JP5915887B2 - Roller behavior measuring method and roller behavior measuring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a roller behavior measuring method and a roller behavior measuring device for measuring the behavior of a roller in a thrust roller bearing.

Thrust roller bearings such as thrust cylindrical roller bearings, thrust conical roller bearings, thrust needle roller bearings, etc. are composed of rollers such as needle rollers and cylindrical rollers, a cage in which a plurality of rollers are radially incorporated, and a disc-shaped roller bearing. And a bearing ring. In the thrust roller bearing, the roller rolls (revolves) in the circumferential direction (rotation direction) with relative rotation between the cage and the race.
In designing the thrust roller bearing and determining the usage conditions of the thrust roller bearing, it is important to analyze the roller behavior such as the roller position and skew angle.

Conventionally, a roller behavior measuring device for measuring the behavior of a roller of a roller bearing is known (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2002-213932 A

However, the measuring device described in Patent Document 1 is intended to measure the behavior of a roller bearing that allows a radial load, and is not suitable for measuring the behavior of a roller of a thrust roller bearing.
It is also conceivable to measure the roller position and skew angle by attaching a detector such as a gap sensor to the cage of the thrust roller bearing. However, in the test under actual use environment, lubricating oil is interposed between the cage or roller and the raceway, and in measurement using a gap sensor etc., bubbles contained in the lubricating oil adversely affect the measurement. As a result, the behavior of the roller may not be measured accurately.

  The present invention has been made under such a background, and is to provide a roller behavior measuring method and a roller behavior measuring device capable of accurately analyzing the behavior of a roller of a thrust roller bearing.

The invention of claim 1, wherein for achieving the above object, the bearing rings, rollers (13) and an annular retainer said to measure the movement of the roller (12) bearing (10) thrust roller having roller a behavior measurement method, by irradiating a uniform ring of light in the circumferential direction by the center axis (O) ring light around the (18, 28) of the retainer of the thrust roller bearing, the A ring illumination step for illuminating a thrust roller bearing, and by the irradiation of the ring-shaped light, the light from the ring illumination is reflected by the circumferential surface of the roller and includes a linear portion on the circumferential surface of the roller A reflected light pattern is formed, and in parallel with the ring illumination step , the optical axis coincides with the central axis of the cage while rotating the cage and the roller relative to the raceway. To do An imaging step of imaging the entire one main surface of the thrust roller bearing by the image pickup means (17) having a's (20), and the reflected light pattern that is part of the captured image (Q), in the storage unit (25) by matching with the reflected light pattern-like picture images stored, characterized in that it comprises a status calculation step rollers to calculate a circumferential angular positions and the skew angle of the roller is the roller behavior measuring method .

In addition, although the alphanumeric characters in parentheses represent corresponding components in the embodiments described later, the scope of the claims is not intended to be limited to the embodiments. The same applies hereinafter.
The invention object of claim 2, wherein for achieving's, bearing ring (11), rollers (13) and measuring the behavior of the rollers of the thrust roller bearing (10) having an annular cage (12) a roller behavior measuring device (1) for a bearing holding means (100) for holding the thrust roller bearing, the a ring illumination that illuminates the thrust roller bearing which is held in the bearing holding means, has its center positioned such that the position on the central axis of the retainer of the thrust roller bearing which is held in the bearing holding means is a ring illumination and (18, 28), a lens (20), the lens the optical axis, wherein the cage center axis of the thrust roller bearing and arranged an imaging unit to match the (O) (17) held in the bearing holding means, said retainer and said roller Race ring An imaging control unit that images the entire main surface of the thrust roller bearing by the imaging unit while rotating the ring roller relative to the ring illumination and irradiating the thrust roller bearing with a uniform ring-shaped light in the circumferential direction. The light from the ring illumination is reflected by the peripheral surface of the roller by irradiation of the ring-shaped light, and a reflected light pattern including a linear portion is formed on the peripheral surface of the roller. It has become a storage unit for storing the reflected light pattern image (25), a reflected light pattern that is included in the captured image (Q), and the reflected light pattern-like picture images stored in the storage unit by matching, characterized in that it comprises a said roller circumferential angular location and status calculating means time for calculating a skew angle (24) is a roller behavior measuring device.

