JP7131798B2 - X-ray inspection device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an X-ray inspection apparatus capable of easily changing the length of the X-ray inspection apparatus in the conveying direction.

An industrial X-ray inspection apparatus is often used for inspecting the contents of bagged products, and its basic configuration is, as shown in FIG. It has An operation display unit 4 is provided in the upper part of the main body 2, and an examination room 7 having an entrance 5 and an exit 6 is provided in the lower part. The inspection chamber 7 includes a belt conveyor 8 for transporting the inspected object M from the entrance 5 to the exit 6, an X-ray irradiation unit 9 for irradiating the transported inspected object M with X-rays from above, and the belt conveyor 8. A line sensor 10 is arranged between the upper and lower belts to detect X-rays that have passed through the object M to be inspected.

In order to prevent leakage of X-rays when the object to be inspected M passes through the inspection room 7, X-rays are provided between the entrance 5 and the exit 6 of the inspection room 7 as shown in the layout diagram of FIG. is provided, and even if the object to be inspected M during transport flips up the protective curtains C, the protective curtains C before and after shield the transport path, so that the inspection room 7 is designed not to leak X-rays.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, an opening/closing door 11 is provided on one side of the inspection room 7, and when it is opened downward, the inspection room 7 is largely opened, and all the protective curtains C are opened. It can be attached and detached from the opening/closing door 11 side. Such a configuration is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

In such an X-ray inspection apparatus 1, if the length of the object to be inspected M in the transport direction becomes long, it is necessary to increase the distance between the protective curtains C. The path is covered with an X-ray shielding cover 12, and a protective curtain C is placed inside the cover 12 to extend the apparent length of the inspection room 7 in the transport direction.

JP 2016-099303 A Japanese Patent No. 5740608

Therefore, in the X-ray inspection apparatus 1 of FIG. 1, the lateral width L of the open/close door 11 is widened to cover the left and right cover 12 portions, but the open/close door 11 is attached with a thick X-ray shielding member. Therefore, if the width L is widened to the cover 12 portion, the opening/closing door 11 becomes heavy, and there is a problem that it becomes difficult to handle. In order to avoid this, there is a model in which an opening/closing door similar to the central opening/closing door 11 is provided on one side of the left and right covers 12, but such a model has a problem of increased cost.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, conveyors covered with covers are detachably connected to the entrance side and the exit side of the main inspection room, and protective curtains are placed inside the covers to make the main inspection room look like is extended in the transport direction. Therefore, if this device is used, it is possible to change the length of the conveying direction by simply changing the length of the left and right conveyors connected to it and the length of the cover that covers it, without changing the width of the opening/closing door of the main inspection room. It has the advantage of being able to easily adapt to different inspection objects.

However, in the device of Patent Document 2, the conveyor must be connected to the entrance and the exit, respectively, which increases the cost. Since the protective curtain also had to be removed from the frame, there was a problem of poor workability.

The present invention was developed in view of these problems, and is an inexpensive and easy-to-maintain X-ray inspection apparatus in which the apparent length of the inspection room in the transport direction can be easily changed without changing the width of the inspection room. The task is to provide

An X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention comprises an inspection room for irradiating X-rays onto a transported object to be inspected, an X-ray shielding tunnel covering a transport path leading to the inspection room, and an X-ray shielding tunnel from an opening of the X-ray shielding tunnel. An X-ray inspection apparatus comprising a protective curtain for preventing leakage of X-rays from
The tunnel comprises a fixed cover and a separate cover separable from the fixed cover, and the protective curtain is attached to the separate cover.

This X-ray shielding tunnel is provided on the entrance side entering the examination room and the exit side exiting from the examination room, but is not limited thereto. It may be provided only on the side. A protective curtain for preventing leakage of X-rays from an opening of a tunnel is an X-ray shielding curtain that can be opened and closed, which is flipped up when an object to be inspected hits it and closes when the object to be inspected passes through.

In this way, the outer transport path leading to the inspection room is covered with the X-ray shielding tunnel, and the opening of the tunnel is shielded by the protective curtain. can be extended by a minute. Moreover, since the tunnel is composed of the fixed cover and the separate cover, the length of the tunnel in the conveying direction can be easily changed. Furthermore, unlike the conventional apparatus, it is not necessary to provide an open/close door in the tunnel, so the apparatus can be made more inexpensive. In addition, since the protective curtain is separated from the fixed cover together with the separation cover, there is no need to provide a frame for suspending the protective curtain inside the tunnel, unlike the conventional system, which makes the tunnel simpler and less expensive. can do.

