JP2006177742A - Surface inspection method and surface inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To develop a method capable of detecting the damage, rupture or the like of a container or the hole, ruptures or leakage of the shrink film mounted on the container at a high speed, using a simple and inexpensive device, and to provide an inspection device that uses it. <P>SOLUTION: The following device or the method using it is used to solve a subject. The shrink film is taken as an example to give an explanation as follows. That is, a place, where the shrink film mounted on the container is inspected, is installed on the way of a feed line, high frequency fluorescent illumination light is thrown on the joined part of the shrink film at the place to photograph the reflected light from the joined part by a camera and the light and shade of the reflected light is analyzed to judge whether the reflected light from the part irradiated with the light is the reflected light from the shrink film or the reflected light from the surface of the container to inspect the mounting failure of the shrink film. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a surface inspection method and apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for automatically inspecting defects such as scratches and tears on the surface of a container, tearing of a shrink film mounted on the container, seal leakage, and the like.

Various inspection methods have been considered for the quality of the container surface. A defective container surface is, for example, a scratch on the container itself, or a part of the inside of the surface is exposed, or when a shrink film is attached to the container, the shrink film may be leaked or torn. Say bad.
It has been conventionally performed to attach a shrink film to a food container such as a beverage, a seasoning, a confectionery, an instant food, or a paper container such as a toy, stationery, or software. The shrink film has a function of protecting the inside container from dirt and the like, and at the same time has a function of proving that the container to which the shrink film is attached has never been opened after being sealed.
In order to examine whether or not the shrink film is normally attached and there is a hole, leakage, or tear of the shrink film, a visual inspection has been mainly performed. Of course, the same applies to the case of inspecting not only the shrink film but also the container surface itself. However, this method places a heavy burden on the inspector and is a very difficult task.
Therefore, inspection by a machine has been studied, but there are still few effective means. As a method using a machine, there is a method as disclosed in Patent Document 1, but this method is complicated and unsuitable for high-speed and large-scale inspection.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop a method and a mechanical device that can inspect the surface of the container or the like, or a shrink film hole, leak, tear, etc. without using an expensive and complicated device, can be inspected inexpensively and easily, and can be processed at high speed. I came.

JP 2002-107304 A

Therefore, the present inventors have examined a method for examining whether there is no defect on the surface of a container such as a beverage or whether the shrink film is normally attached to the container continuously at a low cost, simply and at high speed. The inspection of the surface of the container and the shrink film naturally requires the use of a machine rather than a manual operation. And from the aspect of inspection efficiency, this must be examined continuously and at high speed. Further, since the machine is expensive and complicated, there is a problem in the actual introduction, so that it is necessary to be as cheap, simple and reliable as possible. In order to solve these problems, the present inventors have intensively studied.

As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have invented an apparatus for inspecting scratches and tears on the container surface, shrink holes, leaks, tears, and the like that can be performed easily and at high speed without using expensive and complicated machines.

  The device invented by the present inventors is configured as follows. 1) In the part where the inspection is performed in the line that transports the container to be inspected, the support that supports the lower part of the container in the line that transports the container is a support with a space between the support and the support, and The support is present only at the left and right ends, and the central part is deleted. 2) The light of the high-frequency fluorescent lighting device is applied to the container to be inspected. 3) The reflected light is photographed with a camera. 4) A device that detects the presence or absence of a broken portion of a shrink film or a shrink film attached to the container by analyzing the brightness of the reflected light.

  The inventors of the present invention have invented a method capable of inspecting shrink holes, leaks, tears, and the like that can be performed easily and at high speed without using an expensive and complicated machine by using the above-described apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to an example of inspection of a shrink film.

  The inspection of the shrink film of the present invention is performed as follows. First, in the container conveyance line, a part of the line after the container is loaded with the shrink film is used as an inspection portion. In the inspection portion, a roll bar is used as an example of a lower support for transporting the container, but the roll bar is not continuously arranged, and the roll bar and the roll bar are spaced apart. In addition, the roll bar also lacks the central portion, and there are only left and right ends respectively. For this reason, the lower surface central portion can always be inspected from below, and the end of the container other than the container central portion can also be inspected between the roll bar and the roll bar because the roll bars are spaced apart. it can. Of course, the support is not limited to the roll bar, and may be anything as long as the container can be transported.

