JP2019048719A - Image processing apparatus for part feeder and part feeder - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an image processing apparatus for a part feeder which can highly maintain attitude discrimination accuracy of workpieces even for a plurality of workpieces in specific forms that are continuously conveyed, and to provide the part feeder.SOLUTION: When an attitude of a workpiece W is discriminated by subjecting image data in any one of a plurality of photographed images photographed by the area camera 2 at photographing intervals to image measurement processing, in the workpiece W with any one surface out of four surfaces having approximately rectangular shapes as feature surfaces for attitude discrimination, the area camera 2 can photograph at least mutually adjacent two surfaces out of the four surfaces of the workpiece W at the same time, and the control device 3 acquires color element information in a predetermined first region corresponding to one out of two surfaces of a workpiece body appearing on the image data and a predetermined second region corresponding to the other, detects the feature surfaces of the workpiece W based on a change in the color element information of the first region and a change in color element information of the second region, and discriminates the attitude of the workpiece W.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  According to the present invention, even in the case where a plurality of workpieces of a specific form are transported on the transport path without gaps, the longitudinal end portions of one workpiece are accurately discriminated, and the posture determination accuracy of the workpieces is high. The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for parts feeders that can be maintained and a parts feeder.

  2. Related Art In the related art, there is known a parts feeder capable of transporting a work, which is a transfer target such as an electronic component, to a predetermined supply destination along a transfer path (for example, Patent Document 1). The parts feeder disclosed in Patent Document 1 picks up an image of only one side of the workpiece conveyed along the conveyance path while facing the area camera, and determines the posture of the workpiece based on the obtained image data. Is configured. It is customary that the work determined to be a posture failure is rotated 90 degrees (reversed) in a predetermined direction on the conveyance path to be corrected in posture or removed from the conveyance path.

JP, 2013-39981, A

  By the way, as a work, for example, as shown in FIG. 14, electrodes W2 are respectively provided at both ends in the longitudinal direction, and one of four faces Wf1 of the work body W1 between these electrodes W2 and W2 is placed A feature plane W10 is formed for discrimination, and the other three planes Wf1 are non-feature plane W20 different in color from the feature plane W10.

  When performing posture determination on such a specific form of the work W, as shown in a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 15A, one side of the work W and the Erika camera 200 face each other and are not shown. Light is applied to the workpiece W from the light source to image the workpiece W, obtain image data in which one surface of the workpiece W and the electrode W2 appear, and determine whether the feature surface W10 appears in the image data It is conceivable to determine the posture of the work (1/4 sorting). For example, as shown in the plan view of a part of the parts feeder in FIG. 6B, of the works W (WA to WD) conveyed in the X direction, the works WB and WD with the feature surface W10 facing upward are If the posture is correct, the workpieces WA and WC whose non-feature surface W20 faces upward should be determined as a posture failure.

  Here, in order to improve the discharge capacity of the work W (the number of the work W per unit time transported to a predetermined supply destination), it is effective to transport the plurality of works W without opening a gap. is there.

  However, when a plurality of workpieces W of such a specific form are conveyed in succession without gaps, in the obtained image data, as shown in FIG. 6C, the boundary Wa between the adjacent electrodes W2 and W2 is discriminated. It becomes difficult to do so (in the figure, the boundaries that are difficult to distinguish are indicated by two-dot chain lines). In FIG. 6C, the electrode W2 is adjusted so as to appear dark. In addition, even when the electrode W2 is photographed brightly depending on how light from the light source is applied as shown in FIG. 7D, it is difficult to determine the boundary Wa between the electrodes W2 and W2. (In the figure, the boundaries that are difficult to distinguish are indicated by dashed-dotted lines). Therefore, it is not possible to accurately determine one workpiece W in image data, and there is a problem that the accuracy of posture determination by pattern matching or the like is lowered.

  Such a problem is not limited to the case where the electrode W2 is disposed at the longitudinal end Wa of the work W, and the work main body W1 and the light reflection efficiency of the work W at both longitudinal ends Wa This may also occur when using other members provided with different values.

  On the other hand, by adopting an area camera with high performance such as resolution, it becomes possible to capture a fine phase shape, clearly show the break between the workpieces W and W in the image data, and the longitudinal direction of the workpieces W Although it is conceivable to make the end distinguishable, such a high-performance camera is expensive and leads to an increase in the cost of the parts feeder.

  The present invention is intended to effectively solve such problems, and it is possible to use long devices without using an expensive apparatus even for a specific type of workpiece which is conveyed in a plurality of consecutive without gaps. It is an object of the present invention to provide an image processing apparatus for parts feeder and a parts feeder which can accurately determine the direction end and maintain high accuracy in determination of the posture of a workpiece.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention takes the following means.