According to a third aspect of the invention, the ring illumination, said bearing retaining means, respectively first and second ring illumination formed annular around the central axis of the cage of the thrust roller bearing which is held to the (18, 28 In the first and second ring illuminations, the incident angle of light from the first ring illumination with respect to the thrust roller bearing is smaller than the incident angle of light from the second ring illumination with respect to the thrust roller bearing. The diameters and / or arrangement positions thereof are set so that the imaging control means rotates the cage and the rollers relative to the raceway and is uniform in the circumferential direction from the ring illumination. While irradiating the thrust roller bearing with ring-shaped light, the second roller is simultaneously irradiated with ring-shaped light uniform in the circumferential direction from the first ring illumination. Characterized in that it comprises a means for irradiating the grayed illuminate the uniform ring of light in the circumferential direction to the thrust roller bearing, a roller behavior measuring device according to claim 2.

The invention according to claim 4 is the roller behavior measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the second ring illumination has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination.
The invention according to claim 5 is the roller according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the second ring illumination is arranged between a thrust roller bearing held by the bearing holding means and the first ring illumination. It is a behavior measurement device.

According to the method of the first aspect of the present invention, a reflected light pattern appears on the peripheral surface of the roller by illumination with ring illumination. Since the ring illumination has an annular shape coaxial with the cage, a reflected light pattern appears on the circumferential surface of the roller regardless of the circumferential angular position of the roller. The center of the ring illumination is positioned on the center axis of the cage, and the optical axis of the lens coincides with the center axis of the cage. For this reason, the reflected light patterns appearing on the rollers positioned at the respective circumferential positions on the raceway are rotationally symmetric about the central axis unless the skew angle of the rollers is taken into consideration. In other words, if the circumferential angle position of the roller and the posture of the roller are known, the skew angle of the roller can be obtained based on them.

Therefore, by matching the fired light pattern included in the captured image when the thrust roller bearing in the rotating state is imaged with the reflected light pattern image stored in the storage unit, only the circumferential angular position of the roller is obtained. The roller skew angle can also be calculated. Thereby, the behavior of the roller can be measured with high accuracy.
Further, since the circumferential angle position and skew angle of the roller are calculated based on the captured image of the roller, the roller is hardly affected by the lubricating oil interposed between the cage, the roller, and the raceway. Thereby, the measurement accuracy of the behavior of the roller can be further improved.

According to the structure of Claim 2, there exists an effect equivalent to the effect described in relation to Claim 1.
According to the structure of Claim 3, the incident angle with respect to the thrust roller bearing of the light from 1st ring illumination is smaller than the incident angle with respect to the thrust roller bearing of the light from 2nd ring illumination. Therefore, the reflection position of the light from the first ring illumination in the thrust roller bearing is different from the reflection position of the light from the second ring illumination. Therefore, the reflected light pattern included in the captured image includes a reflected light pattern due to light from the first ring illumination and a reflected light pattern due to light from the second ring illumination. In other words, since the reflected light pattern that is used as a judgment material for matching includes two types of reflected light patterns, the measurement accuracy of the roller behavior can be further improved.

According to the configuration of claim 4, the configuration in which the incident angle of the light from the first ring illumination to the thrust roller bearing is smaller than the incident angle of the light from the second ring illumination to the thrust roller bearing is relatively simple. Can be realized with a simple configuration.
According to the configuration of claim 5, the configuration in which the incident angle of the light from the first ring illumination to the thrust roller bearing is smaller than the incident angle of the light from the second ring illumination to the thrust roller bearing is relatively simple. Can be realized with a simple configuration.

