JP2010038863A - Appearance inspecting apparatus and method for flat workpiece - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an appearance inspecting apparatus for a flat workpiece, which can obtain a high inspection accuracy. <P>SOLUTION: The appearance inspecting apparatus for the flat workpiece, which inspects states of the front and back surfaces of the flat workpiece, includes: a surface inspection-use conveyor 10 for conveying the workpiece to the downstream side along a conveyor line so as to make the front surface upward; a surface photographing device which is disposed above the surface inspection-use conveyor 10 and photographs the surface of the workpiece on the surface inspection-use conveyor 10; a workpiece reversing device 31 for reversing the workpiece carried out of the surface inspection-use conveyor 10, such that the back surface is made upward; a back surface inspection-use conveyor 20 for conveying the workpiece whose back surface is made upward by the workpiece reversing device 31, to the downstream side along the conveyor line; and a back surface photographing device which is disposed above the back surface inspection-use conveyor 20 and photographs the back surface of the workpiece on the back surface inspection-use conveyor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an appearance inspection apparatus and an appearance inspection method for a flat work for inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of the flat work.

  In an aluminum flat tube used as a heat exchanger tube, it is common to perform an appearance inspection for inspecting appearance defects such as scratches, irregularities, and adhesion (dirt) of foreign matter. When performing an appearance inspection of a flat work such as a flat tube, it is naturally necessary to inspect both the front surface and the back surface.

For example, in the workpiece front and back inspection apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, the workpiece is directed in the length direction with one surface side (front surface side) facing upward and the other surface side (back surface side) facing downward. On the other hand, the workpiece surface is imaged by the upper camera provided above the workpiece to be conveyed, and the back surface of the workpiece is imaged by the lower camera provided below. The appearance of both the front and back sides of the work is inspected.
JP-A-7-63533

  However, in the above conventional work front / back inspection apparatus, since the lower camera for imaging the back side (lower side) of the work is arranged upward, the converging lens of the camera has dust, dust, etc. floating around the periphery. There is a problem that foreign matter accumulates and adheres, and accurate imaging data cannot be acquired due to the presence of the foreign matter, resulting in a decrease in inspection accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a flat work visual inspection apparatus and a visual inspection method capable of performing a high-precision visual inspection of a flat work such as a flat tube. And

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following structure.

[1] A flat work visual inspection device for inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of a flat work,
A surface inspection transport machine that transports the work to the downstream side along the transport line with the surface side facing up,
A surface imaging device that is provided above the surface inspection transport machine and images the surface of a workpiece on the surface inspection transport machine;
A work reversing device for reversing the work carried out from the front surface inspection transport machine so that the back side faces upward;
A back surface inspection transport machine for transporting the work whose back side is directed upward by the work reversing device, to the downstream side along the transport line;
A flat work appearance inspection apparatus, comprising: a back surface imaging device that is provided above the back surface inspection transporter and images the back surface of the work on the back surface inspection transporter.

  [2] The flat work appearance inspection apparatus according to the preceding item 1, wherein the work has a long shape, and the work is arranged so that a length direction thereof is along the conveyance line.

  [3] The flat work appearance inspection apparatus according to item 1 or 2, wherein the work reversing device is configured to reverse the work by its own weight.

[4] The surface imaging device has a surface center imaging means arranged vertically downward facing the workpiece surface, and one side edge and the other side edge on the workpiece surface side, respectively, and obliquely downward. A surface one-side imaging means and a surface other-side imaging means respectively disposed;
The back surface imaging device is disposed obliquely downward facing the surface center imaging means arranged vertically downward facing the work back surface, and one side edge and the other side edge of the work back side. 4. A flat work visual inspection apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3, further comprising: a back side one-side imaging unit and a back side other-side imaging unit.

  [5] The appearance inspection of the flat workpiece according to any one of the preceding items 1 to 4, wherein the workpiece is constituted by a flat tube made of aluminum or aluminum alloy in which a plurality of flow holes extending in the length direction are provided in parallel. apparatus.

