JP2009060407A - Imaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging device capable of obtaining a picked-up image with a clear surficial defect in an object to be inspected. <P>SOLUTION: The imaging device 10 includes: a camera 12 for picking up the image of the surficial defect in the object S to be inspected; and at least one leg part 14 arranged in the camera 12 and extended toward the image pickup direction of the camera 12. The leg part 14 is constituted of cylindrical bodies 20, leg members 22, and coil springs 24. The leg members 22 energized toward the image pickup direction of the camera 12 by the coil springs 24 are expansible along the extending direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus that is used for imaging surface defects (for example, scratches, line scratches, dents, rust, adhesion of foreign matter, pinholes, etc.) in an object to be inspected.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a small camera that is large enough to be held by a user with one hand is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). When such a small camera is used for imaging a surface defect in an inspection object, an arbitrary surface defect can be imaged by the user holding the small camera and moving it on the inspection object.
JP 2002-290994 A

  However, when a conventional small camera is used, the camera is not stable, which may cause camera shake or out of focus during imaging. Therefore, it becomes difficult to obtain a clear captured image of the surface defect, and there is a risk of hindering the inspection of the surface defect performed using the captured image.

  The present invention can obtain a clear captured image of a surface defect in an inspected object in an image capturing apparatus that can image an arbitrary part of the inspected object by moving the object on the inspected object while being gripped by the user. An object is to provide a possible imaging device.

  An imaging apparatus according to the present invention includes an imaging unit that images a surface defect in an inspection object, and at least one leg that is provided in the imaging unit and extends in an imaging direction of the imaging unit. Further, it is possible to expand and contract along the extending direction.

  In the imaging device according to the present invention, at least one leg portion extending in the imaging direction of the imaging unit (the direction from the imaging unit toward the subject) is provided in the imaging unit. Therefore, when imaging a surface defect in the inspection object, the occurrence of camera shake can be effectively suppressed by imaging in a state where the leg portion is in contact with the inspection object or other fixed object. Further, in the imaging device according to the present invention, the leg portion can be expanded and contracted along the extending direction. For this reason, the distance between the imaging means and the surface defect on the object to be inspected is adjusted by expanding and contracting the leg, so that it is possible to easily and effectively suppress the focus shift without using the zoom function or the like of the imaging means. it can. As a result, by moving the inspection object while being gripped by the user, it is possible to obtain a clear captured image of the surface defect in the inspection object even in the case of an imaging apparatus capable of imaging any part of the inspection object. It becomes possible.

  Preferably, the leg portion is biased toward the imaging direction of the imaging means. If it does in this way, it becomes possible to implement | achieve the expansion-contraction mechanism of a leg part simply.

  Preferably, the apparatus further includes an illuminating unit that irradiates light on the surface of the object to be inspected, and an adjusting unit that can adjust an irradiation direction of light by the illuminating unit. If it does in this way, since the irradiation direction of the light by an illumination means can be changed into arbitrary directions by an adjustment means, it will become possible to obtain a clearer picked-up image of the surface defect in a to-be-inspected object.

  According to the present invention, by moving on the inspection object while being held by the user, in the imaging apparatus capable of imaging any part of the inspection object, a clear captured image of the surface defect in the inspection object is obtained. It is possible to provide an imaging device capable of performing the above.

  Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements or elements having the same function, and a duplicate description is omitted.

  With reference to FIG.1 and FIG.2, the structure of the imaging device 10 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated. The imaging device 10 is used for imaging surface defects (for example, scratches, line scratches, dents, rust, adhesion of foreign matter, pinholes, etc.) in the inspection object S such as mechanical parts, photoconductors, and drums. It is what For this purpose, the imaging device 10 includes a camera (imaging means) 12, a base 14, three legs 16, and an LED illuminator 18.

  The camera 12 is a small camera that is large enough to be held by a user with one hand, and images the inspection object S. Therefore, it is possible to image any part of the inspection object S by moving the inspection object S while the user holds the camera 12. The camera 12 is connected to an information processing apparatus 100 such as a personal computer via a cable 102 so that captured image data can be transmitted to the information processing apparatus 100. When the information processing apparatus 100 receives captured image data from the camera 12, the information processing apparatus 100 displays the captured image on the monitor 100a. The observer determines the presence / absence of a surface defect based on the captured image displayed on the monitor 100a. For example, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera can be used as the camera 12.

  The base 14 is a plate-like body having a substantially circular shape. A through-hole 14a that engages the tip of the camera 12 is provided at the center of the base body 14, and the imaging direction of the camera 12 (from the camera 12 to the subject (in this embodiment, the subject to be inspected) is provided at the peripheral edge of the base body 14. Three legs 16 extending in the direction toward the object S) and the side on which the object S is located are provided at equal intervals.

