JP2811345B2 - Inspection equipment for non-metallic inclusions - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for nonmetallic inclusions using an image processing technique.

(Prior Art) Since non-metallic inclusions existing in a metal material affect the mechanical properties of the metal material, it is very important to perform a quantitative analysis of these in performing quality control of the metal material.

Conventionally, ASTM (American Society for Testing Mat) has been used as a method for inspecting nonmetallic inclusions present in metallic materials.
A method called the "erials" method is known. In this method, non-metallic inclusions appearing on the surface of a sample collected from a metal material are observed with a microscope, and the quality of the metal material is determined by its shape and distribution. According to the ASTM method, non-metallic inclusions are classified into the A type as shown in FIG.
It is classified into six types: B type, C type, D type, TiB type, and TiD type. Furthermore, each is classified into Thin (thin type) and Heavy (thick type). Then, the quality of the metal material is determined for each of the classified non-metallic inclusions.

By the way, in the visual inspection by an inspector with the naked eye, there are problems in terms of inspection speed and errors, and recently, an inspection apparatus for automatically inspecting a metal material using an image processing technique has been developed.

 The configuration of this inspection apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

A sample 1 collected from a metal material is stored in a holder 2 and then fixed to an XY stage 3. The sample 1 fixed on the XY stage 3 is optically enlarged by a microscope 4 and an ITV camera (Industria
l Television (industrial television camera) 5 is converted into a video signal. The video signal output from the ITV camera 5 is input to an image processing device 6, where image processing such as binarization and contour extraction is performed. The processed image is analyzed by the information processing device 7 for non-metallic inclusions. The result of the analysis is displayed on the monitor display 8 in numerical values.

Also, while the microscope 4 enlarges the object, its field of view is very narrow, and only a small part of the sample 1 can be measured at a time. Therefore, the measurement surface of the sample 1 is divided vertically and horizontally into small areas having the size of the field of view of the microscope 4 and the field of view of the microscope 4 is sequentially moved to perform measurement. The movement of the field of view is performed based on an instruction from the information processing device 7 based on the XY stage controller 9.
Is performed by moving the XY stage 3 by numerical control.

However, it was difficult to grasp the state of the nonmetallic inclusions in the entire sample from the analysis results output numerically for each small region.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As described above, in the conventional inspection apparatus for non-metallic inclusions, the measurement surface of the sample is divided into small areas due to the narrow field of view of the microscope. There was a problem that it was difficult to grasp the whole image of the sample from the analysis results output numerically for each.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point,
An object of the present invention is to provide a non-metallic inclusion inspection apparatus which can grasp the analysis result of the entire sample at once.

[Constitution of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a microscope for magnifying a predetermined area of a measurement surface of a sample containing nonmetallic inclusions, and an image of the area magnified by the microscope. Imaging means for imaging, image processing means for performing predetermined image processing on the image, analysis means for performing type analysis of non-metallic inclusions from the image subjected to image processing by the image processing means, and Virtual measurement surface output means for outputting a corresponding virtual measurement surface, and analysis result output means for visually outputting the analysis result by identifying the analysis result in a corresponding area on the virtual measurement surface for each type of the non-metallic inclusions Is provided.

Further, the analysis result output means displays the commentary result in an identification color or an identifiable shape set for each type of nonmetallic inclusion.

(Operation) In the present invention, analysis of an entire sample is performed in a corresponding region on the virtual measurement surface corresponding to the measurement surface of the sample using a discrimination color or a discriminable shape set for each type of nonmetallic inclusion. Since the results can be displayed collectively, the analysis results of the entire sample can be visually grasped at once.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a nonmetallic inclusion inspection apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the inspection apparatus includes an optical system 200 for obtaining a video signal obtained by enlarging a sample 100 collected from a metal material, and a video signal obtained by the optical system 200 for image processing. And a processing system 300 for analyzing metal inclusions.

The optical system 200 includes a holder 210 for accommodating a plurality of samples 100, an optical microscope 220 for optically enlarging the sample surface, and an ITV camera for imaging the sample surface enlarged by the optical microscope 220 and converting the image surface into a video signal. (Industrial Television; 230), an illumination light source 240 for illuminating the specimen surface coaxially with the optical axis of the microscope 220, an autofocus controller 250 for controlling an autofocus mechanism provided in the microscope 220, and a position of the holder 210. X to move in X-Y2 direction
-Y stage 260, based on an instruction from the processing system 300, X-
An X-Y stage controller 270 that moves the Y stage 260 by numerical control is provided.