[6] A method for inspecting the appearance of a flat work for inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of the flat work,
A surface imaging step of imaging the surface of the workpiece by the surface imaging device from above the workpiece while conveying the workpiece to the downstream side along the conveyance line with the surface side facing upward,
A work reversing step of reversing the work carried out from the surface inspection transport machine by a work reversing device so that the back side is facing upward,
A flat work characterized by including a back surface imaging step of imaging the back surface of the work by a back surface imaging device from above the work while transporting the work with the back surface facing upward along the transport line. Visual inspection method.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection device of the invention [1], since the imaging device can be arranged downward, it is possible to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the light collecting portion of the imaging device and to perform inspection with high accuracy.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection apparatus of the invention [2], a long work can be inspected.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection apparatus of the invention [3], the structure can be simplified.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection apparatus of the invention [4], the inspection accuracy can be further improved.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection apparatus of the invention [5], an aluminum flat tube can be inspected.

  According to the flat work appearance inspection method of the invention [6], it is possible to inspect with high accuracy as described above.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance inspection apparatus for a flat tube according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view. As shown in both figures, this visual inspection apparatus images the entire peripheral surface from the front side to the back side of the flat tube (W) while conveying the flat tube (W) as a workpiece along the length direction. To do.

  The flat tube (W) as the inspection object is constituted by, for example, a long tube (band plate shape) tube made of aluminum or aluminum alloy that is employed in a heat exchanger for a car air conditioner or a room air conditioner. This flat tube (W) is constituted by a porous tube in which a plurality of communication holes (refrigerant circulation holes) extending continuously in the tube length direction are provided in parallel along the width direction.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the flat tube (W) has a small cross-sectional area and a long length. Specifically, the thickness (tube height) of the flat tube (W) is adjusted to 1.0 to 2.0 mm, the width is 12 to 20 mm, and the length is 190 to 700 mm.

  In the present embodiment, the appearance inspection apparatus includes a front surface inspection unit (1), a reversing unit (3), a back surface inspection unit (2), and a discharge conveyor (40) in order from the upstream side along the conveyance line of the flat tube (W). ) Is arranged. Further, a defective front surface discharge device (41) is disposed between the front surface inspection unit (1) and the reversing unit (3), and a defective rear surface discharge device is disposed between the rear surface inspection unit (2) and the discharge conveyor (40). (42) is arranged.

  The surface inspection unit (1) includes a surface inspection conveyor (10) that conveys the flat tube (W), and surface imaging devices (11), (12), and (13) that image the surface side of the flat tube (W). I have.

  The surface inspection conveyor (10) can transport the flat tube (W) along the transport line with the front surface side (one surface side) facing upward and the back surface side (other surface side) installed. It has become. In the appearance inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, the length direction of the flat tube (W) to be transported matches the transport line.

  Further, the surface imaging device includes a surface center camera (11), a surface one-side camera (12), and a surface other-side camera (13) arranged in order from the upstream side along the transport line.

  As shown in FIGS. 1-3, the surface center camera (11) is provided in the perpendicular | vertical upper direction of the axial center (conveyance line) of the flat tube (W) conveyed by the conveyor (10). In this camera (11), the imaging direction (optical axis) is set to be vertically downward, and an intermediate region of the flat tube (W) is included in the camera field of view. Therefore, the surface center camera (11) can capture an image of the intermediate region excluding both side edges of the surface (upper surface) of the flat tube (W) being conveyed.

  The front surface side camera (12) is provided above one side with respect to the flat tube (W) conveyed by the conveyor (10). In this camera (12), the imaging direction (optical axis) is set obliquely downward, and one side edge of the flat tube (W) is included in the camera field of view. Therefore, the one side edge portion including the one side edge on the surface (upper surface) of the flat tube (W) to be conveyed can be imaged by the one surface camera (12).

  The surface other side camera (13) is provided above the other side with respect to the flat tube (W) conveyed by the conveyor (10). In this camera (13), the imaging direction (optical axis) is set obliquely downward, and the other side edge of the flat tube (W) is included in the camera field of view. Therefore, the other side edge portion including the other side edge on the surface (upper surface) of the flat tube (W) to be conveyed can be imaged by the front side camera (13).

  In the present embodiment, the surface inspection conveyer (10) constitutes a surface inspection conveyor, and the surface central camera (11), the surface one-side camera (12), and the surface other-side camera (13) A central imaging means, a surface one-side imaging means, and a surface other-side imaging means are configured.

  The surface defect discharge device (41) is arranged on the side of the transfer line on the downstream side of the surface inspection conveyor (10), and is provided with a tube discharge guide member (41a) that can be moved forward / backward with respect to the transfer line. ing.