  The leg portion 16 includes a cylindrical body 20, a leg member 22, and a coil spring 24. A coil spring 24 is disposed inside the cylindrical body 20 together with the leg member 22 (see FIG. 2). An opening on the side close to the camera 12 in the cylindrical body 20 is sealed with a lid body 26. Therefore, the leg member 22 biased toward the imaging direction of the camera 12 by the coil spring 24 can be expanded and contracted along the extending direction. In addition, the front-end | tip part of the leg member 22 is exhibiting the substantially hemispherical shape.

  The LED illuminator 18 is a ring-shaped luminaire that can illuminate an object to be illuminated (in this embodiment, a surface defect in the inspection object S) from the direction of 360 ° around the object. The LED illuminator 18 has a substantially cylindrical shape and is disposed at the tip of the camera 12. The LED illuminator 18 is inclined so that its inner surface faces the imaging side of the camera 12, and a plurality of LED light sources are arranged on the inner surface (see FIG. 2).

  In the imaging apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment as described above, the camera 12 is provided with three legs 16 extending in the imaging direction of the camera 12. Therefore, when the surface defect in the inspection object S is imaged, it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of camera shake by capturing the image with the leg member 22 of the leg portion 16 in contact with the inspection object S. Moreover, in the imaging device 10 according to the present embodiment, the leg member 22 of the leg portion 16 can be expanded and contracted along its extending direction. Therefore, since the distance between the camera 12 and the surface defect in the inspection object S is adjusted by extending or contracting the leg member 22 of the leg portion 16, the focus shift can be reduced without using the zoom function or the like of the camera 12. It can be easily and effectively suppressed. As a result, even if the imaging apparatus 10 is capable of imaging an arbitrary portion of the inspection object S by moving the inspection object S while being held by the user, the surface defect in the inspection object S is clear. A captured image can be obtained.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, in the present embodiment, the imaging apparatus 10 includes the three leg portions 16, but at least one leg portion 16 is sufficient. FIG. 3 shows an example of the imaging device 10 including one leg 16.

  In addition, the leg member 22 of the leg portion 16 can be expanded and contracted by urging the leg member 22 of the leg portion 16 toward the imaging direction of the camera 12 by the coil spring 24. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the leg portion 16 can be expanded and contracted. Various mechanisms can be employed.

  In the present embodiment, the ring-shaped LED illuminator 18 is used. However, as shown in FIG. 4, an illuminator (illuminating means) 28 having a certain degree of directivity may be used instead. At this time, the imaging device 10 is preferably provided with a spherical plain bearing (adjusting means) 32 composed of a through hole 14b formed in the base 14 and an inner ring 30 holding the illuminator 28. In the spherical plain bearing 32, a sliding contact surface is constituted by a spherical surface in which the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 14b and the outer peripheral surface of the inner ring 30 are in contact with each other, and the inner ring 30 can be rotated three-dimensionally. Thereby, since the irradiation direction of the light by the illuminator 28 that irradiates light on the surface of the inspection object S can be changed to an arbitrary direction, a clearer captured image of the surface defect in the inspection object S can be obtained. It becomes possible.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the ring-shaped LED illuminator 18 is used. However, as shown in FIG. 5, a cubic box 34 and a surface emitting LED 38 having a half mirror 36 inside may be used instead. . The box 34 is disposed at the front end of the camera 12, and openings 34a, 34b, and 34c are provided on the upper surface, the lower surface, and the side surfaces thereof. The surface emitting LED 38 can irradiate parallel light, and is disposed at a position corresponding to the opening 34 c of the box 34 so as to irradiate light toward the opening 34 c of the box 34. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, the light L emitted from the surface emitting LED 38 is reflected toward the inspection object S by the half mirror 36 and further reflected toward the half mirror 36 by the inspection object S. After passing through the half mirror 36, the light enters the camera 12.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a surface defect inspection system using the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the imaging apparatus according to the first embodiment, partially broken along the line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a surface defect inspection system using the imaging apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a partially broken view of the imaging apparatus according to the third embodiment. FIG. 5 is a partially broken view showing the imaging apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Imaging device, 12 ... Camera (imaging means), 14 ... Base | substrate, 16 ... Leg part, 18 ... LED illuminator, 20 ... Cylindrical body, 22 ... Leg member, 24 ... Coil spring, 28 ... Illuminator (illumination means) 32: Spherical plain bearing (adjustment means), S: Inspected object.

Claims (3)

Imaging means for imaging surface defects in the inspection object;
And at least one leg provided in the imaging means and extending in the imaging direction of the imaging means,
The imaging device according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion is extendable and retractable along an extending direction thereof.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion is biased toward an imaging direction of the imaging unit. Illuminating means for irradiating light on the surface of the inspection object;
The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an adjusting unit capable of adjusting an irradiation direction of light by the illumination unit.

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