JP2020197408A - Attitude inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an attitude inspection device with which it is possible to improve the accuracy of inspection while suppressing an increase in the number of images required for inspection.SOLUTION: A camera simultaneously captures images of corner parts P2, P1 of a pair of electrodes 20A, 20B adjacent to each other in a conveyance direction. Meanwhile, an information acquisition unit acquires position information of the corner parts P2, P1. In this case, the information acquisition unit can simultaneously acquire the position information of the corner part P1 downstream of the upstream-side electrode 20B in the conveyance direction and the position information of the corner part P2 upstream of the downstream-side electrode 20A in the conveyance direction. Thus, by simultaneously acquiring the position information of the adjacent corner parts P2, P1 in a single image, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of images required for inspection.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a posture inspection device.

Conventionally, as a posture inspection device for inspecting the posture of a sheet body such as an electrode transported by a transport unit, a device using image recognition technology is known. Specifically, the entire sheet body on the transport unit is photographed by a camera (CCD camera). Then, the inclination of the sheet body is calculated based on the boundary line detected from the obtained image. However, in order to photograph the entire sheet body and accurately specify the position of the boundary line indicating the sheet body on the image, for example, it is necessary to use a camera having a relatively high resolution of 1 million pixels or more. In this case, there is a problem that the amount of image data becomes large and the processing time until the calculation of the inclination becomes long. On the other hand, the one described in Patent Document 1 is known to photograph a part of the sheet body. In this posture inspection device, the corners of the four corners of the seat body are photographed by a camera, and the posture of the seat body is inspected based on the positional relationship of each corner.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-039939

In the posture inspection device as described above, since the posture is inspected after photographing the four corners of the sheet body, there is a problem that the number of images required for the inspection is increased. Therefore, it has been required to improve the accuracy of the inspection while suppressing the increase in the number of required images.

An object of the present invention is to provide a posture inspection device capable of improving the accuracy of inspection while suppressing an increase in the number of images required for inspection.

The posture inspection device according to one aspect of the present invention is a posture inspection device that inspects the posture of an individual sheet body conveyed by the transfer unit, and is based on an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the sheet body and an image. The image acquisition unit includes a determination unit for determining the posture of the sheet body, and the image acquisition unit simultaneously captures images of the corner portions of a pair of sheet bodies adjacent to each other in the transport direction and acquires the position information of the corner portions. The determination unit determines the inclination of the sheet body based on the position information of the corner portion on the upstream side in the transport direction and the position information of the corner portion on the downstream side in the sheet body per sheet.

In this posture inspection device, the determination unit determines the inclination of the sheet body based on the position information of the corner portion on the upstream side in the transport direction and the position information of the corner portion on the downstream side in the sheet body per sheet. To do. Here, the image acquisition unit simultaneously captures an image of the corner portions of the pair of sheet bodies adjacent to each other in the transport direction, and acquires the position information of the corner portions. In this case, the image acquisition unit obtains the position information of the downstream corner of the sheet body on the upstream side in the transport direction and the position information of the corner on the upstream side of the sheet body on the downstream side in the transport direction from one image. And can be obtained at the same time. In this way, by storing adjacent corners in one image and acquiring position information at the same time, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of images required for inspection. Further, even if the increase in the number of images is suppressed, the determination unit makes a determination based on the position information of the corners on both sides in the transport direction, so that the posture can be inspected with high accuracy. From the above, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the inspection while suppressing the increase in the number of images required for the inspection.

The determination unit may determine the pitch of a pair of sheet bodies adjacent to each other in the transport direction. As a result, the determination unit can determine the pitch at the same time as the inclination of the seat body.

The determination unit may determine the inclination of the sheet body based on the difference in coordinates between the corner portion on the upstream side and the corner portion on the downstream side in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. As a result, the determination unit can easily determine the inclination of the seat body.

The transport unit is provided with a suction conveyor that sucks and transports the sheet body, and regularly arranged suction holes are formed on the suction surface of the suction conveyor, and the determination unit is based on the arrangement of the suction holes. The inclination of the body may be determined. In this case, the determination unit can make a determination from the arrangement of the suction holes in consideration of the positional relationship between the suction conveyor and the image acquisition unit.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a posture inspection device capable of improving the accuracy of inspection while suppressing an increase in the number of images required for inspection.

