JP5110116B2 - Imaging apparatus and imaging method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus and an imaging method for reading an image to be imaged by an area sensor.

  An area sensor is known as an imaging means for performing position recognition of an electronic component by an electronic component mounting apparatus or the like. This area sensor is a two-dimensional array of pixels each having a light receiving element that stores a charge corresponding to the amount of light received. When an optical image to be imaged is formed on the area sensor, a charge corresponding to the optical image is stored in the light receiving element of each pixel. By outputting this electric charge as an electric signal (image signal), two-dimensional image data to be imaged can be obtained.

  As this area sensor, a CCD type area sensor is widely used. The CCD type area sensor regularly outputs image signals of all pixels and temporarily stores them in a storage unit. Then, image processing and image recognition are performed with reference to only necessary image signals among the image signals stored in the storage unit.

  However, in a conventional image pickup apparatus using a CCD area sensor, image signals are regularly output, so that it is difficult to select and output only necessary image signals. For this reason, useless time is required to output an unnecessary image signal, which hinders speeding up of image reading.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an imaging apparatus and an imaging method capable of shortening an image reading time.

The image pickup apparatus according to claim 1 reads an image by forming an optical image of an electronic component held by a transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit including a plurality of pixels arranged in a grid pattern. An imaging apparatus, wherein a pixel selection unit that can randomly select one pixel that outputs an image signal from among the plurality of pixels, an image storage unit that stores the image signal, and an electronic component within an imaging field of view An image capture area information storage unit for storing information about a rectangular image capture area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field for capturing image data ; , pixels for identifying the m × n pixels to be selected in the rectangular area surrounded by the coordinates of two points on the diagonal positions of the image capture area on the basis of information relating to the image capture area A pixel selection information generation unit that generates selection information, a storage address generation unit that generates a storage address of the image storage unit based on information about the image capture area, and the pixel selection unit based on the pixel selection information. A control unit that outputs an image signal of a pixel selected by control, the image storage unit stores the output image signal in a storage area specified by the storage address, and the pixel and the storage address are 1; The storage address generation unit sets n storage areas for continuously storing image signals of m pixels with a blank area.

The image pickup apparatus according to claim 2 reads an image by forming an optical image of the electronic component held by the transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit including a plurality of pixels arranged in a grid pattern. An imaging apparatus, wherein a pixel selection unit that can randomly select one pixel that outputs an image signal from among the plurality of pixels, an image storage unit that stores the image signal, and an electronic component within an imaging field of view An image capture area information storage unit for storing information about a rectangular image capture area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field for capturing image data ; , pixels for identifying the m × n pixels to be selected in the rectangular area surrounded by the coordinates of two points on the diagonal positions of the image capture area on the basis of information relating to the image capture area A pixel selection information generation unit for generating selection information, a storage address generation unit for generating a storage address of the image storage unit based on the pixel selection information, and controlling the pixel selection unit based on the pixel selection information A control unit that outputs an image signal of the pixel selected by the storage unit, wherein the image storage unit stores the output image signal in a storage area specified by the storage address, and the pixel and the storage address have a one-to-one correspondence The storage address generation unit sets n storage areas for continuously storing image signals of m pixels with a blank area.

  The imaging device according to a third aspect is the imaging device according to the first or second aspect, wherein a storage area fixed for each pixel of the light receiving unit is set in the image storage unit.

The imaging method according to claim 4, the optical image of the electronic component held by the transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus to the light receiving portion having pixels arranged in a grid pattern is imaged, the in the imaging field of view In order to capture the image data of the electronic component , an image signal is selectively selected from pixels corresponding to a rectangular image capturing area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field of view. (1) Select a rectangular area surrounded by position coordinates of two points at diagonal positions of the image capture area based on information on the image capture area to produce a step of generating pixel selection information for specifying the (m × n) pixels to the storage address of the image storage unit for storing an image signal based on the information on (2) the image capture area (3) selecting one pixel from a plurality of pixels specified by the pixel selection information and outputting an image signal from this pixel; (4) the image signal output in (3) above (2) Storing the image in the image storage unit according to the storage address generated in step (i), wherein the pixel and the storage address are associated in a one-to-one relationship, and the storage address generation unit is an image of m pixels. N storage areas for continuously storing signals are set with a blank area.

