JP2018205199A - Foreign matter inspection device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a foreign matter inspection device capable of accurately detecting a foreign matter even in a nebula solution such as an eye drop.SOLUTION: A foreign matter inspection device is configured so that, for inspecting a foreign matter which is precipitated on a liquid bottom in an analyte in an inspection object container 105, a spin pedestal base 103 is provided on a bottom of the inspection object container 105, and an image of a bottom of the analyte reflected on a mirror 104 is imaged with a camera 102. Using illumination 101, light is radiated from an obliquely upper side of the analyte in the inspection object container 105, and by the camera 102, a first image of a bottom face of the inspection object container 105 is acquired. Then, by a spin of the spin pedestal base 103, the analyte is rotated, after the rotation, light is radiated from the illumination 101 again for acquiring a second image of the bottom face of the inspection object container 105. An image processing part 106 performs difference processing of the first and second images of the analyte acquired, then, by the difference image, a foreign matter which is precipitated on a bottom face of the inspection object container 105 is accurately detected.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a foreign matter inspection apparatus, and relates to a technique for inspecting foreign matter in a liquid such as a cloudy solution filled in a transparent container such as an ampoule or a vial.

  Conventionally, when inspecting a foreign substance in a liquid filled in a transparent container, for example, using a foreign substance automatic inspection apparatus as shown in Patent Document 1, after rotating the transparent container and making it stand still, a camera, a sensor, etc. Thus, foreign matter inspection is performed such as detecting foreign matter floating in the inertially rotating liquid in the transparent container.

JP 2010-210315 A

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, foreign substances floating in the liquid can be detected while distinguishing from the scratches on the transparent container itself. There is a problem that it is difficult to accurately detect the precipitated foreign matter by rolling it up.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and provide a foreign substance inspection apparatus and method capable of accurately detecting a foreign substance even in the case of a cloudy solution such as eye drops.

  In the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, a foreign matter inspection apparatus for inspecting a foreign matter in a subject of a container to be examined, the base for rotating the subject of the subject to be examined, and a lower part of the base A mirror, a camera that images the bottom of the subject of the examination target container reflected on the mirror, an image processing unit that processes a video signal of the camera, and an illumination that irradiates the subject of the examination target container with light. The first image of the subject is photographed by irradiating light, and then the subject is rotated by the pedestal, and after the rotation, the second image of the subject is photographed by re-illumination of the illumination. Provided is a foreign matter inspection apparatus configured to inspect the presence or absence of foreign matter by comparing a first image and a second image.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a foreign matter inspection method for inspecting a foreign matter in a subject of a container to be examined, wherein the subject in the subject container is rotated by irradiating light with illumination. Take a first image of the bottom of the subject in the examination container reflected in a mirror placed under a possible pedestal, then rotate the subject and, after rotation, re-illuminate the subject in the examination container Provided is a foreign matter inspection method for taking a second image at the bottom and comparing the first image and the second image by an image processing unit to inspect for the presence or absence of foreign matter.

  According to the present invention, foreign matter can be detected with high accuracy even in the case of a cloudy solution such as eye drops.

It is a figure which shows an example of schematic structure of the foreign material inspection apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of operation timing of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an image processing unit of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the flowchart of operation | movement of the foreign material inspection apparatus which concerns on Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the test | inspection rotor of the foreign material inspection apparatus which concerns on Example 1,2. It is a figure which shows an example of schematic structure of the foreign material inspection apparatus which concerns on Example 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of operation timing of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an image processing unit of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a flowchart of an operation of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the individual spin motor of the foreign material inspection apparatus which concerns on Example 1,2.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be sequentially described with reference to the drawings.