It is sectional drawing which shows the inside of the power storage apparatus manufactured by applying the electrode inspected by the posture inspection apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. It is a schematic side view which shows the structure of the electrode manufacturing apparatus which includes the posture inspection apparatus. It is a figure which shows the electrode. FIG. 5 (a) is a diagram showing a state of the electrodes conveyed by the suction conveyor, and FIG. 5 (b) is an enlarged view of an image of the photographing range of FIG. 5 (a). ) Is a view showing the state of the electrodes conveyed by the suction conveyor, and FIG. 5 (d) is an enlarged view of the image of the photographing range of FIG. 5 (c).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the inside of a power storage device manufactured by applying an electrode inspected by the posture inspection device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of FIG. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the power storage device 1 is a lithium ion secondary battery having a laminated electrode assembly.

The power storage device 1 includes, for example, a case 2 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and an electrode assembly 3 housed in the case 2. The case 2 is made of a metal such as aluminum. Although not shown, a non-aqueous (organic solvent-based) electrolytic solution is injected into the case 2. The positive electrode terminal 4 and the negative electrode terminal 5 are arranged on the case 2 so as to be separated from each other. The positive electrode terminal 4 is fixed to the case 2 via the insulating ring 6, and the negative electrode terminal 5 is fixed to the case 2 via the insulating ring 7. Further, an insulating film is arranged between the electrode assembly 3 and the inner side surface and the bottom surface of the case 2, and the case 2 and the electrode assembly 3 are insulated by the insulating film. In FIG. 1, for convenience, a slight gap is provided between the lower end of the electrode assembly 3 and the bottom surface of the case 2, but in reality, the lower end of the electrode assembly 3 is inside the case 2 via an insulating film. Is in contact with the bottom of the. Further, in order to reduce the rattling of the electrode assembly 3 in the stacking direction of the electrode assembly 3, several spacers are arranged in the gap between the electrode assembly 3 and the case 2. The number of spacers is appropriately adjusted according to the thickness of the electrode assembly 3.

The electrode assembly 3 has a structure in which a plurality of positive electrodes 8 and a plurality of negative electrodes 9 are alternately laminated via a bag-shaped separator 10. The positive electrode 8 is wrapped in a bag-shaped separator 10. The positive electrode 8 in a state of being wrapped in the bag-shaped separator 10 is configured as a positive electrode 11 with a separator. Therefore, the electrode assembly 3 has a structure in which a plurality of positive electrodes 11 with separators and a plurality of negative electrodes 9 are alternately laminated. The electrodes located at both ends of the electrode assembly 3 are negative electrodes 9.

The positive electrode 8 has, for example, a metal foil 14 which is a positive electrode current collector made of an aluminum foil, and a positive electrode active material layer 15 formed on both sides of the metal foil 14. The metal foil 14 has a rectangular foil main body portion 14a in a plan view and a tab 14b integrated with the foil main body portion 14a. The tab 14b projects from the edge of the foil body 14a near one end in the longitudinal direction. The tab 14b penetrates the separator 10. The plurality of tabs 14b extending from the plurality of positive electrodes 8 are connected (welded) to the conductive member 12 in a foil-collected state, and are connected to the positive electrode terminals 4 via the conductive member 12. In FIG. 2, tab 14b is omitted for convenience.

The positive electrode active material layer 15 is formed on both the front and back surfaces of the foil main body portion 14a. The positive electrode active material layer 15 is a porous layer formed by containing the positive electrode active material and the binder. Examples of the positive electrode active material include composite oxides, metallic lithium, sulfur and the like. Composite oxides include, for example, at least one of manganese, nickel, cobalt and aluminum and lithium.

The negative electrode 9 has, for example, a metal foil 16 which is a negative electrode current collector made of copper foil, and a negative electrode active material layer 17 formed on both sides of the metal foil 16. The metal foil 16 has a rectangular foil main body portion 16a in a plan view and a tab 16b integrated with the foil main body portion 16a. The tab 16b projects from the edge of the foil body 16a near one end in the longitudinal direction. The tab 16b is connected to the negative electrode terminal 5 via the conductive member 13. In FIG. 2, tab 16b is omitted for convenience.

