and is disposed obliquely above the glass bottle 1. A CCD camera 5 that captures transmitted light that has passed through a portion of the shoulder 1b and the saddle trunk 1a, and an image processing device 6 that is connected to the CCD camera 5 and processes an image obtained by the CCD camera 5 are provided. ing. The CCD camera 5 constitutes an imaging device.

Next, the operation of the submerged foreign substance inspection apparatus configured as shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
While the glass bottle 1 in an upright state is supported and conveyed by the inclined support portion 2, it is inverted by the inclined support portion 2 to the state shown in FIG. 1. The glass bottle 1 passes between the illumination device 4 and the CCD camera 5 in the state shown in FIG. At this time, the light from the illumination device 4 enters the glass bottle 1 from the lower surface side of the glass bottle 1, passes through the liquid in the glass bottle, and then passes through the upper surface side of the glass bottle 1. The transmitted light that has passed through the glass bottle 1 enters the CCD camera 5. When this incident light is photographed by the CCD camera 5, a foreign object such as a glass piece present on the shoulder 1b appears as a dark shadow on a bright background, and the image processing device 6 discriminates this dark shadow. Foreign objects such as glass pieces can be detected. Since the shoulder portion 1b of the glass bottle 1 has a relatively uniform thickness and no irregularities, the foreign substance can be reliably detected by photographing the transmitted light transmitted through the shoulder portion 1b with the CCD camera 5. Further, since the shoulder portion 1b of the glass bottle has a curved surface, it becomes possible to enlarge a foreign object due to the lens effect of the curved surface, and as a result, even a fine glass piece can be detected.

Next, a mechanism for detecting a glass piece by the in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
In the in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the shoulder 1b is imaged while the glass bottle 1 is being rolled over and conveyed, so the installation location of the illumination device 4 is inevitably a CCD camera with respect to the glass bottle 1. 5 is limited to the position on the opposite side. This is because the glass bottle 1 cannot be irradiated from the side because the glass bottle 1 is fallen and conveyed. At this time, the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5 and the light irradiation direction Lx of the illuminating device 4 substantially coincide with each other. become. In this case, both the background and the glass piece are imaged brightly, and the detection method of detecting the brighter part than the background described above becomes impossible.

  Therefore, in the submerged foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the light irradiation direction Lx of the illumination device 4 is shifted from the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5, that is, the shoulder 1b of the glass bottle 1. By irradiating light from obliquely, a shadow is forcibly formed on the glass piece, and the presence or absence of the glass piece is detected by detecting the shadow. Therefore, in the submerged foreign substance inspection apparatus according to the present invention, if there is a darker part than the background to be formed, it is processed as a glass piece. Of course, there is a possibility that the darker part than the background is a light-shielding foreign matter (stones, etc.), but there is no practical advantage of distinguishing it depending on the type of foreign matter. Absent.

Next, the reason why a glass piece can be shaded when irradiated with light from an oblique direction will be described.
FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the light irradiation direction of the glass piece 3 and the illumination device 4 in the glass bottle 1 and the optical axis direction of the CCD camera 5, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the glass piece in the example shown to (a). First, when a case where light is incident from the same direction as the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5 is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 2A, ABCD represents a cross section of the glass piece 3 sunk on the inner surface of the glass bottle 1. In this case, the light incident from d ₁ is straight and passes through the boundary points d ₂ of the glass piece 3 and the liquid surface travels in d ₃ directions. In addition, the light incident from e ₁ is refracted at the point e ₂ , is refracted when passing from the glass piece 3 to the liquid surface, and is refracted away from the normal, so that the light travels in the e ₃ direction. To do. From the above, the light from the ABC plane travels almost in the imaging direction, that is, the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5, so that the glass piece 3 is imaged brightly as shown in FIG.

FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the light irradiation direction of the glass piece 3 and the illumination device 4 in the glass bowl and the optical axis direction of the CCD camera 5, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the glass piece in the example shown to a). When light is incident from a direction inclined obliquely with respect to the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5, the result is as shown in FIG. That is, the light incident from a ₁ is refracted away from the normal at a ₂ and a ₃ and travels in the a ₄ direction. Similarly, light incident from b ₁ is refracted in the b ₃ direction via b _2, and light incident from c ₁ is refracted in the c ₃ direction via c ₂ . In this case, the light that refracts and travels in the imaging direction, that is, in the direction substantially coaxial with the optical axis direction Cx of the CCD camera 5 is only c ₃ , that is, only the light from the AB surface of the glass piece 3. Therefore, when this is imaged, as shown in FIG. 3B, the AB surface appears bright and the BC surface appears dark. Then, the dark BC surface is detected by the image processing device 6 to detect the glass piece 3. Although the light beam is refracted at the boundary of the glass bottle 1, in FIGS. 2 (a) and 3 (a), the light beam is illustrated as going straight in order to simplify the drawing. Even if the light is refracted by the glass bottle 1, the incident angle may be adjusted accordingly, and the above-described mechanism is the same.

  In the embodiment, the glass bottle has been described as an example of the container. However, as long as the container is a transparent container, the container is not limited to the glass bottle but may be other types of containers such as a plastic bottle.

It is the schematic which shows the basic composition of the foreign material inspection apparatus of this invention. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the glass piece in the glass bowl, the light irradiation direction of the illuminating device, and the optical axis direction of the CCD camera, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the glass piece in the example to show. FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the glass piece in the glass bowl, the light irradiation direction of the illuminating device, and the optical axis direction of the CCD camera, and FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the image of the glass piece in the example to show.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass jar 1a 壜 body part 1b Shoulder part 1c heel bottom 2 Inclined support part 3 Foreign material 4 Illumination device 5 CCD camera 6 Image processing device

Claims (4)

In an apparatus for inspecting whether there is a foreign substance in the liquid filled in the container,
An inclined support part for supporting the container in an inclined state so that the container shoulder is positioned below the bottom of the container;
An illuminating device disposed obliquely below the container and illuminating the container shoulder from the obliquely lower side;
An imaging device that is disposed obliquely above the container and captures the transmitted light that has passed through the shoulder of the container;
An image processing device that processes the image obtained by the imaging device and determines the presence or absence of foreign matter,
The in-liquid foreign matter inspection device, wherein the illumination device is not located on the optical axis of the imaging device but is disposed at a position separated from the optical axis. In an apparatus for inspecting whether there is a foreign substance in the liquid filled in the container,
An inclined support part for supporting the container in an inclined state so that the container shoulder is positioned below the bottom of the container;
An illumination device for illuminating the container;
An imaging device for photographing the transmitted light transmitted through the container shoulder;
An in-liquid foreign matter inspection device comprising: an image processing device that processes an image obtained by an imaging device and determines the presence or absence of foreign matter.   The in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container is supported by the inclined support portion in a state where the container falls about 120 ° to 125 ° from an upright state. The in-liquid foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the container is tumbled from an upright state while being transported.

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