It is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a roller behavior measuring device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a front view of the thrust roller bearing which is a measuring object of the roller behavior measuring device shown in FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the roller shown in FIG. 2, and a holder | retainer. It is a front view which shows the state which set the thrust roller bearing shown in FIG. 2 to the roller behavior measuring apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view schematically showing a state in which the thrust roller bearing shown in FIG. 2 is set in the roller behavior measuring device shown in FIG. 1. It is a front view which shows the state which each irradiated the light from a 1st and 2nd ring illumination to a thrust roller bearing. It is an enlarged view which shows the reflected light pattern in the surrounding surface of each roller. It is a flowchart which shows the operation content by an image process part. It is an example of the reflected light pattern for matching memorize | stored in the reflected light pattern memory | storage part for matching shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a roller behavior measuring apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The roller behavior measuring device 1 is a device for measuring the behavior of the roller 13 in the thrust roller bearing 10 to be measured.

  The roller behavior measuring apparatus 1 includes a rotation holding mechanism (bearing holding means) 100 that rotates one of the bearing ring 11 and the cage 12 (for example, the cage 12) while holding the thrust roller bearing 10 in a vertical posture, and rotation. A first ring illumination 18 for irradiating the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the holding mechanism 100 with light; a second ring illumination 28 for irradiating the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100 with light; A camera (imaging means) 17 for imaging the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100 and an image processing unit 22 for processing an image taken by the camera 17 are provided.

  The rotation holding mechanism 100 includes a bearing ring support base (not shown) for supporting the bearing ring 11 of the thrust roller bearing 10 and a cage support base (not shown) for supporting the cage 12 of the thrust roller bearing 10. And a motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the cage support base around the rotation axis O extending in the horizontal direction. In a state where the thrust roller bearing 10 is set in the rotation holding mechanism 100, the central axis of the thrust roller bearing 10 and the rotation axis O by the rotation holding mechanism 100 coincide with each other. Therefore, the cage 12 and the roller 13 can be rotated around the central axis of the thrust roller bearing 10 by rotating the cage support base around the rotation axis O. On the other hand, since the rotary drive mechanism such as a motor is not coupled to the track ring support base, the track ring 11 is in a stationary state regardless of the rotation of the cage 12 and the rollers 13.

In addition, you may make it make the holder | retainer 12 stand still while rotating the bearing ring 11 by providing the rotational driving force of a motor not to a holder | retainer support base but to a bearing ring support base.
The first ring illumination 18 has a small cylindrical shape having a center on the rotation axis O by the rotation holding mechanism 100. The first ring illumination 18 has a vertical posture. A circular irradiation surface (not shown) is provided on the end surface of the first ring illumination 18 on the rotation holding mechanism 100 side (that is, the right back side shown in FIG. 1), and the rotation holding mechanism 100 holds the irradiation surface from this irradiation surface. The thrust roller bearing 10 is uniformly irradiated with light. This irradiation surface is included in the same plane orthogonal to the rotation axis O. The outer periphery of the first ring illumination 18 is larger in diameter than the outer periphery of the cage 12 of the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100, and therefore, the entire thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100. In addition, it is possible to irradiate light from the outside to the inside.

  The second ring illumination 28 has a center on the rotation axis O by the rotation holding mechanism 100 and has a cylindrical shape with the same width as the first ring illumination 18. The second ring illumination 28 has a vertical posture. A circular irradiation surface (not shown) is provided on the end surface of the second ring illumination 28 on the rotation holding mechanism 100 side (that is, the right back side shown in FIG. 1), and the rotation holding mechanism 100 holds the irradiation surface from this irradiation surface. The thrust roller bearing 10 is uniformly irradiated with light. This irradiation surface is included in the same plane orthogonal to the rotation axis O. The outer periphery of the second ring illumination 28 is larger in diameter than the outer periphery of the retainer 12 of the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100, and therefore the entire thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100. In addition, it is possible to irradiate light from the outside to the inside.

