JP2005227257A - Inspection device for peripheral surface of cylindrical container - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device capable of inspecting the surface of a container conveyed on a conveyor, automatically while keeping the conveyance speed. <P>SOLUTION: Containers 14 are conveyed along a line by the conveyor 2. A star wheel separates the containers supplied continuously from the upstream side at prescribed intervals P and sends the containers at the intervals to the downstream side. A head part 4 is equipped with a rotating roller 5 and a receiving roller 7, and rotates the container. Simultaneously, the whole head part 4 is moved from the initial position to the advanced position separated at a prescribed distance at the same speed as the conveyor. In this case, a line scanning camera 10 starts photographing of the peripheral surface of each container, and is moved as long as the same distance in the same direction at the same speed as the head part. An image photographed by the camera in this while is transferred to an image processing device 11, and thereby an image of the peripheral surface of the container is acquired and compared with a reference image, to thereby determine its quality. Information from the image processing device is displayed on a monitor 12. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for inspecting the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical container. More specifically, the present invention relates to an inspection apparatus capable of automatically inspecting the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical container being conveyed on a line without reducing the conveyance speed.

  Currently, there is a demand in the food and pharmaceutical industry for a method for automatically inspecting the surface of a cylindrical container such as a bottle or can at high speed. Various labels are affixed or directly printed on the outer peripheral surface of the container. Here, if there is an error or dirt on the label or printing itself, the position is deviated from the normal position, or the attached label is distorted or twisted, it is regarded as defective. At present, inspecting these defective parts is mainly performed by inspection by an inspector. However, when the inspection object moving on the line is visually inspected, there is a limit to the speed at which the inspection ability of the inspector can cope, and it is difficult to prevent mistakes as the speed increases. The speed of the line must be reduced to ensure the inspection.

  In contrast to such visual inspection methods, there is a method of automating inspection using an inspection apparatus using a line scan camera. In this inspection apparatus, a cylindrical container as an inspection object is rotated about its axis, and the surface is continuously photographed by a line scan camera. Then, the photographed image is analyzed to detect a defective portion. This method can obtain an accurate inspection result as compared with visual inspection.

  However, the camera is fixed in this inspection apparatus. Therefore, when the cylindrical container is rotated at the inspection position, the flow of the line must be stopped at a predetermined timing, which is still insufficient in terms of the inspection processing capability.

  The applicant does not know any prior art documents to be disclosed here, since the applicant has not conducted a special search for the prior art documents related to the present invention.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an inspection apparatus capable of automatically inspecting the surface of a cylindrical container being conveyed on a line while maintaining the speed being conveyed. The task is to do.

  In order to solve the above problems, a cylindrical container outer peripheral surface inspection device according to the present invention is configured to detect an outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical container that is transported along a predetermined line while being placed on the transport device by a transport device. Inspect without stopping or slowing down the conveyor. Therefore, the inspection apparatus includes an indexing device, a container holding device, a line camera, an image processing device, and a display device.

  The indexing device is arranged at a predetermined indexing position along the line, indexes the containers continuously conveyed from the upstream side of the line at regular intervals, and adjacent containers are mutually spaced apart from each other at the regular intervals. To move to the downstream side of the line.

  The container holding device is arranged downstream from the index position along the line, and can reciprocate between an initial position and an advanced position positioned a predetermined distance downstream from the initial position along the line. It is. The container holding device includes a container holding mechanism that is movable between a holding position for holding a container on the line and a retreat position that is away from the container and does not hinder the movement of the container on the transport device, The container holding mechanism includes a rotation mechanism that rotates the container. The container holding device moves at the same speed as the transport device when moving from the initial position to the advanced position.

  The line camera is disposed downstream of the index position along the line, and is capable of reciprocating between an initial position and a forward position positioned a predetermined distance downstream from the initial position along the line. Photograph the outer peripheral surface of the container. The moving distance of this line camera is the same as the moving distance of the container holding device. The line camera moves from the initial position to the advanced position at the same speed as the container holding device when the container holding device moves from the initial position to the advanced position.

  The image processing device receives image data captured by the line camera, creates an image of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical container based on the data, compares the created image with a reference image, Judge the quality.

  The display device displays information from the image processing device.