The negative electrode active material layer 17 is formed on both the front and back surfaces of the foil body portion 16a. The negative electrode active material layer 17 is a porous layer formed by containing the negative electrode active material and the binder. Examples of the negative electrode active material include graphite, highly oriented graphite, mesocarbon microbeads, carbon such as hard carbon and soft carbon, alkali metals such as lithium and sodium, metal compounds, and SiOx (0.5 ≦ x ≦ 1.5). ) And other metal oxides or boron-added carbon and the like.

The separator 10 has a rectangular shape in a plan view. Examples of the material for forming the separator 10 include a porous film made of a polyolefin resin such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), or a woven fabric or a non-woven fabric made of polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), methyl cellulose and the like. ..

The thickness of the metal leaf 14 of the positive electrode 8 and the metal leaf 16 of the negative electrode 9 is, for example, 20 μm or less. As the thickness of the metal foils 14 and 16 is reduced, the thickness of the positive electrode active material layer 15 or the negative electrode active material layer 17 can be increased within the same volume, and the capacity of the battery can be increased. Therefore, the thicknesses of the metal foils 14 and 16 are set thin as long as there is no problem in manufacturing.

When manufacturing the power storage device 1 configured as described above, first, the positive electrode 11 with a separator and the negative electrode 9 are manufactured, and then the positive electrode 11 with a separator and the negative electrode 9 are alternately laminated to form a laminated body. The electrode assembly 3 is obtained by fixing the positive electrode 11 with a separator and the negative electrode 9 after the positive electrode 11 with a separator and the negative electrode 9 are brought into close contact with each other by pressurizing the laminate. Then, after connecting the tab 14b of the positive electrode 11 with a separator to the positive electrode terminal 4 via the conductive member 12, and connecting the tab 16b of the negative electrode 9 to the negative electrode terminal 5 via the conductive member 13, the electrode assembly 3 is connected to the case. It is housed in 2.

Next, the electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 including the posture inspection apparatus 100 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view showing the configuration of the electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 including the posture inspection apparatus 100. The electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 is an apparatus for manufacturing an electrode 20 (sheet body) having active material layers on both sides of a metal foil. The electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 manufactures the electrode 20 while transporting the member that is the material of the electrode 20 in the transport direction D1. The electrode 20 manufactured by the electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 may be either a positive electrode 8 or a negative electrode 9. Further, the electrode 20 in the present embodiment is completed by being pressed by the press section 22 described later. However, here, for the sake of simplicity, even if the member is not pressed, the member formed in the shape of the electrode 20 at the cut portion is referred to as "electrode 20". The press unit 22 is not an essential configuration for the electrode manufacturing apparatus 150. For example, if the material of the electrode 20 (the base material described later) is pressed, the pressing after cutting the base material into the electrode 20 can be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 includes a cutting portion 21, a pressing portion 22, a processing unit 23, transport units 24 and 26, and a posture inspection device 100. In the following description, the direction in which the electrode 20 is conveyed is defined as the transport direction D1, and the direction parallel to the suction surface and orthogonal to the transport direction D1 is defined as the width direction D2.

The electrode manufacturing apparatus 150 cuts out an electrode from a base material in an apparatus configuration described later. In the entire production line of the power storage device 1 described above, for example, on the upstream side of the electrode production apparatus 150, a base material for forming an active material layer (to be exact, an active material layer precursor) on both sides of a strip-shaped metal foil is produced. The device is provided, and on the downstream side, a laminating device for laminating the manufactured electrodes, an assembling device for assembling the power storage device 1 from the laminated body of the electrodes and a case, and the like are provided.

The cutting portion 21 forms an individual electrode 20 by cutting a strip-shaped base material. For example, the cutting portion 21 may be configured as a rotary die-cut type cutting device including a pair of rollers. In this case, the strip-shaped base material is conveyed in the longitudinal direction of the base material so as to pass between the pair of rollers of the cutting portion 21. The cutting portion 21 sandwiches the base material with a pair of rollers and cuts the base material with the blade portion to form individual electrodes 20. However, the cut portion 21 may have a structure other than the rotary die-cut method as long as the electrode 20 can be formed.