The imaging method according to claim 5, the optical image of the electronic component held by the transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus to the light receiving portion having pixels arranged in a grid pattern is imaged, the in the imaging field of view In order to capture the image data of the electronic component , an image signal is selectively selected from pixels corresponding to a rectangular image capturing area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field of view. (1) Select a rectangular area surrounded by position coordinates of two points at diagonal positions of the image capture area based on information on the image capture area A step of generating pixel selection information for specifying power m × n pixels, (2) a step of generating a storage address of an image storage unit for storing an image signal based on the pixel selection information, and (3 ) The pixel Selecting one pixel from a plurality of pixels specified by the selection information and outputting an image signal from this pixel; (4) storing the image signal output in (2) above in (2) And storing the image in the image storage unit according to the relationship between the pixel and the storage address in a one-to-one relationship, and the storage address generation unit continuously stores image signals of m pixels. N storage areas are set with a blank area.

  An imaging method according to a sixth aspect is the imaging method according to the fourth or fifth aspect, wherein a storage area fixed for each pixel of the light receiving unit is set in the image storage unit.

  According to the present invention, the storage address of the image storage unit for storing the pixel selection information for specifying the pixel for outputting the image and the image signal is generated on the basis of the information about the image capturing area, and the storage address is designated by this storage address. Since the image signal is stored in the storage area, the image reading time can be shortened.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic component mounting apparatus of Embodiment 1 of this invention. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of a light receiving unit of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Explanatory drawing of the image acquisition area of the imaging device of Embodiment 1 of this invention Explanatory drawing of the memory area of the image memory | storage part of the imaging device of Embodiment 1 of this invention FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the imaging device of the reference example of this invention

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic component mounting apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an image capturing area of the imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is an image storage unit of the imaging device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the storage area of.

  First, an electronic component mounting apparatus in which an imaging device is incorporated will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, a component supply unit 1 supplies electronic components to be mounted. The substrate positioning stage 2 holds and positions the substrate 3 on which electronic components are mounted. A transfer head 5 is disposed above the component supply unit 1 and the substrate positioning stage 2 so as to be horizontally movable by the transfer head moving mechanism 4. The transfer head 5 takes out the electronic component 6 from the component supply unit 1, transfers it to the substrate positioning stage 2, and mounts it on the substrate 3.

  An imaging device 7 is disposed on the movement path of the transfer head 5 between the component supply unit 1 and the substrate positioning stage 2. The imaging device 7 includes a camera 8 and an image recognition unit 7a, and images and recognizes the electronic component 6 held by the transfer head 5 and illuminated by the illumination device 9 from below. The captured image and the recognition result are output from the image recognition unit 7a and displayed on the display unit 10.

  The image recognition unit 7 a and the mechanism control unit 12 constitute a control device 11. The mechanism control unit 12 controls mechanical parts such as the substrate positioning stage 2 and the transfer head moving mechanism 4. The operation unit 13 is an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse. The data input here is processed and input to the control device 11. By this input operation, the mounting operation of the electronic component mounting apparatus and the imaging / recognition operation of the imaging apparatus 7 are set.

  Next, the configuration of the camera 8 and the image recognition unit 7a used for imaging will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the light receiving unit 20 has a plurality of light receiving elements arranged in a lattice pattern. An optical image of the object to be imaged is formed on the light receiving unit 20 by an optical system (not shown), and the electric charge accumulated in each light receiving element is output as an image signal, thereby reading the image of the imaged object.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pixel 20 a configuring the light receiving unit 20 includes a light receiving element 31 that is a photodiode and an amplifier 32 that includes a plurality of MOS transistors. The amplifier 32 converts the charge accumulated in the light receiving element 31 into a voltage and outputs the voltage. A plurality of vertical signal lines LV and a plurality of horizontal signal lines LH are formed in the light receiving unit 20 corresponding to the lattice arrangement (two-dimensional matrix arrangement) of the pixels 20a, and each amplifier 32 has a vertical signal line LV. Are connected to the horizontal signal line LH.

  The combinations of the vertical signal line LV and the horizontal signal line LH connected to each amplifier 32 are all different. The vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 is connected to the amplifier 32 via the vertical signal line LV, and the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 sets the amplifier 32 in an active state, that is, a state in which an image signal converted into a voltage can be output. be able to. The output of the amplifier 32 is connected to the output line L (out) via the horizontal signal line LH and the switching gate element 33. One gate element 33 is connected to each horizontal signal line LH, and is switched by the horizontal pixel selection circuit 22.

