JP2009145062A - X-ray inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide X-ray inspection equipment for surely preventing an object to be inspected from hitting structures of the equipment such as X-ray generator without any complicated process or causing the burden on an operator. <P>SOLUTION: The object W to be inspected is placed by means of a fixture 50 on a rotation table 3a placed between an X-ray generator 1 and an X-ray detector 2. A plurality of types of the fixtures 50 is prepared according to the size of the object W. Sensors 60a-60c for detecting the type of the fixture 50 are arranged on the rotation table 3a. On the basis of that detection result, the range of movement of a moving stage 3b for changing the relative position between the table 3a and the pair of the X-ray generator 1 and the X-ray detector 2 is restricted. The object W is thereby prevented from hitting the structures of the equipment. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray inspection apparatus that uses X-rays to inspect the presence or absence of an internal structure or a defect of an inspection object, and more particularly, an X-ray fluoroscopic image or an X-ray tomographic image, or these It is related with the X-ray inspection apparatus which can construct | assemble both of these.

  In an X-ray inspection apparatus that obtains an X-ray fluoroscopic image or an X-ray tomographic image, generally, a table on which an object to be inspected is arranged between an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector. The fluoroscopic direction and the fluoroscopic position of the object to be inspected by the X-ray detector can be changed by relatively rotating, translating (translating) or tilting the pair of the X-ray generator and the X-ray detector. It is configured.

  Here, in order to increase the fluoroscopy or the imaging magnification at the time of X-ray fluoroscopy or tomographic imaging, it is necessary to bring the inspection object close to the X-ray generator. In order to change the fluoroscopic direction or to change the fluoroscopic magnification in such an approach state between the inspection object and the X-ray generator, the table is rotated, translated or tilted relative to the X-ray generator. If it does, there exists a possibility that a to-be-inspected object and an X-ray generator may collide. In order to prevent the occurrence of this collision, it is necessary for the operator to look through a window provided in the casing of the X-ray inspection apparatus or to operate the moving mechanism while watching an image from a monitoring camera provided in the casing. It was difficult to reliably prevent a collision.

  In order to solve such a collision problem, conventionally, a method is known in which an operator sets in advance a dangerous area where the X-ray generator and the object to be inspected may collide. It takes time and effort for the operator to prepare before the actual inspection.

Conventionally, as an anti-collision technique for solving such problems, an object to be inspected mounted on a table is photographed with an optical camera, and an area equivalent to the above dangerous area is automatically obtained by processing using the photographed data. A method of setting has been proposed. That is, an object to be inspected is mounted on a table, rotated while the object is imaged with an optical camera from multiple directions, and an optical image of the object inspected from each direction is subjected to image processing. Extract the appearance shape seen from each direction of the inspection object, create a rotating body figure of the inspection object from the trajectory data when these are rotated, and include all the rotation figures of the inspection object A collision risk area is set around and stored. When the X-ray generation apparatus and the table are relatively moved during X-ray fluoroscopy or tomographic imaging, the X-ray generation apparatus enters the collision risk area based on the momentary current position and the collision risk area stored in advance. There has been proposed a method of issuing a warning when it is determined whether or not a part of the X-ray generator has entered a collision risk area (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2007-206019 A

  By the way, the technique described in Patent Document 1 for preventing the collision between the X-ray generator and the inspection object has a problem that complicated data processing using optical images taken from a plurality of directions is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and does not impose a burden on the operator and does not require complicated processing, and the collision between the object to be inspected and the structure on the apparatus side such as the X-ray generator An object of the present invention is to provide an X-ray inspection apparatus that can reliably prevent the above-described problem.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes an X-ray generator and an X-ray detector that are disposed opposite to each other, a table that is disposed between them and on which an inspection object is mounted, and a control. With a drive control signal from the means, a pair of the X-ray generator and X-ray detector and the table are relatively rotated, translated or tilted, and a test object is mounted on the table. Display means for constructing a transmission image and / or a tomographic image of the inspection object and displaying them on the display using the X-ray transmission data of the inspection object output from the X-ray detector by irradiating the X-ray In the X-ray inspection apparatus, the table is configured to mount the inspection object via an attachment jig, and the attachment jig includes a plurality of types according to the size of the inspection object. Is provided. The bull is provided with detecting means for detecting the type of the jig for mounting, and the control means is limited to the moving range of the moving mechanism according to the detection result of the type of jig by the detecting means. (Claim 1).

  Here, in the present invention, the control means moves the table to a position where the table is closest to the X-ray generator within a limit of a movement range added according to a detection result of the jig by the detection means. The mechanism may be configured to automatically position (Claim 2).