  That is, the image processing apparatus for parts feeders of the present invention comprises an area camera which continuously photographs a work at a predetermined photographing interval at a predetermined place on a conveyance path, and a plurality of photographed images photographed at photographing intervals by this area camera A control device that determines the posture of the workpiece by performing image measurement processing on any of the image data, and the workpiece has four substantially rectangular surfaces, and any of the four surfaces The work body has one or more faces as feature faces for posture determination, the area camera can simultaneously image at least two of the four faces of the work body adjacent to each other, and the control device While acquiring color element information in a predetermined first area corresponding to one of two surfaces of a work body appearing in data and a predetermined second area corresponding to the other, color element information of the first area is required. Detect a characteristic surface of the workpiece based on the change information and the change of color element information of the second region, characterized in that to determine the orientation of the workpiece.

  With such a configuration, it is possible to simultaneously obtain image data in which two adjacent surfaces of the work main body appear with one camera. Further, the control device acquires color element information in a predetermined first area corresponding to one of the two surfaces of the work main body appearing in the image data and a predetermined second area corresponding to the other. Since the feature plane of the work is detected and the posture of the work is determined based on the change in color element information of the area and the change in color element information of the second area, at least one of the first area or the second area is a feature plane Since the workpiece feature plane can be detected from the change of the color element information of the first area and the change of the color element information of the second area because it corresponds to the plane other than the above, the posture of the work body is accurately determined. Can. Therefore, it is possible to maintain high accuracy in determining the posture of a workpiece, without using a high-performance and expensive camera, even for a plurality of workpieces of a specific form which are continuously transported without gaps. Therefore, it is not necessary to generate a trigger signal for detecting the position of each workpiece as in the prior art, and it is also necessary to consider the detection omission of each workpiece when the workpiece is transported in a connected manner. The entire configuration of the part feeder image processing apparatus can be simply configured because there is no need to form a gap between works in advance. In addition, in order to detect an image of a feature surface of a workpiece by performing image measurement processing on image data of any of a plurality of captured images captured by an area camera, the posture of the workpiece by processing the image data. Can be reliably determined. In addition, since it is sufficient to process only the image data of the feature surface of the workpiece among the plurality of captured images captured continuously, performing image measurement processing for determining the posture of the workpiece at high speed and with high accuracy it can.

  Further, in the image processing apparatus for parts feeder of the present invention, image measurement processing is performed in the first imaging range and the second imaging range set at different places in the conveyance direction on the conveyance path in the photographed image. The image measurement process of the image data of the first imaging range determines the posture of the first work imaged in the first imaging range by the image measurement process of the image data of the first imaging range, and the second process of the image measurement process of the image data of the second imaging range Preferably, the posture of the second workpiece imaged in the imaging range is determined.

Further, in the image processing apparatus for parts feeders of the present invention, the control device controls the posture of the first work on the conveyance path or the second imaging range according to the determination result regarding the first work in the first imaging range. Preferably, the posture of the second work on the transport path can be controlled in accordance with the result of the determination regarding the second work.

Preferably, the part feeder image processing apparatus of the present invention further includes setting means for changing the setting of the image measurement process executed by the control device.

Moreover, it is preferable that the parts feeder of this invention comprises the parts feeder main body provided with the conveyance path, the drive means to vibrate a conveyance path, and the image processing apparatus for parts feeders of said description.

  As described above, according to the present invention described above, based on the image data of the two surfaces of the work body acquired by the area camera, the control device changes the color element information of the first region corresponding to one of the two surfaces, By detecting the feature surface of the workpiece based on the change in the color component information of the second region corresponding to a plurality of workpieces of a specific form continuously transported without a gap by determining the posture of the workpiece Also, it is possible to provide an image processing apparatus for parts feeder and a parts feeder capable of maintaining high accuracy in determining the posture of a work without using an expensive apparatus.