In this embodiment, the second ring illumination 28 has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination 18. The second ring illumination 28 is disposed between the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100 and the first ring illumination 18.
The camera 17 is a CCD camera, for example, and is a camera for capturing a moving image composed of a plurality of temporally continuous images. As the camera 17, a camera that captures a moving image at a frame rate of 30 (fp) or higher can be used. However, a high-speed camera that can capture a moving image at a frame rate of 100 (fp) or higher is more preferable. More desirable. The optical axis of the lens 20 of the camera 17 is arranged on the rotation axis O by the rotation holding mechanism 100. In a state where the thrust roller bearing 10 is set in the rotation holding mechanism 100, the entire main surface of the thrust roller bearing 10 (the back side (the left front side shown in FIG. 1)) is included in the imaging range of the camera 17.

An image captured by the camera 17 is input to the image processing unit 22. The image processing unit 22 is configured by a computer including a CPU (not shown), a memory, various interfaces, and the like.
The image processing unit 22 is a processing unit that performs predetermined image processing on the input captured image, and functions as a reflected light pattern recognition unit 23 and a matching processing unit (roller state calculation unit) 24 as described later. To do. The image processing unit 22 includes a matching reflected light pattern storage unit 25 that stores an image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q for matching with the circumferential angle position and the skew angle of the rollers 13.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the thrust roller bearing 10 that is a measurement target of the roller behavior measuring apparatus 1. The roller behavior measuring device 1 is a device for measuring the behavior of the roller 13 in the thrust roller bearing 10 to be measured.
The thrust roller bearing 10 includes a disk-shaped raceway ring 11, for example, a cylindrical roller 13, and a plurality of rollers 13 that are radially incorporated, and an annular plate-like cage 12 that rotates relative to the raceway ring 11. I have. In the thrust roller bearing 10, the roller 13 rolls (revolves) in the circumferential direction (rotation direction) along with the cage 12 with the relative rotation between the raceway ring 11 and the cage 12.

  A wavy bent portion 14 having a shape that undulates in the radial direction of the cage 12 is provided in a region in the radial direction of the cage 12 by drawing. The wavy bent portion 14 includes an outer projecting portion 14A and an inner projecting portion 14B that project toward one side in the thickness direction of the cage 12 at each of the radially outer position and the radially inner position, and the outer position. And an intermediate portion overhanging portion 14 </ b> C that projects toward the other in the thickness direction of the cage 12.

  A rectangular shape in plan view (more specifically, a rectangle that is long in the radial direction) is located at a circumferential position (for example, several places) in the range from the bending start point on the outer diameter side to the bending start point on the inner diameter side in the wavy bending portion 14. The pocket 15 is formed by punching in the thickness direction of the cage 12. The rollers 13 are housed in a non-separable manner so as to be rotatable with respect to the pockets 15. That is, the claw 37A that protrudes into the pocket 15 at a total of three points of each of the overhanging apex portions of the outer overhanging portion 14A, the inner overhanging portion 14B, and the intermediate overhanging portion 14C located on the inner wall surface of the pocket 15 in the circumferential direction. , 37B, 37C are provided. The claws 37A, 37B, and 37C make the three radial positions of each pocket 15 narrower than the diameter of the roller 13, thereby preventing the roller 13 from coming out of the pocket 15. The rollers 13 are stored in the pockets 15 by an interference fit.

