JP2023160793A - Examination device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an exanimation device which can examine a plurality of examination contents at the same time while avoiding increase of cost or reduction of efficiency.SOLUTION: The present invention includes: imaging means 2 for acquiring a picture of an examination target surface 90; a branching image processing board 3 as branching image processing means for performing image processing of branching a picture signal of the examination target surface 90 acquired by the imaging means 2 and outputting at least two images (a pattern examination image 81 and a QR examination image 82); and an examination processing unit 4 as examination processing means of processing at least two examination contents on the basis of the at least two images 81 and 82.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an inspection device capable of simultaneously inspecting a plurality of inspection items while avoiding an increase in cost and a decrease in efficiency.

When inspecting multiple inspection items at the same time on the conveyance line, for example, at the same time as inspecting the pattern of the sheet conveyed at high speed, reading (inspection) of characters such as QR code (registered trademark) or OCR on the sheet is performed. In such a case, at the same time as the pattern inspection is performed, a copy image for the pattern inspection is created, and characters such as a QR code or OCR are cut out from the copy image and inspected. For example, to inspect the pattern of a 1,000 mm x 1,000 mm sheet, a plurality of cameras are lined up in the width direction to take images, and the image is inspected at a conveyance speed of 300 m/min and an image resolution of 300 DPI. At this time, the image size used in the pattern inspection is 12,500 pixels in the width direction and 12,500 pixels in the flow direction.

To inspect for chips or stains on designs or barcode displays, compare the density level of the barcode image taken with a camera with the reference master barcode image, and check if the level difference is greater than a preset tolerance value. A method of determining a defect (such as dirt or chipping) is widely used (see Patent Document 1). The standard master image is generally inspected by registering information printed by a printer (printing machine) in advance in an inspection device. This generates an image under the same conditions as the printer from an image to be printed in advance or a CSV file of information to be printed, and registers it in advance.

When copying such a captured image at the same time as pattern inspection and cutting out characters such as a QR code or OCR from the copied image, processing time becomes a problem and high specifications are required of the machine PC that performs the processing. Furthermore, with the image resolution (approximately 300 DPI) for pattern inspection, characters such as QR codes and OCR may not be recognized at the level required for inspection.

In order to solve this problem, as shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the pattern inspection camera 201 that inspects the print quality of the entire pattern 900, a camera that captures only the inspection area such as the QR code or OCR is required. 202, and processing devices (computers) for processing are also arranged for each inspection content (a processing device 101 for pattern inspection and a processing device 102 for QR inspection are arranged).

However, when installing cameras 201 and 202 including lighting and processing devices 101 and 102 for each inspection content such as a picture/QR code or OCR, the cost of equipment increases and the installation cost increases. It is also necessary to secure a location, which reduces efficiency. In addition, a moving mechanism may be required for the camera 202 that images the QR code, which further exacerbates the problems of increased cost and reduced efficiency.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-201611

Therefore, in view of the above-mentioned situation, the present invention aims to provide an inspection apparatus that can simultaneously inspect a plurality of inspection contents while avoiding an increase in cost and a decrease in efficiency.

The present invention includes the following inventions.
(1) An inspection device that processes multiple inspection contents, including an imaging means for acquiring images of the inspection target surface, and a video signal of the inspection target surface acquired by the imaging means, which is output as two or more images. An inspection apparatus comprising: a branch image processing means for performing image processing; and an inspection processing means for processing two or more inspection contents based on the two or more images.

(2) The inspection device according to (1), wherein the branch image processing device outputs the two or more images with the same or different resolutions and in the same or different ranges.

(3) The imaging means is means for acquiring an image of the entire printed pattern, which is the surface to be inspected, at a predetermined resolution, and the branched image processing device is a means for acquiring an image of the entire printed pattern, which is the surface to be inspected, at a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution, and at a relatively high resolution. outputting a first image in a wide range, and outputting a second image in a relatively narrow range at the predetermined resolution; and the inspection processing means performs a first inspection based on the first image. The inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inspection apparatus processes a second inspection based on the second image at the same time as processing the second image.

