JP2852174B2 - Optical gear automatic sorting method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device in a production process.
The present invention relates to an optical gear automatic selection method and an apparatus for automatically selecting and automatically selecting a tooth surface at a high speed without optically contacting, instead of a gear selection method using tooth surface meshing measurement.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, gears used in automobiles are required to have extremely high precision despite mass production. In recent years, the processing method has been steadily advanced, and in addition to the conventional shaving method, a method of performing hard finish after heat treatment has been developed, and accordingly, honing to improve tooth surface roughness has been adopted. Have been.

[0003] The tooth surfaces of these gears have been very subtly modified to enable quiet operation. Quality control of mass-produced gears requires high-precision measurement in a short time.

FIG. 10 shows the principle of sorting by a conventional two-tooth meshing method. A sorting machine to which the two-tooth meshing method is applied is used on a conventional production processing line. In this conventional two-tooth meshing method, a reference gear (master gear) 30 is set on a reference gear driving device 31, and a measured gear 32 is rotatably supported on a bogie. Is pressed and rotated by a compression spring 33, and the mechanical amount at which the center distance between the two gears fluctuates due to a shape defect is measured by a center distance detector 34, and the quality of the measured gear 32 is determined based on the data. Then, sorting is performed by the sorting device 35.

As shown in FIG. 11, in this method, the left and right tooth surfaces of the measured gear 32 mesh with the mating reference gear 30.
It is applied that if there is a shape error, the gears rotate while the distance between the centers of both gears fluctuates. However, since the meshing of the two gears actually rotates while maintaining an appropriate backlash j between the two gears as shown in FIG. 12, this method is different from the actual motion situation.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17044 suggests an example in which an optical shape error detection method is applied to a tooth surface of a gear. That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the tooth surface of the gear 32 to be measured is irradiated with the laser light emitted from the laser light source 1, and the tooth surface information is obtained from the specularly reflected light. Hologram, etc.), and does not require a reference gear, and can be measured with the gear to be measured alone. In this case, in the data processing / analysis method, as shown in FIG. 14, if there is a shape error in the tooth surface, the traveling direction of the specularly reflected light changes, and as a result, it comes out of the special optical element 7 (hologram optical element). The phenomenon that the direction of the light beam changes and the light intensity distribution pattern on the detection surface of the two-dimensional optical sensor array 11 changes according to the error is used.

[0007]

In a conventional automatic gear sorter that operates on a processing line, a reference gear 30 and a measured gear 32 are meshed with two tooth surfaces, and the quality of the gear is determined based on a change in the center-to-center distance between the two gears. In the method of determining, the left and right tooth surfaces simultaneously mesh with the mating gear without backlash, so that it cannot be said that a normal meshing state is obtained. That is, in practice, the shafts of the two gears are firmly fixed by bearings, so that this fluctuating meshing is in an abnormal state.

Further, since the error obtained from the variation of the center-to-center distance is a relative amount of the error of the left and right tooth surfaces, it is not possible to analyze the left and right surfaces. That is, because of the mechanical surface-to-surface contact, the concave portion on the tooth surface is not measured and does not appear in the data.

Therefore, the conventional detection items are limited to detecting the eccentric amount and the damage due to the influence of the gear size and the right and left tooth surfaces from the mechanical change of the meshing center distance, and elucidate advanced tooth surface information. It was not possible to perform appropriate control by selecting and sorting the results and feeding back the results to the production processing line.

[0010] Further, conventionally, only a gear sampled about one in several tens from the gear production processing line,
It spends 4 to 50 minutes per tooth profile and tooth trace to measure and manage individual errors of tooth profile and tooth trace, but it is used for high-performance mass-produced gearboxes for automobiles, for example. Is not enough to manage the gears that are used.

On the other hand, the optical shape error detection method suggested in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17044 has the potential to solve the conventional problems at once. It cannot be used for sorting.

[0012] Therefore, there is an appropriate method for checking the size of the gears (the amount of cutting by a hob or the like), the presence or absence of a flaw, and the amount of eccentricity with a simple device. At present, many conventional two-tooth meshing methods are used because they cannot be found.

According to the present invention, there is provided an optical gear capable of automatically detecting the tooth surface accuracy required for quality control of a measured gear without using a reference gear, and automatically selecting the quality of the gear. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic sorting method and an apparatus therefor.

[0014]

The light according to the first aspect of the present invention .
In view of the above-mentioned object, the present invention has applied an optical shape error detection method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17044, which has been already proposed by the present applicant, in view of the above-mentioned object. The error pattern of the tooth surface of the gear to be measured, which should be measurable by the laser optical system, is stored in a database in advance, and at the time of measurement by the laser optical system, the error pattern is searched for and compared. the quality of the measurement wheel in an optical gear automatic sorting method for determine a constant,
Determine a pattern analysis program for measurement data and selection criteria
And a gear to be measured are selected separately.
Select the combination of selection items required for
Thus, the gear to be measured is selected .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for automatically selecting an optical gear according to the first aspect, wherein the left and right tooth surfaces of the gear to be measured are individually and simultaneously measured by two laser optical systems.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the optical gear automatic sorting method according to the first aspect, wherein the tooth surface of the gear to be measured is erroneously selected.
Measure the difference pattern as a three-dimensional tooth surface error pattern and measure
This is a method of determining the quality of a gear as a three-dimensional surface .

