JP3043020B2 - Automatic surface inspection system for mirror-finished aluminum pipes - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention relates to a mirror-finished aluminum tube material used for, for example, a photosensitive drum.
The present invention relates to an automatic surface inspection apparatus that automatically performs a surface inspection to determine whether there is a surface defect such as a scratch, peeling, or burn-in.

In this specification, the term aluminum is used to include its alloy.

2. Description of the Related Art For photosensitive drums and the like, aluminum tubes that have been subjected to mirror finishing such as drawing or ironing are used, but it is strict that such tubes have no surface defects such as scratches, scratches, burn-in, etc. Required. Conventionally, for the purpose of eliminating such defective pipes in advance, the inspector inspects the product immediately after the mirror finishing one by one by hand and inspects the surface with the naked eye for the presence or absence of surface defects. .

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, such a human visual inspection has various problems as described below.

In other words, it is easy to overlook the inspection due to fatigue of the eyes due to long-term inspection, the quality tends to vary due to individual differences in the inspection level of the inspector, and considerable skill is required for the inspection Therefore, the number of inspectors is limited because of this, and when the amount of inspection increases, it is necessary to secure the inspectors accordingly, leading to an increase in cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and has as its object to provide an automatic surface inspection apparatus that performs a surface inspection of such a tube material completely automatically.

Means for Solving the Problems Thus, the present invention provides an inspection unit for inspecting whether or not a surface defect such as a scratch, scuffing, and seizure is present on the surface of a mirror-finished aluminum pipe (A). (3), a carry-in conveyor (1) for carrying the tube (A) into the inspection unit (3), and a carry-out conveyor (2) for carrying out the inspected tube (A). (3) is an aluminum tube material (A) which is rotatably arranged between the conveyors (1) and (2) and which is conveyed from the carry-in conveyor (1) by a chuck portion (6) which can rotate on its own axis. And a tube material attaching / detaching / conveying device (4) having a disk-shaped body (5) for rotating the feeder in the circumferential direction to the inspection position with the internal chuck and further rotating the feeder to the discharge conveyor (2) in the circumferential direction; The surface of the rotating tube (A) is irradiated with flash light while A determination device (7) for continuously imaging the surface over the entire circumference thereof and analyzing the images to determine the presence or absence of a surface defect; The gist of the invention is an automatic surface inspection device for the applied aluminum pipe.

Operation After the pipe material conveyed by the carry-in conveyor is internally chucked by the chuck section of the pipe material attaching / detaching / conveying device, it is rotationally fed in a circumferential direction of the disc-shaped body to a predetermined inspection position with the rotation of the disc-shaped body. , The self-axis is rotated at the inspection position. Then, a flash is applied to the surface of the tube material that is rotating on its own axis, and the surface is continuously imaged over the entire circumference thereof. The imaged image is analyzed to determine the presence or absence of a surface defect. After the completion of the inspection, the tube material is rotated and sent in the circumferential direction of the disk-shaped body to the unloading conveyor with the rotation of the disk-shaped body, and is subjected to re-inspection as necessary.

Embodiments Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on illustrated embodiments.

The automatic surface inspection apparatus according to the illustrated embodiment inspects the surface of an aluminum drawn tube (A) used for a photosensitive drum, and carries in and takes out the drawn tube (A). And a conveyor (2) and an inspection unit (3) for inspecting the surface of the drawn tube (A).

The carry-in conveyor (1) and the carry-out conveyor (2) are composed of one continuous conveyor, and a part for carrying the drawn tube (A) to the inspection part (3) is a carry-in conveyor and an inspection part (3). The part that is carried out from is used as a carry-out conveyor. However, two separate and independent conveyors may be used, and their end portions may be linearly arranged in the inspection section (3).