  Example 1 is a foreign substance inspection apparatus that inspects a foreign substance in a subject of a container to be examined, a pedestal that rotates the subject of the container to be examined, a mirror installed at a lower part of the pedestal, and an examination reflected on the mirror A camera that images the bottom of the subject in the target container, an image processing unit that processes a video signal of the camera, and an illumination that irradiates light to the subject in the examination target container. The first image is taken, and then the subject is rotated by the pedestal, and after the rotation, the second image of the subject is taken by re-irradiation of the illumination. It is an Example of the foreign material inspection apparatus and method of the structure which compares the image and test | inspects the presence or absence of a foreign material.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a schematic configuration of a foreign substance inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, where (a) shows a side view of the apparatus and (b) shows a view seen from above. In the figure, 101 is an illumination, 102 is a camera for inspecting bottom foreign matter, 103 is a transparent spin base such as glass, 104 is a mirror, and 105 is a container to be inspected. The inspection target container 105 placed on the spin pedestal 103 is irradiated with light from the illumination 101 controlled by the illumination control unit 107. Then, an image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 reflected by the mirror 104 is captured by the camera 102, and the image signal is sent to the image processing unit 106 and processed. The image processing unit 106 and the illumination control unit 107 can be realized, for example, by executing a program of a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer that controls the foreign substance inspection apparatus.

  In the bottom foreign object inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, a high-intensity illumination 101 is preferably used in order to accurately inspect heavy-weight foreign substances that have settled on the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105. In addition, since the illumination 101 needs to be placed below the liquid level of the liquid filled in the inspection target container 105, and the angle of the illumination 101 needs to be inclined, the illumination 101 has a variable illumination height mechanism 108. Installed on.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of the operation timing of the bottom vision foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, 201 is a container (when the first image of the bottom image is taken), 202 is a container (when the spin is rotating forward), 203 is a container (when the spin is rotating backward), 204 is a container (when the second image of the bottom image is taken) ) And 205 are foreign matters. Further, the vertical axis of the timing chart of FIG.

  As shown in this operation timing, the illumination 101 is caused to emit light, and the first image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 is captured by the camera 102. An image of the first image is shown as a container 201 (when the first image of the bottom image is imaged) 201. Thereafter, the spin rotation speed of the spin pedestal 103 is varied, and the container 105 is spun. As a result, it was shown as a container (at the time of spin normal rotation) 202 and a container (at the time of spin reverse rotation) 203. Since the container (during reverse rotation of the spin) 203 is rotated in reverse spin at the same angle as the previous spin normal rotation, the container (during the second image of the bottom image) 204 is taken of the container (image of the first image of the bottom surface). Hour) It returns to the same angle and position as 201.

  Thereafter, as in the previous case, the illumination 101 is caused to emit light, and the second image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 is captured by the camera 12. The image of the second image is shown as a container 204 (when the second image of the bottom image is imaged) 204. The captured images of these containers 201 and 204 are sequentially stored in a storage device (not shown). The approximate processing time in the configuration of the present embodiment is from the first imaging to the container (spin forward rotation) 202, from the container (spin forward rotation) 202 to the container (spin reverse rotation) 203, and from the container (spin reverse rotation) 203. From the first to the second image pickup, each time was about 20 ms.

There are the following four points in the configuration / operation of the bottom-sight foreign object inspection apparatus of the present embodiment.
(1) In order to make transparent foreign objects easy to see, the illumination height variable mechanism 108 is used to irradiate light obliquely from one side of the subject in the inspection target container 105 to create a foreign object shadow 205 on the bottom surface of the container. The movement of the foreign object shadow 205 is detected.
(2) By using a transparent spin pedestal 104 such as glass, the field of view of the entire bottom of the container to be inspected 105 is secured and the blind spot is reduced.
(3) The first image is photographed before rotating the container to be inspected 105, and the second image is photographed again after normal rotation and return rotation. And the inspection accuracy is raised by performing the differential inspection.
(4) The first shooting and the shooting after spinning are performed at the same angle (video at the same position).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the image processing unit 106 of the present embodiment performs the difference inspection between the first photographed image and the second photographed image on the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 after the series of processing is completed due to the above-described difference inspection. Process. In this figure, 301 is an image of the difference processing result of the first photographed image and the second photographed image, and the image processing unit 106 indicates that a foreign object is mixed if there is a difference between the difference images 301. to decide.

  In the present embodiment, by performing such difference processing, a difference method is realized in which slight movement of the foreign matter is captured by the difference image 301 and scratches and dust on the container are not captured.

FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the operation of the bottom foreign object inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment described above. As shown in the figure, the operation based on this flowchart is as follows.
Step 401: Illumination light emission, first image capturing is performed.
Step 402: Pedestal spin forward rotation is performed.
Step 403: The base spin reverse rotation is performed.
Step 404: Illumination emission and second image capturing are performed.
Step 405: Difference processing between the first and second sheets is performed.
Step 406: Foreign matter detection processing of the difference image is performed.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of the inspection rotor of the foreign matter inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment. As can be seen from the drawing, the inspection rotor 501 is introduced into the inspection rotor 501 in which a plurality of the spin pedestals 103 of the foreign object inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment are installed, and the inspection wheel 501 is introduced into the supply port by the star wheel 502. Rotating, transporting the inspection object container 105, and spinning on the spin pedestal 103 of the inspection rotor 501 based on the above-described steps 401-404, the light source 101 installed in the vicinity of the supply port, and a camera for inspecting the bottom vision foreign matter In step 102, imaging is performed. By disposing the bottom-view foreign matter inspection camera 102 of this embodiment near the beginning of the inspection rotor 501, that is, in the vicinity of the supply port, the foreign matter on the bottom of the container 105 to be inspected can be inspected before floating. .

  As described above, the first shooting and the shooting after spinning require images at the same angle and the same position. In order to perform a series of photographing processes while rotating the spin pedestal 103 during conveyance and to reproduce the position with high accuracy, an individual spin motor 504 as an example shown in FIG. 10 can be preferably used. In the figure, 503 is a rotating shaft fixed to the mirror 104, 505 is an angle detector of the spin motor 504, and the spin motor 504 and the angle detector 505 are operated by the motor control unit not shown in FIG. Control is performed to implement the flowchart.

  According to the configuration of the present embodiment, even in the case of a cloudy solution such as an eye drop, it is possible to accurately detect a heavy foreign substance that has precipitated on the bottom surface of the container.

  Next, a foreign substance inspection apparatus and method according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. In the description of the present embodiment, the description of the common parts with the above-described first embodiment will be omitted, and the description will focus on differences from the first embodiment.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of a schematic configuration of the foreign matter inspection apparatus of the present embodiment. FIGS. 6A and 6B are a side view and a view from above, respectively. In the foreign matter inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 using the first illumination height variable mechanism and the first camera, the second illumination height variable mechanism 109 and the second illumination height mechanism 109 A camera 110 is added, and the lights 101 and 110 are alternately emitted from both sides of the inspection target container 105.

  FIG. 7 illustrates an example of operation timing of the bottom-sight foreign object inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment. As shown in the figure, first, as in the first embodiment, the illumination 101 is emitted and the camera 102 takes the first image of the bottom surface of the container 105 to be inspected. The image of the first image is shown as a container 701 (when the first image of the bottom image is imaged) 701. Reference numeral 707 denotes a foreign object shadow. Thereafter, the second illumination 110 is caused to emit light, and a second image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 is captured by the camera 102. The image of the second image is shown as a container 702 (when the first image of the bottom image is imaged) 702.

  Next, as in the first embodiment, the inspection target container 105 is skinned. As a result, it was shown as a container (during spin rotation) 703 and a container (during spin reverse rotation) 704. The container (during reverse rotation of the spin) 704 performs reverse rotation of the spin at the same angle as the previous spin normal rotation, so the container (during reverse rotation of the spin) 704 becomes the container (during the first image of the bottom image) 701 Returning to the same angle and position. Then, the illumination 101 is re-emitted and the third image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 is captured by the camera 102. The image of the third image is shown as a container (when the third image of the bottom image is imaged) 705. Thereafter, the second illumination 110 is caused to emit light, and a fourth image of the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 is captured by the camera 102 for inspecting the foreign object in the bottom view. The image of the fourth image is shown as a container (when the fourth image of the bottom image is imaged) 706.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8, the image processing unit 106 according to the present exemplary embodiment performs difference processing for the first captured image and the third captured image on the bottom surface of the inspection target container 105 and the captured image 2 for the difference inspection. Difference processing is performed between the first image and the fourth captured image. In the figure, 801 is the difference processing result of the first captured image and the third captured image, 802 is the image of the difference processing result of the second captured image and the fourth captured image, and the image processing unit 106 If there is a difference between the difference images 801 and 802, it is determined that a foreign object is mixed.