The automatic sorting of the optical gear according to the fourth aspect of the present invention.
The method should be able to measure in advance by laser optics
Stores the error pattern of the tooth surface of the gear to be measured in the database
In addition, when measuring with the laser optical system, this error pattern
The quality of the measured gear by searching and comparing
In the optical gear automatic selection method for determination, a portion where a peak of a luminance pattern detected by an optical sensor array of a laser optical system is located, the luminance, an accumulated pitch and an eccentric amount calculated from measurement data are stored in a computer. Is compared with a sorting criterion set by the program No. 1 to determine whether the gear to be measured is acceptable or not.

The automatic sorting of the optical gear according to the fifth aspect of the present invention.
The method should be able to measure in advance by laser optics
Stores the error pattern of the tooth surface of the gear to be measured in the database
In addition, when measuring with the laser optical system, this error pattern
The quality of the measured gear by searching and comparing
This is a method of feeding back measured data relating to the tooth surface performance of the gear to be measured to the gear production processing line in the optical gear automatic sorting method for determination.

The automatic selection of an optical gear according to the present invention.
The device is rotated with the gear to be measured fitted.
Measurement axis equipped with a rotation angle detection encoder
Laser light on the tooth surface of the gear to be measured fitted on the measuring shaft of
Optical system for object light obliquely incident at a large incident angle, hologram photography
System of reference light used for the tooth surface of the gear to be measured
To convert the object light reflected by the
Program optical element and this hologram optical element
Light for detecting plus first-order diffracted light as a two-dimensional light intensity distribution
Consists of a sensor array, corresponding to two tooth surfaces of the gear to be measured
Two systems of laser optical system and this laser optical system
A rotating mechanism that rotates according to the torsion angle of the car, and a laser beam
The gear to be measured must correspond to the pitch circle radius of the gear to be measured.
A measuring device having a moving mechanism for moving back and forth with respect to
The gear to be measured taken out of the
Sorting device to sort by position and gear transfer from production processing line
Pick up a new gear to be measured supplied on the
Measurement is completed with one grip attached to the fixed axis and the measurement axis
Remove the gear to be measured and replace it on the sorting device.
Gear transfer device having grip and rotation of gear to be measured
The data of the left and right tooth surfaces of one rotation are continuously taken in accordance with
The data of all tooth surfaces is stored in a database using a pattern analyzer.
Compared to a known pattern, is it an acceptable error?
Screening judgment is made as to whether the error should be discarded, and the previous
A processing line that drives the sorting device and produces data
Computer-based control system that feeds back to the computer
Is provided .

The invention according to claim 7 provides the light according to claim 6
Computer in the automatic gear sorter,
Data stored in the pattern analyzer
Compared with the error pattern of the base three-dimensional tooth surface,
Judge whether the error is a possible error or an error to be discarded as a three-dimensional surface
It is those that.

[0021]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the error pattern of the tooth surface of the gear to be measured, which is to be captured by the laser optical system, is stored in a database in advance, and is obtained by measurement by the laser optical system based on this database. A pass / fail is determined by searching and comparing the obtained tooth surface error patterns. And a pattern analysis program of the measurement data,
Create a separate program to determine the selection criteria and
Select the sorting item and sorting reference value required for the fixed gear,
Sort the gear to be measured.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the right and left tooth surfaces of the gear to be measured are individually and simultaneously measured by two laser optical systems.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser optical system.
Of the three-dimensional tooth surface of the gear to be measured
The difference pattern is stored in a database in advance, and
Obtained by measurement with laser optics based on database
To search and compare three-dimensional tooth surface error patterns
Therefore, to determine the quality.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a portion where the peak of the luminance pattern detected by the optical sensor array is located, its luminance, the accumulated pitch and the amount of eccentricity calculated from the measurement data are determined by a program in a computer. The pass / fail of the gear to be measured is determined by comparing with the set sorting criterion.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the measurement data is information relating to the performance of the tooth surface, the measured data is sent to the host computer of the production processing system and used as control data of the production processing line.

