JP3730082B2 - Cigarette inspection device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cigarette inspection apparatus that inspects dirt and defects on a filter end face of a cigarette manufactured continuously by a cigarette manufacturing apparatus.
[0002]
[Related background]
A cigarette manufacturing device (winding machine) usually forms a long rod-shaped cigarette rod (bar-wrapped cigarette) by continuously winding a chopped cigarette with a long wrapping paper in the longitudinal direction. After cutting every time, a filter made of a fiber material such as acetate is attached to one end of the filter so that a cigarette with a filter is continuously manufactured.
[0003]
By the way, when cigarettes with a filter are continuously manufactured as described above, oil adhering to a cutter blade in a cigarette manufacturing apparatus, glue paste for adhering a wrapping paper or a filter wrap, etc. are rarely present on the filter end face. It will adhere and cause dirt and spots. It is important to detect cigarettes with stains or stains on the end face of the filter and to reliably detect and remove the cigarettes from the production line.
[0004]
On the other hand, in a so-called charcoal filter type cigarette provided with a filter layer containing charcoal (charcoal filter) in the back, the filter layer made of a fiber material such as acetate positioned at the end of the filter has a specified length. If it is less than that, the color of the charcoal filter at the back of the filter may appear to be raised, and it may feel dingy. Therefore, conventionally, the color rise of the charcoal filter for examining the color component is detected from the image of the filter end face imaged by the imaging device (camera), and the cigarette in which the color of the charcoal filter is raised is excluded from the production line. Has been done.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, dirt and stains resulting from the adhesion of oil and paste described above often occur locally on the filter end face, and it is difficult to easily detect this from the above-described image of the filter end face. Furthermore, when dirt or a stain is generated in the vicinity of the peripheral edge of the filter end face, it is difficult to distinguish it from the outline part of the filter end face, and thus it is very difficult to detect. By the way, if the shape of the filter end face (filter area) is detected from the image obtained by capturing the filter end face, and then local stains or stains are detected on the filter end face, large and complicated image processing is required. I can't deny that.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in consideration of such circumstances, and the object thereof is a cigarette having a simple configuration capable of reliably detecting dirt and stains generated on the filter end face without using complicated image processing. It is to provide an inspection device.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, a cigarette inspection apparatus according to the present invention inspects a filter end surface of a cigarette that is held sideways and conveyed by a conveyance mechanism such as a cigarette conveyance drum in a cigarette manufacturing apparatus,
In synchronism with the transport of the cigarette by the transport mechanism, an image capturing device that captures a predetermined visual field area including the filter end surface of the cigarette held and transported by the transport mechanism, and in the image captured by the image capturing device Image processing means for determining a region having a color component other than a normal color component on the filter end surface to determine the quality of the filter end surface;
In particular, the imaging field of the imaging device on the rear side of the transport mechanism holding the cigarette and surface-treating the part included in the imaging visual field region of the imaging device in the transport mechanism so as to have a normal color component of the filter end face A background providing means is provided for setting an area included in the area so as to have a normal color component of the filter end face.
[0008]
That is, the cigarette inspection device according to the present invention is a part of the field of view of the imaging device that images the filter end surface of the cigarette, which is the background of the filter end surface, specifically the surface of the transport mechanism and the transport mechanism holding the cigarette. By setting the rear area in advance so as to have a normal color component of the filter end face, all of the visual field area of the imaging device basically consists of only the normal color component of the filter end face. The filter end face is detected regardless of the shape (contour) of the filter end face by detecting a region having a color component other than the normal color component of the filter end face from the image of the filter end face taken by the imaging device. It is characterized by simply and reliably detecting dirt and stains generated on the surface.
[0009]
According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, as described in claim 2, the surface processing of the transport mechanism is realized by matte coating with a normal color component paint on the filter end surface, and the background applying means includes the transport mechanism. This is realized as a background illumination light source that illuminates the background of the cigarette held by the mechanism on the side opposite to the filter end surface with a normal color component of the filter end surface.
[0010]
Preferably, the image processing unit includes a memory for storing a normal color component of the filter end face in advance as a color separation value composed of an RGB value and its brightness, as defined in claim 3, and has a predetermined allowable range. In this case, an image region having a color component other than a normal color component on the filter end face is detected by collating the stored color separation value with an image captured by the imaging device.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a cigarette inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part of a cigarette inspection apparatus according to this embodiment. Reference numeral 1 denotes a transport drum which is incorporated in a cigarette manufacturing apparatus and transports cigarettes continuously manufactured by the cigarette manufacturing apparatus side by side. (Conveyor). The transport drum 1 is provided at the subsequent stage of the filter mounting process. The filter F is mounted on one end of the cigarette T in the filter mounting process, and then the plurality of filters F are aligned side by side. One cigarette with a filter is held one by one on the peripheral surface of the transport drum 1 and is transported to the next process by its rotation.