The side view showing the parts feeder concerning one embodiment of the present invention. The perspective view which shows the workpiece | work which can be conveyed by the said parts feeder. Sectional drawing which cut | disconnects and shows the said parts feeder shown in FIG. 1 by cutting plane line III-III. The figure which shows the some workpiece | work conveyed along the conveyance path of the parts feeder from upper direction. The figure which shows typically the image data acquired by the said parts feeder. The figure for demonstrating the change of the brightness | luminance of the workpiece | work which appears in image data. A graph showing the brightness of each part of the work. The figure for demonstrating the average brightness | luminance of four area | regions of a workpiece | work main body. The figure for demonstrating the change of the brightness | luminance which appears in image data, when using another workpiece | work. A graph showing the brightness of each part of the work. The figure for demonstrating the average brightness | luminance of four area | regions of a workpiece | work main body. The timing chart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the parts feeder. The figure which shows the modification of this invention. The figure which shows an example of the workpiece | work used conventionally. The figure for demonstrating the subject of the conventional parts feeder.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the parts feeder 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention conveys a plurality of works W, which are conveyed articles, toward a supply destination (not shown) along the conveyance path 10 provided in the parts feeder main body 100. It is a thing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the parts feeder 100 according to the present embodiment has a work main body W1 having a substantially square pole-like shape with four substantially rectangular faces Wf1 and substantially square end faces Wf2 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the faces Wf1. And a workpiece W configured to have an electrode W2 as an end member provided respectively at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece body W1, which can be transported such that the longitudinal direction is parallel to the transport direction is there. The surface of the workpiece W1 is relatively uneven, while the surface of the workpiece W1 is relatively uneven. Therefore, the light reflection efficiency is different between the surface of the electrode W2 and the surface of the workpiece W1.

  Here, the light reflection efficiency represents the extent to which the light provided from the light source placed at a certain position is reflected by the surface of the object and is incident on the imaging device of the imaging means placed at another position. The thing with a high reflection efficiency means that the amount of light incident on the imaging device is relatively large among the light reflected thereto, and the one with a low reflection efficiency is an imaging device among the lights reflected thereto The amount of light incident on the light is relatively small. In addition, even if it is the same object, reflection efficiency may differ according to the position of a light source or an imaging means. In addition, the reflection efficiency also changes depending on the material and shape of the object to be exposed to light, surface roughness, and surface characteristics such as color. The difference in the reflection efficiency affects the appearance (color element) in image data obtained by imaging of the area camera 2. This point will be described in detail later.

  Further, among the four surfaces Wf1 of the work main body W1, one of the four surfaces Wf1 is formed with a characteristic surface W10 for posture determination having a light reflection efficiency different from that of the other three surfaces W20. The light reflection efficiency can be adjusted by the color and the surface shape, and in the present embodiment, one surface Wf1 of the work main body W1 having a relatively uneven surface is different in color and surface shape from the other three surfaces Wf1 The surface W10 is formed. On the characteristic surface W10, a substantially rectangular mark M for determining the posture of the work W in the front-rear direction is formed at a position where the longitudinal direction end Wa of the work W is deviated. The mark M and the non-mark portion W11 which is a portion other than the mark M in the feature surface W10 are configured in different colors, and the light reflection efficiencies are different from each other. The mark M has substantially the same reflection efficiency as the non-feature surface W20 which is the other three surfaces, and the non-mark portion W11 has substantially the same reflection efficiency as the electrode W2. The workpiece body W1 and the electrode W2 are slightly different in height. Further, as the work W, one in which the mark M is not formed on the feature surface W10 may be used.

  The parts feeder main body 100 is configured to include the transport path 10 and the drive means 11, and the plurality of works W on the transport path 10 are transported by vibrating the transport path 10 by the drive means 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the transport path 10 has a substantially V-shaped cross section orthogonal to the transport direction of the workpiece W, and simultaneously forms two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 of the four surfaces Wf1 of the workpiece body W1. As shown in the plan view of FIG. 4, a plurality of workpieces W can be transported without gaps in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction while contacting the other two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 obliquely upward.

  Above the transport path 10, an area camera 2 is provided as an imaging means as shown in FIG. 1, and the area camera 2 transports the work W (the extension direction of the transport path 10) and It has a plurality of high sensitivity imaging devices (complementary metal oxide semiconductors) aligned in the direction orthogonal to it, and performs imaging while applying light to the workpiece W from both sides in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece W from a light source (not shown). Therefore, the workpiece W can be imaged without causing a shadow due to the difference in height between the workpiece body W1 and the electrode W2 at these boundary portions. Further, in the present embodiment, the light source is disposed at a position where light is incident at a shallow angle with respect to the upper surface of the workpiece W, and the respective components of the workpiece W appearing in the image data will be described later. Color component information can be adjusted. The scan rate of the area camera 2 is about several tens of kHz, and is set to a sufficiently high speed with respect to the transport speed of the work W.