[0026] According to a sixth aspect of the invention, the gear carrying-in line 22
The gear 18 to be measured is moved by the gear transfer device 23 from the measuring device 25
And installed on the measuring shaft 19, the rotation mechanism
The torsion angle is adjusted and set in advance based on the gear data.
Laser optics is adjusted to the pitch circle radius by the movement mechanism.
The tooth surface with laser beams 29a and 29b.
Shoot. So that the laser beam is obliquely incident on the left and right teeth
It has two systems, each of which is reflected by these left and right tooth surfaces.
The specularly reflected light passes through condenser lenses 6a and 6b,
The light reaches the elements 7a and 7b, where it is converted into a light wavefront that is easy to converge.
It is.

The hologram optical elements 7a and 7b actually
A reference gear (master gear) is manufactured, and an image of the object light
Create a hologram by interfering with the reference light
Or by computer based on gear specifications
Diffraction grating drawn by another device, so-called computational hologram
Etc. are used.

+1 by the hologram optical elements 7a and 7b
The second-order diffracted light is converged by the imaging lenses 9a and 9b,
Right and left optical sensor arrays 11a, 11a,
11b (optical sensor like CCD camera or integrated array
ー). This plus first order diffracted light is
As described in JP-B-2-17044, an imaging lens 9
a, 9b converges to one point, but according to the error
spread.

The state of the spread is defined as a two-dimensional light intensity distribution.
And compare it with a known error trend
The computer 27 determines whether it is a difference or an error to be discarded.
Let This measurement is performed simultaneously on the left and right tooth surfaces,
Data of left and right tooth surfaces of all teeth continuously with one rotation of measuring gear 18
Is loaded into the computer 27, and the overall tooth surface accuracy is checked.
Clicked. Tooth thickness and deviation are calculated from left and right tooth flank data.
An error amount corresponding to the center amount and the accumulated pitch is also determined.

Also check for dents and burrs on the tooth surface.
It is. However, since the data is for tooth surfaces,
Or the amount of individual error measured as a point (ie
Differences, tooth errors, pitch errors, etc.)
The accuracy that is appropriate for the situation is checked. The result is
Feedback to the tool adjustment and changes in machining conditions.
Production processing line that was impossible with conventional sorting machines
Data exchange with existing systems and organic programs
Do.

The above operation will be described in detail. First, in the optical system,
One or two laser light sources 1a, 1b (for left and right tooth surfaces
When two optical systems are required and one laser light source is used
Is divided into two systems by a half mirror etc.)
Is prepared. Lasers emitted from these laser light sources 1a and 1b
The laser light is transmitted to the half mirrors 3a and 3b (or
By the splitter, the object beams 29a and 29b and the reference beam 28a
, 28b. Normally only the object beams 29a and 29b
And the reference beams 28a and 28b are used as hologram optical elements 7a and
Used when performing hologram photography on 7b.

The object beams 29a and 29b are prisms (even mirrors).
Good) After passing through 5a and 5b, it is oblique at deep (large) angle of incidence on the tooth surface
Incident. It is described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17044.
To obtain the specular light required for interference from a rough tooth surface
Need such a deep angle of incidence,
Since the tooth surface of the measuring gear 18 is shaped like a valley,
For irradiation, it is convenient to insert laser light obliquely.
It is.

Specularly reflected light of object light 29a, 29b from tooth surface
Are hologram optical elements 7a and 7b through condensing lenses 6a and 6b.
It is led to. Here, the object beams 29a and 29b are diffracted,
The plus first-order diffracted light is bent in the imaging direction. Hologram optical element
The diffraction angles of the plus first-order diffracted light are determined by the elements 7a and 7b
Therefore, the imaging lenses (imaging lenses) 9a and 9b and the
Pinholes 10a and 10b at the focal point of the
-Place 11a and 11b. Optical sensor array 11a, 11b
These data are guided to pattern analyzers 27a and 27b.

If the image of the tooth surface matches the theoretical image,
Due to the lenses 9a and 9b, the plus first-order diffracted light is
-Converge to one point on 11a and 11b. Tooth profile error on the tooth surface, or
Or if there is a different tooth trace error in the 90 degree direction, that error
The direction of the specularly reflected light changes and does not converge at one point
Therefore, the distribution of light intensity on the detection surface
To indicate This pattern and brightness allows the tooth surface
You can know the quality. For this purpose, the specular
Classification analysis by measuring the interference pattern of the correct design tooth surface according to
And a database must be created.

The paths detected by the optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b
Turns can be selected as 3x3 or 5x5
However, if it becomes more precise and complicated, one gear under test 18 can be selected.
Takes longer.

On the measuring shaft 19 to which the gear 18 to be measured is attached,
Is equipped with an encoder 21 for detecting the rotation angle.
The rotation of the gear 18 to be measured is
And continuously sampled optical sensor array 11a,
The data from 11b is segmented one tooth at a time
27a, 27b and the pattern of the database
Be compared. Depending on the location of the peak brightness and the brightness
To set sorting criteria.