  In the present invention, an inspection object is mounted on a table via an attachment jig, and the attachment jig is of a type corresponding to the size of the inspection object, and is used An object of the present invention is to solve the problem by detecting the type of mounting jig that is provided by a detecting means provided on a table and limiting the moving range of the moving mechanism based on the detection result.

  In other words, just by using a mounting jig according to the size of the inspection object, the type of the jig is automatically detected, the movement range of the moving mechanism is limited, and the inspection object generates X-rays. There is no collision with the structure of the device including the device.

  Further, as in the invention according to claim 2, the configuration in which the table is automatically positioned at the position closest to the X-ray generator within the limit of the moving range determined based on the detection result of the mounting jig is This is effective when it is desired to enlarge the fluoroscopic magnification or the imaging magnification as much as possible. By adopting this configuration, it is not necessary to bring the inspection object close to the X-ray generator in order to obtain a high magnification ratio, and the burden on the operator is reduced. Can be reduced.

  According to the present invention, since the moving range of the moving mechanism is automatically limited only by mounting the inspection object on the table using a mounting jig corresponding to the inspection object, the inspection object is X The possibility of colliding with a structure of a device such as a line generator can be greatly reduced, and the burden on the operator during the operation for driving the moving mechanism can be reduced.

  Further, as in the invention according to claim 2, the object to be inspected is closest to the X-ray generator within the limit of the moving range of the moving mechanism determined based on the detection result of the mounting jig. By adopting a configuration that automatically drives and controls the moving mechanism in this way, it is possible to reduce the positioning work by the operator in work that requires inspection with the fluoroscopic magnification or photographing magnification as large as possible. , Can reduce the burden.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an X-ray CT apparatus, and is a diagram showing a schematic diagram showing a mechanical configuration and a block diagram showing a main part of a system configuration.

  The X-ray generator 1 is arranged with its X-ray optical axis L oriented horizontally, and the X-ray detector 2 is arranged facing the X-ray generator 1 in the horizontal direction. Between the X-ray generator 1 and the X-ray detector 2, a sample stage 3 for mounting the inspection object W is disposed.

  The sample stage 3 has a rotating table 3a on which an object W is mounted and which rotates about a rotation axis R along a vertical direction orthogonal to the X-ray optical axis L, and an x which is orthogonal to the rotation table 3a. , Y, and z-axis moving stages 3b are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the x-axis is in the horizontal plane in the direction of the X-ray optical axis L, the y-axis is in the horizontal plane in the direction perpendicular to the x-axis, and the z-axis is in the vertical direction.

  The motor for the rotary table 3a and the x, y and z axis motors for the moving stage 3b in the respective axial directions are the rotary axis motor driver 11, the x axis motor driver 12, and the y axis motor, respectively. The driver 13 and the z-axis motor driver 14 are operated by drive signals, and each of these drivers is placed under the control of the axis controller 15.

  The output of the X-ray detector 2 at the time of CT imaging is stored in the data memory 17 via the image data capturing circuit 16 and then subjected to a reconstruction calculation by the reconstruction calculation unit 18. The tomographic image obtained by the reconstruction calculation is displayed on the display 19.

  The reconstruction calculation unit 18 and the above-described axis control unit 15 are each under the control of the system control unit 20. The system control unit 20 is connected to an operation unit 21 including a joystick, a mouse, a keyboard, and the like. By operating the operation unit 21, the rotary table 3a is arbitrarily rotated, and the moving stage 3b is moved. It can be moved at will. The system control unit 20, the axis control unit 15, and the reconstruction calculation unit 18 are actually configured mainly with a computer and its peripheral devices, and realize functions according to installed programs. However, in order to simplify the description, a block diagram for each function is shown.

  In CT imaging, in order to obtain a tomographic image of a required portion of the inspection object W, after positioning the moving stage 3b, the rotary table 3a is rotated while irradiating the X-rays from the X-ray generator 1, and a prescribed minute amount is obtained. X-ray projection data for each angle is taken into the data memory 17. These X-ray projection data are reconstructed by the reconstruction computing unit 18 to construct a tomographic image of the inspection object W and display it on the display 19.

