JPH03100872A - Checking device for stacked matter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically check the lamination end face of a stacked matter at a high speed and with high accuracy with no expertness required by deciding the recessing/projecting state of a sheet type matter based on a binary image of an input image obtained by photographing the contour of the stacked end face of a check subject. CONSTITUTION:An image pickup means 7 photographs the contour of a stacked end face of each check subject 4 and produces an input image. A counter means 8 counts the picture elements forming a stacked matter or a background for each horizontal scan line in terms of a binary image obtained by binarizing the input image. Then a deciding means 6 decides the recessing/projecting state of a sheet type matter on the lamination end face based on the change of the count value for each horizontal scan line counted by the means 8. In such a constitution, the recessing/projecting state of the stacked end face is decided by applying a prescribed image treatment to the input image obtained by photographing the contour of the stacked end face for each subject 4. As a result, the checking process can be automated and a stacked matter can be checks at a high speed and with high accuracy with no expertness required.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a laminate in which sheet-like materials such as paper, synthetic resin sheets, thin plates, etc. The present invention relates to a laminate inspection device used for inspecting the condition of a laminate.

<Prior Art> For example, paper pieces of standard size (4, 85, etc.) are stacked in units of 500 or 1000 sheets, and then the stacked product is packaged and supplied to the market.

Figure 5 shows the manufacturing process, in which the raw paper material is fed out from multiple rolls of paper and guided to the cutting section.In step 1, each paper material is stacked and first cut in the width direction. In step 2, cutting is performed in the length direction to obtain pieces of paper with standard dimensions. In the next step 3, the bundles of paper pieces obtained by cutting are stacked one after another to produce a predetermined number of laminates, and in the subsequent step 4, the edges of the laminate are aligned, and in step 5, the laminate is packaged and manufactured. It is said that

In such a manufacturing process, if wrinkles or the like occur in the paper material supplied to the cutting section, the cutting position of the paper material will be misaligned, resulting in the production of defective pieces of paper that do not meet the specified dimensions.

FIG. 6 shows a stacked end face of a stacked body 1 containing such defective pieces of paper 2. As shown in FIG.

The stacked body 1 shown in the figure includes a fixed number of defective pieces of paper 2 that are longer than the standard size, and one side of each defective paper piece 2 protrudes from the end surface of the stack by a considerable amount.

This defective piece of paper 2 is generated as a result of an error in the cutting position of the paper material supplied from a specific roll of paper, and when the protruding length d exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 0.5 m +), the defective paper piece 2 The laminate 1 will be treated as a defective product.

FIG. 7 shows a state in which the end face of the laminate 1 of FIG. 6 containing the defective paper piece 2 has been deformed during the transition of the process.

8 and 9 show a laminate 1 of good quality that does not contain any defective pieces of paper, but FIG. 8 shows a laminate 1 with an oblique end face, and 1, each of which has a stepped end face is shown.

In this way, products contain laminates containing defective paper pieces 2, so it is necessary to distinguish them from good products and extract them. Conventionally, this type of inspection has been carried out by manual sampling inspection.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, since not all products are inspected in this sampling inspection, there is a risk that defective products may be overlooked and supplied to the market as they are.

In addition, the stacked end faces of the laminate 1 take various shapes depending on the stacking state and deformation during transportation, so it requires skill to judge whether it is good or bad, and it is also necessary to perform a quick inspection on the production line before the packaging process. Therefore, inspection errors are likely to occur and it is difficult to improve inspection accuracy.

Furthermore, since the inspection is done manually, there are other problems such as increased labor costs and a rise in product costs.

This invention was made with a focus on the above problem, and is a novel laminate inspection device that automates inspection and improves inspection accuracy by imaging the contours of the end faces of the laminate and performing image processing. The purpose is to provide

Means for Solving the Problems> The laminate inspection device according to the present invention is for inspecting the uneven state of the sheet-like objects at the end faces of the stack, for an object to be inspected consisting of a large number of sheet-like objects stacked together. An imaging means for obtaining an input image by imaging the outline of the end face of the laminate for each inspection object, and a binary image obtained by binarizing the input image, in which the number of pixels constituting the laminate or the background is one horizontal It is equipped with a counting means for counting each scanning line, and a determining means for determining the irregularity state of the sheet-like material on the stacked end surface based on the change in the count value for each horizontal scanning line by the counting means.

<Function> The unevenness of the laminated end face is determined by performing predetermined image processing on the input image obtained by imaging the outline of the laminated end face for each inspection target, so the inspection process can be automated and no skill is required. Highly accurate and rapid testing is possible.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 shows the appearance of a laminate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a plurality of inspection objects 4 lined up on a belt conveyor 3 are conveyed one after another to an inspection position.