  The area camera 2 can use only part of the imaging elements (one row in the present embodiment) aligned orthogonal to the transport direction of the work W by the setting means 30 for imaging. The imaging range (imaging line) E of the area camera 2 is set to a range in which only a part of the workpiece W can be imaged in the transport direction and substantially the entire image can be imaged in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. Therefore, the area camera 2 can simultaneously image the two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 adjacent to each other of the workpiece body W1, and can obtain image data a to d as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

  Specifically, the image data a is obtained by imaging the electrode W2, and the electrode W2 appears relatively dark in the image data a. The image data b is obtained by imaging the vicinity of the boundary with the electrode W2 in the workpiece body W1, and the non-marked portion W11 appears relatively dark in the image data b, and the non-marked portion W11 of the workpiece body W1 is not imaged. The feature surface W20 appears relatively bright. Further, the image data c is obtained by imaging the mark M, and the non-mark portion W11 appears relatively dark in the image data c, and the mark M and the non-feature surface W20 appear relatively bright. Furthermore, the image data d is obtained by imaging a portion of the mark body W1 that does not correspond to the mark M. The non-mark portion W11 appears relatively dark in the image data d, and the non-feature surface W20 appears relatively bright. Depending on the posture of the work W, two non-feature planes W20 may appear in the image data, or the feature plane W10 may appear at the lower side in the figure. Note that it is also possible to make the electrode W2 appear bright depending on how the light from the light source is applied.

  The area camera 2 shown in FIG. 1 operates so as to continuously perform imaging at constant intervals before the workpiece W reaches the imaging position P1, and the workpiece W conveyed toward the downstream side passes the imaging position P1. Imaging is performed a plurality of times in between, and a plurality of image data in which different positions of the workpiece W appear over substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the workpiece W is acquired. The acquired image data is transferred to the control device (controller) 3 described later each time one imaging is performed. Since the above-described image data acquired by the area camera 2 has a smaller number of pixels and a smaller amount of data than the image data acquired by imaging using almost all the imaging elements of the area camera 2, FIG. The image can be immediately taken into the control device 3 through the image taking means 31 shown in FIG.

  The control device 3 shown in FIG. 1 is constituted by a usual microcomputer unit provided with a CPU, a memory, an interface and the like (not shown), and an appropriate program is stored in the memory. It plays a role as setting means 30, image taking means 31, pre-processing means 32, attitude determination means 33 and command output means 34 in cooperation with peripheral hardware resources.

  The image capturing means 31 captures image data acquired by the area camera 2 into the control device 3, and immediately captures image data each time the area camera 2 captures an image.

  The preprocessing unit 32 includes a binarization processing unit 32a, a detection unit 32b, and a composite image data generation unit 32c. When the image data is fetched through the image capturing unit 31, the binarization processing unit 32a As shown in FIG. 6, with respect to the first area 61, luminance data as color element information of the first area 61 corresponding to one of the two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 of the work main body W1 appearing in the image data. The luminance data of the second region 62 corresponding to the other of the two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 is sequentially acquired while being separated in a direction substantially orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the work W.

  Then, if the obtained luminance value is higher than the threshold value A, the luminance change data in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece W is generated as UP (1) and DOWN (0) if lower. In the present embodiment, the luminance value is DOWN (0) in the electrode W2 and the non-mark portion W11, and is UP (1) in the mark M and the non-feature surface W20.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, in both the first region 61 and the second region 62, the luminance value of the electrode W2 is DOWN (0), and the OR output becomes 0. Further, in a range not corresponding to the mark M in the work main body W1 (non-mark range N (see FIG. 6)), DOWN (0) is obtained in the first region 61 located on the feature surface W10 and located on the non-feature surface W20. In the second area 62, UP (1) is obtained and the OR output becomes 1. Furthermore, in the range corresponding to the mark M in the workpiece body W1 (the mark corresponding range M1 (see FIG. 6)), UP (1) in the first region 61 and UP (1) in the second region 62 are ORed. The output is 1 The positions of the first area 61 and the second area 62 in the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the work W are appropriately set so as to overlap the mark M when the feature plane W10 appears in the image data.

  The detection unit 32 b determines a change in luminance corresponding to the workpiece body W <b> 1 based on the luminance change data. Specifically, when the OR output of one area 61 (62) and the other area 62 (61) changes from 0 to 1 in the detection unit 32b, it is on the downstream side (forward side in the traveling direction) of the workpiece W in the transport direction. It is determined that it corresponds to the boundary between the electrode W2 and the workpiece body W1 (the end W10a on the downstream side of the workpiece body 1 in the transport direction). In addition, when the OR output of one area 61 (62) and the other area 62 (61) changes from 1 to 0, the detection unit 32b is an electrode on the upstream side (rear side in the traveling direction) of the workpiece W in the transport direction. It is determined that it corresponds to the boundary between W2 and the work body W1 (the end W10a on the upstream side in the transport direction of the work body W1).