The tooth division signal by the encoder 21 and the data
The deviation Δe of the peak point of
H error. Data of each tooth after one rotation
From the accumulation of data, the left rotation characteristic of the gear 18 to be measured is
The cumulative pitch and eccentricity of the right tooth flank are determined, and the data for
Data. Blemish on the tooth surface, residual burr
Are also detected, and the pass / fail judgment is
Is given. Items that can be repaired after a bum etc. are sorted separately
Be killed.

These information are stored in the system of the production processing line.
The tool adjustment, replacement time, and machining condition.
Providing appropriate and inappropriate feedback.

As a whole device, a measuring device holding an optical system is used.
The pedestal 15 moves forward toward the gear 18 to be measured or the gear
Use the servo motor 17 to move the measuring table
When the gear 18 to be measured is mounted on the measuring shaft 19,
Retracted, advanced at the end of mounting and stopped at the tooth surface irradiation position
I do.

On the other hand, the gear transfer device 23 has one grip
At 23a, a new gear 18a to be measured is
Picked up, measured at the same time with the other grip 23b
Remove the fixed gear 18, move it and use one of the grips 23a
The measured gear 18a is mounted on the measuring shaft 19,
Sorts the measured gear 18 that has been measured with the grip 23b
Put on 24. The sorting device 24 receives the sorting signals from the computer 27.
The measured gear 18 is sorted into predetermined positions according to the numbers.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided measurement data of tooth surfaces.
The tertiary stored in the pattern analyzer database
By comparing with the original tooth flank error pattern,
Whether it is a possible error or an error to be discarded as a three-dimensional surface
Wear.

[0042]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in FIGS.

1 and 2 show a system configuration according to the present invention. A gear carry-in line 22 is arranged on the right side around a measuring device 25, a manipulator 23 as a gear transfer device is arranged on the upper side, and a left side on the left side. A sorting device 24 is provided, and an unloading device 26 is further provided.

The manipulator 23 separates a grip 23a for mounting a new gear 18a to be measured picked up from the gear carry-in line 22 to the measuring shaft 19 and a gear 18 to be measured which has been measured by the measuring shaft 19, and sorts the same. The other grip 23b to be replaced on the device 24 is attached to the moving part 23c, and both grips 23a,
23b is freely movable horizontally and vertically.

In the sorting device 24, as shown in FIG. 2, an inclined receiving table for receiving the gear 18 to be measured is provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the gear carry-in line 22 and the manipulator 23. Multiple gear storage units (OK, N
G1 to NG5).

Although the details of the measuring device 25 will be described later, the data measured by the measuring device 25 is transferred to the pattern analyzers 27a and 27b of the computer 27 via the lines L1 and L2. The signals that have passed through the pattern analyzers 27a and 27b are fed back to the machining line via the interface 27c, and are output from the NC drive device 27d via the line L3 to the manipulator 23 as work attachment and removal instructions, and via the line L4. It is output as a sorting command to the sorting device 24 and is output as a device driving command to the measuring device 25 via the line L5.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a measuring device 25 according to the present invention.
And the laser light sources 1a, 1b, mirror 2, half mirror 3
a, 3b, mirrors 4a, 4b, prisms 5a, 5b, condenser lens 6
a, 6b, special optical elements (hologram optical elements) 7a, 7b,
Prisms 8a, 8b, imaging lenses 9a, 9b, pinholes 10a,
An optical device including an optical sensor array 11b and optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b is provided on an optical device base (optical surface plate) 12.

The optical device base 12 is rotated by a rotation mechanism. This rotation mechanism rotates the laser optical system in accordance with the torsion angle θ of the gear 18 to be measured. The optical device base 12 is mounted on a cylindrical torsion angle setting rotary body 13 and the rotary body 13 is measured. It is rotatably mounted on a table 15 and is rotated around a xx 'axis by a torsion angle setting servomotor 14 via a speed reduction mechanism.

The measuring table 15 is moved forward and backward with respect to the gear 18 to be measured by the moving mechanism. The moving mechanism moves the laser optical system forward and backward with respect to the measured gear 18 in accordance with the pitch circle radius of the measured gear 18, and the measuring table 15 is provided movably on the upper surface of the fixed table 16 to move the measuring table. The screw 17a is rotated by the servomotor 17, and a portion 15 screwed with the screw 17a
The measuring table 15 is moved via a.

A measuring shaft 19 of the gear 18 to be measured is arranged in the forward direction of the measuring table 15, and a measuring shaft driving mechanism 20 using a worm gear and a rotary encoder 21 as a rotation angle detecting means are provided below the measuring shaft 19. Is provided.

FIG. 5 shows a control relationship centering on a computer (EWS) 27, in which a pattern analyzer 27a connected to one laser light source 1a and an optical sensor array 11a, and another laser light source 1b and an optical sensor array 11b. , A pattern analyzer 27b, an interface 27c,
A driving device 27d, a monitor (CRT) 27e, and a storage device 27
f and a printer 27g.