  Now, the inspection object W is mounted on the turntable 3a via the mounting jig 50. A plurality of types of attachment jigs 50 are prepared according to the size of the inspection object W, and the inspection object W is mounted on the rotary table 3a using the corresponding attachment jig 50.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the mounting jig 50. In FIG. 2, (A) shows an object for a relatively small inspection object, and (B) shows an object for a relatively large inspection object. The mounting jig 50 is provided with an inspection object mounting portion 52 provided above the flange portion 51, and is inserted and inserted into a fitting hole (not shown) formed in the rotary table 3a below. It has a structure in which a fitting portion 53 for fixing is provided, and protrusions 54 a to 54 c representing the type of the mounting jig 50 are provided on the lower surface of the flange portion 51. In this example, there are three protrusion formation positions, and three sensors 60 a to 60 c are provided on the rotary table 3 a corresponding to the three protrusion formation positions of the mounting jig 50. Eight types of identification can be made by a combination of whether or not projections are actually formed at the three projection formation positions of the mounting jig 50.

  The detection results of the presence or absence of protrusions by the sensors 60 a to 60 c are taken into the system control unit 20 via the detection circuit 22. On the other hand, the moving range of the moving stage 3b is determined corresponding to each of the plural types of mounting jigs 50, and the relationship between the type of the mounting jig 50 and the moving range is stored in the moving range storage unit 23. Pre-stored. In the system control unit 20, based on the detection result of the type of the mounting jig 50 from the detection circuit 22, the corresponding movement range is read from the movement range storage unit 23, and the axis control unit 15 for moving the movement stage 3b is used. The above movement range is limited by the drive control signals to the motor drivers 12-14. In this example, specifically, the range in which the rotary table 3a approaches the X-ray generator 1 is limited, and thereby the closest value of the distance Q between the object W and the X-ray generator 1 is limited. Thereby, it can prevent that the to-be-inspected object W collides with the X-ray generator 1. FIG.

  Here, in an application in which the imaging magnification of the inspection object W is maximized, within the corresponding movement range stored in the movement range storage unit 23 based on the detection result of the type of the mounting jig 50, The moving stage 3b may be automatically driven so that the rotary table 3a is located closest to the X-ray generator 1. In this case, the operator does not need to move the moving stage 3b to maximize the photographing magnification.

In addition, for example, in the case of a large inspection object W, there is a possibility of colliding with the casing of the apparatus by moving in the y-axis direction. In this case, movement restriction in the y-axis direction may be added.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to an X-ray CT apparatus has been shown. However, the present invention can be equally applied to an apparatus that performs X-ray fluoroscopy. In that case, in the case of a device having a function of tilting the X-ray generator 1, an application of determining the moving range of the moving stage 3b by combining the detection result of the mounting jig 50 and the tilting angle of the tilting mechanism. Is also possible.

In the configuration diagram of the embodiment of the present invention, a schematic diagram showing a mechanical configuration and a block diagram showing a system configuration are shown together. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an example of a mounting jig 50 used in the embodiment of the present invention, where FIG. 1A shows a relatively small inspection object, and FIG. 2B shows a relatively large inspection object jig. It is.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 X-ray generator 2 X-ray detector 3 Sample stage 3a Rotation table 3b Movement stage 11 Rotation axis motor driver 12 x-axis motor driver 13 y-axis motor driver 14 z-axis motor driver 15 Axis control part 16 Image data acquisition circuit 17 Data Memory 18 Reconfiguration operation unit 19 Display 20 System control unit 21 Operation unit 22 Detection circuit 23 Movement range storage unit 50 Mounting jig 51 Flange unit 52 Inspection object mounting unit 53 Fitting unit 54a to 54c Projection 60a to 60c Sensor L X-ray optical axis Q Distance between the inspected object W and the X-ray generator 1 R Rotation axis along the vertical direction perpendicular to the X-ray optical axis L with the inspected object W mounted W inspected

Claims (2)

An X-ray generator and an X-ray detector arranged opposite to each other, a table on which an object to be inspected is mounted, and a drive control signal from the control means, and the X-ray generator and X-ray detector. A moving mechanism that relatively rotates, translates, or tilts the pair of instruments and the table, and a target that is output from the X-ray detector by irradiating X-rays with the inspection object mounted on the table. In an X-ray inspection apparatus comprising display means for constructing a transmission image and / or a tomographic image of an inspection object and displaying them on a display using X-ray transmission data of the inspection object,
The table is configured to mount an inspection object via an attachment jig, and the attachment jig is provided with a plurality of types according to the size of the inspection object. Detection means for detecting the type of the mounting jig is provided, and the control means limits the movement range of the moving mechanism according to the detection result of the jig type by the detection means. A featured X-ray inspection device.   The control means automatically positions the movement mechanism at a position where the table is closest to the X-ray generator within a limit of a movement range applied according to a detection result of the jig by the detection means. The X-ray inspection apparatus according to claim 1.

Images