JP5110071B2 - Inspection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an object inspection apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to an inspection apparatus that determines the quality of characters and figures printed on the surface of a plastic molded product.

  A plastic molded product, for example, a cap of a plastic pen such as a ballpoint pen, is printed with characters and figures for representing the name of the manufacturer and sales company and the properties of the pen. This printing is performed mechanically, automatically and continuously by a pad printing machine (also called a tampo printing machine). However, there may be a printing error such that the printed characters and graphics are not printed at a predetermined position, or are not printed clearly such as partly missing. Conventionally, humans have performed visual inspection using a magnifying glass or the like as a method for detecting such defective products.

  In addition, as a method of mechanically inspecting the print, the printed character or figure is illuminated with white light such as an incandescent bulb or a fluorescent lamp, and the image is recognized by the camera. There was a way to judge the product.

However, the former method, of course, causes a test error due to fatigue, and there is a problem that the inspection standard varies depending on the inspector.
Further, the latter method has a problem in inspection accuracy depending on the type of the target object. In particular, in the case of a writing pen cap, the image cannot be recognized well depending on the combination of the color of the cap itself and the color of characters and figures, or if the cap is a transparent object such as plastic, the internal structure of the cap Has been seen through and recognized as an image.

Japanese Patent No. 3274186

  The present invention provides, firstly, an inspection apparatus capable of solving problems that occur when a human visually observes, that is, the effects of fatigue and variations in inspection standards, and secondly, the types of inspection objects. It is another object of the present invention to provide an inspection apparatus capable of performing a reliable inspection without being affected by the type of characters, graphics, and the like printed.

In order to solve the above-described problems, an inspection apparatus according to the present invention is an inspection apparatus that inspects the printing state of characters or figures printed on the outer surface of a plastic writing pen cap or body that is a transparent object. An illumination means comprising an LED capable of emitting monochromatic light of different colors from both ends of the cap or the main body in the longitudinal direction to the outer surface of the plastic writing pen cap or the main body ; An image recognizing means for observing the cap or the character or figure of the main body , a box-shaped illumination cylinder provided with the illumination means and the image recognition means on an inner wall, a light shielding member attached to the illumination cylinder, A controller that receives the image information of the image recognition means and determines whether the print state of the character or graphic is good or bad To.

  The inspection apparatus according to the present invention always inspects the print state of characters and figures reliably because the object is illuminated while switching the monochromatic light to be emitted according to the type of object, particularly the color of the object. Can do. In particular, when the object is a cap or main body of a writing plastic pen such as a ballpoint pen (portion of the cap), the light emission color of the illumination means can be set according to the color of the cap or main body. For this reason, not only the influence of the color but also the problem that the image is recognized through the cap and the internal structure of the main body, in particular, in the case of the cap, the positioning rib with the main body is transmitted.

1 shows a schematic configuration of an inspection apparatus according to the present invention. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an inspection apparatus according to the present invention. The enlarged view of LED is shown. The target object of the inspection apparatus which concerns on this invention is shown.

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of an inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and shows a schematic configuration of an inspection apparatus for a cap of a plastic color ballpoint pen. FIG. 2 shows a state diagram as viewed downward from arrow A in FIG. The entire box-shaped illumination tube 10 is held by the support column 20. LED1 (1a, 1b, 1c, 1d) which is an illumination means is attached to the inner surface of the side wall 101 and the inner surface of the side wall 102 of the illumination tube 10. Further, a camera 2 (model UL-1460SE-C-GL manufactured by Imaging Development System) is attached to the inner surface of the upper wall 103 of the illumination tube 10 as image recognition means. The lower side facing the upper wall 103 is open, and a stage 3 is provided on which a cap X of a plastic color ballpoint pen as an object is held and fixed. The LED 1a, LED1b, LED1c, and LED1d illuminate the object X, and characters or figures printed on the outer surface of the object X are observed by the camera 2. Image information observed by the camera 2 is input to the controller 4. The controller 4 stores a reference pattern in advance, and compares the observed image information with the reference pattern. A light blocking member 6 for preventing disturbance is attached to the illumination tube 10. It is effective to install the light shielding member 6 in an environment where there is a disturbance influence.

  FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the LED. The LEDs are, for example, adjacent to minute RGB LEDs, and selectively emit, for example, red, blue, and yellow colors according to a command from the controller 4. The light emitting point of the LED is as small as, for example, φ5 mm, and apparently the three colors are emitted so that they can be switched from the same position. If there is no problem in illumination and space, LEDs that emit light of each color may be arranged side by side instead of LEDs in which RGB are integrated.

  For example, the LED 1 emits red when the cap color is green, blue, light blue, black, or white, and emits blue when the cap color is orange or red. When the cap that is the object is pink, green light is emitted. Such luminescent color switching can be done automatically by detecting the color of the object, but in the case of lot production, the luminescent color is manually set according to the color of the object at the time of setup. May be.

  The inspection apparatus of the present invention is particularly effective when the object is a cap of a plastic color ballpoint pen. This is because the cap is colored in accordance with the color of the ink, and if it is made of plastic, it is permeable so that the internal rib structure can be seen through. Therefore, when the white light is used and the light is uniformly illuminated regardless of the type of the cap, the camera cannot recognize the image correctly. The present invention solves such a problem by illuminating an appropriate monochromatic light according to the color of the cap.

In the present invention, the emission intensity of the LED may be further changed in addition to the emission color of the LED depending on the type of the object. Furthermore, in addition to RGB, LEDs can be installed in combination with IR-LEDs and UV-LEDs.
Further, the installation position of the LED is not limited to the figure as long as the characters and figures to be inspected should be clearly observable, and the position can be adjusted according to the inspection object. However, in the case of a cap for a writing pen, as shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal direction of the cap is because the overall count is a substantially cylindrical body and characters and figures are printed on the curved outer surface. It is preferable to illuminate from both ends.
Moreover, it is desirable that the inspection apparatus of the present invention is mounted on a tampo printing machine. This is because the printing state can be observed while continuously printing with a tamp printer.

FIG. 4 schematically shows an object for explaining the function and effect of the present invention. The object is a plastic ballpoint pen cap, and the letters “ABC” are printed on the outer surface. (A) shows a state where printed characters are normally observed, (b) shows a state where even a rib formed inside the cap has been observed, and (c) shows a part of the printed characters. This indicates a state in which is missing and not fully observed.
That is, (a) is a case where the light emission color of the LED is selected to match the cap color, and (b) (c) is a case where the light emission color of the LED is selected without matching the color of the cap. Alternatively, white light is emitted.

2 Camera 3 Stage 4 Controller 6 Light blocking member 10 Illumination tube 20 Strut 101 Side wall 102 Side wall 103 Upper wall

Claims (1)

An inspection device for inspecting the printing state of characters or figures printed on the outer surface of a plastic writing pen cap or main body , which is a transparent object ,
Illumination means comprising LEDs capable of emitting monochromatic light in different colors from both ends in the longitudinal direction of the cap or main body to the outer surface of the plastic writing pen cap or main body , and
Image recognition means for observing the illuminated character or figure of the cap or body ;
A box-shaped illumination tube including an inner wall of the illumination unit and the image recognition unit;
A light shielding member attached to the illumination tube;
A controller that receives the image information of the image recognition means and determines whether the print state of the character or graphic is good;
An inspection apparatus characterized by comprising.

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