In the inspection section (3), the aluminum drawn pipe (A), which is the inspection object, which has been conveyed by the carry-in conveyor (1), is internally chucked and rotated so as to draw an arc to a predetermined inspection position. After the inspection, a tube material attaching / detaching / conveying device (4) for rotating and moving in a circular arc on the carry-out conveyor (2) is provided. Here, "internal chucking" is used in the sense of chucking from the inside. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, this device (4) comprises a pair of rotatable disk-shaped members (5) disposed opposite to each other between both conveyors (1) and (2). ) And (5), and four pairs of chucking rods (6) are attached to the corresponding positions of the two disk-shaped members (5) and (5) with a phase difference of 90 degrees so as to be extendable and retractable, respectively. . The distal end of the chucking rod (6) is made of a flexible material such as a soft synthetic resin or rubber, and can be expanded and contracted by supplying air so that it can expand and contract. 6a). Then, when the aluminum drawn tube (A) to be inspected is conveyed by the carry-in conveyor (1), the disc-shaped bodies (5) and (5) rotate to rotate the drawn tube (A). The chucking rod (6) coincides with the axis. Then, the chucking rod (6) is extended and inserted into both ends of the drawn tube (A), and in this inserted state, the air chucking portion (6a) is expanded so that the drawn tube (A) is expanded. Is to be chucked. As described above, the air chucking portion (6a) is chucked by being pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the aluminum drawn tube (A), so that the surface of the drawn tube (A) is damaged during chucking. There is no inconvenience such as attaching. Then, when the aluminum drawn tube (A) is chucked in this manner, the disc-shaped body (5) (5) rotates 1/4 turn, and the drawn tube (A) is turned into the disc-shaped body (5) (5). (2) Move to a predetermined inspection position in the circumferential direction. When the chucking rod (6) rotates at this inspection position, the drawing tube (A) is rotated on its own axis at a predetermined speed.

Above the drawing tube (A), the surface of the tube material (A) at the inspection position is irradiated with flash light to continuously image the surface over the entire circumference, and analyze these images. Accordingly, a determination device (7) for determining the presence or absence of a surface defect is provided. The judging device (7) includes a stroboscope (8) for emitting a flash toward the drawing tube (A), and four solid-state imaging devices (charge coupled device) for imaging the surface of the drawing tube (A) during the flash irradiation. And (9) replace the change in lightness and darkness of the image with the change in voltage to analyze and detect surface defects such as scratches, dirt, foreign matter, and white lines.
It is configured by a computer (not shown) that automatically discriminates a defective product having such a defect from a non-defective product having no such defect.

The stroboscope (8) is a dedicated flash light source for capturing a moving image moving at high speed as a still image when capturing the surface of the rotating drawing tube (A) with the imaging device (9). As the lamp for the stroboscope (8), for example, a xenon lamp having high illuminance and long life can be suitably used. Then, a flash is emitted from the stroboscope (8) toward the drawing tube (A), which is rotated by its own axis at the inspection position, at a rate of 40 to 60 shots per rotation of the tube (A). The surface of the drawn tube (A) is imaged by the solid-state imaging device (9) correspondingly. This imaging is performed by four imaging devices (9) provided along the longitudinal direction of the drawn tube (A), each of which takes charge of 1/4 of the drawn tube (A), and each of them sequentially takes a horizontal direction. The entire surface is imaged by sliding. The use of a plurality of imaging devices in this manner is advantageous in that the inspection time can be reduced. However, the image may be captured by only one device. The image picked up by the image pickup device (9) is analyzed by a computer (not shown) to replace a change in brightness with a change in voltage. As a result, scratches, scratches, burn-in, dirt, foreign matter, and white lines are generated. Are automatically determined as defective products having such defects and non-defective products having no such defects. In order to be able to visually detect the presence or absence of a defect at the same time as the automatic determination, four monitors (10) are installed, and the detected defect is clearly indicated on the monitor (10) by blinking a modulated bright spot. Like that. As a result of the analysis processing, when it is determined that the product is defective, an exclusion signal is automatically output.