  The tube discharge guide member (41a) of the surface defect discharge device (41) is disposed in a position retracted from the transport line in the initial state (normal state). Then, when the flat tube (W) determined to be defective by the surface inspection unit (1) is unloaded from the downstream side of the surface inspection conveyor (10), the tube discharge guide member (41a) is conveyed. Advance on the line. As a result, the flat tube (W) having a defective surface is guided laterally by the tube discharge guide member (41a) and discharged to a predetermined defective product discharge portion that deviates from the transport line. Needless to say, when the flat tube (W) determined to have a good surface condition (passed) is carried out from the downstream side of the surface inspection conveyor (10), the tube discharge guide member (41a) is advanced. The flat tube (W) is sent to a reversing unit (3) to be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 4, the reversing unit (3) includes a reversing device (31) disposed corresponding to the downstream end of the conveyor (10) in the surface inspection unit (1), and the reversing device. (31) and a conveyor (30) disposed on the lower side, and the reversing device (31) reverses the front and back (upper and lower) of the flat tube (W), and the reversed flat tube (W) It conveys to the downstream side by the conveyor (30).

  The reversing device (31) includes a cylindrical reversing shaft (32) and a reversing chute arranged from the upper side of the reversing shaft (32) from the upper side to the lower side through the other side. (35).

  The axis of the reversing shaft (32) is arranged in parallel to the transport line (tube length direction). Further, the reversing shaft (32) is arranged such that the upper part of the outer peripheral surface corresponds to the conveying surface of the surface inspection conveyor (10), and a flat tube (from the downstream side of the surface inspection conveyor (10)) W) is arranged at the upper part of the outer peripheral surface of the reversing shaft (32).

  The reversing shaft (32) is arranged in a state in which the shaft center is slightly shifted in one side direction (left side direction in FIG. 4) with respect to the conveying line in a plan view state. The flat tube (W) carried out from () is disposed at a position slightly displaced in the other direction (right side in FIG. 4) from the upper end position of the reversing shaft (32).

  Moreover, the area | region for about 1/4 circumference from an upper end part to an other side edge part is formed as a sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) among the outer peripheral surfaces of a reversing shaft (32), and the upper part of a reversing shaft (32) The flat tube (W) disposed at the position closer to the other side slides down in the other direction (right side in FIG. 4) along the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) by its own weight.

  In the present embodiment, the peripheral portion of the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) in the outer peripheral portion of the reversing shaft (32) is configured as the upper sliding guide member (33).

  The reversing chute (35) is a lower sliding guide having a substantially arc-shaped cross section that is disposed so as to cover the outer peripheral surface of the reversing shaft (32) from the outer end to the lower end. A member (36) and a vertical plate part (37) provided at the upper end of the lower sliding guide member (36) and extending vertically upward are provided.

  The inner peripheral surface of the lower sliding guide member (36) is configured as a sliding inner peripheral surface (36a). The radius of curvature of the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) is larger than the radius of curvature of the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) of the reversing shaft (32). Further, the distance between the inner circumferential surface (36a) of the sliding and the outer circumferential surface of the reversing shaft (32), in other words, the difference between the radius of curvature of the inner circumferential surface (36a) and the radius of the reversing shaft (32) is It is smaller than the width of the flat tube (W) and larger than the thickness (tube height) of the flat tube (W).

  The flat tube (W) transferred from the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) to the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) of the reversing shaft (32) is unilaterally along the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) by its own weight. It slides down (left side of FIG. 4).

  In the present embodiment, the central axis of curvature of the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) and the central axis of the reversing shaft (32) do not coincide with each other, and the upper end of the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) and the reversing shaft ( The distance between the lower end portion of the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) and the outer peripheral surface of the reversing shaft (32) is set smaller than the distance between the outer peripheral surface of 32).

  Here, the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) of the reversing shaft (32) is formed by a 1/4 outer peripheral surface inclined in an arc shape toward the other side direction, and the back surface side of the flat tube (W) is the sliding outer peripheral surface ( 33a) is guided along the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) with the back side facing inward (inner diameter direction) and the front side facing outward (outer diameter direction). Glide. Therefore, when the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) finishes sliding, the flat tube (W) is in a state where the front surface side is inclined in the other direction (right side in FIG. 4) and the back surface side is inclined in one side direction (left side in the same figure). .

  Moreover, since the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) of the reversing chute (35) is formed by a quarter inner peripheral surface inclined in an arc shape toward one side, the sliding outer peripheral surface ( The flat tube (W) slid down from 33a) to the sliding inner circumferential surface (36a) is grounded on the sliding inner circumferential surface (36a). Accordingly, since the surface side of the flat tube (W) is guided by the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a), the back surface of the flat tube (W) faces inward (inner diameter direction), and the surface side faces outward (outer diameter direction). In the state as it is, it slides along a sliding inner peripheral surface (36a). Therefore, at the time when the sliding inner peripheral surface (33) finishes sliding, the flat tube (W) is in a state where the front surface side faces downward and the back surface side faces upward.