  In this manner, when the end W10a of the work body W1 is detected, the composite image data generation unit 32c connects the image data in the order of imaging, and two-dimensional image data in which substantially the entire work W appears Generate composite image data. The composite image data generation unit 32c estimates the acquired image of the electrode W2 section before and after the work body W1 from the setting value and scan rate, lens magnification, and CMOS light receiving element size that become the actual size of the work body W1 and the electrode W2. It is possible to combine an image of one work of. If there is image data in which substantially the entire work body W1 appears, posture determination processing described later is possible, so the composite image data generation unit 32c does not show the electrode W2 as composite image data, and the work body W1 The whole of the symbol may generate what appeared.

  The posture determination means 33 determines the posture of the work W based on such composite image data. Specifically, the posture determination means 33 divides the workpiece main body W1 appearing in the composite image data into two at the center in the transport direction, and further divides the workpiece body W1 into two in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. (1-1 region, 1-2 region, 2-1 region, 2-2 region). Then, a threshold is provided such that the average luminance of the area where the mark M exists is UP (1) and the average luminance of the other areas is DOWN (0), each area is binarized, and the four areas Whether the work W is good or not with respect to a preset posture is determined based on the correlation of FIG. 8 describes all the patterns of the correlation of the four areas when using the workpiece W. Specifically, the downstream side (front side) of the transport direction of the first area 61 or the upstream side of the transport direction ( In the case where the mark M appears on the back side is the correct posture, it is possible to discriminate one quarter of the patterns shown in a and b of FIG. If one that appears on the downstream side (front side) in the transport direction is set as the correct posture, it is possible to perform 1/8 sorting by judging only the pattern of FIG. Also in the case where a workpiece in which the mark M is not formed on the feature surface W10 is used, it is possible to perform quarter sorting with substantially the same idea.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the pattern matching based on detection and area division of the workpiece body W1 using such luminance has approximately the same light reflection efficiency between the mark M and the electrode W2, and the non-mark portion W11 Even if it is workpiece | work W 'which has a reflection efficiency comparable as non-feature surface W20, it can detect correctly.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, the workpiece W 'becomes UP (1) in the first region 61 in the range (non-mark range N) of the workpiece body W1 which does not correspond to the mark M, and the second region 62 Becomes UP (1) and the OR output becomes 1. Further, in the mark corresponding range M1, DOWN (0) is obtained in the first area 61, UP (1) is obtained in the second area 62, and the OR output becomes 1. Therefore, when the OR output of both areas 61 and 62 changes from 0 to 1 in the detection unit 32b, the boundary (workpiece W) between the electrode W2 and the work body W1 located on the downstream side (forward side in the traveling direction) of the work W in the transport direction It is determined that it corresponds to the end W10a) on the downstream side of the main body W1 in the transport direction. In addition, when the OR output of both areas 61 and 62 changes from 1 to 0, the detection unit 32b determines that the boundary between the electrode W2 and the workpiece body W1 on the upstream side (rear side in the traveling direction) of the workpiece W in the transport direction. It is determined that it corresponds to the end W10a) on the upstream side of the work body W1 in the transport direction.

  Further, when the posture determination means 33 determines that the mark M appears on the downstream side (front side) in the transport direction of the first region 61 or on the upstream side (rear side) in the transport direction, the patterns a and b in FIG. If it is determined that the product is good and one quarter sorting can be performed and if the mark M appears on the downstream side (front side) of the work main body W in the transport direction is the correct posture, the pattern of FIG. It is judged that only the product is non-defective and 1/8 sorting can be performed.

  As described above, the image pickup means 31, the pre-processing means 32, and the posture determination means 33 constitute the image processing apparatus 8 for parts feeder of the present invention for determining the posture of the work W.

  When the posture determination means 33 determines that the posture determination means 33 has an inappropriate posture (incorrect posture), the command output means 34 is at the posture correction position P2 set in the conveyance path 10 with respect to the posture correction means 5 shown in FIG. A command for rotating (rotating) the work W on the transport path 10 by 90 ° about an axis parallel to the transport direction is output. This command is transmitted after a predetermined time has elapsed on the basis of a point in time when the detection unit 32b detects a specific portion (end W10a in the longitudinal direction, etc.) of the workpiece W. This eliminates the need for a trigger for command output. This eliminates the need for fiber sensors for synchronization triggers and holes for synchronization. The posture correction means 5 has an air jet nozzle 50 as a biasing force application unit for jetting compressed air toward the posture correction position P2 set downstream of the area camera in the conveyance direction, from the air jet nozzle 50. A biasing force is applied to the workpiece W by the compressed air that has been jetted, and the workpiece W is rotated by 90 ° on the transport path 10 to change its posture. The air injection nozzle 50 is formed, for example, by a hole provided in the side wall 10 a of the conveyance path 10, and compressed air is injected by inputting an energization command as the command.