In addition, when cleaning the inside of the tunnel or the protective curtain, the protective curtain is separated together with the separation cover simply by separating it from the fixed cover, so the tunnel can be disassembled and cleaned very easily.

Also, the separation cover is characterized by comprising a first side wall covering one side surface of the conveying path and a second side wall orthogonal thereto and to which the protective curtain is attached.

As a result, when the separating cover is removed from the fixed cover, two sides of the conveying path are largely opened, so maintenance of the conveyer constituting the conveying path can be facilitated. In addition, the first side wall and the second side wall are orthogonal to each other and form an L shape when viewed from above, so when maintenance is performed on the workbench, the separation cover can be stabilized in an upright position. can.

Further, the tunnel is provided with an interlock switch for detecting attachment and detachment of the separation cover.

As a result, it is possible to prevent the X-ray inspection apparatus from operating when the separation cover is detached, thereby preventing leakage of X-rays due to erroneous attachment of the separation cover to the fixed cover.

In addition, mounting portions to which the tunnel is mounted are provided on the outer side surfaces of the entrance side and the exit side of the examination room, and the mounting portion is covered with a panel when the tunnel is not mounted. and

As a result, for an object to be inspected whose length in the conveying direction is short, by hiding the mounting portion with the panel, a standard specification X-ray inspection apparatus can be used. The panel is removed to expose the mounting portion, If the tunnel is attached there, an X-ray inspection apparatus for inspection objects having a long length in the transport direction can be obtained.

According to the X-ray inspection apparatus of the present invention, a highly versatile X-ray inspection apparatus capable of inspecting objects with a length in the conveying direction from long to short by simply changing the length of the tunnel. can be Moreover, since the tunnel is composed of the fixed cover and the separate cover, the length of the tunnel in the conveying direction can be easily changed, and the apparatus can be made inexpensive.

In addition, when the separation cover is removed from the fixed cover, the X-ray shielding curtain is also removed together, and the transport path is wide open, which facilitates disassembly and cleaning of the tunnel and the transport path, and shortens the work time. .

Schematic diagram showing the configuration of a conventional X-ray inspection apparatus. FIG. 2 is an arrangement configuration diagram of protective curtains in the examination room of FIG. 1 ; 1 is an external perspective view of a standard specification of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of an embodiment after a tunnel is attached to the X-ray inspection apparatus of FIG. 3; Side view of the tunnel. Side view of the fixed cover of the tunnel. FIG. 2 is an exploded explanatory view showing an overview of mounting of a tunnel; FIG. 6 is a plan view of the separation cover of FIG. 5 Explanatory drawing when maintenance is performed by opening the opening/closing door of the inspection room. Explanatory drawing of removing the separation cover.

An embodiment of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10. FIG. In addition, this embodiment does not limit the technical scope of the present invention. 3 shows an external perspective view of the standard specification X-ray inspection apparatus 100 before installing the X-ray shielding tunnels T1 and T2, and FIG. 2 shows an external perspective view of the line inspection device 200. FIG.
In the following description, the X-ray shielding tunnel is abbreviated as tunnel.

In the X-ray inspection apparatus 100 of FIG. 3, the conveying direction length of the belt conveyor BC corresponds to the width L of the inspection room 30, but in the X-ray inspection apparatus 20 of FIG. A long belt conveyor BC having both ends protruding from the examination room 30 is used, and tunnels T1 and T2 in FIG. 3 are attached to the protruding entrance side and exit side.

In these figures, X-ray inspection apparatuses 100 and 200 include a housing 40 that shields X-rays and support legs 50 that support it. A touch panel type operation display unit 41 is provided in the upper part of the housing 40, and an examination room 30 covered with an X-ray shield similar to that in FIG. 1 is provided in the lower part. Box-shaped tunnels T1 and T2 are attached to each transport path 31 leading to the entrance and exit of the inspection chamber 30 in FIG.

The opening of the inspection room 30 is appropriately switched according to the line on which the X-ray inspection apparatuses 100 and 200 are installed. That is, in some cases, the entrance is on the right side of the paper and the exit is on the left side, or they are reversed. When reversed, the conveying direction of the belt conveyor BC is reversed.

In addition, the tunnels T1 and T2 are arranged on the entrance side and the exit side of the inspection room 30 in a state of being slightly lifted from the conveying surface of the belt conveyor BC. In some cases, a belt conveyor BC that is short and about the same as the width L of the door 32 is used, and as shown in FIG. A belt conveyor BC may also be used.
When the former short belt conveyor BC is used, upstream and downstream conveyors are connected before and after it. However, an X-ray shielding material is attached to the belt conveying surface of the connected conveyor. Therefore, the length of the belt conveyor BC in the conveying direction need not be the length spanning both tunnels T1 and T2 from the entrance to the exit.