  In this way, the flat tube (W) slides on the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) and the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a), so that the front and back are reversed, and in the inverted state, the flat tube (W) is discharged from the lower end of the reversing chute (35). Then, it is transferred to the upstream side of the conveyor (30).

  And the flat tube (W) arrange | positioned at the upstream of a conveyor (30) is conveyed downstream by the conveyor (30).

  Similar to the surface inspection unit (1), the back surface inspection unit (2) disposed downstream of the reversing unit (3) includes a back surface inspection conveyor (20) and back surface imaging devices (21) to (23). And. The back surface inspection conveyor (20) corresponds to the reversing part conveyor (30) and is arranged along the transport line, and the flat tube (W) carried out from the downstream side of the reversing part conveyor (30) is the back surface. It is transferred to the inspection conveyor (20).

  As described above, since the flat tube (W) is inverted by the reversing unit (3) so that the back surface side faces upward, the flat tube (W) It is transferred to the back surface inspection conveyor (20) and conveyed downstream along the conveyance line.

  The back imaging device is configured by a back center camera (21), a back side one camera (22), and a back side other camera (23) arranged in order from the upstream side along the transport line.

  As shown by the reference numerals in parentheses in FIG. 3, the back center camera (21) is the axis (conveyance line) of the flat tube (W) transported by the conveyor (20), similarly to the front center camera (11). The optical axis (imaging direction) is arranged vertically downward, so that the back (upper surface) intermediate region of the transported flat tube (W) can be imaged.

  The back side one camera (22) and the back side other camera (23) are located above one side and above the other side of the conveyor (20), similarly to the front side camera (12) and the front side camera (13). Each of the imaging directions (each optical axis) is disposed obliquely downward so as to face the one side edge and the other side edge of the flat tube (W) to be conveyed, respectively. The back side one side edge part and back side other side edge part of W) can each be imaged.

  The defective rear surface discharge device (42) is disposed on the side of the conveyance line on the downstream side of the rear surface inspection conveyor (20), and is provided with a tube discharge guide member (42a) that can be moved forward and backward with respect to the conveyance line. ing.

  The tube discharge guide member (42a) of the defective back surface discharge device (42) is retracted in the initial state and disposed at a position retracted from the transport line. When the flat tube (W) determined to be defective by the back surface inspection unit (2) is unloaded from the downstream side of the back surface inspection conveyor (20), the tube discharge guide member (42a) is conveyed. Advance on the line. As a result, the flat tube (W) with a defective back surface is guided laterally by the tube discharge guide member (42a) and discharged to a predetermined discharge portion that deviates from the transport line. Needless to say, the tube discharge guide member (42a) advances when the flat tube (W) determined to have a good back surface condition (passed) is unloaded from the downstream side of the back surface inspection conveyor (20). The flat tube (W) is sent to a discharge conveyor (40) which will be described later.

  The discharge conveyor (40) corresponds to the back surface inspection conveyor (20) and is arranged along the transfer line, and the flat tube (W) carried out from the downstream side of the back surface inspection conveyor (20) is a discharge conveyor. (40). The flat tube (W) thus transferred to the discharge conveyor (40) is conveyed downstream by the discharge conveyor (40) and sent to a predetermined acceptable product discharge section.

  The appearance inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a controller (not shown). By this controller, the inspection unit (1) (2), the reversing unit (3), the discharge conveyor (40), and the defective discharge apparatus (41) (42). ) And the like are controlled, and the operations described later are automatically performed. For example, the controller is configured by a personal computer or the like, and normally includes a sub-controller provided for each facility and a main controller that controls the sub-controllers to be integrated.

  Moreover, the controller can determine the quality of the appearance of the flat tube (W) based on information from the surface imaging devices (11), (12), and (12) of the surface inspection unit (1). That is, the controller performs flattening based on the image data of the tube surface intermediate region imaged by the surface center camera (11) and the image data of the tube surface both side edges imaged by the surface both-side cameras (12) (13). The quality of the appearance of the entire surface of the tube (W) is judged. For example, when the controller recognizes that each image data includes an abnormal portion such as a scratch having a predetermined size or more, the controller determines that the appearance state on the surface of the flat tube (W) is poor. . The partial image data acquired by the cameras (11), (12), and (13) are connected to create image data for the entire surface, and the appearance status of the entire surface is determined from the image data for the entire surface. You may make it judge.

