JP2706065B2 - Aluminum wheel type identification method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for discriminating the type of an aluminum wheel, and more particularly, it is useful when applied to sorting and automatic machining of a plurality of types of aluminum wheels flowing on the same transport line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a production line for aluminum wheels for passenger cars. As shown in the figure, this kind of production line has a plurality of (four in the figure) casting machines 0
It has 1,02,03,04, and is manufactured by mixing various types of aluminum wheels with different sizes and designs. The various types of aluminum wheels cast by the respective casting machines 01 to 04 are collected on a single roller conveyor 05, transported toward a processing machine 06, and subjected to predetermined processing by the processing machine 06. That is, since the aluminum wheel immediately after casting has large burrs on the mating surface of the mold, it is necessary to remove the burrs. In the processing machine 06, for example, such deburring is performed. At this time, in the processing machine 06, based on information from the upstream side of the roller conveyor 05, N
The processing program of the C apparatus is switched by model and die. For this reason, model numbers, mold numbers, etc. are usually cast on aluminum wheels in places that do not interfere with alphanumeric characters, and workers can visually read these model numbers, mold numbers, etc. and read the information. It is given to the processing machine 06 by input means such as a push button switch.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, since a person must visually read the model number and the mold number of the aluminum wheel, a worker must be dedicated to this work. In addition, since the operation is performed manually, the model number, the mold number, and the like may be erroneously interpreted due to the fact that the model number, the mold number, and the like are located in a difficult-to-read place. In this case, the machining machine 06 tries to machine the aluminum wheel with the wrong program.
6 may occur.

On the other hand, a method of judging a type of a conveyed article by attaching a bar code to a conveyed article and reading the bar code is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 55-92972. However, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
However, in the method disclosed in JP-A No. 6-1980, a flat bar code is simply attached to a conveyed object, and therefore, there is a drawback that accurate judgment cannot be made due to noise of the bar code or the like resulting in noise. Since the environment in the factory where aluminum wheels are transported is an environment where dirt and the like easily adhere, the characteristic of being susceptible to dirt is fatal.

An object of the present invention is to provide an aluminum wheel type discriminating method capable of automatically discriminating the type of an aluminum wheel in view of the above prior art.

[0006]

The structure of the present invention that achieves the above object has the following features.

An aluminum wheel cast with a bar code formed by a convex portion provided in the circumferential direction of the rim portion is conveyed in a projecting direction of the convex portion, and is arranged at a certain angle with respect to the projecting direction of the convex portion. A linear light is emitted from the light-emitting source toward the bar code, and a high-luminance portion of the bar code convex portion irradiated by the linear light by photographing means arranged in the projecting direction of the convex portion. Photographing an image, processing the video information of the high brightness portion obtained thereby,
The information represented by the barcode is determined.

According to the present invention having the above-described structure, the bar code can be read by the number and interval of the steps of the image information of the high-brightness portion obtained by the photographing means. The type of aluminum wheel is determined. Further, according to the present invention, since the bar code is provided in the circumferential direction of the aluminum wheel, a predetermined detection can be performed regardless of the position of the aluminum wheel on the transporting means.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view conceptually showing a system for realizing an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from the side, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view conceptually showing a case where the embodiment is viewed in a plan view. It is. As shown in both figures, the aluminum wheel 1 is mounted on a roller conveyor 05 for conveyance, and its outer peripheral surface has a plurality of annular projections 2a, 2b, 2
2c, 2d and 2e are integrally cast. The barcode 2 is formed as an aggregate of the protrusions 2a to 2e, and expresses a specific meaning, that is, a model number, a mold number, and the like, by the number of protrusions 2a to 2e and an interval therebetween.

A laser gun 3 as a light emitting source is disposed obliquely above the aluminum wheel 1 so as to irradiate a bar code 2 with linear light 4 having a predetermined width in a vertical plane. Thus, the linear light 4 traverses the bar code 2 and forms a linear high-luminance portion at the traversed portion.

A camera 5 serving as a photographing means includes a bar code 2
The linear light 4 is disposed so as to photograph the linear light traversing the bar code 2 at an angle such that a step portion of the linear light 4 based on the bar code 2 is formed. In this embodiment, the vertical plane including the linear light 4 and the camera 5
And a vertical plane including the optical axis 6 at an intersection angle θ (> 0).

As a result, the camera 5 captures an image as shown in FIG. That is, the high-luminance portion 7 (the thick line portion in FIG. 3) formed by irradiating the bar code 2 with the linear light 4 has a portion corresponding to the convex portions 2a to 2e of the aluminum wheel 1 more than other portions. Steps 7a, 7b, 7 one step higher
c, 7d and 7e. Therefore, analyzing the steps 7a to 7e of the high-luminance portion 7 is equivalent to analyzing the barcode 2.

The image processing device 8 processes the video signal of the camera 5, that is, the step 7a of the high-luminance portion 7 shown in FIG.
The number of .about.7e and the interval between them are determined to analyze the bar code 2, and a determination signal S representing the meaning of the bar code 2 is transmitted.

According to the present embodiment, the high-luminance portion 7 illuminated by the linear light traversing the bar code 2 has the step portions 7a to 7e corresponding to the convex portions 2a to 2e of the aluminum wheel 1 forming the bar code 2. The high luminance portion 7 is photographed by the camera 5 from a position having 7e. Therefore, the video signal that is the output signal of the camera 5 includes the same information as the barcode 2 as the steps 7a to 7e. Thus, the image processing section 8 processes the video signal and sends out a discrimination signal S representing the meaning of the bar code 2.

The discrimination signal S can be applied in various ways. For example, the discrimination signal S can be applied to switching of a machining program of the machining machine 06 in FIG.

[0017]

As described above in detail with the embodiment, according to the present invention, the type of the aluminum wheel, etc. can be automatically and reliably achieved only by casting the bar code which is a convex portion on the aluminum wheel. Can be determined. Further, since the barcode is provided around the aluminum wheel, a predetermined detection can be performed regardless of the position on the transport means, and the workability of the discrimination work is improved accordingly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram conceptually showing a case where a system for realizing an embodiment of the present invention is viewed from a side.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view conceptually showing a case where the system is viewed in a plan view.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an image captured by a camera in the system.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view conceptually showing a production line of an aluminum wheel according to a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Aluminum wheel 2 Barcode 2a-2e Convex part 3 Laser gun 4 Linear light 5 Camera 7 High brightness part 7a-7e Step part

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An aluminum wheel, into which a bar code formed by a convex portion provided in a circumferential direction of a rim portion is cast, is conveyed in a projecting direction of the convex portion, and is fixed at a predetermined angle to the projecting direction of the convex portion. A linear light is emitted from the arranged light source toward the bar code, and the high luminance of the convex portion of the bar code is irradiated by the linear light by photographing means arranged in the projecting direction of the convex portion. A method for determining the type of an aluminum wheel, comprising taking an image of a portion, processing image information of the high-brightness portion obtained thereby, and determining information represented by a bar code.