Here, the electrode 20 will be described with reference to FIG. The electrode 20 has a rectangular shape including edge portions 20a and 20b facing each other in the lateral direction and edge portions 20c and 20d facing each other in the longitudinal direction. The edges 20a and 20b and the edges 20c and 20d are orthogonal to each other. The electrode 20 has a tab 20e protruding from the edge 20a. The vicinity of the tab 20e and the edge portion 20a is an uncoated portion in which the active material is not coated. The shape of the electrode 20 may be opposite in the lateral direction and the longitudinal direction. Further, the uncoated portion may be only the tab 20e.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting section 21 sends the cut electrode 20 to the transport section 24. The electrode 20 is sent out from the cutting portion 21 in a state where the tab 20e protrudes in the width direction D2 (see FIG. 5A). The transport unit 24 transports the electrode 20 delivered from the cutting portion 21 in the transport direction D1. The transport unit 24 is composed of suction conveyors 24A and 24B, and can transport the electrode 20 in a state where the electrode 20 is sucked on the suction surface F. The transport unit 24 supplies the electrode 20 to the press unit 22. The suction conveyor 24A on the upstream side has a suction surface F on the lower surface side. The suction conveyor 24B on the downstream side has a suction surface F on the upper surface side. The suction conveyor 24A includes a belt 24b spanned by rollers 24a at the upstream end and the downstream end in the transport direction D1. The belt 24b is a member formed in an annular shape by connecting the ends of a strip-shaped sheet having a plurality of suction holes formed therein. On the opposite side of the suction surface F of the belt 24b, a suction box 24c for generating a suction force on the suction surface F is provided. As a result, the electrode 20 is sucked into the suction box 24c via the suction surface F, so that the electrode 20 is carried in the transport direction D1 in a state of being sucked by the suction surface F. The suction conveyors 24B, 26A, and 26B have the same configuration as the suction conveyor 24A.

The pressing unit 22 presses the electrode 20. The press unit 22 includes a pair of press rollers. The press unit 22 presses the electrode 20 with a pair of press rollers. The electrode 20 is pressed by passing between the pair of press rollers. The press unit 22 sends the pressed electrode 20 to the transport unit 26.

The transport unit 26 transports the electrode 20 delivered from the press unit 22 in the transport direction D1. The transport unit 26 is composed of suction conveyors 26A and 26B, and can transport the electrode 20 in a state where the electrode 20 is sucked on the suction surface F. The transport unit 26 supplies the electrode 20 to the processing unit 23. The suction conveyor 26A on the upstream side has a suction surface F on the lower surface side. The suction conveyor 26B on the downstream side has a suction surface F on the upper surface side. The processing unit 23 is a place where a predetermined processing is performed using the electrode 20 after pressing. In the processing unit 23, for example, a laminated body is manufactured by laminating a plurality of electrodes 20. When the electrode 20 is the positive electrode 8, the positive electrode 11 with a separator is manufactured by wrapping the positive electrode 8 with a separator.

Next, the posture inspection device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the electrode 20. FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a state of the electrode 20 conveyed by the suction conveyor 24A. FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of the image of the photographing range DE of FIG. 5A. FIG. 5C is a diagram showing a state of the electrode 20 conveyed by the suction conveyor 24A. FIG. 5 (d) is an enlarged view of the image of the photographing range DE of FIG. 5 (c). The posture inspection device 100 is a device that inspects the posture of the individual electrodes 20 transported by the transport units 24 and 26. The posture inspection device 100 includes cameras 50A, 50B, 50C (image acquisition units) and a control unit 200.

The camera 50A photographs the electrode 20 on the suction surface F on the lower surface side of the suction conveyor 24A. The camera 50A is arranged below the conveyor 24A so as to face the suction surface F of the suction conveyor 24A. The camera 50B photographs the electrode 20 on the suction surface F on the upper surface side of the suction conveyor 24B. The camera 50B is arranged above the suction conveyor 24A so as to face the suction surface F of the suction conveyor 24B. The camera 50C photographs the electrode 20 on the suction surface F on the lower surface side of the suction conveyor 26A. The camera 50C is arranged below the suction conveyor 26A so as to face the suction surface F of the suction conveyor 26A. As described above, the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C acquire an image of the electrode 20 being conveyed and transmit the image to the control unit 200.