  Further, the controller can determine the quality of the appearance state in the entire back surface based on information from the cameras (21), (22), and (23) of the back surface inspection unit (2) in the same manner as described above. .

  In the flat tube appearance inspection apparatus in the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, when an operation start command is given to the controller, an inspection is performed from a tube carry-in device (not shown) to the upstream side of the conveyor (10) in the surface inspection unit (1). A flat tube (W) as an object is carried in. At this time, the flat tube (W) is arranged such that its length direction coincides with the conveyance direction (conveyance line) of the conveyor (10).

  In addition, in this embodiment, when a flat tube (W) is carried in to a conveyor (10), in the flat tube (W), the surface (upper surface side) which faces upwards is made into a surface side, and the downward direction is made into The facing side surface (lower surface side) will be described as the back surface side.

  The flat tube (W) carried on the conveyor (10) is transported by the conveyor (10), and when the flat tube (W) passes through the area of the surface central camera (11), the surface central camera. By (11), the surface intermediate region of the flat tube (W) is imaged. Further, when the flat tube (W) passes through the respective regions of the front surface both-side cameras (12) and (13), the both side edges of the surface of the flat tube (W) are obtained by the front and rear surface cameras (12) and (13). Each region is imaged. On the other hand, based on the imaging data of the cameras (11), (12), and (13), as described above, the controller determines the quality of the appearance of the entire surface of the flat tube (W).

  When the surface state is determined to be defective (failed), as described above, the tube discharge guide member (41a) of the surface defect discharge device (41) advances and the guide member (41a). Thus, the flat tube (W) having a defective surface is discharged to a predetermined defective product discharge portion.

  When the surface condition is determined to be good (pass), the flat tube (W) carried out from the surface inspection conveyor (10) is closer to the other side of the reversing shaft (32) in the reversing unit (3). It is arranged at the position. As described above, the flat tube (W) disposed on the reversing shaft (32) extends along the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) of the reversing shaft (32) and the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a) of the reversing chute (35). Then, it slides down, the front and back are reversed, and discharged from the lower end of the reversing chute (35) to the conveyor (30).

  The flat tube (W) thus placed on the conveyor (30) is transported by the conveyor (30) in such a state that the back surface side is upward and the front surface side is downward, and the conveyor (20) of the back surface inspection unit (2) ).

  The flat tube (W) sent to the back surface inspection unit (2) is conveyed by the conveyor (20), and when the flat tube (W) passes through the region of the back surface central camera (21), the back surface center The camera (21) images the back center region of the flat tube (W). Further, when the flat tube (W) passes through the respective areas of the back-side cameras (22) and (23), the back-side cameras (22) and (23) cause both side edge areas of the back surface of the flat tube (W) to be changed. Each is imaged. On the other hand, based on the imaging data of each camera (21), (22), and (23), the quality of the appearance state in the entire back surface of the flat tube (W) is determined in the same manner as described above.

  If the back surface state is defective, the tube discharge guide member (42a) of the back surface defective discharge device (42) advances as described above, and the flat member with the back surface defect is developed by the guide member (42a). (W) is discharged to a predetermined defective product discharge section.

  When the back surface state is good, the flat tube (W) is sent from the back surface inspection conveyor (20) to the carry-out conveyor (40), and is discharged to a predetermined acceptable product discharge unit by the conveyor (40). .

  As described above, according to the flat tube appearance inspection apparatus in the present embodiment, the surface of the flat tube (W) is provided by the cameras (11), (12), and (13) arranged downward in the surface inspection unit (1). After the flat tube (W) is determined by the reversing unit (3), the flat tube (W) is captured by the cameras (21), (22), and (23) arranged downward in the back surface inspection unit (2). ) Is imaged, so that all cameras (11) to (13) (21) to (23) are imaged when imaging the entire peripheral surface from the front surface side to the back surface side of the flat tube (W). Can be placed downward. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent foreign matters such as dust and dust floating around the lens from being deposited on the converging lenses of the cameras (11) to (13) (21) to (23). A clean state can be maintained at all times, accurate image data can be obtained, and high inspection accuracy can be maintained.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the front surface side and the back surface side of the flat tube (W) are respectively imaged by three cameras, the entire area on the front surface side and the back surface side can be reliably imaged, and the tube The entire peripheral surface can be reliably inspected without omission, and the inspection accuracy can be further improved.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the two-sided camera (12) is tilted downwardly so as to face the both side edges of the flat tube (W) above both sides of the conveyors (10) and (20) in the inspection units (1) and (2). ) (13) (22) (23) are arranged so that both side edges of the flat tube (W) are imaged by the both side cameras (12) (13) (22) (23). Depending on the vertically downward central camera (11) (21), both side edges of the flat tube (W), which is difficult to image, can be reliably imaged, the entire circumferential surface of the tube can be more reliably inspected, and inspection accuracy is further improved. Can be improved.