  Protrusions 38 and 39 projecting into the pocket 15 are provided on the outer diameter side and the inner diameter side of the inner wall surface of each pocket 15. The convex portions 38 and 39 are for abutting against the central portion of the axially outer end surface and the axially inner end surface of the roller 13 to pivotally support the roller 13. When the pocket 15 is formed by punching, Formed simultaneously. The convex portions 38 and 39 have a round curved shape in plan view.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are a front view and a side view showing a state in which the thrust roller bearing 10 is set in the roller behavior measuring apparatus 1. FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state where the thrust roller bearing 10 is irradiated with light from the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28, respectively. FIG. 7 is an enlarged view showing the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 on the peripheral surface of each roller 13.
The thrust roller bearing 10 is set in the rotation holding mechanism 100 with the left front surface shown in FIG. 1 facing the front (camera 17 side). When the motor (not shown) is rotationally driven in a state where the thrust roller bearing 10 is set in the rotation holding mechanism 100, the cage base portion (not shown) together with the cage 12 rotates the rotation axis O of the rotation holding mechanism 100. It is designed to rotate around. At this time, the center axis of the cage 12 and the rotation axis O by the rotation holding mechanism 100 coincide with each other.

At the time of measurement by the roller behavior measuring device 1, the cage 12 of the thrust roller bearing 10 set in the rotation holding mechanism 100 is rotated. As the cage 12 rotates, the rollers 13 also revolve (rotate) in the circumferential direction on the raceway surface (not shown) of the raceway ring 11.
Further, when the cage 12 is rotated, light is irradiated from the first ring illumination 18 and the second ring illumination 28 toward the thrust roller bearing 10. Further, imaging of the thrust roller bearing 10 by the camera 17 is started. Depending on the viewing direction, reflected light patterns 41 and 42 appear on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 due to the irradiation of light from the first and second ring illuminations 18. The reflected light patterns 41 and 42 appearing on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 when viewed from the lens 20 are imaged by the camera 17.

Next, the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 imaged by the camera 17 will be described.
The light emitted from, for example, point A (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the first ring illumination 18 enters a predetermined reflection position A1 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 at a predetermined incident angle, and also reflects the reflection position A1 ( 5) and is incident on the lens 20. Similarly, light emitted from, for example, point B (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the first ring illumination 18 enters the predetermined reflection position B1 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 at a predetermined incident angle and reflects the light. The light is reflected at the position B1 (see FIG. 5) and enters the lens 20. That is, the light emitted from each point of the first ring illumination 18 is reflected at a predetermined point on the peripheral surface of the corresponding roller 13 and enters the lens 20. As a result, a reflected light pattern 41 (shown by a solid line in FIGS. 6 and 7) appears on the peripheral surface of the roller 13.

  Further, for example, the light emitted from the A ′ point (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the second ring illumination 28 enters the predetermined reflection position A2 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 at a predetermined incident angle and reflects the light. The light is reflected at the position A2 (see FIG. 5) and enters the lens 20. Similarly, the light emitted from, for example, point B ′ (see FIGS. 4 and 5) of the second ring illumination 28 enters the predetermined reflection position B2 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 at a predetermined incident angle, and The light is reflected at the reflection position B2 (see FIG. 5) and enters the lens 20. That is, the light emitted from each point of the second ring illumination 28 is reflected at a predetermined point on the peripheral surface of the corresponding roller 13 and enters the lens 20. As a result, a reflected light pattern 42 (shown by broken lines in FIGS. 6 and 7) appears on the peripheral surface of the roller 13.

