JP6312315B2 - Signature counter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for counting the number of folded sheets such as instructions, catalogs, pamphlets, and bookbinding signatures attached to pharmaceutical products (hereinafter referred to as a “counter counting machine”). It is.

  Folded sheets such as instructions and catalogs attached to pharmaceutical products are generally managed for each lot obtained by bundling a predetermined number of sheets. Therefore, in the prior art, a signature counter is used. Is used to inspect the number of sheets for each lot.

  In this type of signature counter, normally, a bundle of folded sheets is sandwiched between a pair of press plates set in advance, with the ridges of each sheet being arranged on the same plane, The illumination device irradiates light on the peak side of the sheet bundle from an oblique direction, and the camera is photographed on the peak side of the illuminated sheet bundle. The obtained image of the sheet bundle is subjected to image processing, and the number of sheets in the image is counted, so that the number of sheets in the sheet bundle is automatically counted (for example, Patent Document 1). 2).

By the way, in the prior art, the position of the pair of pressing plates (the interval between the pressing plates) is adjusted manually before using the signature counter. In this case, the interval between the pressing plates is set so that an image of a bundle of sheets suitable for image processing can be obtained, and insertion of the sheet bundle between the pressing plates and removal from the pressing plates can be performed smoothly. It was necessary, and this work took time and effort.
Each time the scheduled count (set number of sheets per lot), the type of sheet, and the like are changed, it is necessary to manually adjust the interval between the holding plates, which is very efficient. It was bad.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-220052 JP 2013-97775 A

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable efficient adjustment of the interval between the pressing plates in the signature counter.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a signature counter for counting the number of sheets that are folded and formed with a crest and a valley on the opposite side, and a photographing window is formed on the upper surface. And a sheet bundle supporting unit that is attached to the housing and sandwiches the bundle of sheets placed on the upper surface across the photographing window from both sides, and each bundle of sheets includes The sheet bundle support unit is arranged in such a manner that the mountain portion faces downward and crosses the shooting window, and the sheet bundle supporting unit is respectively a pair of pressers arranged across the shooting window on the upper surface of the housing; A slide guide provided in the housing and slidably guiding the pair of pressers in directions toward and away from each other; the pair of pressers or the housing or Fixing means for fixing the pair of pressers to desired positions respectively, and the bundle of sheets is sandwiched between the pair of pressers, and the signature counting The machine is further mounted inside the housing and illuminates the shooting window from below, and is mounted inside the housing, and photographs the pair of pressers and the sheet bundle through the shooting window. A camera that controls the lighting unit and the camera, a display that is attached to the housing and displays a real-time image captured by the camera, and an image in which the pair of pressers for each counting job is captured Is stored together with supplementary information as reference image data, and before the counting operation of the signature counter is started. An image composition unit that extracts corresponding reference image data from the image database based on the supplementary information and displays an image obtained by superimposing the reference image data on the real-time image on the display, and the counting operation Before the start, based on the superimposed image displayed on the display, the operator causes the pair of presser images in the real-time image to coincide with the pair of presser images in the reference image. The position of the pair of pressers is set, and the signature counter further includes a new bundle of sheets inserted between the pair of pressers during the counting operation by the signature counter. Each time, a rectangular data portion extending between the pair of pressers is extracted from the image data acquired by the camera, and the data portion The signature counter is provided with an image processing unit that counts the number of sheets by image processing and displays the counting result on the display.

  In the above configuration, preferably, the image composition unit performs the translucency process before the reference image data is superimposed on the real-time image.

  According to the present invention, for each counting job, a pair of pressed images whose positions are set are registered in advance in the image database together with the auxiliary information as reference image data, and the same as a new counting job executed in the past. In this case, before starting the counting operation of the signature counter, the corresponding reference image data is extracted from the image database based on the supplementary information of the job executed in the past, and the extracted reference image data is converted into a real-time image. The superimposed image is displayed on the display, and based on the superimposed image displayed on the display, the operator makes the pair of press images in the real-time image coincide with the pair of press images in the reference image. Since the position of the pair of pressers is set, the position setting of the pair of pressers before using the signature counter is very simple and in a short time. Door can be.

