JP2006227025A - Crimp contact inspection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a crimp contact inspection device capable of surely performing inspection processing, without requiring replacement of background, and even if not all the four highlight parts have dim parts. <P>SOLUTION: Intersections (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), ... (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8) with a highlight part are measured, by generating lateral measurement lines W1 and W2. For the intersections (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), ... (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8), calculations XW3=X1+X2/2, YW3=Y1+Y2/2, XW3'=X5+X6/2, and YW3'=Y5+Y6/2 are carried out, by using starting coordinates (XW3, YW3), (XW4, XY4), (XW3', YW3'), and (Xw4', YW4') for W3 and W4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a crimp terminal inspection apparatus that inspects the quality of a crimped terminal crimped to an end of an electric wire by image processing.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, the crimping terminal inspection apparatus takes in a silhouette image obtained by imaging the crimping portion 1b of the crimping terminal 1 with the television camera 3 into the image processing apparatus 4 and performs image processing to determine whether the crimped state is good or bad. is doing.

  However, the information obtained by the image processing based on the silhouette image is only the outer shape information of the crimping portion 1b. If some of the core wires 2a protrude from the crimping portion and extend to the periphery, the crimping failure is caused. However, when some core wires are wound around the crimping part or when a metal piece or an electric wire layer is attached to the crimping part, the crimping failure is not detected. In addition, a change in gloss of the crimping portion may be erroneously determined as a crimping failure.

  The following can be considered as a crimp terminal inspection apparatus that can solve this drawback. The crimp terminal inspection apparatus will be described below.

  With respect to FIG. 7, a television camera 3 as an imaging unit is disposed above the crimp terminal 1 (crimp portion 1 b) crimped to the core wire 2 a at the end of the electric wire 2. An image processing apparatus 4 as processing means is connected. The image processing apparatus 4 performs position measurement processing and inspection processing as image processing. An illumination device 7 is disposed above the crimping portion 1b, and the illumination device 7 irradiates the crimping portion 1b with light. On the other hand, an intermediate background 5 is disposed below the crimping portion 1b.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the crimping portion 1b is crimped to the core wire 2a at the end of the electric wire 2, the clamping device 8 of the automatic crimping machine clamps the electric wire 2 below the crimping portion 1b. Although the position in the front-rear direction (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIG. 8) is constant, the position of the crimp terminal 1 in the left-right direction in the figure is determined by the fact that the crimp terminal 1 rotates around the clamp portion. Since it will incline as shown by (5), it will not become constant but will be in an unstable state.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, when the surface of the crimping portion 1b is normal, the highlighting portions 21a and 21b are stably generated one by one on the right side and the left side by irradiating light from the lighting device 7. Can be made.

  In a state where the highlight portions 21a and 21b are generated on the surface of the crimp portion 1b, the crimp portion 1b is imaged by the television camera 3, and the crimp portion 1b (highlight portions 21a and 21b) at this time is picked up by the image processing device 4. The position of the crimping part 1b is measured based on the image (position measurement process). Subsequently, the image processing device 4 corrects the measurement areas 11 to 19 and inspects the crimped state (inspection processing) as will be described later based on the positional information of the crimping portion 1b obtained by the position measurement processing.

(1) Position measurement processing As shown in FIG. 8, the crimp terminal 1 clamped by the clamping device 8 of the automatic pressure contactor has a lateral displacement, but no longitudinal displacement. Therefore, the horizontal position of the highlight portion is measured by the horizontal measurement line, and then the vertical position of the highlight portion is measured by the vertical measurement line.

  9 and 10A, the horizontal position is measured by obtaining the coordinates of the intersections of the two horizontal measurement lines W1 and W2 and the left and right ends of the images of the highlight portions 21a and 21b. From the coordinates X and Y, the inclinations θ of the left and right edges of the images of the highlight portions 21a and 21b between the measurement lines W1 and W2 are calculated, respectively.

θ1 = tan ⁻¹ {(Y1−Y5) / (X1−X5)}
θ2 = tan ⁻¹ {(Y2−Y6) / (X2−X6)}
θ3 = tan ⁻¹ {(Y3−Y7) / (X3−X7)}
θ3 = tan ⁻¹ {(Y4-Y8) / (X4-X8)}
In FIG. 10B, the vertical position is measured based on the respective coordinates X, Y and the inclination θ obtained at the horizontal position, and the vertical measurement line at the start point X1 + ΔX = XC1, Y1 = YC1. A vertical direction measurement line W4 of W3 and start point X4-ΔX = XC4, Y4 = YC4 is generated (ΔX is a preset value), and measurement in the Y-axis direction is performed using the vertical direction measurement lines W3, W4. .