  In the foreign matter inspection apparatus that performs the bottom-view foreign matter inspection of the present embodiment, by performing such a difference process, the difference image 801, 802 catches slight movement of the foreign matter, and the difference method does not catch the container scratches and dust. Is realized.

FIG. 9 shows an example of a flowchart of the operation of the foreign substance inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the operation based on this flowchart is as follows.
Step 901: Perform first illumination emission and first image pickup.
Step 902: Second illumination emission and second image capturing are performed.
Step 903: Pedestal spin forward rotation is performed.
Step 904: The pedestal spin is reversely rotated.
Step 905: First illumination light emission and third image capturing are performed.
Step 906: Second illumination light emission and fourth image pickup are performed.
Step 907: Difference processing is performed on the first and third sheets.
Step 908: Difference processing is performed on the second and fourth sheets.
Step 909: Perform a foreign object detection process on the difference image.

  By performing a series of operation processing flows of the present embodiment, a difference method is realized in which slight movement of foreign matter on the bottom surface is captured by capturing and photographing light on both sides of the container to be inspected, and the container does not capture scratches and dust. be able to.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to an above-described Example, Various modifications are included. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Further, it is possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.

101,110 lighting
102 Camera
103 Spin base
104 mirror
105 Container to be inspected
106 Image processor
107 Lighting control unit
108,109 Variable illumination height mechanism
201-204,701-706 Container
205 Foreign object shadow
301,801-802 Difference image
501 Inspection rotor
502 Starfoil
503 Drive shaft
504 Spin motor
505 angle detector

Claims (8)

A foreign matter inspection apparatus for inspecting foreign matter in a subject of a container to be examined,
A pedestal for rotating the subject of the examination object container;
A mirror installed at the bottom of the pedestal;
A camera for photographing the bottom of the subject of the examination object container reflected on the mirror;
An image processing unit for processing a video signal of the camera;
Illumination for irradiating light on the subject of the examination object container,
Taking a first image of the subject by irradiating light with the illumination,
Then rotate the subject by the pedestal,
After rotation, take a second image of the subject by re-illuminating the illumination,
The image processing unit compares the first image with the second image to inspect for the presence of the foreign matter.
Foreign matter inspection apparatus characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 1,
The camera shoots the shadow of the foreign matter on the bottom of the subject of the examination target container as the first image and the second image,
Foreign matter inspection apparatus characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 2,
An inspection rotor capable of mounting a plurality of the pedestals;
The camera is placed at the very beginning of the inspection rotor;
Foreign matter inspection apparatus characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 2,
An illumination height moving mechanism capable of moving the illumination vertically;
Foreign matter inspection apparatus characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 2,
The illumination is switched from both sides of the subject of the examination object to irradiate light,
Foreign matter inspection apparatus characterized by the above. A foreign matter inspection method for inspecting foreign matter in a subject of a container to be examined,
Irradiate light with illumination, and take a first image of the bottom of the subject of the examination target container reflected in a mirror installed under a rotatable pedestal of the subject of the examination target container,
Thereafter, the subject is rotated, and after rotation, a second image of the bottom of the subject in the examination container is taken by re-irradiation of the illumination,
Compare the first image and the second image in an image processing unit to inspect for the presence of the foreign matter,
A foreign matter inspection method characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection method according to claim 6,
As the first image and the second image, the shadow of the foreign matter on the bottom of the subject of the examination container is photographed,
A foreign matter inspection method characterized by the above. The foreign matter inspection method according to claim 7,
The illumination is irradiated with light by switching from both sides of the subject of the examination container,
Shooting a third image and a fourth image separately from the first image and the second image,
The image processing unit inspects the presence or absence of the foreign matter using the first image, the second image, the third image, and the fourth image.
A foreign matter inspection method characterized by the above.

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