JP2008076231A - Tire visual inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tire visual inspection device capable of significantly shortening the processing time required for image processing in tire visual inspection and hence reducing the number of required devices. <P>SOLUTION: The tire visual inspection device 20 comprises an image processing section 5 having CPUs 4 for executing an image processing program dividable into a plurality of subprograms, and a tire inspection mechanism section 10 having a mechanism 11 for operating the tire T and a camera 12 for acquiring an image of the tire T. The image processing program for processing the tire image acquired from the camera 12 can be divided into the plurality of subprograms, and at least two of these subprograms are simultaneously processed by the mutually different CPUs 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a tire inspection mechanism having a mechanism for operating a tire and a camera for acquiring an image of the tire, and image processing for determining whether there is a tire appearance defect based on an image obtained by processing and processing a tire image acquired from the camera The present invention relates to a tire appearance inspection apparatus including an image processing unit having a CPU for executing a program, and more particularly to a device capable of reducing processing time required for image processing.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a tire appearance inspection apparatus that photographs the surface of a product tire with a camera, processes the obtained image, and determines the presence or absence of a tire appearance defect (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The tire appearance inspection apparatus includes a tire operating mechanism and a tire inspection mechanism unit having a camera for acquiring a tire image, and an image processing unit having a CPU for executing an image processing program. It functions to process the tire images from and determine the presence or absence of tire appearance defects.

In the conventional apparatus, the image processing program is generally classified into a pre-processing program for performing processing such as coordinate conversion and enhancement on an image captured from a camera, and types of appearance defects such as bear and air entering. In response to the predetermined image pattern of the limit sample of the appearance defect, one or more programs classified by inspection type and post-processing that performs processing for converting the inspection result into a predetermined output form, etc. The processing for a tire that is configured by a program and received by one tire inspection mechanism unit is performed by sequentially executing these series of subprograms by one CPU.
JP-A-2005-181253

  In such a tire appearance inspection apparatus, after a tire is operated for image acquisition at a tire inspection station in which a tire inspection mechanism unit is arranged, a quality determination is made based on image processing in the image processing unit. It waits at the standby station, and when it is judged pass / fail, it is sorted and moved to the next station.

  Here, if the processing time required for image processing (the time required for starting and finishing the image processing for one tire) is long, the number of tires waiting at the standby station increases accordingly, and the space and equipment for that purpose are increased. It becomes unnecessary. For this reason, various improvements have been made to shorten the processing time, but they are not yet satisfactory.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a tire appearance inspection apparatus that can significantly reduce the processing time required for image processing in tire appearance inspection.

<1> is a tire inspection mechanism unit having a mechanism for operating a tire and a camera for acquiring an image of the tire, and an image for determining the presence or absence of a tire appearance defect based on an image obtained by processing and processing a tire image acquired from the camera In a tire appearance inspection apparatus comprising an image processing unit having a CPU for executing a processing program,
The number of CPUs is two or more, the image processing program is configured to be divided into a plurality of subprograms, and at least two of these subprograms are simultaneously processed by different CPUs. Tire appearance inspection device.

  In <2>, in <1>, the image processing unit includes a plurality of computers, each computer including one or more CPUs, and at least two subprograms are stored in different computers. This is a tire appearance inspection apparatus.

<3> in <2>, wherein the plurality of computers include at least a main computer that stores an overall management program, a distributed management program, and one or more subcomputers that store at least one or more subprograms. ,
The overall management program has a function of communicating with the distributed management program, and a computer that is to execute the subprogram based on a predetermined program execution order rule and a computer list capable of executing the subprogram. It is configured to sequentially set, send execution instructions of subprograms and necessary data to the set computers, and receive execution results from computers that have completed execution of subprograms,
Each of the distributed management programs has a communication function with the overall management program, and, based on the instructions from the overall management program, causes the sub-computer storing the distributed management program to call and execute the subprogram. The tire appearance inspection apparatus is configured to transmit the execution result to the overall management program.

<4> in <3>, the subprogram is composed of a preprocessing program, a program according to one or more inspection types determined in advance corresponding to the inspection content, and a postprocessing program,
The program execution rules are configured to rule only that the preprocessing program is executed before all other subprograms and that the postprocessing program is executed after all other subprograms. ,
The main computer stores a pre-processing program and a post-processing program, and the sub-computer stores an inspection type program assigned to each sub-computer, and the distributed management program stored in each sub-computer. Is a tire appearance inspection apparatus configured to execute an inspection type-specific program stored in a sub computer based on instructions from a main program of a plurality of main computers.

  According to <1>, the image processing program is configured to be divided into a plurality of subprograms, and at least two of these subprograms are simultaneously processed by different CPUs. The processing time from the start of the execution of the image processing program to the end of the image processing program can be shortened.

  According to <2>, the image processing unit is configured by a plurality of computers, each computer including one or more CPUs, and at least two subprograms are stored in different computers. Since not only the CPU but also other resources necessary for executing other programs are distributed, the execution process can be performed at a higher speed.