(4) The first image is an image of a printed pattern printed on the sheet, and the second image is a specific area in the printed pattern (QR code, characters, normal bar code, dimension measurement, etc.) The inspection device according to (3), wherein the first inspection is a pattern inspection, and the second inspection is a predetermined inspection based on a specific area.

(5) The inspection device according to (1), wherein the branch image processing means is constituted by a branch image processing board and performs image processing to output as a digital image.

(6) The inspection device according to (5), wherein the branching image processing means connects the plurality of branching image processing boards to each other and is capable of branching the video signal into more images.

(7) The inspection device according to (5), wherein the inspection processing means is constituted by the branch image processing board.

The above-described inspection apparatus according to the present invention reduces the load on software, etc. that processes multiple inspection contents by processing images necessary for multiple inspection contents in advance, and reduces the burden on the processing device for processing. There is no need to add more. Furthermore, even if there are multiple inspection items, the imaging means can be installed at one location. Therefore, a plurality of inspection contents can be inspected simultaneously while avoiding an increase in cost and a decrease in efficiency.

1 is a conceptual diagram showing the overall configuration of an inspection device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a branch image processing board of the inspection device. FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a modification of the inspection device. A conceptual diagram showing a conventional inspection system.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail based on the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection apparatus 1 of the present invention is an inspection apparatus that processes a plurality of inspection contents, and includes an imaging means 2 that acquires an image of an inspection target surface 90, and an inspection apparatus that processes images of a surface 90 to be inspected. A branching image processing board 3 as a branching image processing means that performs image processing to branch the video signal of the target surface 90 and output it as two or more images (in this example, a pattern inspection image 81 and a QR inspection image 82); The inspection processing unit 4 is provided as an inspection processing means for processing two or more inspection contents based on the two or more images 81 and 82.

In this example, multiple cameras are installed so that the image information acquired by the imaging means 2 has a resolution of 600 DPI, and is used for pattern inspection and character reading inspection such as QR code and OCR (hereinafter referred to as QR inspection). It is possible to output the same image by branching the video signal, and it is possible to handle a plurality of inspection contents with a single imaging means. In other words, it is an inspection system that makes it possible to share images from cameras even for multiple inspection contents, and this is achieved by branching the camera video signals.

In this way, by processing images necessary for a plurality of examination contents in advance, the load on software for processing a plurality of examination contents is reduced, and there is no need to add an additional PC for processing. Furthermore, even if there are multiple inspection items, the imaging means 2 only needs to be installed at one location. This allows multiple inspection items to be inspected simultaneously while avoiding increased costs and decreased efficiency.

Specifically, the branch image processing board 3 has a function of cutting out only a specific area (QR code area) specified at the time of branching, and in this example, the QR code is used as the area necessary for inspecting the QR code. Branch output the image. In addition, it has an image resolution conversion function, and in this example, the pattern inspection image 81 is output at an image resolution of 300 DPI, making it possible to efficiently carry out 100% inspection with the 300 DPI resolution image, while the QR inspection image 82 is It outputs at 600 DPI to enable more accurate inspection.

In this way, the imaging means 2 acquires an image of the entire printed pattern, which is the surface to be inspected 90, at a predetermined resolution, and the branch image processing board 3, serving as a branch image processing means, acquires an image at a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution. By outputting the first image (pattern inspection image 81) having a relatively wide range and outputting the second image (QR inspection image 82) having the predetermined resolution and having a relatively narrow range, The inspection processing unit 4 processes a first inspection (pattern inspection) based on the first image (picture inspection image 81), and at the same time processes a second inspection (pattern inspection) based on the second image (QR inspection image 82). QR inspection) can be performed efficiently.