In the above basic configuration, the function of each section will be further described in detail.

The optical device base 12 on which the optical device is mounted is mounted on a rotatable cylindrical rotary body 13, and the torsion angle setting servo motor 14 corresponding to the torsion angle θ of the gear 18 to be measured shown in FIG. Rotates the optical device base 12 clockwise or counterclockwise around the xx 'axis. The rotating body 13 is mounted on a measuring table 15 which can be further moved forward and backward.
In the radial direction, and sets the tooth surface irradiation position at a distance d determined from the axis shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, inside the rotating body 13, there are two laser light sources 1a and 1b for irradiating the left and right tooth surfaces. It can be divided into two for left and right. Here, the left and right cases are shown separately.

The laser light sources 1a and 1b are respectively subjected to the object light by the beam splitters of the mirror 2 and the half mirrors 3a and 3b.
29a and 29b are divided into reference beams 28a and 28b. Reference beam 28
a and 28b are used at the time of photographing the hologram. In the case of sorting, only the object beams 29a and 29b are used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the object lights 29a and 29b
Are the tooth surfaces 18R, 18R,
It is guided obliquely at a deep incident angle to 18L. The object lights 29a and 29b obliquely incident on the tooth surface are reflected and reach the special optical elements 7a and 7b by the condenser lenses 6a and 6b. Special optical elements 7a, 7b
Is equipped with a hologram optical element that has been photographed in advance using a reference gear or a calculated hologram optical element.

On the other hand, the reference beams 28a and 28b can also irradiate the special optical elements (hologram optical elements) 7a and 7b by the mirrors 4a and 4b and the prisms 8a and 8b at the time of photographing the hologram.

Here, the object lights 29a and 29b at the time of measurement are diffracted by the special optical elements 7a and 7b, and the plus first-order diffracted light is condensed on the pinholes 10a and 10b by the imaging lenses 9a and 9b. Passing through the hole, it reaches an optical sensor array 11a, 11b such as a CCD camera or an integrated array.

As shown in FIG. 1, the gear 18 to be measured is
It is attached to the measuring shaft 19 by the manipulator 23 and detached. The rotary encoder 21 is mounted on the same axis,
The data acquired from the optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b can be compared with the divided signals according to the number of teeth.

The data sampled from the optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b are firstly transmitted to the pattern analyzers 27a and 27b.
Sent to Since the distribution of this pattern is determined by the shape error of the tooth surface, it is analyzed in advance, compared with a database stored in the pattern analyzers 27a and 27b, classified, and measured by a computer (EW).
S) Sent to 27. The computer 27 determines pass / fail according to preset conditions from the total data of both. That is, if the tooth surface image matches the theoretical image
For example, the plus first-order diffracted light is converted into light beams by the imaging lenses 9a and 9b.
Converge at one point on the sensor arrays 11a and 11b. Tooth profile on tooth surface
If there is an error, or a different tooth trace error in the 90 degree direction,
The direction of the specularly reflected light changes according to the error and is collected at one point.
Since it does not converge, the distribution of light intensity on the detection surface may vary.
Shows a simple pattern. With this pattern and brightness,
You can know the properties of the tooth surface. To do this,
Measure interference pattern of correct design tooth surface by specular reflection light
Classify and analyze as error patterns to create a database
Must be kept. An example of this database
Will be described later with reference to FIG.

For example, of the left and right tooth surfaces, determination is made only on the tooth surface that participates in driving, or tooth profile error is emphasized, and tooth lead error is set to a large allowable value. A combination of selection items and a selection reference value are determined. The pattern analyzers 27a and 27b are solely responsible for the analysis based on the database, and use a program of the computer 27 for the combination of various conditions for quality determination.

When the gear is rotated at a high speed, the cycle time of the sorter is determined by simplification of the pattern and use of a high-speed computer, etc., depending on the data processing time. The time required for rotation and measurement of all tooth surfaces is about 10 seconds.

The manipulator 23 shown in FIG. 1 picks up a new gear 18a to be measured from the gear carry-in line 22 with two grips by one grip 23a and the other grip 23b, and finishes the measurement from the measuring shaft 19. Measured gear
Then, the moving part 23c provided with both grips 23a and 23b is moved to mount the new gear 18a to be measured on the measuring shaft 19, and at the same time, the measured gear 18 whose measurement has been completed is moved to the sorting device 24. Perform a series of movements.

The sorting device 24 shown in FIG.
A receiving stand for receiving 18 is provided so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the direction of the gear carry-in line 22 and the manipulator 23. Sorting and sorting can be performed in consideration of the correlation with the mating gear actually mounted. These transport-related devices are provided in various types according to the shape of the gear (with holes, with shafts, etc.).

Next, the data processing / analysis method is described in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 2, if there is a shape error in the tooth surface, the traveling direction of the specularly reflected light changes, and as a result, the direction of the light beam emitted from the special optical element 7 (hologram optical element) changes, and according to the error, Then, the light intensity distribution pattern on the detection surface of the optical sensor array 11 changes.