[0012]
Thus, on the side of the transport drum 1, the filter end surface of the cigarette T that is positioned on the transport path (circumferential surface of the transport drum 1) of the cigarette T formed by the transport drum 1 and is transported while being transported by the transport drum 1. A camera (imaging device) 2 is provided. The camera 2 is composed of, for example, a small CCD color camera, and the optical axis of the imaging lens system coincides with the axis of the cigarette T at a predetermined transport position in the transport path of the cigarette T by the transport drum 1. Accordingly, the imaging visual field region is set so that the entire filter end face of the cigarette T is captured at the center of the image.
[0013]
The camera 2 is driven by the photographing synchronization circuit 3 in synchronization with the rotation of the transport drum 1 (conveyance of the cigarette T), and for example, the cigarette T positioned at the predetermined transport position at a high speed of 1/1000 second or more. The filter end face is captured as a still image without blurring. Then, the image including the filter end face of the cigarette T imaged by the camera 2 is given to the image processing device 4 and used for detection of stains and spots on the filter end face by predetermined image processing to be described later. When the image processing device 4 detects dirt or stains on the filter end face, the image processing device 4 sends a defective product discharge device 5 provided in a subsequent process of the transport drum 1 to eliminate the cigarette T. In response to this, a defective product exclusion command is issued, whereby the corresponding cigarette T is excluded from the production line.
[0014]
In the cigarette inspection apparatus basically configured as described above, the first feature of the present invention is that the surface of the transport drum 1 included in the imaging field of view of the camera 2, particularly the side facing the camera 2. The end face 1a is pre-matted with a paint having the same color component as the regular color component of the end face of the filter F in the cigarette T. That is, the filter end surface is usually a cut surface of a filter made of a fiber material such as acetate, and forms a white matte surface which is almost the material color. On the other hand, the transport drum 1 is usually made of a metal material and has a glossy surface on which the metallic material appears. Therefore, the surface of the transport drum 1 is matted with a white paint having a color almost the same as that of the filter end surface (surface processing), so that the surface of the filter end surface having a normal color component (white) It is set to be.
[0015]
The second feature point is that a background illumination light source 6 is provided in the rear region of the transport drum 1 included in the imaging field of view of the camera 2. The background illumination light source 6 is provided to face the camera 2 with the conveyance drum 1 interposed therebetween. For example, the translucent plate 6a having a matte white surface and the back side of the translucent plate 6a. A white light source 6b that transmits and illuminates the light transmitting plate 6a provided. Then, by whitening the entire surface of the white translucent plate 6a, the background of the filter end face of the cigarette T imaged by the camera 2 is illuminated so that it has a normal color component (white) of the filter end face. It has become.
[0016]
The camera 2 described above is a white shadowless illumination light source such as a ring light provided with the filter end surface of the cigarette T held and transported by the transport drum 1 around the camera 2 in the imaging environment set as described above. 7 is illuminated, and an image of a predetermined imaging visual field range including the filter end face is captured. As a result, the image captured by the camera 2 is basically obtained as a white image composed entirely of the color components of the filter end faces.
[0017]
The above-described image processing apparatus 4 includes a memory 4a that stores in advance normal color components of the filter end face as color separation values including, for example, RGB values obtained by separating the three primary color components and lightness thereof, The filter end face image captured by the camera 2 is processed as described above using the color separation value stored in the memory 4a as a reference, and an image region having a color component other than the normal color component is detected. Specifically, the image processing apparatus 4 compares and collates the color separation value with the color component of the image captured by the camera within a predetermined allowable range, and determines a pixel (pixel) having a color component that is out of the color separation value. By detecting this, an image area other than the normal color component on the filter end face is detected. Then, by detecting the size of the detected image area, dirt and spots generated on the filter end face are detected.
[0018]
That is, the image of the filter end face imaged by the camera 2 in an imaging environment in which the transfer drum 1 described above is not matted and does not illuminate the background is generally filtered as shown in FIG. It is divided into an image part A showing the end face, an image part B showing the transport drum 1, and an image part C forming the background thereof, each having a unique color component. Therefore, even if a discolored portion D caused by dirt or a stain exists on the end face of the filter, it is difficult to detect this when the discolored portion D is at the boundary between the areas A, B, and C. is there. In addition, when the color component of the discolored portion D is similar to the color components of the image portions B and C forming the background, the discolored portion D is present in the image portion A due to dirt or spots generated on the filter end face. It is very difficult to determine whether the image is included in the image portions B and C forming the background depending on the distortion of the outer shape of the filter end face.