  The operation of the parts feeder 100 configured as described above will be described with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG. In the following, an operation is described from when one work W having an inappropriate posture is imaged by the area camera 2 to when the posture correction means 5 corrects the posture.

  When the workpiece W transported on the transport path 10 is imaged at time t01, the image data acquired thereby is immediately captured (transferred) through the image capturing means 31, and the image data is preprocessed The means 32 performs pre-processing. Among the pre-processing, the detection unit 32b detects a portion corresponding to the boundary between the workpiece body W1 and the electrode W2 (the end W10a in the longitudinal direction of the workpiece body W1) at time t02 from the luminance change data. Even after imaging at time t01, imaging is sequentially performed at predetermined intervals, and each time capturing of image data and preprocessing are performed immediately. Then, at time t03, the composite image data generation unit 32c starts generating composite image data, and performs posture determination processing (pattern matching based on area division) by the posture determination unit 33 until time t04 based on the composite image data. Note that the processing up to time t03 can be performed by hardware (for example, an FPGA (field-programmable gate array)) in addition to being performed by software, and the processing after time t03 is a program stored in memory It is done softly by executing. After that, the command output unit 34 is controlled such that the energization command is output at time t05 when the standby time tα has elapsed from time t02. And thereby, compressed air is injected from the air injection nozzle 50 of the posture correction means 5, and the urging | biasing force by air acts on the workpiece W at time t06 when transmission time td passes from time t05. If it is determined that the workpiece W subjected to the posture determination processing is an appropriate posture and that the predetermined posture is determined by the posture determination processing, the posture for correcting the workpiece W on the transport path 10 is corrected. Processing (output of energization command and injection from the air injection nozzle 50) is not performed.

  Thus, the posture of the work W is corrected and supplied to the supply destination.

  As described above, the part feeder image processing apparatus 8 according to the first embodiment forms a substantially square prism by the four substantially rectangular faces Wf1 and the end faces Wf2 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the four faces Wf1. The workpiece W1 is provided on the work body W1 having a characteristic surface W10 for posture determination in which the light reflection efficiency is different from that of the other three surfaces Wf1, and the end face Wf2 of the workpiece body W1. A part that can be imaged by the area camera 2 while transporting the work W having the surface Wf1 and the electrode W2 as an end member having different light reflection efficiencies in a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the work 10 along the transport path 10 It is applied to the feeder 1 and has a plurality of imaging elements as the area camera 2 and at least two mutually adjacent surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 of the four surfaces Wf1 of the workpiece body W1 are identical to each other. The posture of the workpiece W is selected based on the image capturing means 31 for capturing image data acquired by the area camera 2 and the image data captured by the image A work W is provided in a predetermined first area 61 corresponding to one of the two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 appearing in the image data and a predetermined second area 62 corresponding to the other, provided with an attitude determination means 33 for determining. The color element information is obtained over substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the workpiece, and the longitudinal end W10a of the workpiece body W1 is obtained based on the color element information of the first area 61 and the color element information of the second area 62. It detects, and it is comprised so that the attitude | position of the workpiece | work W may be discriminate | determined.

  With such a configuration, one area camera 2 can simultaneously acquire image data in which two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 adjacent to each other of the workpiece body W1 appear, and an image captured through the image capturing means 31 From the data, the color element information of the first area 61 and the second area 62 is acquired by the posture determination means 33 over substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the workpiece W. Since at least one of the first region 61 or the second region 62 corresponds to the non-feature surface W20, in the case where the non-mark portion W11 of the feature surface W10 and the electrode W2 have similar reflection efficiency Even in this case, the change in color element information by the electrode W2 is detected based on the change in color element information in the first area 61 and the change in color element information in the second area 62, and the longitudinal direction of the workpiece body W10 is detected. The end Wa of can be accurately determined. If the longitudinal end of the workpiece W can be determined, one workpiece W can be cut out to obtain composite image data in which one workpiece W appears, and the posture can be accurately determined based on the composite image data. Discrimination can be made. Therefore, the posture determination accuracy of the workpiece W can be maintained high without using a high-performance and expensive camera even for a plurality of workpieces W in a specific form which are continuously transported without gaps.