For example, in the optical system shown in FIG. 6 including the gear 18 to be measured, the special optical element 7, the imaging lens 9, the pinhole 10, and the optical sensor array 11, the optical sensor array 11 has XY coordinates. In the case of the system, FIGS. 7A and 7B
When there is a three-dimensional tooth surface shape error as shown in FIGS.
(A) Error in luminance output as in (b), (c) and (d)
It becomes a difference pattern . (A) (a) is the case of the reference tooth surface,
Has converged to one point. (B) and (b) show the case of a tooth surface with a tooth profile error, (C) and (c) show the case of a tooth surface with a tooth streak error, and (D) and (d) show the case of a crowning tooth surface.

FIGS. 7 (a '), (b'), (c ') and (d)
') Shows two-dimensional optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b divided into nine parts corresponding to FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D, respectively.
It is a three-dimensional tooth surface error pattern showing the upper brightness state.
You . This can be applied to 25 pixels or 5 × 3 pixels depending on the distribution of the tooth surface shape error. In this example, the pixel number 5 is the center, but in the analysis, a combination of OK and NG can be selected at the time of analysis depending on whether the brightness of the pixel of each part is strong or weak. That is, it is possible to give a difference between the allowable value of the tooth profile error and the allowable value of the tooth lead error, or to change the weighting method. If there is a flaw, a burr, or the like, since it is concentrated near the edge of the gear, the pattern becomes a specific pattern, and a selection signal for rescue is issued to select.

That is, an optical sensor array such as a CCD camera usually has sensitivity to luminance of 0 to 256 levels (2 ⁸ ). For example, when data of the left tooth surface and the luminance of the pattern is 120 or more, a peak is generated. If it is at site 5, it is acceptable (hereinafter, referred to as OK), if the peak is at site 2, it is OK,
If the peak is at site 3, it is OK; if the peak is at site 6, it is OK; if the peak is at site 1, it is rejected (NG); if the peak is at site 4, it is NG; If the peak is at site 8, it is NG, and if the peak is at site 9, it is NG. In addition, the luminance of the pattern is 12
If it is less than 0, the peak is NG at any position.

The above is directly measured, but the items calculated from the data are NG if the cumulative pitch is 35 or more, and N if the eccentricity is 16 or more.
G.

The right tooth flank is symmetric with the left tooth flank. For example, since the right flank is not a power transmission surface, the luminance of the pattern is set to 100 or more and OK.

Although the above is one example, setting such that a region extends over two portions or changing a 3 × 3 pattern into five
By setting to × 5, a more precise and finer selection criterion can be provided. This can be changed, combined, etc. by a program in the computer 27. However, the sorting time per gear depends on the performance of the computer 27.

Next, considering the division signal for each tooth from the rotary encoder 21 and the angle signal at the time of the luminance peak together, as shown in FIGS. Is sampled, a pitch error Δe of the tooth surface is detected. Since this error is a total error of the tooth surface, it differs from the pitch error in the so-called JIS standard. From the overall level of the data of both the optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b, the size of the gear, that is, the processing condition, the amount of cutting, the excess or deficiency of the grinding amount, and the eccentricity of the gear as shown in FIG. The amount is detected.

These information can be stored in the computer 27 if necessary.
It is sent as feedback information to the host computer of the gear production processing line.

The pattern shown in FIG. 9 is a view in which the original holographic interference is directly captured by the camera with reference to the tooth surface without correction, and (A) shows the tooth profile error.
(B) shows the tooth shape correction, (C) shows the tooth lead error,
(D) shows tooth line crowning, and (E) shows tooth profile error and crowning.

In the example of the holographic interference shown in FIG. 9, the interval between the stripes is such that the wavelength of the laser beam becomes longer as a result of oblique incidence, and the effective wavelength is about 3 μm. The greater the location, the greater the error, and the more steep the surface. When these plus first-order diffracted lights are used this time and are condensed by the imaging lenses 9a and 9b, the fewer the fringes, that is, the higher the accuracy, the more the light is concentrated on one point. If the reference hologram is not a tooth surface without correction but a corrected tooth profile based on the design, the number of fringes is further reduced, and the peak of the plus first-order diffracted light has a large value, which facilitates selection.

Next, the measurement procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. The gear specification in the computer 27 is called from the bar code of the marker on the gear carry-in line 22.
The optical device stand 12 rotates by the torsion angle θ of the gear and stops. The special optical elements 7a and 7b are set at the positions shown in FIGS. The manipulator 23 picks up only one gear 18a to be measured from the gear carry-in line 22, transports it, attaches it to the measuring shaft 19, and then returns to the origin. The measuring table 15 moves forward and stops at the tooth surface irradiation radius d as shown in FIG.