  The container equipped with the shrink film is irradiated with light by the fluorescent lamp in the inspection section, but the fluorescent lamp is a high-frequency fluorescent lighting device, and the frequency is sufficiently higher than the shutter speed, so stable image capture is possible. It becomes possible. This light is applied to a container equipped with a shrink film. In the fluorescent lamp of this high-frequency fluorescent lighting device, neither a reflector nor a light collector is installed on the back or front. This is because no condensing / reflecting plate is installed because the back portion does not collect light, and nothing is installed other than the fluorescent lamp itself because the front portion does not scatter light. The light and darkness is detected by photographing the reflected light of the light emitted from the high-frequency fluorescent lighting device with a camera. Based on the principle that the light reflected upon the shrink film is brighter than the light reflected upon the surface of the container without the shrink film, the presence / absence of a missing portion of the shrink film can be detected by analyzing the degree of light and dark. This can be done by using simple image analysis software.

  Based on the brightness of the reflected light from the shrink film, a specimen that does not have a darker area is judged normal, and a specimen that has a darker part is regarded as having a hole or tear in the shrink film. When an abnormal sample is examined, it is indicated as a signal so that a human can understand it in some way, or by adding a device that mechanically excludes the sample from the line, Abnormal specimens can be distinguished from normal specimens. As the identification method, various conventional methods can be arbitrarily used, and are not particularly limited.

  Of course, this is not only an inspection for the presence or absence of a shrink film, but it is also possible to detect scratches and tears on the surface of the container itself based on the same principle as described above.

  In addition, in the above-mentioned apparatus, an apparatus that inspects from the lower part is described. However, in principle, inspection is not only from the lower part, but the direction in which the light of the high-frequency fluorescent device shines, the direction of the camera that detects it, etc. It is possible to inspect from the upper part, the side part, etc. by changing.

  According to the present invention, defects such as scratches and tears on the container surface, holes and tears in the shrink film attached to the container, and leakage can be inspected at high speed with a series of inexpensive and simple devices. An epoch-making method and apparatus are provided that can automate the processes that have been relied upon, and that do not require great expense in the installation of the apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with examples taking a shrink film as an example, but the present invention is not limited to the following examples.

In the process of wrapping the shrink film of the pack product, if the joint part obtained by heat-melting the film is incomplete, pinholes may be formed during heat shrinkage. Also, inspect the film for other reasons.
A packed product covered with a shrink film as a work first enters from the entrance of the special roller conveyor 8. This conveyor supports and conveys both ends of the work with a plurality of small rollers 9, and the entire back surface of the work can be inspected by inputting at least two images. Furthermore, the present conveyor has a function of significantly reducing damage to the shrink film as compared with a conveyor of a type that supports both sides of the conveyor.
When the work arrives at a specific position, the CCD cameras 1 to 4 are installed at such positions and angles that the shadow of the high-frequency fluorescent lamp 5 is reflected. The three CCD cameras 1 to 4 can be divided and inspected at three places on the back and one place on the bottom. The input image is the shadow of a high-frequency fluorescent lamp, and when not completely joined, the reflectance from the surface of the pack is lower than that of the film. Thus, it becomes possible to detect incomplete joining and tearing.

It is a schematic image figure of an inspection system. It is a top view of an inspection system assembly drawing. It is a side view of an inspection system assembly drawing. It is a front view of an inspection system assembly drawing.

Explanation of symbols

1 CCD camera 2 CCD camera 3 CCD camera 4 CCD camera 5 High frequency fluorescent lamp 6 Image processing device 7 High frequency fluorescent lamp lighting power supply 8 Special roller conveyor 9 Small roller (roll bar)

Claims (6)

In the inspection of the surface of the container being transported, the entire surface to be inspected is a transport device that can inspect whether there is a difference in the brightness of the surface reflected light from the surface to be inspected from the high-frequency fluorescent lighting device. To determine whether the product is good or bad. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inspection of the surface of the container is for inspecting a shrink film attached to the container. In the inspection of the container surface during transportation,
The support at the lower part of the transport device in the inspection part of the device that continuously transports the container is a support between the support and the support exists only in the vicinity of both ends. It is characterized in that the body part is deleted,
The light of the high-frequency fluorescent lighting device is applied to the container surface, the reflected light is photographed with a camera, and there is a mechanism that detects a defective part of the container surface by the difference in brightness of the reflected light.
Container surface inspection equipment. The inspection apparatus whose support body of Claim 3 is a roll bar. 4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the part to be inspected on the surface of the container is inspected from the upper part, the side part or the lower part by applying the light of the high-frequency fluorescent lighting device from the upper part, the side part or the lower part. 5. An inspection apparatus for inspecting a shrink film by inspecting a container surface according to claim 3 and 4.

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