  By forming an optical image on the light receiving unit 20, each light receiving element 31 is exposed to light and accumulates electric charges. The charge accumulated in the light receiving element 31 is output as an image signal by a switching operation in which the vertical pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal pixel selection circuit 22 turn on the amplifier 32 and the gate element 33 in synchronization with each other.

  That is, by turning on one of the vertical signal lines LV by the vertical pixel selection circuit 21, one horizontal column of the pixels 20 a arranged in a grid pattern on the light receiving unit 20 is selected. As a result, the amplifier 32 connected to the vertical signal line LV is selected and becomes active. When one gate element 33 is selected and turned ON by the horizontal pixel selection circuit 22, among the amplifiers 32 in an active state, the amplifier connected in common to the gate element 33 via the horizontal signal line LH. An image signal is output from 32. As described above, in the present embodiment, the vertical pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal pixel selection circuit 22 can randomly select one pixel that outputs an image signal from a plurality of pixels. Therefore, the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 function as image selection means for randomly selecting one pixel that outputs an image signal from among a plurality of pixels.

  In FIG. 2, the control unit 24 controls the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 based on the pixel selection information to output an image signal from the pixel selected by the pixel selection information. The pixel selection information generation unit 25 outputs pixel selection information for specifying a pixel that is an output target of an image signal from the image capture area information stored in the image capture area information storage unit 28. The pixel selection information generation unit 25 outputs pixel selection information of pixels to be output one by one in synchronization with a timing signal sent from a timing generation circuit (not shown).

  Based on this pixel selection information, the control unit 24 generates a vertical position signal V for specifying the vertical position of the pixel 20a and a horizontal position signal H for specifying the horizontal position. The vertical position signal V and the horizontal position signal H are respectively output to the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 in accordance with a timing signal generated by a timing generation circuit (not shown). When the vertical position signal V is input, the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 activates the amplifier 32 connected to one vertical signal line LV specified by the vertical position signal V. The horizontal pixel selection circuit 22 turns on one gate element 33 specified by the horizontal position signal H. Thereby, an image signal is output from one pixel 20a specified by the pixel selection information. The image signal output from the light receiving unit 20 is sent to the image signal correcting unit 23 where correction processing such as black level and sensitivity level is performed and digital conversion processing is performed.

  Next, the image recognition unit 7a will be described. The digital image signal output from the camera 8 is sent to and stored in the image storage unit 26. The image processing unit 29 performs image processing on the image signal read from the image storage unit 26 to recognize an electronic component to be imaged. With this recognition, recognition results such as the presence / absence of electronic components, identification, and position detection are output to the mechanism control unit 12. The mechanism control unit 12 controls the transfer head 5 and the substrate positioning stage 2 using this recognition result, and performs alignment when mounting the electronic component. The image data captured by the camera 8 is sent from the image processing unit 29 to the display unit 10 and displayed on the display monitor.

  The image capture area information storage unit 28 stores image capture area information, that is, information representing the position, size, and shape of a specific region that is an image capture target within the imaging field of view. The image capture area information is input to the image capture area information storage unit 28 by the operation unit 13 via the operation processing unit 30, or image capture area information created in advance by an external device may be copied. . The aforementioned pixel selection information is generated based on the image capture area information. The storage address generation unit 27 generates a storage address of an image signal written to the image memory of the image storage unit 26 based on the image capture area information.

  Next, the image capturing area, pixel selection information, and storage address will be described with reference to FIGS. A rectangular frame 40 shown in FIG. 4A shows the imaging field of view of the camera 8, and the rectangular range of the sizes LX and LY is the maximum imageable range. An image capture area 41 as a target for capturing image data for recognizing the electronic component 6 is set within the imaging field of view. This setting is performed by designating a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component 6 to be recognized and the position in the imaging field of view, and the coordinates of the two points A and B at the diagonal positions ( X1, Y1) and (X2, Y2) are input.

  Next, a method for generating pixel selection information by the pixel selection information generation unit 25 will be described. In FIG. 4B, reference numeral 40 'denotes a pixel arrangement frame indicating a range in which the pixels 20a are arranged in the light receiving unit 20, and corresponds to the imaging field 40 shown in FIG. When reading an image from the image capture area 41 set in the imaging field of view 40, a pixel output target range 41 corresponding to the image capture area 41 among the 512 × 512 pixels provided in the light receiving unit 20. The image signal is output only from the pixels in '.