The measuring program is started, and the gear is smoothly rotated by the measuring shaft driving mechanism 20. Light reflected from the tooth surface intermittently enters the optical sensor arrays 11a and 11b. Divided pulses are output from the rotary encoder 21 according to the number of teeth, and the difference from the peak point of the measurement data is measured and recorded.

When the gear rotates once and the data of all the right and left tooth surfaces is sampled, it is stored in the computer 27, operated, compared with the reference accuracy, and the quality is judged. This result is sent to the sorting device 24.

In response to the measurement end signal, the manipulator 23 again lifts and conveys the new measured gear 18a and the measured gear 18 whose measurement has been completed simultaneously, sets the new gear 18a on the measurement shaft 19, and simultaneously sets the measured gear 18a. Is placed in the sorting device 24. At this time, the sorting device 24 receiving the sorting signal from the computer 27 moves the manipulator so as to place the gear 18 to be measured on the appropriate stock frame of NG or OK.
Wait for 23. In the above cycle, the gears on the line are automatically taken in and sorted. If the barcode of the end marker appears on the line, the sorting ends.

Although the above is an example of the fully automatic system, when there is no gear carry-in line 22, the gear is manually placed at a position where the manipulator 23 picks up the gear, automatically loaded and measured, and the manipulator is moved to the sorting position. The semi-automatic method of sorting the gears whose measurement has been completed and placed on the basis of items according to the sorting result indicated by the monitor is also included in the automatic optical gear sorting method of the present invention.

[0081]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the information on the tooth surface of the gear is optically captured and measured based on the tooth surface error pattern previously stored in the database. the quality of the gear can be selected by accurately and quickly determine the constant than conventional mechanical sorting method, the quality control of high performance gears produced in large quantities
Can, can measured by the measurement gear alone without using the reference gear of the continuous measurement of the tooth surface accuracy of all teeth, the so-called tooth profile error from the error pattern, it is possible to grasp the individual errors of gears such as tooth trace error, cumulative pitch is calculated from the measurement data, the accuracy information of the eccentricity or the like, may bruise, optical gear automatic that can be screened to understand also all tooth surface information of burrs
In the selection method, a pattern analysis program
System and the selection criteria determination program
Selection items and criteria required from the analyzed data
Values can be freely selected to respond to the variety of sorting criteria.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the left and right tooth surfaces of the gear to be measured are simultaneously measured by the two laser optical systems, the measurement and the sorting can be performed efficiently in a short time.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the tertiary gear
Optically captures original tooth surface information and pre-databases
Based on the three-dimensional tooth surface error pattern stored in the
Measuring gear quality is more accurate than conventional mechanical sorting
Quickly judge and sort as a 3D surface, mass production
Quality control of high-performance gears .

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a portion where the peak of the luminance pattern sensed by the optical sensor array is located, its luminance, and the accumulated pitch and eccentricity calculated from the measurement data can be easily compared. A pass / fail decision can be made.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the measurement result regarding the tooth surface performance of the gear to be measured is fed back to the gear production processing line, the information obtained for the gear selection is used for the production process in the gear production processing line. It can also help to optimize, rationalize, and save labor.

According to the invention described in claim 6, according to claim 1
The method for automatically selecting a gear according to claim 5 is performed.
Can provide the necessary equipment. In addition, the optical system and
And the configuration of mechanical systems can be
You. Furthermore, the gear to be measured is
The change of the torsion angle and the pitch circle radius can be easily handled.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the performance of the gear
3D error information can be accurately grasped and reliability
Ru performed with high quality management.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a system configuration according to an optical gear automatic sorting method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a system configuration according to the sorting method.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a measuring device used in the sorting method according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of an optical device base in the measuring device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control system according to the sorting method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a coordinate system of a laser optical system according to the sorting method.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship between a tooth surface shape error and a brightness state according to the above-described sorting method, (A) is a reference tooth surface, (B) is a tooth surface having a tooth profile error, and (C) is a tooth. Tooth surface with streak error,
(D) shows the crowning tooth surface, and (a), (b) and (c)
And (d) show the luminance output on the coordinate reference plane corresponding to (A), (B), (C) and (D), and (a ') (b')
(C ') and (d') show the luminance states on the two-dimensional photosensor array corresponding to (A), (B), (C) and (D).

8A is a data sampling example showing a change in luminance of the right tooth surface according to the above-described selection method, FIG. 8B is a data sampling example showing a change in luminance of the left tooth surface, and FIG. It is a sampling example.

9A and 9B are diagrams in which holographic interference is captured by a camera, wherein FIG. 9A shows a tooth profile error, FIG. 9B shows a tooth profile correction, FIG. 9C shows a tooth trace error, and FIG. (E) shows tooth profile error and crowning.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a measuring device used in a conventional gear selecting method (two-tooth meshing method).