As shown in FIG. 5, the photographing range DE of the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C is set to a position where the corner portions P1 and P2 of the electrode 20 can be photographed. The imaging range DE is set to a position and size that can simultaneously include the corners P2 of the electrodes 20A and the corners P1 of the electrodes 20B that are adjacent to each other in the transport direction D1. As a result, the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C can simultaneously capture images of the corner portions P1 and P2 of the pair of electrodes 20A and 20B adjacent to each other in the transport direction D1.

The control unit 200 is composed of a CPU, RAM, ROM, an input / output interface, and the like. The control unit 200 determines the control content based on the detection signal from each sensor in the device and the program stored in the ROM, and performs drive control of each drive unit and various control processes via each control unit. .. The control unit 200 does not have to be composed of one processing device, and may be composed of a plurality of processing devices. In the present embodiment, the control unit 200 includes an information acquisition unit 201 (image acquisition unit) and a determination unit 202.

The information acquisition unit 201 acquires images transmitted from the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C. Further, the information acquisition unit 201 acquires the position information of the corner portions P1 and P2 of the electrode 20 in order to inspect the posture of the electrode 20. Here, the information acquisition unit 201 extracts the corner portions P1 and P2 of the electrode 20 from the image and detects the coordinates of the corner portions P1 and P2. Here, each corner of the electrode 20 according to the present embodiment is chamfered. Therefore, the information acquisition unit 201 extracts the intersection of the extension line of the edge portion 20d on the downstream side in the transport direction D1 and the extension line of the edge portion 20b on the opposite side of the tab as the corner portion P1 of the electrodes 20. Further, the information acquisition unit 201 detects the coordinates “X1, Y1” of the corner portion P1. The information acquisition unit 201 extracts the intersection of the extension line of the edge portion 20c on the upstream side in the transport direction D1 and the extension line of the edge portion 20b on the opposite side of the tab as the corner portion P2 of the electrodes 20. Further, the information acquisition unit 201 detects the coordinates “X2, Y2” of the corner portion P2.

As a supplement, the information acquisition unit 201 recognizes the electrode 20 and the surface of the transport unit in the background as different regions due to the difference in brightness in the image, and detects the boundary line between the regions. Then, on the upstream side in the transport direction in the image, the boundary line extending in the width direction D2 is the edge portion 20d on the downstream side of the electrode 20, and the boundary line extending in the transport direction D1 is the edge portion 20b on the opposite side to the tab. The information acquisition unit 201 may detect the boundary line by combining the difference in color or the difference in brightness and color instead of the brightness. Further, the detection of the boundary line and the extraction (calculation) of the coordinates of the corner portions P1 and P2 may be performed on the determination unit side.

In the example shown in FIG. 5A, when the leading electrode 20A is conveyed by the suction conveyor 24A, the camera 50A photographs the corner P1 at the timing when the corner P1 of the electrode 20A enters the imaging range DE. I do. Then, the information acquisition unit 201 detects the coordinates “X1, Y1” of the corner portion P1 of the electrode 20A (see FIG. 5B). Next, when the electrode 20A advances and the second electrode 20B is conveyed by the suction conveyor 24A, the camera 50A determines the timing at which the corner P2 of the electrode 20A and the corner P1 of the electrode 20B enter the imaging range DE. The corners P2 and P1 are photographed at the same time. Then, the information acquisition unit 201 detects the coordinates “X2, Y2” of the corner portion P2 of the electrode 20A, and also detects the coordinates “X1, Y1” of the corner portion P1 of the electrode 20B (see FIG. 5D). .. The camera 50A and the information acquisition unit 201 perform photographing and coordinate detection on the second and subsequent electrodes 20 at the same timing. That is, after the information acquisition unit 201 detects the coordinates of the corner portion P1 on the downstream side of the specific electrode 20, the information acquisition unit 201 can detect the coordinates of the corner portion P2 on the upstream side of the electrode 20 at the next shooting.