  That is, the starting point of the vertical direction measurement line W3 is a coordinate obtained by adding ΔX (a preset value) to the X coordinate (X1) measured by the horizontal direction measurement line W1. That is, the X and Y coordinates of the starting point of the vertical direction measurement line W3 are set as coordinates (XC1, YC1) obtained by the following equation.

XC1 = X1 + ΔX
YC1 = Y1
Starting from these coordinates (XC1, YC1), a vertical measurement line W3 having a length L1 is generated with the inclination θ1 obtained in the horizontal measurement. Then, the coordinates (X9, Y9) of the intersection of the vertical measurement line W3 and the upper end of the image of the highlight portion 21a are obtained. Note that the vertical direction measurement line W3 can also be generated using the coordinates (X2, Y2) and the inclination θ2.

  The vertical direction measurement line W4 is generated by performing the same processing as described above for the image of the highlight unit 21b on the right side, and the intersection of the vertical direction measurement line W4 and the upper end of the image of the highlight unit 21b. (X10, Y10) is obtained.

  However, when there are irregularities on the left end side or the right end side in the horizontal direction of the images of the highlight portions 21a and 21b, the position of the crimping portion 1b cannot be accurately measured by one position measurement.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), when there is a concave portion (or convex portion) 21a-1 and there is a horizontal direction measurement line W2 in this concave portion, the vertical direction measurement line W3 will be greatly inclined, It becomes impossible to accurately measure the upper end position of the highlight portion 21a.

  Therefore, the positions of the horizontal measurement lines W1, W2 are shifted by ΔY as shown in FIG. If such measurement is performed several times, the upper end positions of the highlight portions 21a and (21b) can be accurately detected.

  Similarly, the lower end positions of the highlight portions 21a and 21b are detected.

  According to the above, when a metal piece, an electric wire layer, or a core wire is wound around the surface of the crimping portion 1b, it can be determined that the measured highlight portion 21a or 21b is short, so that it is defective.

(2) Inspection process As shown in FIG. 12, when the core wire 2a-2 protruding from the crimping portion 1b extends in the bent state around the crimping portion 1b, the illumination device 7 applies light to the core wire 2a-2. , The light is regularly reflected by the base end portion 2a-2A of the core wire 2a-2 and the light is not reflected by the tip end portion 2a-2B of the core wire 2a-2. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 13, the image of the base end side part 2a-2A of the core wire 2a-2 is white, and the image of the front end side part 2a-2B is black.
Accordingly, in order to detect the protruding core 2a-2, the background 5 is set as an intermediate color, and a density difference from the background 5 is obtained. For example, if black-white is 0-255 in a grayscale image, black is 0, white is 255, and intermediate color is about 100. From this, a density difference can be obtained.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the data (in the position measurement process described above, the positions of measurement areas 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 set in advance around the image of the crimping part 1 b are measured. X, Y, θ) are corrected based on the measurement areas 11 to 19 corresponding to the position of the crimping portion 1b. Then, the density is set in advance for each measurement area 11 to 19, the number of pixels of this specific density in each measurement area 11 to 19 is counted, and if the count value is within the preset determination value, it is acceptable. If it is equal to or greater than the determination value, it is determined to be defective.

  For example, in the measurement areas 16 to 19, since the background 5 is an intermediate color, the number of pixels having densities of 0 to 50 and 150 to 255 is counted. As a result, if it is normal, that is, if there is no core line protruding in the measurement areas 16 to 19, the density of all the pixels in the measurement areas 16 to 19 is about 100, resulting in a histogram as shown in FIG. Therefore, the count value of the number of pixels having the densities of 0 to 50 and 150 to 255 is 0, which is within the determination value, and is determined to be good.

  On the other hand, when the core wire 2a-2 that protrudes from the crimping portion 1b appears in any of the measurement areas 16 to 19, the image of the core wire 2a-2 becomes black or white in the measurement area. A pixel having a density of 255 appears, and the count value of the number of pixels having the density becomes equal to or greater than the determination value, and is determined to be defective.