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a conventional two-tooth meshing state of a reference gear and a gear to be measured.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing backlash in a conventional two-tooth meshing method.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing an optical shape error detection method shown in a known example.

FIG. 14 is a principle diagram showing an optical shape error detection method shown in a known example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b Laser light source 2 Mirror 3a, 3b Half mirror 4a, 4b Mirror 5a, 5b Prism 6a, 6b Condensing lens 7a, 7b Special optical element (hologram optical element) 8a, 8b Prism 9a, 9b Imaging lens 10a, 10b Pinholes 11a, 11b Optical sensor array 12 Optical device table 13 Rotating body for setting the torsion angle 14 Rotary mechanism (torsion angle setting servomotor) 15 Measurement table 16 Fixed table 17 Moving mechanism (Measurement table moving servomotor) 18, 18a Gear 19 Measuring axis 20 Measuring axis drive mechanism 21 Rotation angle detecting means (Rotary encoder) 22 Gear loading line 23 Gear transfer device (Manipulator) 23a, 23b Grip 24 Sorting device 25 Measuring device 26 Unloading device 27 Computer (EWS) 27a, 27b Pattern analyzer 27c Interface 27d NC drive 27e Monitor (CRT) 27f Storage device 27g Printer 28a, 28b Reference light 29a, 29b Object light

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP 5-240627 (JP, A) JP 5-157705 (JP, A) JP 4-265812 (JP, A) JP 2-JP 17044 (JP, B2) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G01B 11/00-11/30

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An error pattern of a tooth surface of a gear to be measured which should be measurable by a laser optical system is stored in a database in advance, and at the time of measurement by a laser optical system, this error pattern is searched and compared. in optical gear automatic sorting method for determine a constant the quality of the measured gear, and pattern analysis program of the measurement data, determine the selection criteria
And a gear to be measured are selected separately.
Select the combination of selection items required for
And automatically selecting the gear to be measured . 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the right and left tooth surfaces of the gear to be measured are individually and simultaneously measured by two laser optical systems. 3. An error pattern of a tooth surface of a gear to be measured is tertiary.
Using the original tooth flank error pattern, the quality of the gear to be measured is tertiary
2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the surface is determined as an original surface . 4. It can be measured in advance by a laser optical system.
Database of error patterns of gears to be measured
When making measurements with a laser optical system,
By searching and comparing the difference patterns,
In the optical gear automatic selection method for determining the pass / fail, the site where the peak of the luminance pattern sensed by the optical sensor array of the laser optical system is located, the luminance, and the accumulated pitch and eccentricity calculated from the measurement data, compared with selection criteria that are set by a program in the computer, an optical histological gear automatic sorting way to and judging acceptability of the measured gear. 5. The measurement can be performed in advance by a laser optical system.
Database of error patterns of gears to be measured
When making measurements with a laser optical system,
By searching and comparing the difference patterns,
In optical gear automatic sorting method for determining the quality, light histological gear automatic sorting how to characterized by feeding back measurement data relating to the tooth surface performance of the measured gear gear production processing line. 6. The apparatus is rotated with the gear to be measured fitted.
Measurement axis equipped with encoder for rotation angle detection
And a laser on the tooth surface of the gear to be measured fitted to this measuring shaft.
Hologram, an object light optical system that obliquely enters light at a deep incident angle
Optical system of reference beam used for camera photography, gear to be measured
Converts object light reflected from the tooth surface into a light wavefront that is easy to converge
Hologram optical element and hologram optical element
1st-order diffracted light due to light is detected as a two-dimensional light intensity distribution
A pair of optical sensor arrays
Corresponding two laser optical systems and this laser optical system
A rotating mechanism that rotates according to the torsion angle of the measuring gear,
The user's optical system is measured according to the pitch circle radius of the gear to be measured.
A measuring device having a moving mechanism for moving forward and backward with respect to the fixed gear, and a measured gear taken out of the measuring device are measured based on the measurement result.
A sorting device that sorts to a predetermined position, and a new sorting machine that is supplied from the production processing line to the gear carry-in line.
Pick up the gear to be measured and attach it to the measuring shaft.
And remove the gear to be measured on the measuring shaft.
Gear transfer with the other grip replacing on the separating device
The left and right tooth surfaces of the device and the left and right tooth surfaces that make one continuous rotation
Data is acquired, and the data of all tooth surfaces is
Comparison with a known pattern in the database
Screen and determine whether the error is acceptable or should be discarded.
The sorting device is driven by the sorting signal and data
Computer that feeds back to the production processing line
An automatic optical gear sorting device comprising a central control system . 7. The computer transmits measured tooth surface data.
The three-dimensional database stored in the turn analyzer
Compare with the error pattern of the tooth surface and discard if it is an acceptable error.
It is characterized by determining whether it is a power error as a three-dimensional surface
The automatic optical gear sorting device according to claim 6 .