  In the reversing unit (3) of the present embodiment, the flat tube (W) is slid by its own weight along the sliding outer peripheral surface (33a) and the sliding inner peripheral surface (36a), and the flat tube (W) is reversed. Therefore, power for tube reversal is unnecessary. Thus, since the power mechanism for tube inversion is not required, the structure can be simplified correspondingly. Furthermore, since the flat tube (W) can be reversed without power, inadvertent troubles associated with the power mechanism can be prevented, and operation reliability can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the appearance inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, after the surface inspection, the flat tube (W) is inverted and the back surface inspection is performed. Therefore, the back surface inspection can be performed under the same conditions as the surface inspection. For this reason, the front surface inspection unit and the back surface inspection unit can be formed in the same configuration, and by sharing the structure, maintenance performance such as maintenance and inspection can be improved, operability can be improved, and cost can be reduced. it can.

  In the above embodiment, the flat tube is inspected. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and in the present invention, any work can be inspected as long as it is a flat work.

  The workpiece inspection apparatus of the present invention can be used when inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of a flat workpiece.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance inspection apparatus of the flat tube which is embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the external appearance inspection apparatus of embodiment. It is a side view which shows the surface inspection unit applied to the external appearance inspection apparatus of embodiment. It is a side view which shows the inversion unit applied to the external appearance inspection apparatus of embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

10 ... Conveyor for surface inspection (Conveyor for surface inspection)
11 ... Surface center camera (surface center imaging means)
12 ... Front-side camera (front-side imaging means)
13 ... Front-side camera (front-side imaging unit)
20 ... Conveyor for back side inspection (Conveyor for back side inspection)
21 ... Back center camera (back center imaging means)
22 ... Back side one side camera (Back side one side imaging means)
23 ... Back side other side camera (Back side other side imaging means)
31 ... Reversing device W ... Flat tube (workpiece)

Claims (6)

A flat work visual inspection device for inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of a flat work,
A surface inspection transport machine that transports the work to the downstream side along the transport line with the surface side facing up,
A surface imaging device that is provided above the surface inspection transport machine and images the surface of a workpiece on the surface inspection transport machine;
A work reversing device for reversing the work carried out from the front surface inspection transport machine so that the back side faces upward;
A back surface inspection transport machine for transporting the work whose back side is directed upward by the work reversing device, to the downstream side along the transport line;
A flat work appearance inspection apparatus, comprising: a back surface imaging device that is provided above the back surface inspection transporter and images the back surface of the work on the back surface inspection transporter.   The flat work appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work has a long shape, and the work is arranged such that a length direction of the work is along the conveyance line.   The flat work appearance inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work reversing device is configured to reverse the work by its own weight. The surface imaging device is disposed obliquely downward facing the surface center imaging means arranged vertically downward, facing the workpiece surface, and one side edge and the other side edge of the workpiece surface side, respectively. A surface one side imaging means and a surface other side imaging means,
The back surface imaging device is disposed obliquely downward facing the surface center imaging means arranged vertically downward facing the work back surface, and one side edge and the other side edge of the work back side. The visual inspection apparatus for a flat workpiece according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a back side one-side imaging unit and a back side other-side imaging unit.   The flat work visual inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the work is constituted by a flat tube made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy and provided with a plurality of flow holes extending in the length direction in parallel. A method for inspecting the appearance of a flat work for inspecting the state of the front and back surfaces of the flat work,
A surface imaging step of imaging the surface of the workpiece by the surface imaging device from above the workpiece while conveying the workpiece to the downstream side along the conveyance line with the surface side facing upward,
A work reversing step of reversing the work carried out from the surface inspection transport machine by a work reversing device so that the back side is facing upward,
A flat work characterized by including a back surface imaging step of imaging the back surface of the work by a back surface imaging device from above the work while transporting the work with the back surface facing upward along the transport line. Visual inspection method.

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