Also, in the inspection room 30, the same X-ray irradiation unit 9, belt conveyor BC, line sensor 10, and a plurality of protective curtains C as in FIG. 1 are installed, but the arrangement of these is substantially the same as in FIG. Therefore, illustration is omitted here. A door 32 is attached to one side of the inspection room 30, and if it is pulled forward as shown in FIG. It's like

Various forms of the protective curtain C are used according to the characteristics of the object to be inspected. For example, a tungsten-containing rubber curtain or strip-shaped stainless steel plates arranged side by side are used. Also, various shapes are used, such as a shape in which the lower end is bent downstream, a shape in which the whole is bent into a gentle S shape, and the like. Therefore, the form of the protective curtain C is not particularly limited in the present invention.

As shown in the cross-sectional views of FIGS. 3 and 7, mounting portions 42 recessed one step for mounting the tunnels T1 and T2 are provided on the sides of the housing 40 constituting the examination room 30 on the entrance side and the exit side. A bracket 43 for supporting the tunnels T1 and T2 can be fixed to. FIG. 3 shows the mounting portion 42 covered with a panel 44 before the tunnels T1 and T2 are mounted.

When this panel 44 is removed, as shown in FIG. 7, a mounting portion 42 recessed from the side surface of the housing 40 appears, to which the bracket 43 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 can be fixed. Specifically, a nut 45 for fixing the bracket 43 is attached to the rear surface of the mounting portion 42 recessed one step, and the pair of legs 43a of the bracket 43 extending in the vertical direction are held at predetermined positions of the mounting portion 42. The bracket 43 is fixed to the mounting portion 42 by screwing the bolt 46 into the nut 45 from above.

As shown in FIG. 6, this bracket 43 is formed by bending a single plate into a gate shape. It has a shape along the vertical plane of the portion 42 . Therefore, a horizontally extending top plate 47 is formed at the upper ends of the pair of legs 43a of the bracket 43, and both ends 47a in the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. It is bent to form a reinforcing beam. A plurality of through holes 48 are provided in the top plate 47 along the longitudinal direction, and stud bolts 61 attached to the back surface of the top plate of the fixed cover 60 are inserted through the through holes 48 . ing. 7 is placed on the bracket 43 as indicated by the arrow, the stud bolt 61 is inserted into the through-hole 48, and then a nut (not shown) is screwed into the stud bolt 61 so that the fixed cover can be removed. 60 can be fixed to the top plate 47 of the bracket 43 .

On the other hand, each of the tunnels T1 and T2 is formed of a stainless steel plate having a thickness that shields X-rays. and

As shown in FIG. 6, the fixed cover 60 is an L-shaped hollow box when viewed from the side, and includes a horizontal portion 62 and a vertical portion 63, which are hollow inside. , a separation cover 70, which will be described later, is detachably attached. In addition, the space serves as a transport path 31 for an object to be inspected, which leads to the entrance or exit of the inspection chamber 30 .

5 to 7, on the front side of the horizontal portion 62 of the fixed cover 60, two headed pins 64 for holding the separation cover 70 are provided in the horizontal direction. The second side wall 72 of is formed with a paddle hole H1 and a horizontally extending long hole H2. When the headed pin 64 is inserted into the hole H1 and slid in the horizontal direction, the head of the pin 64 prevents the pin 64 from coming off while the pin 62 is fitted in the long hole H2.

A flange 65 along the outer surface of the inspection chamber 30 is formed on the rear side of the fixed cover 60, and a mounting plate 66 shown in FIGS. It is This mounting plate 66 is bent so that it can be inserted into the mounting portion 42 shown in FIG. The vertical portion 63 of the fixed cover 60 is fixed to the mounting portion 42 by tightening a nut (not shown). As a result, the fixed cover 60 is fixed to the mounting portion 42 by the bracket 43 and the mounting plate 66 . To fix it on the side, it is also possible to simply attach the fixed cover 60 to the bracket 43 .

On the other hand, as shown in the plan views of FIGS. 4 and 8, the separation cover 70 comprises a first side wall 71 covering one side surface of the conveying path 31 and a second side wall 72 orthogonal thereto to which the protective curtain C is attached. It has A portion of the second side wall 72 corresponding to the entrance or exit of the examination room 30 is cut into a portal shape, and a protective curtain C is attached thereto. Therefore, from the entrance or exit of the inspection room 30 to the protective curtain C of the second side wall 72 forms the transport path 31 of the object to be inspected transported by the belt conveyor BC, and the periphery of the transport path 31 is separated from the fixed cover 60. It is covered with a cover 70. Although not shown, an X-ray shielding material is used on the belt running surface of the belt conveyor BC to prevent downward leakage of X-rays.