In this example, the second image and the second inspection are an image of a QR code, which is a specific area in a printed pattern, and a QR inspection, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the second image is usually Images for OCR and dimension measurement such as barcodes (one-dimensional codes), numbers and alphabetic characters may also be used.As a second inspection, in addition to the print quality of the image, we also check the code reading failure rate, error correction rate, and characters. Tests such as recognition can be widely adopted.

The branch image processing board 3 branches the received camera video signal from the imaging means 2 in real time. As the camera constituting the imaging means 2, for example, a CameraLink camera, a GigE camera, a CoaXPress camera, etc. are suitable. Further, it is preferable that the digital images branched out by the branched image processing board be outputted in the format of CameraLink, GigE, or CoaXPress.

As shown in FIG. 2, such a branch image processing board 3 can be configured using a known image processing device 31 (known image processing hardware) and a central processing unit (CPU 32). In this example, one board is used, but a plurality of boards may be communicatively connected to each other. This makes it possible to easily increase the number of digital images to be branched out.

The inspection processing unit 4 performs a conventionally known inspection in which, for example, the density level is compared with that of a reference master image, and areas where the level difference exceeds a preset tolerance value are determined to be defects (stains, chips, etc.). The processing section of the device can be widely adopted (for example, Patent Document 1 mentioned above). In this example, the branch image processing means is configured by providing the branch image processing board 3 separately from the inspection processing section 4, but it can also be provided within the inspection processing section 4.

Further, it is also possible to perform part or all of the inspection processing within the branch image processing board 3. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, within the image processing device 31 of the branch image processing board 3, only the pattern inspection with a relatively light load is performed (the pattern inspection processing unit 310), and the QR inspection is performed by external inspection processing. It is also a preferable example that the process is performed by the unit 4 (QR inspection processing unit 40). In this case, by connecting a plurality of branch image processing boards 3, various processing patterns can be easily realized, such as performing QR inspection within the board. When inspection processing is performed within the branch image processing board in this way, only the results of the processing are notified to the processing device, allowing even faster inspection.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments of inspecting patterns and inspecting OCRs such as QR codes. For example, in a book, for example, a pattern consisting of images is continuously captured, the video information is cut out and branched page by page using a branching image processing means, and the pattern is inspected for each page using the image of the output page. It goes without saying that the invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist of the invention.

1 Inspection device 2 Imaging means 3 Branch image processing board 4 Inspection processing section 31 Image processing device 32 CPU
81 Image for pattern inspection 82 Image for QR inspection 90 Surface to be inspected 101, 102 Processing device 201, 202 Camera 310 Pattern inspection processing section 900 Pattern

Claims (7)

An inspection device that processes multiple inspection contents,
an imaging means for acquiring an image of the surface to be inspected;
branching image processing means that performs image processing of branching the video signal of the inspection target surface acquired by the imaging means and outputting it as two or more images;
An inspection apparatus comprising: inspection processing means for processing two or more inspection contents based on the two or more images. The inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the branched image processing device outputs the two or more images with the same or different resolutions and in the same or different ranges. The imaging means is means for acquiring an image of the entire printed pattern, which is the surface to be inspected, at a predetermined resolution;
The branch image processing device outputs a first image having a resolution lower than the predetermined resolution and having a relatively wide range, and outputs a second image having the predetermined resolution and having a relatively narrow range. death,
The inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the inspection processing means processes a first inspection based on the first image and simultaneously processes a second inspection based on the second image. The first image is an image of a printed pattern printed on the sheet,
the second image is an image of a specific area in the printed pattern;
The first test is a pattern test,
the second test is a predetermined test based on a specific area;
The inspection device according to claim 3. 2. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said branch image processing means is constituted by a branch image processing board, and performs image processing to output as a digital image. 6. The inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said branch image processing means connects a plurality of said branch image processing boards to each other and is capable of branching a video signal into more images. 6. The inspection apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said inspection processing means is constituted by said branch image processing board.

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