  In the inspection process using the measurement areas 11 to 19, the background needs to be an intermediate color. However, if the position measurement process is performed with the background of the intermediate color, if the highlight parts 21 a and 21 b are not very clear, the highlight part 21 a , 21b and the portions 22a and 22b other than the highlight portion and the density differences between the portions 22a and 22b other than the highlight portion and the background are approximately the same, and the position of the highlight portion is measured. Will not be able to.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, a black background 10 is movably disposed between the intermediate background 5 and the crimp terminal 1, and the background color of the crimp terminal is changed between the position measurement process and the inspection process. By switching to black and intermediate colors and lowering the background density level, even if the highlight portions 21a and 21b generated in the crimping portion 1b are not so clear, the highlight portions 21a and 21b and portions other than the highlight portion The density difference between 22a and 22b is different from the density difference between the portions 22a and 22b other than the highlight portion and the background 10 (black), so that the positions of the highlight portions 21a and 21b can be measured. ing. In FIG. 16, 6 is a cylinder, 6 a is a piston rod, and 6 b is a grip portion of the background 10.

In addition, the thing of patent document 1 is well-known as an inspection method of a crimp terminal.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-272939

    By the way, the above crimp terminal inspection apparatus has the following problems.

  (1) When the position measurement process is performed, a background exchange unit is required in which the background of the crimp terminal is a black background, and when the inspection process is performed, the background is an intermediate color background, which complicates the apparatus.

  (2) When position measurement is performed using four highlight portions, at least one highlight portion needs to exist normally, but a dullness in the highlight portion exists in all four highlight portions. In this case, the position measurement data of the highlight part cannot be detected, and the reliable detection process cannot be performed.

  (3) Further, the positional relationship between the four highlight portions needs to be normal, but when the entire crimping portion is dull, the highlight portion cannot be completely separated into four.

  (4) In the measurement of the vertical position in the position measurement process, the start point of the vertical measurement lines W3, W4 adds a preset value ΔX to the X coordinates (X1, X3) measured by the horizontal line W1. When the highlight portion becomes thin for some reason, the vertical position cannot be measured without the vertical measurement line on the highlight portion.

  Patent Document 1 does not describe a technique for solving the above problems (1) to (4).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is that there is no need to replace the background, and even if dullness does not exist in all four highlight portions, the inspection is surely performed. An object of the present invention is to provide a crimp terminal inspection apparatus capable of processing.

This invention irradiates light to the crimping part of the crimping terminal to generate two band-like highlight parts on the surface of the crimping part,
In a state where the highlight portion is generated on the surface of the crimp portion, the crimp portion is imaged.
As image processing based on the image obtained by this imaging, the horizontal position, vertical position and inclination of the highlight part are obtained from the image of the highlight part, the horizontal direction measurement line and the vertical direction measurement line, and this Sometimes position measurement processing for inspecting the presence or absence of protrusion of the core wire on the surface of the crimping part,
Based on the horizontal position, vertical position, and inclination of the highlight portion obtained in this position measurement process, a measurement area set in advance around the image of the crimping portion is corrected, and a predetermined density in the corrected measurement area is corrected. In the crimp terminal inspection method for performing an inspection process for inspecting the presence or absence of protrusion of the core wire around the crimp portion,
The horizontal position of the two highlight portions is generated by generating two horizontal measurement lines W1, W2 with a predetermined interval, and the intersection of the first horizontal measurement line W1 and the two highlight portions. Coordinates (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3), (X4, Y4), and the coordinates of the intersection of the second lateral measurement line W2 and the two highlight portions ( X5, Y5), (X6, Y6), (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8)
Starting point coordinates (XW3, YW3), (XW4, YW4), (XW3 ', YW3') for the first and second vertical measurement lines W3, W4 for obtaining the vertical positions of the two highlight portions ), (XW4 ′, YW4 ′) are respectively expressed by the following equations XW3 = X1 + X2 / 2 YW3 = Y1 + Y2 / 2
XW4 = X3 + X4 / 2 YW4 = Y3 + Y4 / 2
XW3 ′ = X5 + X6 / 2 YW3 ′ = Y5 + Y6 / 2
XW4 ′ = X7 + X8 / 2 YW4 ′ = Y7 + Y8 / 2
The vertical position measurement can be performed even when the highlight portion in the horizontal direction measurement line portion is thin.

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) Since it is not necessary to switch the background between black and intermediate colors during the position measurement process and the inspection process, the apparatus can be simplified.
(2) Even if dullness is present in all four highlight parts of the crimping part, the process is performed by finding the optimum concentration threshold level of the crimping part by looking at the density of the crimping part. Inspection processing can be performed. Moreover, when the whole crimping | compression-bonding part is dull, even if a highlight part may not be isolate | separated into four completely, an inspection process can be similarly reliably performed.