The protective curtain C in FIGS. 5 and 8 is a rubber curtain containing tungsten. In this case, the upper end of the curtain is attached to the back surface of the second side wall 72 via a retainer plate. Flanges are formed on the left and right edges in the vertical direction, and the rotating shaft of the protective curtain is hung between the upper ends of the flanges. In addition, this rotating shaft is a part which becomes a support shaft which supports each stainless steel plate so that it can swing.

Handles 73 are attached to the first side wall 71 and the second side wall 72 of the separation cover 70 so that the separation cover 70 can be attached to and detached from the fixed cover 60 by holding them. The upper end of the first side wall 71 is bent horizontally, and the slide key 75 of the interlock switch 74 shown in FIGS. 5 and 7 is attached there. This key 75 is a key for operating the interlock switch 74. When the separation cover 70 is attached to the fixed cover 60, if this key 75 is inserted into the keyhole 68 of the fixed cover 60 of FIG. 74 are in operation.

This switch 74 is connected to the main power supply, and is designed so that this switch 74 will not operate unless the separation cover 70 is securely attached. Therefore, when the separation cover 70 is not sufficiently attached and the switch 74 is not activated, X-rays are not emitted even if the main switch is on.

In addition, the edge 76 (see FIG. 8) of the first side wall 71 on the side contacting the opening/closing door 32 of the inspection room 30 is further bent into an L shape so that the closed opening/closing door 32 covers it. there is That is, when the closed opening/closing door 32 covers the edge portion 76, the edge portion 76 is blocked by the closed opening/closing door 32 so as not to slide in the direction of the arrow, as shown in FIG. As a result, careless attachment/detachment of the separation cover 70 is prevented.

Next, a method for attaching and detaching the separation cover 70 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 9, the opening/closing door 32 on the main body side is opened in the direction of the arrow. Then, since the L-shaped edge 76 of the separation cover 70 is opened, the slide key 75 is released from the interlock switch 74 by pulling the handle 73 in the arrow direction as shown in FIG. moves to the pin 64 position. Subsequently, when the separation cover 70 is horizontally moved in the conveying direction F of the object to be inspected, the paddle hole H1 is disengaged from the pin 64 and the separation cover 70 can be removed from the fixed cover 60 .

When the removed separation cover 70 is to be mounted again, the removed separation cover 70 can be mounted to the fixed cover 60 by opening the opening/closing door 32 and performing the reverse operation.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and other configurations can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the separation cover 70 could not be separated from the fixed cover 60 without opening the opening/closing door 32. 76 may be formed straight so that the separation cover 70 can be pulled out independently even when the opening/closing door 32 is closed. Even in this case, if the interlock switch 74 is effective, the main power supply will be turned off when the slide key 75 is released, so that the X-rays will not leak to the outside. Further, in order to secure the connection between the separation cover 70 and the fixed cover 60 , fastening means such as a snap lock may be attached between the fixed cover 60 and the separation cover 70 .

30 Inspection room 31 Transfer path 42 Mounting part 44 Panel T1 X-ray shielding tunnel T2 X-ray shielding tunnel C Protection curtain 60 Fixed cover 70 Separation cover 71 First side wall 72 Second side wall 74 Interlock switch

Claims (4)

An inspection room for irradiating an object to be inspected to be transported with X-rays, an X-ray shielding tunnel covering the transport path leading to the inspection room, and a protective curtain for preventing leakage of X-rays from the opening of the X-ray shielding tunnel. An X-ray inspection apparatus comprising
the X-ray shielding tunnel having a fixed cover and a separate cover separable from the fixed cover, the protective curtain being attached to the separate cover ;
The separation cover is attached to the fixed cover via a fixing member,
By pulling out the separation cover in a direction that is horizontal and orthogonal to the conveying path, the first state in which the separation cover is attached to the fixed cover by the fixing member is released from the fixing by the fixing member and removed from the fixed cover. transition to a separable second state;
An X-ray inspection apparatus characterized by: 2. X according to claim 1, wherein the separation cover comprises a first side wall covering one side of the conveying path and a second side wall orthogonal thereto and to which the protective curtain is attached. Line inspection equipment. 3. The X-ray inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the X-ray shielding tunnel is provided with an interlock switch for detecting attachment and detachment of the separation cover. Mounting portions to which the X-ray shielding tunnels are mounted are provided on the outer surfaces of the entrance side and the exit side of the examination room, and when the X-ray shielding tunnels are not mounted, the mounting portions are covered with panels. The X-ray inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that there is a

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