The determination unit 202 determines the posture of the electrode 20 based on the image. The determination unit 202 determines the inclination of the electrode 20 based on the position information of the corner portion P2 on the upstream side and the position information of the corner portion P1 on the downstream side in the transport direction D1 among the electrodes 20 per electrode. Specifically, the determination unit 202 determines the inclination of the electrode 20 based on the coordinate difference "Y2-Y1" in the width direction D2 between the corner portion P2 on the upstream side and the corner portion P1 on the downstream side.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the electrode 20 is tilted at an inclination angle θ with respect to the reference line SL1 parallel to the transport direction D1, the coordinate “Y1” in the width direction D2 of the corner portion P1 and the width direction of the corner portion P2. The positions of D2 with the coordinate "Y2" are offset from each other. Therefore, since the difference "Y2-Y1" becomes larger as the inclination angle θ becomes larger, the determination unit 202 can determine how large the inclination is based on the difference "Y2-Y1". The determination unit 202 sets a threshold value for the difference "Y2-Y1" in advance, and when the difference "Y2-Y1" exceeds the threshold value, determines that the posture test of the electrode 20 has failed. You may go. The electrode 20 determined to be unacceptable may be collected by a collection unit (not shown). Alternatively, since the length L of the electrode 20 in the longitudinal direction is known in advance, the determination unit 202 can calculate the inclination angle θ from the relationship between the length L and the difference “Y2-Y1”. The determination unit 202 may make a determination by setting a threshold value with respect to the inclination angle θ. The determination unit 202 may simultaneously determine the deviation of the electrode 20 in the width direction D2 by determining whether or not the coordinates "Y1" and "Y2" are within a predetermined range.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5C, by simultaneously photographing the corner portions P1 and P2, the determination unit 202 has a large pitch of the pair of electrodes 20A and 20B adjacent to each other in the transport direction D1 from the image. Can be grasped. Therefore, the determination unit 202 may determine the pitch of the pair of electrodes 20A and 20B. The determination unit 202 determines the pitch by setting a threshold value for the coordinate difference "X2-X1" in the transport direction D1 between the corner portion P2 of the electrode 20A and the corner portion P1 of the electrode 20B.

Further, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5B, suction holes 24d regularly arranged in the width direction D2 are formed on the suction surface F of the suction conveyor 24A. Therefore, the determination unit 202 may determine the inclination of the electrode 20 based on the arrangement of the suction holes 24d. Specifically, the determination unit 202 or the information acquisition unit sets the reference line SL2 based on the arrangement of the suction holes 24d in the image. When the reference line SL2 is inclined with respect to the width direction D2, it can be seen that the camera 50A is installed in an inclined state with respect to the suction conveyor 24A. That is, even if the electrode 20 is not actually tilted with respect to the suction conveyor 24A, if the camera 50 is tilted, the electrode 20 is displayed in a tilted state in the image. Therefore, the determination unit 202 determines the inclination of the electrode 20 after correcting the image by the inclination of the reference line SL2 of the suction hole 24d.

The control unit 200 performs the same posture inspection as described above using the images obtained by the cameras 50B and 50C. However, the posture test may be performed at least at any position of the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C.

Next, the operation / effect of the posture inspection device 100 according to the present embodiment will be described.

In the posture inspection device 100, the determination unit 202 determines the electrode 20 based on the position information of the corner portion P2 on the upstream side and the position information of the corner portion P1 on the downstream side in the transport direction D1 among the electrodes 20 per electrode. Judge the slope of. Here, the cameras 50A, 50B, and 50C simultaneously capture images of the corner portions P2 and P1 of the pair of electrodes 20A and 20B adjacent to each other in the transport direction D1. Further, the information acquisition unit 201 acquires the position information of the corner portions P2 and P1. In this case, the information acquisition unit 201 can obtain the position information of the downstream corner P1 of the upstream electrode 20B in the transport direction D1 and the upstream corner of the downstream electrode 20A in the transport direction D1 from one image. The position information of the part P2 can be acquired at the same time. In this way, by storing the adjacent corner portions P1 and P2 in one image and acquiring the position information at the same time, it is possible to suppress an increase in the number of images required for inspection. Further, even if the increase in the number of images is suppressed, the determination unit 202 makes a determination based on the position information of the corner portions P1 and P2 on both sides in the transport direction D1, so that the posture can be inspected with high accuracy. .. From the above, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the inspection while suppressing the increase in the number of images required for the inspection.

