JP3270508B2 - Infrared imaging device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an infrared imaging apparatus which determines whether or not thermal image data in a predetermined section of one screen is appropriate and outputs an alarm.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a temperature distribution of a subject is measured using an infrared imaging device, and an alarm is issued when the temperature of the subject is below a predetermined value or above a predetermined value.

Such a conventional apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 8, the infrared detector 1 detects two-dimensionally scanned infrared rays reflected from the subject, as shown in FIG.
The signal is amplified by the preamplifier 2 and the linear circuit 3, and the upper and lower limit detecting circuit 4 compares the set data set by the upper limiter 5 and the lower limit setter 6 with the detected data. I do.

[0004]

In the conventional alarm system, as shown in FIG. 7, an analog circuit is used to detect an alarm for a set value in real time. There was a problem that it was not possible. Further, the temperature to be compared is the average temperature for one screen. For example, there is a problem in that when an object is run on a production line and a temperature alarm is issued, an alarm delay occurs.

An object of the present invention is to provide an infrared imaging apparatus capable of arbitrarily setting a position where an alarm should be issued and a temperature, and capable of issuing an alarm in real time. I do.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an infrared imaging apparatus for two-dimensionally scanning a subject, displaying a thermal image of the subject on a screen, and measuring a temperature distribution of the subject. Area setting means for setting, a temperature range setting means for setting an upper limit temperature and a lower limit temperature, a line buffer for storing thermal image data for one line when scanning horizontally, and a thermal image for each line transferred from the line buffer. An image memory for storing data, and a judging means for judging whether or not thermal image data for one line transferred from the line buffer is within a predetermined temperature range in the predetermined area;
Alarm means for issuing an alarm output based on the determination result,
One line of thermal image data is transferred from the line buffer to the image memory and transferred to the determination means to determine whether the thermal image data is within a predetermined temperature range within the predetermined area. Features.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a signal for each horizontal scanning line obtained from a subject is output to a line buffer, and one signal is output from the line buffer.
In addition to transferring the thermal image data for the line to the image memory, the thermal image data is also transmitted to the determining means to determine whether or not the thermal image data is within a predetermined temperature range within a predetermined area. Can be determined quickly, an alarm can be issued in real time, and the position and temperature at which an alarm should be issued can be easily set while looking at the screen.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an infrared imaging apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of dividing a thermal video image in the horizontal direction. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the application of the present invention to a production line, and FIG. 5 is a detailed diagram of the digital circuit portion of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a portion for detecting two-dimensional thermal image data of a subject through an infrared detector 1, a preamplifier 2, and a linear circuit 3 is the same as that of a conventional analog configuration. The detected analog thermal image data is converted into digital data by the A / D converter 10 and the one-line buffer 1
1 stores data for each line. The stored data for each line is transferred to the image memory 15 by DMA (direct memory access) transfer. On the other hand, one line of image data to be DMA-transferred is sent to an n equalization circuit 12, a position detection circuit 13, and an upper / lower limit circuit 14. The left and right position setting devices 16 and 17 respectively input l and m from the CPU 20 to the position detection circuit 13 as set values.
The upper and lower limit detection circuit 14 receives an upper limit set value Tu and a lower limit set value Td from an upper limit temperature setter 18 and a lower limit temperature setter 19, respectively.

The data for one line is divided into n equal parts as shown in FIG. 2, and a valid signal is output from the position detection circuit 13 when the data is within a predetermined range of the left position 1 and the right position m. On the other hand, the upper and lower limit detection circuit 14 similarly outputs a valid signal when the average value of the data for one line is within the set temperature range, and the logic circuit 22 informs the alarm 23 that the region and temperature are within the predetermined range. Is output. The alarm 23 issues an alarm output when the temperature in the effective area is out of the predetermined range.

Further, referring to FIG.
Address signal generating circuit 3 based on MA-transferred data
The address generated at 0 and the set values 1 and m are compared by comparators 33 and 34, and the comparison result is input to a determination circuit 37 that determines which area is to be an effective range. Meanwhile, DM
The A-transferred data is latched by the latch circuit 31 and similarly compared with the set temperatures Tu and Td by the comparators 35 and 36, and the comparison result is input to the determination circuit 38 which determines which temperature range is valid. The determination circuits 37 and 38 determine the position and the temperature according to the content of the determination,
When the position limited at 40 and the limited temperature match, n
An alarm is output corresponding to the screen area divided by the division decoder 32. The alarm output can be displayed by a light emitting diode or the like, or can be connected to the I / O of another CPU.

As described above, an alarm is issued based on one line of image data. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when an object 51 flows as indicated by an arrow in the manufacturing line 50, one horizontal scanning line is generated. Since it is possible to immediately determine whether or not the temperature of the subject is normal from the thermal image data, it is possible to sufficiently cope with the detector in the production line.

In the above embodiment, the region is set only in the horizontal direction. However, the region may be set in the vertical direction, and the horizontal and vertical directions are set as shown in FIG. It is also possible to set only the shaded area as the effective range.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, an alarm for abnormal temperature can be issued in real time, and the effective area and the temperature range can be set freely while watching the screen. Also, alarms for temperatures above the upper limit, temperatures below the upper limit, alarms for temperatures above the lower limit, below the lower limit,
During the upper and lower limits, it is possible to freely select alarms that deviate from the upper and lower limits, etc. Furthermore, it is possible to specify which part of the subject being viewed is good or bad by dividing the screen into n Becomes

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an infrared imaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of dividing a thermal video image in a horizontal direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the capture of thermal image data for one line.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the application of the present invention to a production line.

FIG. 5 is a detailed view of a digital circuit part of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an effective range.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a conventional alarm system.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating two-dimensional scanning.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 infrared detector, 11 line buffer, 12 n
Equalizing circuit, 13: position detecting circuit, 14: upper and lower limit temperature detecting circuit, 15: image memory, 16: left position setting device, 17 ...
Right position setting device, 18: Upper limit temperature setting device, 19: Lower limit temperature setting device, 20: CPU, 23: Alarm device.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01J 5/00-5/62 Practical file (PATOLIS) Patent file (PATOLIS)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An infrared imaging apparatus for two-dimensionally scanning a subject, displaying a thermal image on the screen, and measuring a temperature distribution of the subject, an area setting means for setting a predetermined area in one screen, and an upper limit temperature. Temperature range setting means for setting a temperature and a lower limit temperature; a line buffer for storing thermal image data for one line when horizontally scanned; an image memory for storing thermal image data for each line transferred from the line buffer; One line thermal image transferred from line buffer
Determining means for determining whether or not the data is within a predetermined temperature range within the predetermined area; and warning means for issuing a warning output based on the result of the determination. as well as transferred to the memory is transferred to the determination means, thermal imaging de
An infrared imaging apparatus for determining whether the data is within a predetermined temperature range within the predetermined area .