  In the present invention, the head portion moves along the flow of the line while holding the cylindrical container while inspecting the side surface of the cylindrical container. Therefore, accurate inspection can be automatically performed without stopping the flow of the line, so that high inspection processing capability can be obtained.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a cylindrical container outer peripheral surface automatic inspection apparatus (hereinafter simply referred to as “inspection apparatus”) 1 according to the present invention, and is shown as a plan view as viewed from above the inspection apparatus 1. The inspection apparatus 1 includes a star wheel 3 that aligns containers 14 as shown in FIG. 2 on the conveyor 2 at equal intervals, and a head portion 4 that performs imaging of the surface of the container 14. Further, the inspection apparatus 1 includes an image processing apparatus 11 that processes captured image data, and a monitor 12 that displays the processing state and the result thereof. (Container label)
The inspection apparatus 1 according to the present invention is installed at a predetermined position along a line, specifically, a conveyor 2 on which a container 14 is placed and conveyed. The containers 14 are transported by the conveyor 2 from the upstream side (right side in FIG. 1) of the conveyor 2 to the inspection position by the inspection device 1 in a state where the neighbors are substantially in contact with each other.

  In FIG. 1, the star wheel 3 is disposed close to the conveyor 2 at a predetermined position on the upstream side serving as the entrance of the inspection apparatus 1. The star wheel 3 includes a rotating shaft 3a that rotates around an axis perpendicular to the paper surface of the drawing, and a wheel 3b that is attached to the rotating shaft 3a so as to rotate integrally therewith. The wheel 3b is located on the upper side of the conveyor 2, and a plurality of locking claws 3c extending radially from the center thereof are provided at predetermined intervals. An arcuate pocket 3d into which the container 14 is fitted is formed between adjacent locking claws 3c with a size corresponding to the outer diameter of the container 14. The star wheel 3 is rotated at a predetermined speed in a clockwise direction in the drawing by an appropriate means such as a motor, and sequentially passes above the conveyor 2. Accordingly, at this position, the containers 14 continuously conveyed by the conveyor 2 are sequentially fitted into the pockets 3d one by one, aligned at a constant interval P, and continue to move downstream thereafter.

  The head unit 4 includes a rotating roller 5, a motor 6, a receiving roller 7, an illumination device 9, and a line scan camera 10, which are attached to the head frame 4 a and are provided downstream of the star wheel 3. The rotating roller 5, the receiving roller 7, and the motor 6 constitute a holding device 4b that holds the container. The device 1 also includes a drive device (not shown) that moves the head unit 4 in the front-rear direction within a predetermined range along the conveyor 2. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a container 14 is sandwiched between a rotating roller 5 provided on the upper side on the right side in the traveling direction of the conveyor 2 and a receiving roller 7 provided on the left side.

  The rotating roller 5 that can rotate around an axis perpendicular to the paper surface of the figure is formed in a disk shape, and its peripheral surface is made of rubber 5a. In the embodiment of the present invention, the head unit 4 inspects two containers 14 at the same time. Therefore, the head unit 4 is provided with two rotating rollers 5 and is separated from the center in the width direction of the conveyor 2 by the same distance to the right in the traveling direction. It is equal to the interval P to be aligned.

  The motor 6 is provided to rotate the rotating roller 5 and transmits the rotation of the motor 6 to the rotating roller 5 by appropriate means. In the embodiment of the present invention, the motor 6 drives the two rotating rollers 5 under the same conditions.

  The receiving roller 7 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is provided so as to be freely rotatable around its axis. In the embodiment of the present invention, four receiving rollers 7 are used for one rotating roller 5. Each of these receiving rollers forms a pair, and one set supports the container 14 at a position above the rotating roller 5 and the other set at a position below. The two receiving rollers 7 constituting one set are separated from the center of the rotating roller 5 at equal intervals from the line perpendicular to the conveyor 2 by the same distance from the center in the width direction of the conveyor 2. Installed. In the embodiment of the present invention, the head unit 4 includes eight receiving rollers 7 corresponding to the two rotating rollers 5.

  The rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 are a conveyor by a driving device for the head unit 4 described above, a longitudinal movement along the longitudinal direction of the conveyor 2 in the figure, and a driving device for another roller (not shown). 2 is moved in the left-right direction in the width direction of the conveyor 2 with respect to the head frame 4a for sandwiching the containers 14 on the two. These movements are always performed while maintaining the positional relationship in which the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 face each other across the conveyor 2. Details of the movement of the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 of the head unit 4 in the inspection process will be described later.

  The line scan camera 10 is composed of a CCD camera, and continuously captures the surface of the container 14 when the container 14 is rotated as will be described later. A well-known camera can be used as the line scan camera 10, and detailed description thereof is omitted. This line scan camera 10 is arranged on a line that is perpendicular to the conveyor 2 through the center of the rotating roller 5 at a position away from the receiving roller 7 on the left side in the direction of travel of the conveyor 2 in the figure. A portion of the outer peripheral surface of the container located at the position of the point S in the figure is photographed on the upper and lower lines. The illuminating device 9 is arranged on the same side as the line scan camera 10 with respect to the conveyor 2, and is disposed in an oblique direction with respect to the shooting direction of the line scan camera 10. Irradiate light. In the embodiment of the present invention, in order to inspect two containers 14 at the same time, the head unit 4 includes two line scan cameras 10 and two illumination devices 9.

  The line scan camera 10 and the illumination device 9 are fixed on the head frame 4 a and move in the front-rear direction together with the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7. During the forward movement, the line scan camera 10 continuously captures the side surface of the container 14 and obtains this image data. Details of this will be described later.

  The image processing apparatus 11 incorporates image analysis software and processes image data from the line scan camera 10. The user can confirm on the monitor 12 the processing performed by the image processing apparatus 11 and the result.

  These image processing apparatus 11 and monitor 12 do not need to be installed in the vicinity of the line, and can be installed in other places according to the convenience of the user. Details of the image data of the container 14 taken into the image processing apparatus 11 will be described later.

  Next, the operation of the head unit 4 in the inspection process will be described. Each of (a) to (d) of FIG. 2 shows the state of the head unit 4 in the inspection process. In addition, the hatched container 15 in the drawing indicates that imaging by the line scan camera 10 has been completed. The inspection of the container 14 is performed sequentially in the order of the state of the head part 4 in FIGS. 2A to 2D in this order, and this is one cycle in the inspection. As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, two containers 14 are inspected simultaneously. Therefore, one cycle of this inspection is performed while the conveyor 2 moves a distance twice (2 × P) the interval P between the containers 14 described above.

  The state of the head unit 4 at the reference position is shown in FIG. The rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 are each in a retracted position, are separated from the containers 14 on the conveyor 2, and stand by at a position where the movement of the containers 14 is not hindered. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the two containers 14 that have moved forward have advanced to the position on the line connecting the corresponding line scan camera 10 and the rotating roller 5, that is, the inspection start position.

  When each of the two containers reaches the inspection start position, the roller driving device described above is activated, and the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 are moved by a predetermined distance toward the container 14 on the conveyor 2, The container 14 is sandwiched as shown in FIG. The roller driving device is operated based on the timing at which the star wheel 3 sends out the container 14 or by detecting that the two containers have reached the inspection start position by providing an appropriate sensor. It has become.

  When the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 sandwich the container, the motor 6 is started at a predetermined timing, and the rotating roller 5 is rotated at a constant speed. This rotation is transmitted to the container 14 by the friction of the rubber 5a provided on the outer periphery, and the container 14 sandwiched between the rotating roller 5 and the receiving roller 7 rotates about its axis. At the same time, the line scan camera 10 starts photographing.

  Simultaneously with the activation of the roller driving device, the above-described head unit driving device is also activated, and the entire head unit 4 moves in the same direction as the conveyor 2 at the same speed as the conveyor 2 while rotating the container 14, and inspects in the figure. The end position (c) is reached. During this time, continuous imaging of the surface of the container 14 is performed by the line scan camera 10 described above. The distance of the movement of the head portion 4 from the inspection start position (b) to the inspection end position (c) is shorter than the distance twice the distance P (2 × P) of the containers 14 aligned by the star wheel 3. It becomes. In the present embodiment, the container 14 is rotated 1.4 times in the meantime.

  When the inspection end position is reached, the head drive device stops and stops the movement of the head. On the other hand, the line scan camera 10 also stops photographing. At the same time, the roller driving device moves the rotating roller and the receiving roller by a predetermined distance in the opposite direction to release the container. The state of the head portion 4 at the l release position is shown in FIG. The container 14 after the inspection continues to move downstream as it is by the conveyor 2. On the other hand, the head unit 4 moves to the reference position (c) in order to prepare for the inspection of the newly sent container 14 by operating the head driving device in the opposite direction. This return movement is performed at a higher speed than the previous forward movement, and the head unit 4 returns to the reference position before the next two containers 14 reach the inspection start position. The inspection apparatus 1 repeats this operation as one cycle and continuously inspects all the containers 14.