  As described above, the second ring illumination 28 has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination 18. The second ring illumination 28 is disposed between the thrust roller bearing 10 held by the rotation holding mechanism 100 and the first ring illumination 18. Therefore, the incident angle of the light from the first ring illumination 18 with respect to the thrust roller bearing 10 is smaller than the incident angle of the light from the second ring illumination 28 with respect to the thrust roller bearing 10. The reflection positions (including reflection positions A1 and B1) of the light from the various places of the first ring illumination 18 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 are the reflection positions (reflection positions A2 of the light from the various places of the second ring illumination 28). , B2) in the radial direction. As a result, a reflected light pattern 42 (shown by a solid line in FIGS. 6 and 7) appears on the peripheral surface of the roller 13.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the reflected light pattern 41 is a pair of curved patterns symmetrical about the central axis C of the cylindrical roller 13 in a front view. The reflected light pattern 42 is a pair of curved patterns symmetrical about the central axis C of the cylindrical roller 13 in front view.
As described above, since the incident angle of the light from the first ring illumination 18 with respect to the thrust roller bearing 10 is smaller than the incident angle of the light from the second ring illumination 28 with respect to the thrust roller bearing 10, as shown in FIG. The reflection position by the light from the first ring illumination 18 appears inside the reflection position by the light from the second ring illumination 28. That is, each curve of the reflected light pattern 41 by the light from the first ring illumination 18 appears on the inside, and each curve of the reflected light pattern 42 by the light from the second ring illumination 28 appears on the outside. Each curve of the reflected light pattern 41 is further away from the central axis C of the roller 13 as it approaches the radially inner side. Each curve of the reflected light pattern 42 is further away from the central axis C of the roller 13 as it approaches the inner side in the radial direction.

  In addition, the centers of the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28 are positioned on the rotation axis (the central axis of the cage 12) O by the rotation holding mechanism 100, and the optical axis of the lens 20 is the rotation holding mechanism 100. , And the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 appearing on the rollers 13 located at the respective circumferential positions of the raceway ring 11 have a skew angle of the rollers 13. If this is not taken into consideration, rotational symmetry about the rotation axis O is achieved. Therefore, if the circumferential position of the roller 13 and the posture of the roller 13 are known, the skew angle of the roller 13 can be obtained based on them.

  In this embodiment, the roller behavior measuring device 1 is used to determine the circumferential direction (rotation direction) position and skew angle of the roller 13 while the cage 12 is rotating. Specifically, lubricating oil is interposed between the cage 12 and the roller 13 and the raceway ring 11 so that the raceway ring 11 and the cage 12 have a relative rotational speed under normal use conditions. While rotating the retainer 12, the camera 17 images the thrust roller bearing 10 (that is, each roller 13) continuously a plurality of times. The number of times of imaging by the camera 17 is, for example, about 5000 times per second, and about 280 to 300 times are taken while the roller 13 makes one revolution. Then, one roller 13 to be measured is identified, and the circumferential position and skew angle of the roller 13 at each circumferential position of the identified roller 13 are continuously obtained.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation contents of the image processing unit 22. FIG. 9 is an example of an image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q stored in the reflected reflected light pattern storage unit 25 (see FIG. 1).
Hereinafter, processing of individual captured images captured in a series of measurement operations will be described.
First, the image processing unit 22 receives an input of a captured image by the camera 17 and stores it in a storage unit including the matching reflected light pattern storage unit 25 (S1: image storage).

  Next, the image processing unit 22 recognizes the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 (see FIGS. 6 and 7) appearing on the peripheral surface of each roller 13 in the captured image (S2: reflected light pattern recognition. Reflected light pattern recognition). The function of the unit 23 (see FIG. 1) is realized). The process for recognizing the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 is performed, for example, by performing binarization processing with a predetermined luminance value as a dark value for the portion of the roller 13 in the captured image. To extract. In other words, since the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 have higher luminance than the surrounding portions of the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 on the peripheral surface of the roller 13, the high luminance portion and the low luminance portion are converted into two gradations. Thus, the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 can be extracted. Then, the extracted reflected light patterns 41 and 42 are recognized.

The illuminance of the first ring illumination 18 and the second ring illumination 28 is adjusted in advance to an appropriate illuminance such that the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 are appropriately extracted by the binarization process.
Next, the image processing unit 22 matches the recognized reflected light patterns 41 and 42 using the image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q (see FIG. 9) stored in the reflected reflected light pattern storage unit (step 9). S3, realizing the function of the matching processing unit 24 (see FIG. 1)). Then, the position coordinate and the skew angle of the center position (center of gravity position) P of the roller 13 to be measured are calculated (step S4).