  In addition, the feature camera W has a mark M for discriminating the posture of the work W in the front-rear direction at a deviated position in the longitudinal direction of the work W, and the area camera 2 selects one work W in the transport direction. It is possible to capture almost all of the image of only the part in the direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction, sequentially capture the workpiece W transported along the transport path 10, and obtain a plurality of image data for each workpiece W , And further includes preprocessing means 32 for connecting the image data captured by the image capturing means 31 in the order of imaging to generate composite image data, changing the color element information corresponding to the electrode W2, and the mark M The resolution of the area camera 2 is increased by identifying the change in the color element information corresponding to the feature plane W10 including the above and determining the position of the mark M based on the composite image data. And without the position of the longitudinal end portions Wa and the mark of the work W to accurately determine the attitude of the workpiece W can be accurately determined.

  In particular, among the plurality of imaging devices included in the area camera 2, the configuration further includes a setting unit 30 configured to use only a part of the imaging devices in a row orthogonal to the transport direction for imaging. The workpiece W transported along the transport path 10 by the set imaging device is only a part of the workpiece W in the transport direction, and substantially the entire imaging range in the direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction The image is sequentially captured at E, and a plurality of image data can be acquired for each work.

  With such a configuration, the number of pixels of image data acquired by the area camera 2 in one imaging operation can be reduced, so that the acquisition speed (transfer speed) by the image acquisition means 31 can be improved, and one work can be performed. It is possible to speed up the transport of the work W by shortening the time from imaging to posture determination processing for W. Therefore, by utilizing the area camera 2 generally used in general, while achieving the above-mentioned effect that can maintain the posture determination accuracy at a high level, speedup of the posture determination processing is also realized, and a plurality of works W In addition to being able to convey each other without gaps, the processing capability of the workpiece W can be greatly improved.

  Furthermore, the parts feeder 1 of the present invention uses the above-described image processing apparatus 8 for parts feeders, and has a parts feeder main body 100 having a transport path 10 by which the work W is transported, and a plurality of imaging elements. An area camera 2 provided at a position capable of simultaneously imaging at least two surfaces Wf1 and Wf1 adjacent to each other among the four surfaces Wf1 of the workpiece body W1, and an image capturing means 31 for capturing image data acquired by the area camera 2 Since the image capture means 31 includes the posture determination means 33 for determining the posture of the work W using the image data taken in, a plurality of specific forms of the sheet conveyed continuously without gaps are provided. Also for the work W, the posture determination accuracy of the work W can be maintained high without using a high-performance and expensive camera.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, the specific structure of each part is not limited only to embodiment mentioned above.

  For example, in the parts feeder 100 of the above embodiment, only one row of imaging elements is used for imaging in the area camera 2, but as shown in FIG. An imaging range of the first imaging element group is set by setting an imaging element group and a second imaging element group forming a line orthogonal to the conveyance direction downstream of the first imaging element group in the conveyance direction. Imaging line) A workpiece W located in an imaging range (second imaging line) EL2 of the second imaging element group EL1 or the second imaging element group is configured to be imaged. EE indicates the imaging range of the area camera 2 when all imaging elements are used. The posture correction means 5 has two air jet nozzles 50a and 50b, and one air jet nozzle 50a is positioned between the imaging range EL1 of the first imaging element group and the imaging range EL2 of the second imaging element group The other air jet nozzle 50b may be provided downstream of the imaging range EL2 of the second imaging element group in the transport direction. As a result, the posture determination means 33 (see FIG. 1) performs the posture determination process based on the image data acquired by the first imaging element group, and as a result, for the work W determined to be an inappropriate posture. The posture correction is performed using one air jet nozzle 50a, and the posture determination processing is performed again based on the image data acquired by the second imaging element group. The posture correction process is performed on the work W determined to be the incorrect posture in the second posture determination process using the other air injection nozzle 50b.

  The area camera 2 narrows its field of view when the resolution is increased, for example, to clearly show the gap between the workpieces W and W. However, the present invention detects the end W10a of the workpiece body W1 in the longitudinal direction. Since it is not necessary to increase the resolution, it is possible to perform posture determination processing on one work W a plurality of times using one area camera 2. In addition, even when a plurality of spaces for camera installation can not be secured, posture determination processing can be suitably performed on a single work W a plurality of times.