  The pixel selection information generation unit 25 reads information (image capture area information) on the position, size, and shape of the image capture area from the image capture area information storage unit 28, and sets a plurality of pixels corresponding to the image capture area. The position coordinates are obtained and output as pixel selection information. Specifically, the position coordinates (PX1, PY1) and (PXm, PYn) of the pixels PA and PB corresponding to the points A and B in the imaging field of view 40 are obtained, and a rectangular area surrounded by the two position coordinates. The position coordinates of the pixels are output as pixel selection information. When this pixel selection information is output, an image signal is output from (m × n) pixels having the pixel PA as the head and the pixel PB as the end point as described above. That is, m pixels arranged in the X direction according to the pixel selection information are selected one by one from the left as output targets, and image signals are output from all image output target pixels by repeating this n times. The

  Next, the storage address will be described. The storage address is information that associates the image capture area set as described above with the storage area of the memory of the image storage unit 26 in which the image signal read from the image capture area is written. That is, the storage address is generated based on the information about the image capture area, and the storage area of the image storage unit 26 to which the image signal read from the image capture area is written is specified by the storage address generation.

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 42 denotes a storage area allocated to the image storage unit 26 for storing an image signal, and 44 denotes an address assigned to an individual storage area in which data is written, so-called storage address. Yes. For storing the image signal of 512 × 512 pixels from the storage area 43 (S) corresponding to the first pixel PS shown in FIG. 4B to the storage area 43 (E) corresponding to the end pixel PE, respectively. A storage area is reserved.

  Next, the storage address will be described. In the present embodiment, the storage address is composed of 18-bit data so that the storage address can be associated with the 512 × 512 pixels in a one-to-one relationship. That is, since 512 pieces of data are 9-bit data in binary notation, the upper 9 bits are the Y coordinate (PY) of the pixel and the lower 9 bits are the X coordinate (PX). As shown in FIG. 5, a dedicated storage area can be fixedly set on a one-to-one basis for each of 512 × 512 pixels. Among the image signals output from each pixel in the pixel output target range 41 ′ shown in FIG. 4B, the image signal output from the first pixel row (m pixels belonging to the Y coordinate PY1) is: The data is continuously written in the storage area 43 (G1) from the storage address 44 (1, 1) to 44 (1, m).

  Next, the data is output from the second pixel row (m pixels belonging to the Y coordinate PY2) from the storage area 43 (G2) separated by 512 pixels from the storage area 43 corresponding to the address area 44 (1, 1). The image signal is continuously written in the storage area 43 (G2). Similarly, an image region is set for each pixel row, and the storage region 43 (Gn) corresponding to the nth row is the final storage region in which the image signal output from the pixel output target range 41 ′ is written. .

  As described above, in the storage area 42 in which the image signal is written according to the storage address described above, the storage areas 43 (G1) and 43 (G2) described above among all the storage areas corresponding to the first pixel PS to the end pixel PE. ),..., 43 (Gn), in other words, a storage area that has a fixed correspondence with a range that is not set as an image capture area in the imaging field of view is a blank in which no image signal is written. It becomes an area.

  According to the storage address setting shown in the above example, a blank area is generated on the storage area 42, which is not preferable from the viewpoint of effective use of the storage area, but there is a one-to-one correspondence between each pixel 20a and the storage area 42. Therefore, when storing an image signal obtained by imaging, there is an advantage that correct position information in the imaging field of view is maintained as it is. That is, since the storage address indicating the pixel position and the storage area address has a one-to-one correspondence, the coordinates of the output pixel of the image signal stored in the storage area indicated by the storage address from the storage address Can be easily identified. Such setting of the storage area (storage address) is advantageous when the position and orientation of the object to be imaged are obtained from the captured image by image recognition.

  This imaging apparatus is configured as described above, and an imaging method will be described below. In this imaging method, an optical image of the electronic component 6 that is an imaging object is formed on the light receiving unit 20 including the pixels 20a arranged in a lattice shape, and corresponds to an image capturing area set in the imaging field of view. An image signal is selectively output from the pixel 20a.

  (1) First, pixel selection information for specifying a pixel 20a for outputting an image signal based on information relating to an image capture area (see FIG. 4A) stored in advance in the image capture area information storage unit 28. Is generated by the pixel selection information generation unit 25.