  In the image matching process of step S3 in FIG. 8, the image processing unit 22 moves the image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q up and down, left and right, or rotates around a predetermined position (in a tilted posture), thereby taking a captured image. Are completely matched with the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 appearing in the image of the roller included in the image ("roller image" in FIG. 8). The image processing unit 22 calculates the center coordinates of the center position P (see FIG. 6) of the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 based on the coordinates of the image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q for matching. Further, the image processing unit 22 calculates the skew angle of the rollers 13 based on the calculated center position P and the rotation angle amount of the matching reflected light pattern Q image (the degree of tilt of the reflected light pattern Q image). To do.

At this time, if weighting is performed according to the luminance value of the pixel, the center position P and the skew angle of the roller 13 can be calculated more accurately. Further, although the case where the position coordinates and skew angles of the center position P are obtained only for the specific roller 13 to be measured has been described as an example, the position coordinates and skew angles of the center positions P of all the rollers 13 are obtained. May be.
As described above, according to this embodiment, the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 appear on the peripheral surface of the roller 13 by the illumination by the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28. Since the first and second ring lights 18 and 28 each have an annular shape coaxial with the cage 12, the roller 13 is reflected on the circumferential surface of the roller 13 at any position in the circumferential direction of the race 11. Light patterns 41 and 42 appear. The centers of the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28 are positioned on the rotation axis (center axis of the cage 12) O, and the optical axis of the lens 20 is the rotation axis (center axis of the cage 12). ) Matches O. Therefore, the emitted light patterns 41 and 42 included in the captured image when the thrust roller bearing 10 in the rotating state is imaged, and the image of the reflected reflected light pattern Q stored in the reflected reflected light pattern storage unit 25 By matching these, the position of the roller 13 and the skew angle of the roller 13 can be calculated. Thereby, the behavior of the roller 13 can be measured with high accuracy.

Further, since the position and skew angle of the roller are calculated based on the captured image of the roller 13, the influence of lubricating oil interposed between the cage 12, the roller 13, and the raceway ring 11 is hardly received. Thereby, the measurement accuracy of the behavior of the roller 13 can be further improved.
In addition, the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 included in the captured image include a reflected light pattern 41 due to light from the first ring illumination 18 and a reflected light pattern 42 due to light from the second ring illumination 28. . In other words, since the reflected light patterns 41 and 42 that serve as judgment materials for matching include two types of reflected light patterns, this makes it possible to further improve the measurement accuracy of the behavior of the rollers 13. .

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention can be implemented also with another form.
For example, a thrust cylindrical roller bearing is adopted as the thrust roller bearing 10 to be measured, and the behavior of the cylindrical roller 13 is measured. However, the present invention is not limited to this case. For example, when a thrust tapered roller bearing is adopted as the thrust roller bearing to be measured, the behavior of the conical roller can be measured.

Further, as described above, when the second ring illumination 28 has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination 18, the thrust roller bearing 10 (held by the rotation holding mechanism 100) of the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28 is used. The distances from the thrust roller bearing 10) in the state of being set may be set to each other.
Further, as described above, when the second ring illumination 28 has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination 18, the thrust roller bearing 10 (held by the rotation holding mechanism 100) of the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28 is used. The distances from the thrust roller bearing 10) in the state in which they are present may be equal to each other.

In addition, as described above, when the second ring illumination 28 is disposed between the thrust roller bearing 10 and the first ring illumination 18, the first and second ring illuminations 18 and 28 have the same diameter. There may be.
Moreover, although the double ring which consists of the 1st and 2nd ring illuminations 18 and 28 was employ | adopted as a ring illumination, Furthermore, the ring illumination consists of one ring illumination (of the 1st and 2nd ring illuminations 18 and 28). On the other hand.