  (3) Regardless of whether the highlight portion is thick or thin, the center of the highlight portion can be found with certainty, so that measurement in the vertical measurement line can be performed reliably and inspection processing can be performed.

  FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment. The position measurement process and the inspection process in the crimp terminal inspection apparatus described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 16 can be performed without changing the background, and the video camera 3 for taking a crimp part of the crimp terminal 1 as in FIG. , An image processing device 4, a background of intermediate colors 5, and an illumination device 7.

  Since the intermediate color density level of the background 5 is about 100, the density levels of the highlight portions 2a and 2b appearing on the crimping portion 1b of the crimping terminal 1 shown in FIG. An intermediate color of the background 5 is determined, and the density threshold level BL for detecting the highlight portions 21a and 21b appearing in the crimping portion 1b is set to be equal to or higher than the intermediate color level ML.

  The intermediate color is distributed in a wide density level because when the crimping terminal 1 is photographed with the video camera 3, the crimping portion 1b to be inspected is highlighted with the highlight portions 21a and 21b being bright and the side portions being dark. Use and decide.

  Therefore, the illumination from the lighting device 7 is irradiated from the front of the terminal portion 1b, and the illumination positions are determined so that the highlight portions 21a and 21b have a density level of 240 to 250 and the side portions have a density level of about 50. For the background 5, the intermediate color of the background is determined so that the density level is about 100, that is, between the highlight portion and the side portion.

  Since all the backgrounds are in a neutral color state, the density levels on the lateral measurement lines W1 and W2 of the crimp terminals are as shown in FIG. 2B, and the side surface of the crimp part may be darker than the intermediate color of the background. it can. Accordingly, the above-described position measurement process can be performed by setting the density threshold level BL for detecting the highlight portion appearing in the crimping portion to be equal to or higher than the intermediate color level ML. In addition, since the background is an intermediate color, the previously proposed inspection process can be performed. Therefore, position measurement processing and inspection processing can be performed without exchanging the background.

Embodiment 2
In the second embodiment, even when the crimp part of the crimp terminal is dull, the density level of the highlight part is reliably distinguished from the intermediate color set in the background so that two or four highlight parts can be obtained. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  Assuming that the background 5 of the crimp terminal inspection apparatus (FIG. 1) is in a neutral color state as in the first embodiment, the density levels on the horizontal measurement lines W1 and W2 are as shown in FIG. This is because the crimp terminal 1 is illuminated from the TV camera 5 side, and the side surface of the crimp part 1b depends on the brightness of the side. For this reason, the side part of the crimping | compression-bonding part 1b can be made darker than the intermediate color of the background 5 by making the brightness of a side dark.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the darkness levels LL1 and LL2 are obtained by examining the density levels on the horizontal measurement lines W1 and W2, and the darkest levels LL1 and LL2 are brighter and darker than the background intermediate color density level ML. A threshold level BL is set, and binarization is performed at this density threshold level BL. By this binarization, the dark portions of the density threshold levels BL of the vertical direction measurement lines W1 and W2 become white, and the other portions become black.

  Looking at this change point (white → black, black → white), there are four locations X2-X3, X4-X5, X8-X9, and X10-X11 that correspond to the highlight portions 21a and 21b. Depending on how dull the surface of the crimping part is, these four places may not be found. At that time, the density threshold level BL is lowered within a certain range so that the above four places can be found.

  As described above, the level between the darkest levels L1 and L2 in FIG. 3 and the background intermediate color level ML is processed as the density threshold level BL, and the density on the horizontal measurement lines W1 and W2 is shown in FIG. The coordinates (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2),..., (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8) of the cross points with the threshold level BL are obtained. At the same time, the density threshold BL is the vertical direction measurement lines W3 and W4, and the start point coordinates (XW3, YW3) and (XW4, YW4) of the vertical direction measurement lines W3 and W4 for obtaining the upper end / lower end positions of the crimping portion 1b. , (XW3 ′, YW3 ′), (XW4 ′, YW4 ′) and the cross point detection processing with the density threshold level BL on the vertical lines W3, W4.

Thereafter, position measurement and inspection are performed by the same processing as described above. FIG. 4 shows a processing flow of the second embodiment.
Embodiment 3
In the third embodiment, the vertical position can be measured even when the highlight portion becomes thin for some reason, and will be described with reference to FIG.

  As described above, W3 for intersections (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2),... (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8) with the highlight portion measured by generating the horizontal measurement lines W1, W2. The start point coordinates (XW3, YW3), (XW4, YW4), (XW3 ′, YW3 ′), (XW4 ′, YW4 ′) for W4 are calculated as follows.