[0019]
In this regard, as described above, if the surface of the transport drum 1 is matted in the same manner as the color of the filter end face, an image obtained by this is as shown in FIG. , B cannot be distinguished. Further, when the background illumination described above is applied, the image captured by the camera 2 is as shown in FIG. 2C, and the image areas A, B, and C are substantially not distinguished. As a result, the discoloration portion D generated on the filter end surface can be detected as an image portion having a unique color component in the entire image, and the stain generated on the filter end surface without regard to the background. And spots can be detected.
[0020]
In the image processing apparatus 4, since the rough image area A of the filter end face in the image is clear in advance, it is set based on the image area A and the shape change of the filter end face as shown in FIG. It is also possible to extract only the peripheral area, that is, an area slightly larger than the filter end face as the image processing target area E, and detect the discolored portion D in the area E. By limiting the area (inspection area) that is the object of image processing in this way, the data processing amount can be reduced, so that the processing load on the image processing apparatus 4 can be reduced. An effect is produced.
[0021]
Thus, according to the cigarette inspection device for detecting the presence of dirt and spots on the filter end face as described above, the imaging environment in which the normal color component of the filter end face is set in the region forming the background of the filter end face is set. Since the discolored portion due to the dirt or stain is detected from the image obtained by imaging the filter end face under the environment, the discolored portion (dirt or stain) can be reliably detected only by simple image processing. In addition, the normal color component of the filter end face is known in advance according to the specifications of the filter, and is generally white, so that the surface of the transport drum 1 is matted or background illumination as described above. It is easy to provide the light source 6 and match the color component forming the background portion with the color component of the filter end face. Therefore, there is an advantage that the cigarette inspection device can be constructed easily and inexpensively.
[0022]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Here, the image of the filter end face is obtained using a CCD color camera. However, for example, through an optical filter having color selectivity such as a yellow transmission filter. By obtaining an image of the filter end face, it is possible to emphasize and capture only the yellowish discolored region caused by dirt or stains, so that it is possible to easily inspect using a monochrome camera. . In this case, since the image signal level of the white component image region and the yellow color change region changes, it is only necessary to determine the image signal level and detect the color change region other than the white component. Further, when the yellow light is emitted as the ring light 7 for illuminating the filter end face, the yellow discoloration region caused by dirt and spots is emphasized as in the case of using the yellow transmission filter described above, and the image is displayed. In this case, the apparatus configuration can be simplified in the same manner.
[0023]
Further, here, the transport drum 1 transports the cigarette T while detecting dirt and spots on the filter end face, but the same inspection is performed when the cigarette T is placed on the transport conveyor and transported. Can do. In addition, the present invention can be variously modified and implemented without departing from the scope of the invention.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, when the filter end face of the cigarette is imaged, the background part is matted or illuminated so that the normal color component of the filter end face is obtained. Therefore, it is possible to easily and reliably detect the presence of dirt and stains on the filter end face without specifying the shape of the filter end face. In addition, it is possible to achieve a great practical effect such that the defective end face of the filter can be reliably detected and the rejection command can be eliminated without using complicated image processing.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a cigarette inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an image of a filter end face imaged in the cigarette inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and the effect of background processing.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Conveying drum (conveying device)
1a Matte painted surface 2 Camera (imaging device)
3 Shooting Synchronization Circuit 4 Image Processing Device 5 Defective Product Eliminating Device 6 Background Illumination Light Source 6a Translucent Plate 6b White Light Source 7 Ring Light (Filter End Surface Illumination Light Source)

Claims (3)

A cigarette inspection apparatus that inspects a filter end face of a cigarette that is incorporated in a cigarette manufacturing apparatus and held side by side by a transport mechanism,
In synchronization with the transport of the cigarette by the transport mechanism, an image capturing device that captures a predetermined visual field region including the filter end surface of the cigarette held and transported by the transport mechanism, and an image captured by the image capturing device Image processing means for determining a quality of the filter end surface by determining a region having a color component other than a normal color component of the filter end surface;
The transport mechanism is formed by surface-treating a part included in the imaging field of view of the imaging device so as to have a normal color component of the filter end face,
The cigarette inspection further comprises a background applying means positioned behind the transport mechanism and configured to set an area included in an imaging field of view of the imaging device to have a normal color component of the filter end face. apparatus. Surface processing of the transport mechanism is realized by matte coating with a normal color component paint on the filter end face,
The cigarette inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the background applying unit includes a background illumination light source that illuminates the background opposite to the filter end surface of the cigarette held by the transport mechanism with a normal color component of the filter end surface. The image processing means stores in advance the normal color component of the filter end face as a color separation value composed of an RGB value and its brightness, and stores the stored color separation value and the image pickup device within a predetermined allowable range. The cigarette inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a region having a color component other than a normal color component on the filter end face is detected by collating the image captured in this manner.

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