  Instead of this, a triple ring provided with a third ring illumination having an annular shape around the rotation axis O may be adopted as the ring illumination. In this case, in the third ring illumination, the incident angle of the light from the third ring illumination to the thrust roller bearing needs to be different from the incident angle of the light from the first or second ring illumination 18, 28. Furthermore, a ring illumination having a quadruple ring or more may be employed.

  In addition, various design changes can be made within the scope of matters described in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Roller behavior measuring device, 10 ... Thrust roller bearing, 11 ... Race ring, 12 ... Cage, 13 ... Roller, 17 ... Camera (imaging means), 18 ... First ring illumination, 20 ... Lens, 25 ... For matching Reflected light pattern storage unit (storage unit), 28 ... second ring illumination, 100 ... rotation holding mechanism (bearing holding means), O ... rotation axis (center axis)

Claims (5)

A roller behavior measuring method for measuring the behavior of the rollers of the thrust roller bearing having a bearing ring, rollers and annular retainer,
By irradiating a uniform ring of light in the circumferential direction by a ring illumination around the central axis of the retainer of the thrust roller bearing comprises a ring illumination step of illuminating the thrust roller bearing,
The ring-shaped light irradiated from the ring illumination is reflected on the circumferential surface of the roller, and a reflected light pattern including a linear portion is formed on the circumferential surface of the roller,
In parallel with the ring illumination step, one of the thrust roller bearings is provided by imaging means having a lens whose optical axis coincides with the central axis of the cage while rotating the cage and the roller relative to the raceway. An imaging step for imaging the entire main surface ;
Said reflected light pattern that is part of the captured image, by matching with the reflected light pattern image stored in the storage unit, and a state calculation step rollers to calculate a circumferential angular positions and skew angle of said roller A roller behavior measuring method comprising: A roller behavior measuring device for measuring the behavior of the rollers of the thrust roller bearing having a bearing ring, rollers and annular retainer,
A bearing holding means for holding the thrust roller bearing,
Wherein a ring illumination that illuminates the thrust roller bearing held in a bearing holding means, disposed such that its center located on the central axis of the retainer of the thrust roller bearing which is held in the bearing holding means Ring lighting,
It has a lens, the optical axis of the lens, and arranged an imaging unit so as to coincide with the center axis of the cage of the thrust roller bearing which is held in the bearing holding means,
The entire main surface of the thrust roller bearing while rotating the cage and the roller relative to the raceway ring and irradiating the thrust roller bearing with a ring-shaped light uniform in the circumferential direction from the ring illumination. Imaging control means for imaging by the imaging means,
The ring-shaped light irradiated from the ring illumination is reflected on the circumferential surface of the roller, and a reflected light pattern including a linear portion is formed on the circumferential surface of the roller,
A storage unit for storing the reflected light pattern image;
A reflected light pattern that is included in the captured image, by matching with the reflected light pattern image stored in the storage unit, and a state calculation unit time for calculating the circumferential angular position and skew angle of said roller A roller behavior measuring device comprising: The ring illumination have respective first and second ring illumination an annular around the central axis of the cage of the thrust roller bearing which is held in the bearing holding means,
The first and second ring illuminations are configured so that the incident angle of light from the first ring illumination with respect to the thrust roller bearing is smaller than the incident angle of light from the second ring illumination with respect to the thrust roller bearing. Diameter and / or placement position is set ,
The imaging control means rotates the cage and the roller relative to the raceway ring, and irradiates the thrust roller bearing with a ring-shaped light uniform in the circumferential direction from the first ring illumination. 3. The roller behavior measuring device according to claim 2, further comprising means for taking an image while irradiating the thrust roller bearing with ring-shaped light uniform in the circumferential direction from ring illumination .   The roller behavior measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the second ring illumination has a larger diameter than the first ring illumination.   5. The roller behavior measuring device according to claim 3, wherein the second ring illumination is disposed between a thrust roller bearing held by the bearing holding unit and the first ring illumination.

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