1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing an overall configuration of a signature counter according to one embodiment of the present invention. It is the enlarged top view which shows the detail of the structure of the vicinity of the imaging | photography window of the signature counter of FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view along the XX line of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the image process part of the signature counter of FIG. It is a top view which shows the screen displayed when the position of the holding plate of the signature counter of FIG. 1 is set.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing the overall configuration of a signature counter according to one embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a signature counter according to the present invention includes a housing 1 having a photographing window 2 formed on an upper surface 1a. In this embodiment, the photographing window 2 has a rectangular shape. On the upper surface 1a of the housing 1, a bundle S of sheets 3 formed by folding and forming a crest 3a and a trough 3b on the opposite side is photographed in an arrangement in which the crest 3a of each sheet 3 faces downward. It is placed across the work window 2.

The signature counter also includes a sheet bundle support unit 4 that is attached to the housing 1 and sandwiches a bundle S of sheets 3 placed on the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 from both sides.
2 is a top view showing a configuration in the vicinity of the photographing window 2 of the signature counter of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along line XX of FIG.

  With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, in this embodiment, the sheet bundle support unit 4 is fitted into guide grooves (not shown) provided on both side edges in the longitudinal direction of the photographing window 2 and the guide grooves, thereby photographing. A pair of sliders 5 a and 5 b that can slide in directions toward and away from each other along the longitudinal direction of the working window 2 are provided. Pins 6a and 6b are erected on the upper surfaces of the pair of sliders 5a and 5b.

The sheet bundle support unit 4 also has a pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b that are attached to each of the pair of sliders 5a and 5b and extend across the longitudinal side edge of the photographing window 2 at a right angle. Slits 8a and 8b that are paired with the pins 6a and 6b of the sliders 5a and 5b concerned are provided on the side portions of the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b that are away from each other, and in the longitudinal direction of the pressing plates 7a and 7b. It is Then, the pressing plates 7a and 7b are fitted into the corresponding pins 6a and 6b through the slits 8a and 8b. Further, the portions of the pins 6a and 6b protruding upward from the pressing plates 7a and 7b are threaded on the outer periphery thereof, and the first pressing plate fixing screws 9a and 9b are screwed into these portions. .
Guide pins 10a and 10b project from one end portions of the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b, respectively.

In this embodiment, the sheet bundle support unit 4 is further attached to the upper surface 1a of the housing 1, and is arranged in parallel with the photographing window 2 and extends across the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b (one end side portions). have.
The alignment plate 11 has an L-shaped cross section, and a slit 11c is formed in one flat plate portion 11a along the longitudinal direction. In the state where the first holding plate fixing screws 9a and 9b are loosened, the aligning plate 11 has a flat plate portion 11a between the holding plates 7a and 7b and the holding plates 7a and 7b. The guide pins 10a and 10b are inserted into the slit 11c and the other flat plate portion 11b extends perpendicularly to the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 so that the gap is formed near the both ends of the slit 11c. It is attached to the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 via a spacer (not shown).

The portions of the guide pins 10a and 10b that protrude upward from the alignment plate 11 are threaded on the outer periphery, and the second pressing plate fixing screws 9c and 9d are screwed into these portions.
After the mounting of the alignment plate 11 is completed, the first presser plate fixing screws 9a and 9b are tightened to fix the pair of presser plates 7a and 7b to the corresponding sliders 5a and 5b.

Thus, in a state where the second presser plate fixing screws 9c and 9d are loosened, the pair of presser plates 7a and 7b are guided by the guide groove (not shown) of the photographing window 2 and the slit 11c of the aligning plate 11. You can slide while.
Then, by tightening the second pressing plate fixing screws 9c, 9d, the pressing plates 7a, 7b are fixed to the alignment plate 11, and the positions of the pressing plates 7a, 7b are set.

  The configuration of the sheet bundle support unit 4 is not limited to this embodiment, and a pair of pressers disposed on the upper surface 1a of the housing 1 across the photographing window 2 and the housing 1 are provided. And a slide guide for slidably guiding the pressers in a direction close to or away from each other, and a fixing means provided on the pair of pressers and / or the housing 1 and fixing the pair of pressers to desired positions, respectively. Any configuration can be used.