For example, even when a camera with a low resolution is used, it is necessary to have a pixel density that can accurately identify the position of the boundary line near the boundary. Therefore, it is necessary to narrow the shooting range with a camera having a low resolution. In this case, if the inclination of the electrode 20 is determined only by the image in a narrow range, an error is likely to occur. For example, if an attempt is made to determine the inclination only by the edge portion 20d or the edge portion 20b in the image shown in FIG. 5B, an error is likely to occur. On the other hand, if a wide range of the electrodes 20 is used for photographing, the number of images will increase. On the other hand, the posture inspection device 100 of the present embodiment simultaneously photographs adjacent corners P1 and P2 and determines the inclination of the electrode 20 from the position information of the corners P1 and P2, so that the determination can be made accurately with a small number of images. It can be performed. In addition, since it is possible to use a low-resolution camera (for example, 100,000 pixels or less) while ensuring inspection accuracy, the processing speed of the control unit 200 can be increased, and tact-up can be supported. Become. In addition, the cost of the camera can be reduced and the size can be reduced. In addition, when performing posture inspection by detecting only one corner in one image, if the transport speed is increased or the pitch is lowered, other electrodes are reflected in the image, and false detection is likely to occur. Become. Compared to this, since the posture inspection device 100 according to the present embodiment is set to detect a pair of electrodes at the same time, there is no problem of unexpected reflection as described above, and the transfer speed can be increased. It is possible to cope with low pitch.

The determination unit 202 determines the pitch of the pair of electrodes 20A and 20B adjacent to each other in the transport direction D1. As a result, the determination unit 202 can determine the pitch at the same time in addition to the inclination of the electrodes 20A and 20B.

The determination unit 202 determines the inclination of the electrode 20 based on the coordinate difference "Y2-Y1" in the width direction D2 between the corner portion P2 on the upstream side and the corner portion P1 on the downstream side. As a result, the determination unit 202 can easily determine the inclination of the electrode 20.

The transport unit 24 includes a suction conveyor 24A that sucks and conveys the electrode 20, and regularly arranged suction holes 24d are formed on the suction surface F of the suction conveyor 24A, and the determination unit 202 has a suction hole 24d. The inclination of the electrode 20 is determined by reflecting the arrangement of. In this case, the determination unit 202 can make a determination by correcting the positional relationship (inclination) between the suction conveyor 24A and the camera 50A from the arrangement of the suction holes 24d.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

For example, the electrode manufacturing apparatus to which the posture inspection apparatus is applied is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, and may be appropriately changed. Further, the posture inspection device may be adopted in a device other than the electrode manufacturing device.

In the above-described embodiment, the electrode is illustrated as an individual sheet body, but the present invention is not particularly limited. For example, a laminated sheet body in which an electrode and a separator are combined, an electrode unit coated with a separator active material, or the like may be adopted as an individual sheet body.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the electrode having a tab is exemplified as the individual sheet body, but the electrode may not have a tab protruding from the rectangular main body portion. For example, the overall shape of the electrode may be rectangular, and one side (one end) may be an unpainted portion.

20 ... Electrode (sheet body), 24, 26 ... Conveying unit, 24A, 24B, 26A, 26B ... Suction conveyor, 50A, 50B, 50C ... Camera (image acquisition unit), 201 ... Information acquisition unit (image acquisition unit), 202 ... Judgment unit, 100 ... Posture inspection device.

Claims (4)

A posture inspection device that inspects the posture of individual sheets transported by the transport unit.
An image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the sheet body,
A determination unit for determining the posture of the seat body based on the image is provided.
The image acquisition unit simultaneously captures an image of a pair of corner portions of the sheet body adjacent to each other in the transport direction, and acquires position information of the corner portions.
The determination unit determines the inclination of the sheet body based on the position information of the corner portion on the upstream side in the transport direction and the position information of the corner portion on the downstream side of the sheet body per sheet. Posture inspection device. The posture inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the determination unit determines the pitch of a pair of the sheet bodies adjacent to each other in the transport direction. The determination unit determines the inclination of the sheet body based on the difference in coordinates between the corner portion on the upstream side and the corner portion on the downstream side in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, claim 1 or 2. The posture inspection device described in. The transport unit includes a suction conveyor that sucks and transports the sheet body.
Regularly arranged suction holes are formed on the suction surface of the suction conveyor.
The posture inspection device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the determination unit determines the inclination of the sheet body based on the arrangement of the suction holes.