Further, the processing system 300 includes an information processing device 310 that controls the entire inspection device and processes the measurement data, and a monitor display 31 that displays data processed by the information processing device 310 and the like.
2, an image processing device 320 that inputs a video signal from the ITV camera 230 based on an instruction of the information processing device 310 and performs image processing required for inspection, an image monitor 330 that displays a raw image captured by the ITV camera 230, The image monitor 340 displays the image processed by the image processing device 320, the video printer 350 outputs a hard copy of the image processed by the image processing device 320, and the measurement data processed by the information processing device 310. It is composed of a printer 360 for printing.

The measurement surface of the sample 100 used in this embodiment is 20 mm wide and 8 mm long as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the field of view of the microscope 220 is 0.88 mm wide and 0.66 mm long. Therefore, the measurement is performed by dividing the measurement surface into 23 horizontal and 13 vertical visual fields, and a total of 299 visual fields, and from the upper left corner of the measurement surface in the order indicated by arrows in the figure.

Next, the operation of the inspection apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

First, the position of the field of view to be measured is instructed from the information processing device 310 to the XY stage controller 270 via the image processing device 320.

The XY stage controller 1270 moves the XY stage 260 so that the designated field of view falls within the field of view of the microscope 220.

Next, the image of the visual field captured by the ITV camera 230 is taken into the image processing device 320 and subjected to image processing such as binarization.

Further, non-metallic inclusions present in the field of view are analyzed from an image subjected to image processing or the like, and a grade is determined for each type of non-metallic inclusion.

The analyzed result is stored in the information processing device 310.

By repeating the above operation 299 times, the measurement of the entire measurement surface is performed.

The analysis result of the entire measurement surface stored in the information processing device 310 is displayed on the monitor display 31 according to the request of the examiner.
Appears on 2

An example of the analysis result displayed on the monitor display 312 is shown in FIG. Reference numeral 314 shown in the figure is a virtual measurement surface corresponding to the measurement surface of the sample 100. This virtual measurement surface is divided into 23 cells horizontally and 13 cells vertically 316 corresponding to the visual field of the microscope 220 at the time of measurement. Non-metallic inclusions detected in the field of view are visually displayed in the corresponding cells.

That is, as shown in FIG.
Are divided into display blocks 318, 318,..., And 12 types of non-metallic inclusions are respectively allocated to the display blocks 318. The display blocks of the detected types are identified in advance by the identification colors (for example, A-system Thin). Is displayed in red).

In this example, the worst third place of the grade determined for each type is displayed for the entire measurement surface.

Further, the video printer 350 can leave a hard copy of the display screen.

Therefore, the analysis result obtained for each field of view is
4 and the whole sample can be visually grasped.

In the above-described embodiment, the type of the non-metallic inclusion is identified and displayed by the display block 318 obtained by dividing the cell 316 horizontally and the identification color set in advance for each type. The display is not limited to color or color expression, and may be displayed in any manner as long as it is easily visually identified.

[Effects of the Invention] In the present invention, the analysis result is visually output to the corresponding area on the virtual measurement surface corresponding to the measurement surface, so that the analysis result of the entire sample can be visually grasped at once. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a nonmetallic inclusion inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing a shape of a measurement surface of a sample measured by the inspection apparatus, and FIG. ) Is a diagram showing a display screen of the analysis result, FIG. 3 (b) is an enlarged view of a cell constituting a virtual measurement surface, FIG. 4 is a classification diagram of nonmetallic inclusions by the ASTM method, and FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the inspection apparatus of the nonmetallic inclusion of an example. 100 ... sample, 220 ... optical microscope, 230 ... ITV camera,
240 ... light source, 260 ... XY stage, 270 ... X
−Y stage controller, 310: Information processing device, 312
…… Monitor display, 314 …… Virtual measurement surface, 316 ……
Cell, 318: display block, 320: image processing device, 33
0, 340 ... Image monitor.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-309844 (JP, A) JP-A-54-126084 (JP, A) JP-A-59-37450 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int) .Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01N 21 / 88,21 / 17,33 / 20

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A microscope for enlarging a predetermined area of a measurement surface of a sample including nonmetallic inclusions, an imaging unit for capturing an image of the area magnified by the microscope, and a predetermined image processing for the image Image processing means for performing the following, analysis means for performing type analysis of non-metallic inclusions from an image subjected to image processing by the image processing means, and virtual measurement surface output means for outputting a virtual measurement surface corresponding to the measurement surface A non-metallic inclusion characterized by comprising: an analysis result output means for visually identifying and visually outputting the analysis result in a corresponding region on the virtual measurement surface for each type of the nonmetallic inclusion. Inspection equipment. 2. The non-metallic device according to claim 1, wherein the analysis result output means displays the analysis result in an identification color or an identifiable shape set for each type of non-metallic inclusion. Inclusion inspection device.