  According to <3>, the plurality of computers include at least a main computer that stores the overall management program, a distributed management program, and one or more subcomputers that store at least one or more subprograms. The function sharing of each computer is clarified, and optimization can be easily achieved according to various inspection conditions.

  According to <4>, the main computer stores a pre-processing program and a post-processing program, and the sub-computer stores a program for each inspection type assigned to each sub-computer. The distributed management program stored in the computer is configured to execute the program classified by inspection type stored in the sub computer based on instructions from the main program of a plurality of main computers, so that details will be described later. The load balance between the main computer and the sub computer can be optimized, and the processing time required for image processing can be further shortened.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of a tire appearance inspection apparatus. The tire appearance inspection apparatus 20 includes an image processing unit 5, a mechanism 11 for operating a tire T, and one or more units (not shown) that acquire an image of a tire. A tire inspection mechanism unit 10 having two cameras 12), and the image processing unit 5 includes an image capturing computer 7 that captures an image signal from each camera 12, a measurement management computer 8, and an image processing unit. The computers 2A to 2D, 3A to 3D, 8 and 9 each have one or more CPUs 4 mounted thereon. In addition, each CPU 4 mounted on the computers 2A to 2D and 3A to 3D executes an image processing program that processes image data sent from the image capture computer 7 to determine whether there is a tire appearance defect. It is configured as follows.

  The image processing program can be divided into a plurality of subprograms. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the image processing program. As shown in FIG. Pre-processing program F that performs processing such as conversion and enhancement, and presence / absence of appearance defect compared with image pattern of limit sample of appearance defect determined in advance according to type of appearance defect such as bear or air entering, for example One or more (4 in the illustrated case) programs a, b, c, and d, and a post-processing program E that performs processing for converting the inspection results into a predetermined output form, etc. It can be divided into subprograms (for example, a total of 6 in the case of illustration).

  As a rule regarding the execution order when executing these subprograms, the preprocessing program F should be executed before all other subprograms, and the postprocessing program E is all other subprograms. It is configured to rule only what should be done later.

  It is an essential requirement of the present invention that at least two of these subprograms are configured to be processed simultaneously by different CPUs. In the case of the example shown in FIG. The processing program F and the post-processing program E are processed by the CPU 4 of any one of the computers 2A to 2D, the inspection type program a is processed by the CPU 4 of the computer 3A, and similarly, the inspection type program b is the CPU 4 of the computer 3B, the inspection type-specific program c is processed by the CPU 4 of the computer 3C, and the inspection-type specific program d is processed by the CPU 4 of the computer 3D, and satisfies the above conditions.

  Here, when an image for one tire is processed, when a computer that stores an overall management program for managing the entire image processing is called a main computer, the computer 2A that executes a preprocessing program F and a postprocessing program E ˜2D stores the overall management program and functions as a main computer.

  On the other hand, the measurement management computer 8 is equipped with a measurement management program that performs processing related to the overall measurement of a plurality of tires that are sequentially measured. For example, the capture in the image capture computer 7 is completed. It is determined which main computer 2A to 2D is to process the processed image data, and the processing is assigned to the computer.

  In addition, when a computer that processes an inspection type program is called a sub computer, the computers 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D that execute the inspection type programs a, b, c, and d are sub computers, and these sub computers 3A -3D are each loaded with a distributed management program that communicates with each of the overall management programs of the main computers 2A-2D (four in the illustrated case).

  Here, the overall management program has a communication function with the distributed management program, and is based on a predetermined program execution order rule and a computer list capable of executing subprograms that changes over time. The computer to execute the subprogram is sequentially set, and the execution instruction of the subprogram and necessary data are transmitted to the set computer, and the execution result is received from the computer that has completed the execution of the subprogram, On the other hand, each of the distributed management programs has a communication function with the overall management program, and on the basis of the instruction from the overall management program, the sub computer storing the distributed management program is called to execute the sub program. , The execution result to the overall management program It is configured to trust.

  Each subprogram is installed in a computer on which a CPU that executes the subprogram is installed. Among the subprograms, the inspection type-specific programs a, b, c, and d are stored in the subcomputers 3A to 3D. Accordingly, a distributed management program is installed in each of the computers 3 </ b> A to 3 </ b> D to start up and execute the inspection type-specific programs a, b, c, and d.

  FIG. 3 is a time chart showing a temporal arrangement of subprograms executed in each computer in the tire appearance inspection apparatus having the configuration shown in FIG. 2, and is required for execution of each subprogram in order to simplify the explanation. The time is the same for all tires to be inspected, and the time required for the execution of the post-processing program E and the inspection type programs a, b, c, and d is time t. Suppose that the time required to execute the preprocessing program is twice that, that is, 2t.