  (2) Next, the storage address of the image storage unit 26 that stores the image signal is generated by the storage address generation unit 27 based on information about the image capture area. By using a method similar to the method for generating the pixel selection information, the X coordinate PX and the Y coordinate PY of the pixel 20a that performs image capture from the image capture area can be specified. Used to generate the 18-bit storage address described above.

  (3) Next, the control unit 24 controls the vertical pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal pixel selection circuit 22 to select one pixel from a plurality of pixels specified based on the pixel selection information. To output an image signal. The output image signal is stored in a predetermined storage area of the image storage unit 26 in accordance with the storage address generated in (2). The image signal is output / stored for all the pixels specified by the pixel selection information (the pixel 20a in the pixel output target range 41 'shown in FIG. 4B). As a result, image signals are output only from the pixels in the pixel output target range 41 ′ corresponding to the image capture area 41 in FIG. 4A and stored in the image storage unit 26.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the image pickup apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the imaging apparatus includes the same components as the configuration example illustrated in FIG. 2. In the second embodiment, when the storage address generation unit 27 generates a storage address, the pixel selection information generation unit 25 generates the storage area instead of reading the image capture area information from the image capture area information storage unit 28. The storage address of the image storage unit 26 shown in FIG. 5 is generated using the selected pixel information, that is, the pixel coordinates indicating the position of the pixel 20a in the pixel output target range 41 ′ shown in FIG. 4B. Yes.

(Reference example)
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an imaging apparatus according to a reference example of the present invention. 7, the camera 8 ′ shown in the reference example has a configuration in which the pixel selection information generation unit 25 is removed from the camera 8 shown in FIG. 2, and the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection are performed by the control unit 24. When the circuit 22 selects the image signal output target pixel, the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 are controlled based on the storage address generated by the storage address generation unit 27. .

  That is, in this configuration, the storage address shown in FIG. 5 is directly generated from the image capture area information shown in FIG. 4A, and the storage area in the image storage unit 26 is set. As described in the first embodiment, the X coordinate value and the Y coordinate value of each pixel 20a of the light receiving unit 20 have a fixed correspondence with the storage area set in this way, that is, the storage address. By generating the storage address, information equivalent to the pixel selection information for controlling the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 is generated. Therefore, by controlling the vertical direction pixel selection circuit 21 and the horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 22 using this equivalent information, it is possible to select a pixel specified as an image output target.

  As described above, in the second embodiment and the reference example, each pixel is obtained by using a storage address format in which a fixed storage area is set for each pixel 20a of the light receiving unit 20 in the image storage unit 26. A one-to-one correspondence is established between 20a and the storage area 42. As a result, information for selecting a pixel as a target for outputting an image signal is equivalent to information for setting a storage area in which the output image signal is written, and a configuration example as shown in FIGS. Can be adopted.

  As described above, the imaging device shown in each embodiment stores an image signal from the camera 8 that can randomly select a pixel that outputs an image signal among a plurality of pixels 20a arranged in a grid shape as a storage address. The data is written in the storage area set in. Thereby, an image signal output only from a necessary range in the imaging field of view of the camera 8 can be written in a desired storage address area.

  In the electronic component mounting apparatus in which the imaging device is incorporated, the positional deviation of each electronic component is detected based on the recognition result by the imaging device 7, the transfer head 5 is moved onto the substrate positioning stage 2, and the substrate 3 is moved. When electronic components are mounted on the substrate, each electronic component is mounted on the substrate 3 after correcting the positional deviation. In this mounting operation, since imaging is efficiently performed as described above, high-speed image recognition is realized, and mounting efficiency can be improved.

  In this embodiment, the electronic component mounting apparatus has been described as an example. However, the imaging apparatus can be applied to all apparatuses that capture images, such as an assembly apparatus and various inspection machines other than the electronic component mounting apparatus. .

  According to the present invention, the storage address of the image storage unit for storing the pixel selection information for specifying the pixel for outputting the image and the image signal is generated on the basis of the information about the image capturing area, and the storage address is designated by this storage address. Since the image signal is stored in the storage area, the image reading time can be shortened.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 7 Recognition apparatus 7a Image recognition unit 8 Camera 20 Light-receiving part 20a Pixel 21 Vertical direction pixel selection circuit 22 Horizontal direction pixel selection circuit 24 Control part 25 Pixel selection information generation part 26 Image storage part 27 Storage address generation part 28 Image capture area information Memory

Claims (6)