When the above-mentioned inspection is completed, the disk-shaped body (5) (5)
Is rotated by 1/4, so that the disc is moved in the circumferential direction of the disk-shaped body (5) (5) onto the unloading conveyor (2), and then the air chucking section (6a) is contracted and the chucking state is reduced. When the chucking bar (6) is released and the chucking rod (6) is retracted, the inspected drawn tube (A) is transferred onto the unloading conveyor (2) and unloaded by the conveyor (2). After being conveyed to a predetermined position, only the drawing tube (A) determined to be defective by the sorting / transferring device (11) operated in response to the rejection signal is adjacent to the conveyor (2). It is transferred onto a similar unloading conveyor (12), and is subjected to re-inspection.

In this way, the aluminum drawn tube (A) is continuously subjected to the inspection and the quality is automatically judged.

Effect of the Invention As described above, the present invention automatically inspects the surface of the aluminum tube material subjected to mirror finishing for scratches, scratches, seizures, etc. As in the case of conventional visual inspection, the eyes may become fatigued due to long-term inspections, resulting in missed inspections, variations in quality due to individual differences in inspection levels of inspectors, and inspections. The inconvenience that the number of inspectors is limited due to the required skill level, or that the number of inspectors increases and the number of inspectors must be secured accordingly, leading to an increase in cost, can be eliminated at once. Therefore, the inspection can be performed with high accuracy and high efficiency, and defective products can be completely eliminated.

In addition, since the tube is internally chucked at the time of inspection, there is no inconvenience that the surface of the tube is damaged during the inspection.

In addition, the tube material can be inspected by rotating its own axis at a position separated from the conveyor by rotating the disk in the circumferential direction of the disc-shaped body of the tube attaching / detaching and conveying apparatus. There is no inconvenience such as damage to the surface of the tube material due to contact.

Further, since the tube is separated from the conveyor, a large space is formed around the tube at the inspection position, and the degree of freedom of installation of the determination device can be increased.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 is a side view of the entire apparatus, FIG. 2 is a left side view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same. (1)… Convey-in conveyor, (2)… Convey-out conveyor,
(3) ... Inspection unit, (4) ... Tube material detachable transfer device,
(7)... Determination device, (A)... Aluminum tube.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Masaaki Oide 6,224, Kaiyama-cho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Inside Showa Aluminum Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuo Sugiyama 6,224, Kaiyama-cho, Sakai-shi, Osaka Showa (56) References JP-A-61-12187 (JP, A) JP-A-54-124783 (JP, A) JP-A-2-201142 (JP, A) JP-A-3-54438 (JP) JP-A-3-57906 (JP, A) JP-A-1-165940 (JP, A) JP-A-1-180758 (JP, U) JP-A-63-54166 (JP, U) JP-A 63-67069 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 59-78964 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Showa 54-137085 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model 1-87861 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. (Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 21/84-21/958

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An inspection section for inspecting whether or not the surface of the mirror-finished aluminum pipe material has a surface defect such as a scratch, scuffing, and burn-in; and an inspection section for inspecting the inspection section. )), And a carry-in conveyor (1) for carrying in the pipe material (A) and a carry-out conveyor (2) for carrying out the inspected pipe material (A).
The inspection unit (3) is rotatably disposed between the conveyors (1) and (2), and is transported from the carry-in conveyor (1) by a chuck unit (6) that can rotate on its own axis. Internally chucked aluminum tube material (A), which is rotated in the circumferential direction to an inspection position, and further, has a disk-shaped body (5) which is rotated and fed in a circumferential direction to an unloading conveyor (2). (4) irradiating the surface of the rotating tube (A) with flash light at the inspection position, continuously imaging the surface over the entire circumference thereof, and analyzing these images for surface defects. Determination device for determining the presence or absence of presence (7)
An automatic surface inspection device for an aluminum tube material subjected to mirror finishing, characterized by having: