JP7382773B2 - Radiation inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention target objects to be inspected that have a wound structure inside, such as cylindrical or prismatic batteries or capacitors, and use radiation to inspect for winding misalignment and the presence of foreign objects. Regarding inspection equipment.

2. Description of the Related Art As a radiation inspection apparatus that inspects the internal structure of an object to be inspected such as a battery, for example, one shown in Patent Document 1 is known. This type of radiation inspection apparatus inspects the internal structure of an inspection object transported by a conveyor at regular intervals by irradiating it with radiation such as X-rays.

In such a radiation inspection apparatus, an object to be inspected is placed on a conveyor, the parts are continuously introduced into the inspection apparatus, and a radiation generator irradiates the object with radiation. As a result of irradiation with radiation, if it is confirmed that the object to be inspected has misaligned windings or foreign matter is mixed in, the object to be inspected is recognized as a defective product. Therefore, for example, as shown in Patent Document 2, a radiation inspection apparatus is known that is equipped with a mechanism for transporting defective products from a continuous conveyor and a conveyor for discharging defective products for inspected objects recognized as defective products. .

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-80284 China Utility Model Publication No. 205049495

Although the radiation inspection apparatus of Patent Document 2 can discharge defective products from a continuous conveyor, it only has two criteria for determining whether the product is a good product or a defective product. However, in continuous inspection using radiographic inspection equipment, in addition to good and defective products, there are also uninspected products that cannot be judged as good or bad due to speed changes due to startup and stoppage of the equipment, etc. There was a problem in that even if there were a certain number of good products mixed in, all of them would be treated as defective products.

Moreover, defective products discharged by the radiation inspection apparatus of Patent Document 2 may be removed from the line and treated as waste products. However, if the inspected item is inexpensive, there is not a large cost loss even if it is disposed of, but if the inspected item is a highly functional material, treating all defective items as waste will result in a significant cost loss. There was such a problem. In recent years, as the inspection speed of radiation inspection equipment has increased, the number of inspected items that cannot be determined to be pass/fail and is judged as uninspected is increasing, but all of them are treated as defective and are being discarded. Once processed, the loss will be immeasurable.

Therefore, it is conceivable that defective products, including uninspected products, discharged by the radiation inspection apparatus of Patent Document 2 are not treated as waste products, but are manually reinjected into the line of the radiation inspection apparatus. However, manually reloading the inspection object requires a great deal of effort since it is necessary to once stop the radiation inspection apparatus, and there is a problem in that the efficiency is very low.

In addition, test objects with internal wound structures, such as cylindrical or prismatic batteries and capacitors, pose a risk of fire depending on the user's usage environment, so lot management is required from a safety perspective. required. Therefore, continuous inspection on a lot-by-lot basis is also required in radiographic inspection equipment. However, there is a problem in that if the product is manually re-introduced into the radiation inspection equipment line, the continuous inspection on a lot-by-lot basis may be delayed.

This embodiment has been proposed to solve the problems of the prior art as described above. The purpose of the present embodiment is to provide a radiation inspection apparatus that sets standards other than pass/fail judgment for the inspected object and enables continuous pass/fail judgment in high-speed in-line inspection by re-inserting uninspected items.

A radiation inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) An inspection conveyor that transports the inspection object held by a holder, an incoming conveyor provided on the incoming side of the inspection conveyor, an outgoing conveyor provided on the outgoing side of the inspection conveyor, and an incoming conveyor provided on the outgoing conveyor side. A sorting device that sorts the objects to be inspected according to the inspection results.
(2) A radiation generator and a radiation detector disposed on both sides of the inspection conveyor, sandwiching the object to be inspected on the inspection conveyor.
(3) The sorting device separates defective products and undetermined products from the carry-out conveyor.
(4) It has a stockyard where the defective products and undetermined products separated from the carry-out conveyor are separated and collected.
(5) The stockyard is provided with a storage section for separately collecting the defective products and the undetermined products.
(6) The stockyard is provided with a storage section for separating and collecting the defective products and the undetermined products, and each outlet of the storage section is provided with a storage section for storing the inspected items in the stockyard. A gate for stopping the vehicle is provided, and a transport mechanism for reloading products is provided beyond the gate to connect the stockyard and the carry-in conveyor.
(7) The reinserted undetermined products are carried into the carry-in conveyor and the inspection conveyor again.

(1) The sorting device includes a turntable, recesses for holding the objects to be inspected are provided at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of the turntable, and holding mechanisms for holding the objects to be inspected are provided in the recesses. Equipped with
( 2 ) The bottoms of the defective product sorting chute and the undetermined product sorting chute are open, and a plurality of rotary plates supporting the inspected objects are provided in the open portions, and each chute is separated by rotation of the rotary plates. The object to be inspected inside is transferred.
( 3 ) The conveyance direction of the inspection object by the inspection conveyor, the carry-in conveyor, and the carry-out conveyor is arranged parallel to the conveyance direction of the inspection object in the stockyard, and the conveyance mechanism for the sorting device and the re-loaded article is provided. is formed into an annular shape as a whole.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing an example of the configuration of a radiation inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a radiation examination apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a sorting device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a re-examination determination mechanism in the first embodiment.

[1. First embodiment]
[1-1. Configuration of embodiment]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the radiation inspection apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment controls the operation of a radiation generator 2, a radiation detector 3, a shielding box 4, a transport mechanism 5, a sorting device 6, and each of these parts. The control unit 20 includes a control unit 20 that performs the following operations.

The radiation inspection apparatus 1 irradiates the object W to be inspected with radiation, detects the radiation that has passed through the object W, and forms a fluoroscopic image of the inside of the object W based on the detection results. The inspected object W is not particularly limited as long as it is non-destructively inspected by radiation, but examples include electrochemical capacitors such as cylindrical batteries, prismatic batteries, laminate batteries, aluminum electrolytic capacitors, and electric double layer capacitors; It is a wound structure such as.

The radiation generator 2 irradiates a radiation beam toward the object W to be inspected. This radiation generator 2 is, for example, an X-ray tube. Radiation detector 3 is placed opposite radiation generator 2 . The radiation detector 3 includes, for example, an image intensifier (I.I.), a camera, or a flat panel detector (FPD). Here, one set of the radiation generator 2 and the radiation detector 3 is provided. The radiation detector 3 includes a determination unit 31 that determines the quality of the inspected object W based on the fluoroscopic image obtained by the radiation detector 3 and a reference image recorded in advance, and a display unit that displays the photographed fluoroscopic image. It is connected to the.

The shielding box 4 surrounds the radiation generator 2 and the radiation detector 3 and shields radiation. The shielding box 4 is configured to include a radiation shielding material such as lead. The shielding box 4 is provided with an entrance 41 for transporting the object W to be inspected into the interior, and an exit 42 for transporting the object W inside to the outside. In addition, in FIG. 1, only a part of the shielding box 4 is shown in order to show the internal structure of the radiation inspection apparatus 1.

The transport mechanism 5 is a mechanism that transports the object W to be inspected. The conveyance mechanism 5 includes an inspection conveyor 8 that conveys the inspected object W, a carry-in conveyor 9 provided on the carry-in side of the inspection conveyor 8, and a carry-out conveyor 10 provided on the carry-out side of the inspection conveyor 8. As each conveyor, for example, a belt conveyor, a chain conveyor, etc. can be used. The transport mechanism 5 transports the test object W in a state perpendicular to a horizontal plane when the test object W is a wound structure such as a battery.

The transport mechanism 5 may include timing screws 11 between the inspection conveyor 8 and the carry-in conveyor 9 and between the inspection conveyor 8 and the carry-out conveyor 10, respectively. The timing screw 11 is provided with its axial direction along the conveyance direction of the inspection object W, and the pitch of the screw is wide on the inspection conveyor 8 side according to the interval between adjacent inspection objects W during radiography, and on the carry-in conveyor 9 side. The side or the carry-out conveyor 10 side is narrowed according to the conveyance interval of the inspection object W by these conveyors. The timing screw 11 includes a drive motor 111 and a gear mechanism 112 that transmits the rotational force of the motor to the timing screw 11.

The inspection conveyor 8 has an upper conveyance surface that moves from left to right in FIG. 1 to convey the object W to be inspected. A radiation generator 2 and a radiation detector 3 are arranged facing each other on both sides of the inspection conveyor 8.

The sorting device 6 includes a turntable 61, a recess 62 that engages the object W to be inspected, and a holding mechanism 63 that holds the object W to be inspected. A turntable 61 is provided on the side opposite to the timing screw 11 of the carry-out conveyor 10 to hold and transfer the object W on the carry-out conveyor 10 . Recesses 62 are provided on the outer periphery of the turntable 61 at predetermined intervals to accommodate the objects to be inspected. Each recess 62 of the turntable 61 is provided with a holding mechanism 63 that holds the object W accommodated in the recess 62 . The holding mechanism 63 includes vacuum suction, magnets, clamping, and the like.

Around the turntable 61, a sorting chute 12 for defective products X and a sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y are sequentially provided in the direction of rotation of the turntable 61. The entrance of the sorting chute 12 for defective products X is located approximately 180 degrees from the timing screw 11 of the carry-out conveyor 10, and the entrance of the sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y is located approximately 270 degrees from the timing screw 11 of the carry-out conveyor 10. The exits of the sorting chute 12 for defective products X and the sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y are connected to the entrance of a stockyard 121 arranged parallel to the transport mechanism 5. Therefore, the sorting chute 12 for defective products X is curved in an arc shape as a whole, and the sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y is curved in an S-shape.

The bottoms of the sorting chute 12 for defective products X and the sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y are open, and four rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c and 14d are provided, and the bottom of the object W to be inspected guided by each sorting chute 12 and 13 is supported by the surfaces of these rotary plates. The four rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d are provided with their outer peripheral edges close to each other, so that the object W to be inspected can be transferred to the adjacent rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d.

In the stockyard 121, a storage section 15 for defective products X and a storage section 16 for uninspected products Y are separated by a central partition wall 122, and a sorting chute 12 for defective products The outlet of the sorting chute 13 for uninspected products Y is connected. The bottoms of the storage section 15 for defective products X and the storage section 16 for uninspected products Y in the stockyard 121 are open, and a stockyard conveyor 17 is provided so as to close the openings from below. The stockyard conveyor 17 is provided over the entire length of the stockyard 121. The surface of the stockyard conveyor 17 is such that when the stockyard conveyor 17 is stopped, the defective products ) so that it can be moved.

Gates 18 and 19 are provided at the exits of the storage section 15 for defective products X and the storage section 16 for uninspected products Y, respectively, for stopping the inspection objects W in the stockyard 121. The gate 18 for defective product X and the gate 19 for uninspected product Y can be opened and closed independently. These gates 18 and 19 are opened and closed by instructions from a gate opening/closing command section 21 provided in the control section.

A re-input chute 22 connecting the stockyard 121 and the carry-in conveyor 9 is provided beyond each gate 18, 19 at the exit of the storage section 15 for defective products X and the storage section 16 for uninspected products Y. This reloaded product chute 22 corresponds to a reloaded product conveyance mechanism in the claims. In this embodiment, since the stockyard 121 and the carry-in conveyor 9 are provided in parallel, the reloaded product chute 22 has a semicircularly curved shape. The re-loaded product chute 22, like the respective sorting chutes 12 and 13, is open at its bottom, and three rotary plates 23a, 23b, and 23c are provided so as to close the opening from below. These rotary plates 23a, 23b, 23c support the inspected object W sent out to the re-input product chute 22 from below, and also rotate the inspected object in the re-input product chute 22 by the force of the rotary plates 23a, 23b, 23c. W is transferred from the stockyard 121 toward the carry-in conveyor 9.

In this embodiment, in order to re-inspect the defective product X separately from the uninspected product Y, only the gate of either the uninspected product Y or the defective product X is set to open. Therefore, the re-input product chute 22 is installed at approximately 1/2 of the stockyard 121 so that the inspection objects W sent out from either storage section 15 or 16 can be re-injected into the carry-in conveyor 9 in a single line. It is wide. Note that if the defective product X is to be discarded or recycled without being re-inspected, it is not necessary to supply the defective product X to the carry-in conveyor 9. In that case, a collection box or the like may be placed at the outlet of the storage section 15 for the defective products X, and the defective products X may be sent there from the stockyard 121.

[1-2. Effect of embodiment]
In the radiation inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the inspection object W is conveyed by the carry-in conveyor 9. When the inspected object W reaches near the exit of the carry-in conveyor 9, the inspected object W on the carry-in conveyor 9 enters the groove of the timing screw 11 provided between the carry-in conveyor 9 and the inspection conveyor 8, and the timing screw 11 is rotated, it is transferred in its axial direction.

When the inspected object W transferred onto the inspection conveyor 8 reaches the imaging location, a fluoroscopic image of the inspected object W is taken by the radiation generator 2 and the radiation detector 3 arranged on both sides of the inspection conveyor 8. Ru. This radiographic image may be taken by stopping the inspection conveyor 8 at the imaging position of the object W to be inspected, or by taking a still image using a high-speed camera or by taking a video. If it is possible to determine pass/fail, photography may be performed while moving the inspection conveyor 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, the still image of the inspected object W taken by the radiation detector 3 is sent to the determination section 31, where it is compared with a reference image stored in advance to determine whether it is good or not. is determined. If the inspected object W cannot be photographed, or if the inspected object W cannot be judged as good or bad even though it has been photographed, the determining section 31 determines that it has not been inspected. The determination results regarding the individual inspection objects W obtained in this way are sent to the control unit 20, and the control unit 20, based on the determination results, when the inspection objects W to be sorted reach the sorting device 6, The sorting device 6 is driven.

The inspected object W, which has been photographed, is sent to the exit side by the inspection conveyor 8 and reaches the timing screw 11 on the exit side. The timing screw 11 on the exit side has a wide pitch on the inspection conveyor 8 side and a narrow pitch on the carry-out conveyor 10 side. Therefore, the inspection objects W that have been sent at wide intervals by the inspection conveyor 8 are sent to the carry-out conveyor 10 while the intervals are gradually narrowed by the timing screw 11.

When the inspected objects W to be sorted reach the sorting device 6 provided on the path of the carry-out conveyor 10, as shown in FIG. A holding mechanism 63 provided therein holds the inspection object W, and discharges the inspection object W to be sorted from the carry-out conveyor 10. Objects W to be inspected other than those to be sorted, that is, non-defective products A, are sent out to the outside of the inspection apparatus as they are by the carry-out conveyor 10 without driving the sorting apparatus 6.

The inspection objects W to be sorted, that is, the defective products The product is transferred to sorting chutes 12 and 13 for X or uninspected product Y. When the inspected object W reaches each sorting chute 12, 13, it is detached from the holding mechanism 63 of the turntable 61, and is supported by rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d provided at the bottom of each sorting chute 12, 13. It is transported to the stockyard 121 while being carried out. The inspection object W supplied from each sorting chute 12, 13 is conveyed to the storage parts 15, 16 by a stockyard conveyor 17 provided at the bottom of each storage part 15, 16.

The inspection objects W sent to the storage sections 15 and 16 are kept in the stockyard 121 by gates 18 and 19 provided at the exits of the storage sections 15 and 16, and separated and collected in rows. be done. When either gate 18 or 19 is opened in response to an instruction from the gate opening/closing command section 21, the inspected object W is transported to the re-input product chute 22. The inspection object W is transferred to the carry-in conveyor 9 while being supported by rotary plates 23a, 23b, and 23c provided at the bottom of the re-input product chute 22. The inspected object W conveyed to the carry-in conveyor 9 is then transferred onto the inspection conveyor 8, and a fluoroscopic image of the inspected object W is taken again.

[1-3. Effects of embodiment]
This embodiment has the following effects.
(1) In the present embodiment, the sorting device 6 discharges the defective products X other than the non-defective products A and the uninspected products Y from the carry-out conveyor 10 among the inspected objects W, according to the inspection results by the determination unit 31, Defective products X and uninspected products Y are separated and collected in the stockyard 121. As a result, it becomes easy to re-inspect the uninspected product Y, and it is possible to reduce economic loss without discarding the uninspected product Y as a defective product.

(2) In this embodiment, the inspected objects W separated and collected in the stockyard 121 are transferred to the re-input chute 22 when the gates 18 and 19 are opened based on instructions from the gate opening/closing command unit 21. Since the object W to be inspected is transported, it becomes possible to re-inspect the object W to be inspected. As a result, when re-inspecting objects W to be inspected, there is no need to stop the machine and reinsert it manually, making it possible to perform inspections by continuously operating the radiation inspection equipment, allowing a large number of objects W to be inspected to be inspected quickly and accurately. Can be inspected.

(3) Since defective products The inspection object W can be released from the turntable 61 and supplied to each distribution chute 12, 13 at a predetermined position of the distribution chute 12, 13 corresponding to the inspection result. In particular, since the turntable 61 allows a plurality of types to be sorted with one member, the number of parts can be reduced and the configuration can be simplified.

(4) As the sorting chutes 12, 13 and the re-loaded product chute 22, the inspection object W is transported by a plurality of rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d or 23a, 23b, 23c provided at the bottom. Although the configuration is simple, the inspection object W in each of the chutes 12, 13, and 22 can be moved at high speed. By using the rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d or 23a, 23b, 23, the conveyance direction of the object W to be inspected can be changed to a steep angle, so that the installation space of the entire apparatus can be reduced.

(5) In the present embodiment, the combination of the turntable 61 and the sorting chutes 12 and 13 each having the rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, and 14d allows the transport direction of the object W to be inspected by the transport mechanism 5 and the stock The transport direction of the inspected objects W in the yard is arranged parallel to each other, the sorting device 6 and the re-input product chute 22 are formed in an annular shape as a whole, and the inspected objects W are reversed by 180 degrees with respect to the transport mechanism 5 in the stock yard. 121, the entire apparatus including the transport mechanism 5, stockyard 121, and sorting device 6 can be downsized.

[2. Other embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and in the implementation stage, the components can be modified and embodied without departing from the spirit of the invention. Moreover, various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining the plurality of components disclosed in the above embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiments. Furthermore, components of different embodiments may be combined as appropriate. Specifically, the following other embodiments are also included.

(1) The stockyard 121 is not limited to being arranged parallel to the transport mechanism 5. It may be provided in a direction perpendicular to the transport mechanism 5 or in an extending direction of the transport mechanism 5. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the uninspected products Y stored in the stockyard 121 are manually supplied to the conveyor and the radiation inspection is performed again.

(2) The sorting chutes 12 and 13 and the re-loaded product chute 22 may use a conveyor or a chute other than the one that transports the inspection object W by the rotary plates 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d or 23a, 23b, 23c. It is possible to use one that transports the object W to be inspected by utilizing its own inclination or the ejection force from the turntable 61. Furthermore, instead of the sorting chutes 12 and 13 and the re-loaded product chute 22, the inspection objects W may be transferred to the stockyard 121 using a positioning member provided on the conveyor, such as the inspection conveyor 8.

(3) Without providing the holding mechanism 63 on the turntable 61, simply by engaging the recess 62 formed on the outer periphery of the turntable 61 with the object W to be inspected, the object W sent out from the carry-out conveyor 10 can be held. It may be transferred to each distribution chute 12, 13. In that case, in order to remove the inspected object W from the recess 62 of the turntable 61 at the position of each distribution chute, a pressing member may be used or a suction nozzle may be provided at the position of each distribution chute 12, 13 to remove the object W from the recess 62. It's okay.

(4) In addition to the sorting device that uses the turntable 61, the sorting device that separates the inspected objects W using an arm or flap, or the holding mechanism 63 alone, or a combination of the turntable 61 and the holding mechanism 63 that separates the objects W to be inspected. A device that separates things W can be used. Instead of the turntable 61, for example, a conveyor running in an oval shape may be provided with a plurality of protrusions or holding mechanisms 63 at regular intervals for holding the object W to be inspected.

(5) By providing a plurality of sorting devices equipped with turntables 61, the inspected objects W can be sorted into more types. In other words, a determination unit is provided that identifies the inspected object W based on a predetermined criterion other than the quality judgment of the inspected object W, and based on the criterion, the inspected object W is classified into, for example, A (for aerospace) and B (for railway). , C (commercial use), and D (consumer use), it is also possible to sort the inspected objects W within a lot.

W...Object to be inspected A...Good item Conveying mechanism 6... Sorting device 61... Turntable 62... Recess 63... Holding mechanism 8... Inspection conveyor 9... Carrying in conveyor 10... Carrying out conveyor 11... Timing screw 111... Drive motor 112... Gear mechanism 12, 13... Sorting chute 121... Stockyard 122...Partition walls 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d...Rotary plates 15, 16...Storage section 17...Stockyard conveyor 18, 19...Gate 20...Control section 21...Gate opening/closing command section 22...Reload product chute 23a, 23b , 23c... rotating plate

Claims (5)

An inspection conveyor that transports the inspected object, an incoming conveyor provided on the incoming side of the inspection conveyor, an outgoing conveyor provided on the outgoing side of the inspection conveyor, and an outgoing conveyor provided on the outgoing conveyor side, which conveys the inspected object according to the inspection result. A sorting device that sorts things,
A radiation generator and a radiation detector are arranged on both sides of the inspection conveyor, sandwiching the object to be inspected on the inspection conveyor,
The sorting device separates defective products and undetermined products from the delivery conveyor, and includes a stockyard for separately collecting the defective products and the undetermined products separated from the delivery conveyor ,
Each of the stockyards is provided with a storage section for separating and collecting the defective products and the undetermined products,
A gate for stopping the object to be inspected within the stockyard at each exit portion of the storage section;
A transport mechanism for reloading products is provided at the end of the gate, and the transport mechanism connects the stockyard and the carry-in conveyor.
In the radiation inspection apparatus , the re-injected undetermined products are carried back into the carry-in conveyor and the inspection conveyor . The sorting device includes a turntable,
The radiation inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein recesses for holding the object to be inspected are provided at predetermined intervals on the outer periphery of the turntable, and the recesses include a holding mechanism for holding the object to be inspected. A sorting chute for the defective products and a sorting chute for the undetermined products are sequentially provided on the outer periphery of the turntable,
The radiation inspection apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein each of these sorting chutes is connected to the storage section for defective products and the storage section for undetermined products. The bottoms of the defective product sorting chute and the undetermined product sorting chute are open, and a plurality of rotary plates that support the inspected objects are provided in the openings, and the rotation of the rotary plates allows the objects in each chute to be The radiation inspection apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the inspection object is transferred. The conveyance direction of the inspection object by the inspection conveyor, the carry-in conveyor, and the carry-out conveyor is arranged in parallel with the conveyance direction of the inspection object in the stockyard, and the conveyance mechanism for the sorting device and the re-loaded article is arranged as a whole. The radiation inspection device according to claim 4 , which is formed in an annular shape.

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