An imaging device that reads an image by forming an optical image of an electronic component held by a transfer head of an electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit including a plurality of pixels arranged in a grid pattern, wherein the plurality of pixels A pixel selection unit that can randomly select one pixel that outputs an image signal, an image storage unit that stores the image signal, and an electronic component of the electronic component for capturing image data of the electronic component in an imaging field of view. An image capturing area information storage unit that stores information regarding a rectangular image capturing area set in a rectangular region surrounding the electronic component based on the size and the position in the imaging field of view, and based on the information regarding the image capturing area pixel selection information to generate the pixel selection information for specifying the (m × n) pixels to be selected within a rectangular region surrounded by the coordinates of two points on the diagonal positions of the image capture area Te A generation unit, a storage address generation unit that generates a storage address of the image storage unit based on information about the image capture area, and a pixel selected by controlling the pixel selection unit based on the pixel selection information A controller for outputting an image signal, wherein the image storage unit stores the output image signal in a storage area designated by the storage address, and the pixel and the storage address are associated in a one-to-one relationship. The storage address generation unit sets n storage areas for continuously storing image signals of m pixels with a blank area therebetween. An imaging device that reads an image by forming an optical image of an electronic component held by a transfer head of an electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit including a plurality of pixels arranged in a grid pattern, wherein the plurality of pixels A pixel selection unit that can randomly select one pixel that outputs an image signal, an image storage unit that stores the image signal, and an electronic component of the electronic component for capturing image data of the electronic component in an imaging field of view. An image capturing area information storage unit that stores information regarding a rectangular image capturing area set in a rectangular region surrounding the electronic component based on the size and the position in the imaging field of view, and based on the information regarding the image capturing area pixel selection information to generate the pixel selection information for specifying the (m × n) pixels to be selected within a rectangular region surrounded by the coordinates of two points on the diagonal positions of the image capture area Te A generation unit; a storage address generation unit that generates a storage address of the image storage unit based on the pixel selection information; and an image signal of a pixel selected by controlling the pixel selection unit based on the pixel selection information. A control unit for outputting, the image storage unit stores the output image signal in a storage area designated by the storage address, and the pixel and the storage address are associated in a one-to-one relationship; The storage address generation unit sets n storage areas for continuously storing image signals of m pixels with a blank area therebetween.   The imaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a storage area fixed for each pixel of the light receiving unit is set in the image storage unit. In order to form an optical image of the electronic component held by the transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit having pixels arranged in a grid, and to capture the image data of the electronic component in the imaging field of view An imaging method for selectively outputting an image signal from a pixel corresponding to a rectangular image capture area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field of view and storing the image signal. (1) Identify m × n pixels to be selected in a rectangular area surrounded by position coordinates of two points at diagonal positions of the image capturing area based on information on the image capturing area. A step of generating pixel selection information for, (2) a step of generating a storage address of an image storage unit for storing an image signal based on information relating to the image capture area, and (3) A step of selecting one pixel from a plurality of defined pixels and outputting an image signal from the pixel; and (4) the image signal output in (3) above according to the storage address generated in (2) A storage area in which the pixels and the storage addresses are associated with each other in a one-to-one relationship, and the storage address generation unit continuously stores image signals of m pixels. An imaging method characterized in that n are set with a blank area. In order to form an optical image of the electronic component held by the transfer head of the electronic component mounting apparatus on a light receiving unit having pixels arranged in a grid, and to capture the image data of the electronic component in the imaging field of view An imaging method for selectively outputting an image signal from a pixel corresponding to a rectangular image capture area set in a rectangular area surrounding the electronic component based on the size of the electronic component and the position in the imaging field of view and storing the image signal. (1) Identify m × n pixels to be selected in a rectangular area surrounded by position coordinates of two points at diagonal positions of the image capturing area based on information on the image capturing area. A step of generating pixel selection information, (2) a step of generating a storage address of an image storage unit for storing an image signal based on the pixel selection information, and (3) a plurality specified by the pixel selection information Painting Selecting one pixel from the pixel and outputting an image signal from the pixel; and (4) storing the image signal output in (3) in the image storage unit according to the storage address generated in (2) The pixel and the storage address are associated with each other in a one-to-one relationship, and the storage address generation unit vacates a blank area as a storage area for continuously storing image signals of m pixels. An imaging method characterized by setting n.   6. The imaging method according to claim 4, wherein a storage area fixed for each pixel of the light receiving unit is set in the image storage unit.

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