  A receiving portion 12 is provided on the inner surface of the housing 1 so as to surround the periphery of the photographing window 2, and a transparent glass plate 13 is fixed to the receiving portion 12 from the sliders 5 a and 5 b of the sheet bundle support unit 4. It is attached at intervals.

  Referring again to FIG. 1, the signature counter is further attached to the inside of the housing 1, and the lighting unit 14 that illuminates the photographing window 2 from below, and the photographing unit 2 is attached to the inside of the housing 1. And a camera 15 for photographing the bundle S of the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b and the sheet 3.

An appropriate number of lighting units 14 are arranged at positions where shadows can be generated at the boundary between adjacent sheets 3 of the bundle S of sheets 3 by the lighting. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a pair of lighting units 14 is against a bundle S of sheets 3 set on the upper surface 1 a of the housing 1. The illumination unit 14 only needs to be able to change its illuminance step by step, and its configuration is not particularly limited. The illumination unit 14 includes an LED, a fluorescent lamp, a light bulb, or the like.
The camera 15 may be disposed below the imaging window 2, preferably directly below, and can acquire either a monochrome image or a color image.
The illumination unit 14 and the camera 15 are controlled by the control unit 16.

  The signature counter further includes a display 18 that is attached to the housing 1 and displays a real-time image taken by the camera 15. In this embodiment, the display 18 is a touch panel display, and is attached to the upper surface 1 a of the housing 1 via a support arm 17.

The signature counter is also provided with an image database 19 that stores, as reference image data, an image obtained by photographing a pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b for each counting job together with accompanying information.
In this case, the image obtained by photographing the pair of holding plates 7a and 7b for each counting job may be an image obtained by photographing only the pair of holding plates 7a and 7b after the position setting for each counting job. An image in which both the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b at the time of counting and the bundle S of the sheets 2 sandwiched between them may be captured.

  Further, the incidental information may be any information as long as the different counting jobs can be distinguished from each other. For example, the date and time when the counting job was executed, the information about the counted product, or the lot number Or, the name of the person in charge of the work, or a combination of two or more thereof can be used as supplementary information.

The signature counter also extracts the corresponding reference image data from the image database 19 based on the auxiliary information before the counting operation of the signature counter is started, and performs the translucency processing on the reference image data. An image composition unit 20 is provided for causing the display 18 to display an image obtained by superimposing the converted reference image data on the real-time image.
In this embodiment, the image combining unit 20 translucently extracts the extracted reference image data, and then superimposes the extracted reference image data on the real-time image. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the real-time image is directly superimposed without being processed.

  The display 18 also functions as an input unit that receives input of incidental information. Then, the image composition unit 20 searches for reference image data based on incidental information input through the display 18 by the operator.

  The signature counter further includes a pair of image data acquired by the camera 15 each time a new bundle 3 of sheets 3 is inserted between the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b during the counting operation of the signature counter. A rectangular data portion extending between the pressing plates 7a and 7b is extracted, and the data portion is subjected to image processing, thereby counting the number of sheets 3 and displaying the count result on the display 18. ing.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image processing unit 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing unit 21 includes a processing range extraction unit 22 that extracts, from the image data acquired by the camera 15, a rectangular data portion that extends over the entire length in the thickness direction of the bundle S of sheets 3. The image data binarization unit 23 that binarizes the data portion extracted by the processing range extraction unit 22 and the labeling process on the binarized data portion, thereby the sheet 3 in the data portion. A labeling processing unit 24 that calculates the number of images and a number output unit 25 that outputs the number of images of the sheet 3 calculated by the labeling processing unit 24 to the display 18 as the number of sheets 3 are provided.

Next, the operation of the signature counter according to the present invention will be described.
First, before the signature counter is used (before the counting operation is started), the operator folds a predetermined number of sheets 3 to be counted (scheduled number) and bundles a predetermined number (scheduled number) of the upper surface 1a of the housing 1. Set to At that time, after the bundle S of sheets 3 is inserted between the pair of pressing plates 7 a and 7 b and the respective sheets 3 are aligned with the top side or the ground side contacting the alignment plate 11, Both sides of the bundle S are sandwiched between a pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b, and then the pressing plates 7a and 7b are fixed. In this case, the pair of pressing plates 7 a and 7 b is fixed at a position where an appropriate gap can be generated between the peak portions of the adjacent sheets 3 of the bundle S of sheets 3.

In setting the positions of the press plates 7a and 7b, when a new counting job is the same as that executed in the past, according to the present invention, before the counting operation of the signature counter is started, the operator The incidental information of the job executed in the past is input through the display 18.
Then, corresponding reference image data is extracted from the image database 19 based on the input supplementary information, the extracted reference image data is translucent processed, and the translucent reference image data is converted into a real-time image. The superimposed image is displayed on the display 18.

The display display screen at this time is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, 26 is an image of a pair of pressing plates in the reference image, and 27 is an image of a pair of pressing plates in the real-time image.
Then, based on the superimposed images displayed on the display by the operator, the pair of pressing plates 7a and 7b so that the image of the pair of pressing plates in the real-time image matches the image of the pair of pressing plates in the reference image. Is set.
Thus, according to the present invention, the holding plates 7a and 7b are simply moved and fixed so that the images on the pair of holding plates 7a and 7b coincide with the reference image while viewing the display. The work efficiency can be greatly improved.

Thereafter, after the illuminance of the illumination unit 14 is adjusted, the counting operation of the signature counter is started.
That is, a bundle S of sheets 3 to be counted is sequentially inserted by a worker between a pair of press plates 7a and 7b that are set in advance, and the sheets 3 are displayed according to the display 18 each time. It is confirmed by the operator whether or not there is a preset number of sheets (the number of counts).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Housing 1a Upper surface 2 Shooting window 3 Sheet | seat 3a Mountain part 3b Valley part 4 Sheet | seat bundle support unit 5a, 5b Slider 6a, 6b Pin 7a, 7b Holding plate 8a, 8b Slit 9a, 9b First holding plate fixing screw 9c 9d Second holding plate fixing screw 10a, 10b Guide pin 12 Receiving part 13 Transparent glass plate 14 Illumination unit 15 Camera 16 Control part 17 Support arm 18 Display 19 Image database 20 Image composition part 21 Image processing part 22 Processing range Extraction unit 23 Image data binarization unit 24 Labeling processing unit 25 Number output unit 26 Image of a pair of pressing plates in a reference image 27 Image of a pair of pressing plates in a real-time image S Bundle of sheets

Claims (2)

A signature counter that counts the number of sheets that are folded and have a peak and a valley formed on the opposite side,
A housing having a photographing window formed on the upper surface;
A sheet bundle supporting unit that is attached to the housing and sandwiches the bundle of sheets placed on the upper surface across the photographing window from both sides. And is arranged so as to cross the shooting window,
The sheet bundle support unit is
A pair of pressers respectively disposed on the upper surface of the housing across the shooting window;
A slide guide provided on the housing and slidably guiding the pair of pressers toward and away from each other;
A fixing means provided on the pair of pressers and / or the housing, and fixing the pair of pressers to desired positions, respectively, so that the bundle of sheets is sandwiched between the pair of pressers And
The signature counter further comprises:
An illumination unit mounted inside the housing and illuminating the photographing window from below;
A camera attached to the inside of the housing and photographing the pair of pressers and the bundle of sheets through the photographing window;
A control unit for controlling the lighting unit and the camera;
A display attached to the housing and displaying a real-time image taken by the camera;
An image database for storing an image of the pair of presses taken for each counting job together with auxiliary information as reference image data;
Before starting the counting operation of the signature counter, the corresponding reference image data is extracted from the image database based on the supplementary information, and an image obtained by superimposing the reference image data on the real-time image is displayed on the display. An image composition unit,
Before the counting operation starts, based on the superimposed image displayed on the display, the image of the pair of pressers in the real-time image matches the image of the pair of pressers in the reference image by an operator The position of the pair of pressers is set so that the signature counter further includes:
During the counting operation of the signature counter, rectangular data extending between the pair of presses from the image data acquired by the camera each time a new bundle of sheets is inserted between the pair of presses. A signature counter comprising: an image processing unit that extracts a portion, performs image processing on the data portion, counts the number of sheets, and displays a counting result on the display.   The signature counter according to claim 1, wherein the image composition unit performs a translucent process on the reference image data before superimposing the reference image data on the real-time image.