  Next, analysis of image data by the image processing apparatus 11 will be described. As described above, the line scan camera 10 continuously captures a portion of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating container 14 facing the line scan camera 10 as an axial linear image, and captures the image. The data is sequentially sent to the image processing apparatus 11. Thereby, the image of the entire side surface of the container 14 can be obtained as an accumulation of each linear image data. That is, it is possible to obtain image data in which the entire side surface of the container 14 is developed by joining linear image data sent continuously.

  Image analysis software is incorporated in the image processing apparatus 11. The image analysis software can compare the data of the normal inspection object captured in advance with the image data of the side surface obtained by the inspection, and automatically detect the defective portion. Further, the user can confirm on the monitor 12 the inspection process performed by the image processing apparatus 11 and the result thereof.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, a front label 18 is attached to the front side of the container 14 and a back side label 19 is attached to the back side thereof. By the way, when the line scan camera 10 takes an image of the outer peripheral surface by one rotation of the container 14, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), the video of one label may be interrupted in the obtained image data. This is because the container 14 on the conveyor 2 does not have a constant orientation in the outer peripheral direction, and the photographing start position is not determined. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4B, the line scan camera 10 captures a continuous side surface of the container 14 corresponding to 1.4 rotations, so that the image processing apparatus 11 is in front. Image data in which both the label 18 and the back label 19 are not interrupted is obtained. The number of rotations to be taken may be appropriately determined in consideration of the label dimensions and the like.

  Although not essential in the present invention, the upper surface of the cylindrical container can be inspected simultaneously with the inspection of the side surface of the cylindrical container by providing the area camera and the lighting device above the conveyor 2. Thereby, for example, when the cylindrical container is provided with a lid, matters such as a wrongly attached lid, a tilted lid, and dirt on the lid can be automatically inspected simultaneously.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, the head unit 4 inspects two containers 14, but the number is not limited. It is possible to further increase the number of containers 14 to be photographed at the same time by further adding components necessary for the inspection of the head unit 4.

  Moreover, in embodiment of this invention, although the test | inspection of the label affixed on the container 14 was described, it is not limited to this. For example, it is possible to inspect characters, symbols and the like directly printed on the outer peripheral surface of the container 14 such as a can.

It is a schematic structure figure of an inspection device concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the Example of the container used as a to-be-measured object. It is a block diagram which shows the state of the head part in a test process. It is the schematic of the image data of the side surface of the container which the image processing apparatus obtained.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cylindrical container outer peripheral surface automatic inspection apparatus 3 Star wheel 4 Head part 5 Rotating roller 6 Motor 7 Receiving roller 9 Illumination apparatus 10 Line scan camera 11 Image processing apparatus 12 Monitor 14 Container

Claims (1)

  In the cylindrical container outer peripheral surface inspection device for inspecting the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical container, which is transported along a predetermined line while being placed on the transport device by the transport device, a predetermined indexing position along the line An indexing device that is arranged in a row and that continuously conveys the containers from the upstream side of the line at regular intervals, so that the adjacent containers move toward the downstream side of the line at regular intervals. A container that is disposed downstream of the indexing position along the line and is capable of reciprocating between an initial position and an advanced position that is positioned downstream from the initial position by a predetermined distance along the line. Reciprocating movement between the holding device and an advance position that is disposed downstream from the index position along the line and is located a predetermined distance downstream from the initial position along the line. Possible A line camera that images the outer peripheral surface of the container; and image data captured by the line camera; receives an image of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical container based on the data; and the generated image And a display device for displaying information from the image processing device, wherein the container holding device is the container on the line. A container holding mechanism that is movable between a holding position that holds the container and a retreat position that is away from the container and does not hinder the movement of the container on the transfer device, and the container holding mechanism rotates to rotate the container The container holding device moves at the same speed as the transfer device when moving from the initial position to the advance position, and the moving distance of the line camera is the moving distance of the container holding device The line camera moves from the initial position to the forward position at the same speed as the container holding device when the container holding device moves from the initial position to the forward position. A cylindrical container outer peripheral surface inspection device.

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