  In FIG. 3, each subprogram execution is given a symbol represented by one alphabetic character followed by a number, but the first alphabet represents the type of subprogram, and the number represents the tire to be processed. The alphabets F and E represent pre-processing and post-processing programs, respectively, and the alphabets a, b, c, and d represent four types of inspection-type subprograms, respectively.

  In FIG. 3, for example, the subprogram F1 is executed before the other subprograms a1, b1, c1, d1, and E1, and the subprogram E1 is after the other subprograms F1, a1, b1, c1, and d1. The program execution rules are observed. In this case, for each tire, when the timing at which the post-processing programs E1, E2, E3, E4, etc., which are the final processes in the image processing, are finished, the image processing for each tire is finished at every time t. You can see that That is, the tact time of this system is t.

  Next, looking at the processing time for one tire, this processing time is, for example, the time at which the post-processing program E1 ends from the time at which the pre-processing program F1, which is the first processing in image processing, starts. It can be seen that the time 4t is four times the time t.

  On the other hand, as shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. 4, a conventional tire appearance inspection device 90, that is, one tire inspection mechanism unit 10 is connected to the same number of image processing computers 91 as in this embodiment, In the case of a tire appearance inspection device configured to process one tire from the beginning to the end of image processing, each image processing computer 91 has a temporal arrangement of subprograms executed in each computer 91. The time chart shown is as shown in FIG. 5 and the number of computers 91 for image processing does not change, so the productivity of tire appearance inspection does not change, and therefore the tact time does not change with t, but is distributed. Since there is no sub-computer that performs processing, each computer 91 is, for example, one computer 91 (3), and an image processing program All constituent subprograms must be processed in series in the order of F3, a3, b3, c3, d1, E3, and the processing time from the start to the end of image processing, that is, the time at which the subprogram F3 starts The time from the end of the subprogram E3 to 7 t was 7t.

The processing time T ₀ in the image processing of the present invention is 4t and 3t shorter than the processing time T ₁ of 7t in the conventional tire appearance inspection apparatus 90, and the inspection result is found after starting the tire inspection. The time and time required for the primary storage of the measured tires during that time can be reduced.

  The present invention is particularly applicable to a tire appearance inspection apparatus that inspects a plurality of inspection items.

It is a conceptual lineblock diagram showing a tire appearance inspection device of an embodiment concerning the present invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the structure of an image processing program. It is a time chart which shows the processing order of the image processing program in the tire appearance inspection apparatus of the structure shown in FIG. It is a conceptual lineblock diagram showing a tire appearance inspection device of an embodiment concerning the present invention. It is a time chart which shows the processing order of the image processing program in the tire appearance inspection apparatus which changed the conventional structure shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

2A, 2B, 2C, 2D Main computer 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D Sub computer 4 CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 5 Image processing part 6 Image processing program 7 Image capture computer 8 Measurement management computer 10 Tire inspection mechanism part 11 Mechanism operating tire 12 Camera 20 Tire appearance inspection apparatus

Claims (4)

A tire inspection mechanism having a mechanism for operating a tire and a camera for acquiring an image of the tire, and an image processing program for determining whether there is a tire appearance defect based on an image obtained by processing and processing the tire image acquired from the camera In a tire appearance inspection apparatus comprising an image processing unit having a CPU,
The number of CPUs is two or more, the image processing program is configured to be divided into a plurality of subprograms, and at least two of these subprograms are simultaneously processed by different CPUs. Tire appearance inspection device.   The tire according to claim 1, wherein the image processing unit includes a plurality of computers, and each computer includes one or more CPUs, and at least two subprograms are stored in different computers. Appearance inspection device. The plurality of computers includes a main computer that stores at least an overall management program, a distributed management program, and one or more subcomputers that store at least one or more subprograms,
The overall management program has a communication function with the distributed management program, and should execute a subprogram based on a predetermined program execution order rule and a list of computers that can execute the current subprogram. It is configured to sequentially set the computer, send the execution instruction of the subprogram and the necessary data to the set computer, and receive the execution result from the computer that has completed the execution of the subprogram,
Each of the distributed management programs has a communication function with the overall management program, and, based on the instructions from the overall management program, causes the sub-computer storing the distributed management program to call and execute the subprogram. The tire appearance inspection device according to claim 2, configured to transmit the execution result to the overall management program. The sub-program is composed of a pre-processing program, one or more types of inspection programs determined in advance corresponding to the inspection contents, and a post-processing program,
The program execution rules are configured to rule only that the preprocessing program is executed before all other subprograms and that the postprocessing program is executed after all other subprograms. ,
The main computer stores a pre-processing program and a post-processing program, and the sub-computer stores an inspection type program assigned to each sub-computer, and the distributed management program stored in each sub-computer. 4. The tire appearance inspection device according to claim 3, wherein the tire appearance inspection device is configured to execute an inspection type-specific program stored in a sub computer based on an instruction from a main program of a plurality of main computers.

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