  In addition, the area camera 2 uses an area scan mode in which all the imaging elements (or a part of the imaging elements included in the area camera 2) are used for imaging, and some imaging elements arranged orthogonal to the transport direction (this embodiment) In this case, it is possible to switch to the line scan mode in which only one row is used for imaging, and when the longitudinal direction end Wa or the like of the workpiece W is detected by the detection unit 32b (see FIG. 1) when setting the line scan mode, area scan Almost the entire work W may be imaged in the mode, and the posture determination process may be performed based on not the composite image data but the image data acquired in the area mode.

  Further, from the two faces Wf1 adjacent to each other appearing in the image data, it is possible to obtain the estimated number of times of inversion necessary to achieve the predetermined posture, and perform the posture correction processing accordingly. For example, assuming that the feature plane W10 appears in the first area 61 and the posture is correct, if the feature plane W10 does not appear in the second area 62, posture correction processing is performed at least twice. Since it is understood that it is necessary to perform such processing as rotating the work W twice before the next posture determination, the number of times of imaging can be up to 3 or 2 times. Can be reduced to

  In the above embodiment, although the preprocessing unit 32 performs preprocessing such as immediate binarization processing each time image data is captured by the image capturing unit 31, loading of one work W is completed. After that, it may be configured to perform binarization processing and image combination, which are pre-processing, on all image data in which the work W has appeared.

Furthermore, although the image data acquired by the area camera 2 is combined in the above embodiment,
The determination may be performed without being combined.

  Furthermore, the imaging device group is not limited to one in which the imaging devices are arranged in only one row, and in the range in which the effects of the present invention are exhibited, two or more adjacent imaging devices are arranged in the transport direction of the work W It may be one. Further, instead of the Erica camera 2, a line camera may be used as an imaging unit. Furthermore, not only the workpiece W provided with the electrodes W2 on both end surfaces Wf2 of the workpiece main body W1 but also other members having different light reflection efficiency from the workpiece main body W1 are provided as the workpiece W on the both end surfaces Wf2 of the workpiece main body W1. Even in the case of the second embodiment, the posture determination process can be suitably performed. Further, although luminance is used as color element information in the above embodiment, another detection value such as saturation or illuminance may be used. Furthermore, as the workpiece W, a workpiece having a workpiece body W1 in which the direction orthogonal to the transport direction is the longitudinal direction may be used.

  Other configurations can be variously modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Part feeder 2 ... Area camera 8 ... Image processing apparatus 10 for parts feeders ... Transportation path 30 ... Setting means 31 ... Image taking means 32 ... Preprocessing means 33 ... Attitude determination means 61 ... First area 62 ... Second area E ... Imaging range M ... Mark W, W '... Work W1 ... Work body W2 ... End Part member (electrode)
W10 ··· Feature surface W10a ··· End of workpiece body Wa ··· Longitudinal end of workpiece Wf1 ··· Surface Wf2 ··· End surface

Claims (5)

Image measurement processing on image data of any one of a plurality of photographed images photographed at the photographing interval by the area camera, and an area camera which continuously photographs the workpiece at a predetermined photographing interval at a predetermined place on the conveyance path A control device for determining the posture of the work by applying
The workpiece has four substantially rectangular surfaces, and has a workpiece body having any one of the four surfaces as a feature surface for posture determination, and the area camera comprises the workpiece body And at least two adjacent surfaces of the four surfaces can be simultaneously imaged, and the control device is configured to: a first predetermined area corresponding to one of the two surfaces of the work main body appearing in the image data; While acquiring color element information in a predetermined second area corresponding to the other, the feature surface of the work is determined based on the change in color element information in the first area and the change in color element information in the second area. An image processing apparatus for a parts feeder, which detects and determines the posture of the work. Image data of the first imaging range is subjected to the image measurement processing in the first imaging range and the second imaging range set at different places in the conveyance direction on the conveyance path in the captured image. While determining the posture of the first work taken in the first imaging range by the image measurement process, and the second imaging range by the image measurement process of the image data of the second imaging range 2. The image processing apparatus for parts feeder according to claim 1, wherein the posture of the imaged second work is determined. The control device relates to the posture of the first work on the conveyance path or the second work in the second imaging range according to the determination result on the first workpiece in the first imaging range. 3. The image processing apparatus for parts feeder according to claim 2, wherein an attitude of the second work on the conveyance path can be controlled in accordance with a determination result. The image processing apparatus for a parts feeder according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising setting means for changing the setting of the image measurement process executed by the control device. It comprises the parts feeder main body provided with the said conveyance path, the drive means to vibrate the said conveyance path, The image processing apparatus for parts feeders as described in any one of Claims 1-4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Parts feeder.

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