XW3 = X1 + X2 / 2 YW3 = Y1 + Y2 / 2
XW4 = X3 + X4 / 2 YW4 = Y3 + Y4 / 2
XW3 ′ = X5 + X6 / 2 YW3 ′ = Y5 + Y6 / 2
XW4 ′ = X7 + X8 / 2 YW4 ′ = Y7 + Y8 / 2
Thereafter, the vertical position is measured by the same process as described above.

The block diagram of the crimp terminal inspection apparatus concerning embodiment. The density | concentration level in the horizontal direction measurement line of the crimping | compression-bonding part concerning Embodiment 1 is demonstrated, (a) is a crimping | compression-bonding part, (b) is a graph which shows a density | concentration level. FIG. 7 is a graph for explaining a cross point with a concentration threshold level in a lateral measurement line of a crimping portion according to a second embodiment, where (a) is a crimping portion and (b) is a graph showing the concentration level. FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of the second embodiment. FIG. 6 is a graph showing coordinates for explaining the second and third embodiments. The block diagram of the crimp terminal inspection apparatus concerning a prior art example. Explanatory drawing of a crimp terminal inspection apparatus. The state explanatory view of the crimp terminal clamped by the automatic contact machine. Explanatory drawing of the highlight part of a crimp terminal crimping part, and a horizontal direction measurement line. Explanatory drawing which shows the position measurement processing method by an image processing apparatus. Explanatory drawing which shows the position measurement processing method by an image processing apparatus. Explanatory drawing which shows reflection of the light of a protrusion core wire. Explanatory drawing which shows reflection of the light of a protrusion core wire. Measurement area position explanatory drawing. Explanatory drawing of the density | concentration in a measurement area. The block diagram of the crimp terminal inspection apparatus using a background exchange apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Crimp terminal 1a ... Connection part 1b ... Crimp part 1c ... Fixed part 2 ... Electric wire 2a-1, 2a-2 ... The protruding core wire 3 ... Television camera 4 ... Image processing device 5,10 ... Background 6 ... Cylinder 8 ... Clamp Apparatuses 11 to 19 ... Measurement areas 21a, 21b ... Highlight portion BL ... Density threshold value L1 ... Length of vertical measurement line L2 ... Reference length LL1, LL2 ... Darkest level W1, W2 ... Horizontal measurement line W3 , W4 ... Longitudinal measurement line

Claims (1)

Light is applied to the crimping part of the crimping terminal to generate two band-like highlight parts on the surface of the crimping part,
In a state where the highlight portion is generated on the surface of the crimp portion, the crimp portion is imaged.
As image processing based on the image obtained by this imaging, the horizontal position, vertical position and inclination of the highlight part are obtained from the image of the highlight part, the horizontal direction measurement line and the vertical direction measurement line, and this Sometimes position measurement processing for inspecting the presence or absence of protrusion of the core wire on the surface of the crimping part,
Based on the horizontal position, vertical position, and inclination of the highlight portion obtained in this position measurement process, a measurement area set in advance around the image of the crimping portion is corrected, and a predetermined density in the corrected measurement area is corrected. In the crimp terminal inspection method for performing an inspection process for inspecting the presence or absence of protrusion of the core wire around the crimp portion,
The horizontal position of the two highlight portions is generated by generating two horizontal measurement lines W1, W2 at a predetermined interval, and the intersection of the first horizontal measurement line W1 and the two highlight portions. Coordinates (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3), (X4, Y4), and the coordinates of the intersection of the second lateral measurement line W2 and the two highlight portions ( X5, Y5), (X6, Y6), (X7, Y7), (X8, Y8)
Starting point coordinates (XW3, YW3), (XW4, YW4), (XW3 ', YW3') for the first and second vertical measurement lines W3, W4 for obtaining the vertical positions of the two highlight portions ), (XW4 ′, YW4 ′) are respectively expressed by the following formulas XW3 = X1 + X2 / 2 YW3 = Y1 + Y2 / 2
XW4 = X3 + X4 / 2 YW4 = Y3 + Y4 / 2
XW3 ′ = X5 + X6 / 2 YW3 ′ = Y5 + Y6 / 2
XW4 ′ = X7 + X8 / 2 YW4 ′ = Y7 + Y8 / 2
A crimp terminal inspection method characterized in that the vertical position measurement can be performed even if the highlight portion in the horizontal direction measurement line portion is thinned.

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