The inspection object 4 here is a laminate cut to a predetermined standard size and laminated by a predetermined number of sheets, and by observing the stacked end face of each inspection object 4, each inspection object 4 is
The quality of the inspection object 4 is determined by inspecting whether or not it contains defective pieces of paper.

The belt conveyor 3 constitutes a conveyance mechanism 11 (shown in FIG. 3) together with a drive device and a sorting device (not shown), and it guides the inspection objects 4 to a predetermined inspection position and shakes out those that have been determined to be defective. Separate and extract using a separating device.

A position sensor 5 is disposed along the conveyance path of the belt conveyor 3 to detect when the inspection object 4 reaches the inspection position. This position sensor 5 has a light emitter 5a and a light receiver 5b located opposite to each other with a belt conveyor 3 in between. When the signal falls and the inspection object 4 opens the optical path, the light reception signal falls. Here, when the light reception signal rises after falling,
It is determined that the inspection object 4 has arrived at the inspection position, and the inspection by the laminate inspection device is performed.

The illustrated laminate inspection apparatus includes a light source 6 made of a halogen lamp and an imaging device 7 made of a shutter camera along the conveyance path of the belt conveyor 3. It is configured by connecting an imaging device 7 and a two-position sensor 5 to a control processing section 8.

The light source 6 illuminates the outline of the stacked end face of the inspection object 4, and the imaging device 7 images the outline of the stacked end face to generate a still image. If a strobe light source is used as the light source 6 to generate this still image, it is not necessarily necessary to use a shutter camera as the imaging device 7.

FIG. 2 illustrates a binary image 9 obtained by imaging the inspection object 4 with the imaging device 7. In this binary image 9, the pixels constituting the stack are white pixels, and the pixels constituting the background are black pixels, and in the figure, the black pixels are indicated by diagonal lines.

This binary image 9 is obtained by imaging the end face of the laminate 1 including the defective paper pieces 2 as shown in FIG. It appears at intervals.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the circuit configuration of the control processing section 8. As shown in FIG.

The functions of the control processing section 8 are specifically realized by a microcomputer, and the A/D conversion section 12. Memo 9131 Image processing section 14° Judgment section 15. Imaging controller 16. ! II sending controller 17. Control unit 18. The configuration includes a keyboard 19°, a monitor television 20, and the like.

The A/D converter 12 converts the image signal of the input image obtained by the imaging device 7 into a digital signal and outputs the digital signal to the controller 18 .

The memory 13 includes a ROM in which programs are stored and a RAM as a work area.The image processing unit 14 includes a video memory that stores image data given via the control unit 18, and binarizes this input image. In addition to performing predetermined image processing such as image cutting and image cutting, the state of the stacked end face of the inspection object 4 is detected by counting the number of white pixels, which will be described later. The determination unit 15 determines whether or not the inspection object 4 includes a defective piece of paper based on the measurement results obtained by the image processing unit 14 and the determination data provided by the control unit 18, and sends the determination result to the control unit 18. Output.

The imaging controller 16 includes an interface for connecting the control unit 18 with the imaging device 7 and the light source 6, and adjusts the light amount of the light source 6 and controls the imaging device 7 based on the output of the control unit 18.
Controls the imaging operation of the camera.

The conveyance controller 17 includes an interface for connecting the control section 18 and the conveyance mechanism 11, and controls the operations of the belt conveyor 3 and the sorting device based on the output of the control section 18.

The monitor television 20 displays the image data, judgment results, and key manual data on the screen when it is supplied from the control section 18, and the keyboard 19 is used for inputting various data.

The control unit 18 includes a microprocessor and the like, and controls the operation of each unit related to the inspection of the laminated end face in accordance with the control procedure shown in FIG.

First, the control unit 18 performs step 1 in the figure (rsTIJ in the figure).
), after initializing the control processing unit 8 by clearing the contents of the RAM and video memory, etc., when the position sensor 5 detects the inspection object 4 in the next step 2,
The light source 6 is activated and the imaging device 7 is operated with a shutter to input an image of the inspection object 4 within a predetermined field of view. After performing predetermined image processing such as binarization on this input image, the number of white pixels in one horizontal scanning line is counted for this binary image, and the counted value N is written in the RAM.

In the subsequent step 4, it is determined whether the change in the count value NA (the difference between the current count value N! and the previous count value N, -1) is less than a predetermined threshold value. If the counted white pixel portion corresponds to the protruding portion 10 of the defective piece of paper (shown in Figure 2), the change in the counted value N, -N, will be greater than the threshold value, so the judgment in step 5 will be made. becomes "NO", and in step 8, the control unit 18 outputs the determination result that the inspection object 4 is a defective product.

If the counted white pixel part does not correspond to the protruding part 10 of the defective piece of paper, the determination in step 5 becomes "Yf!S", and the number of white pixels is counted for the next horizontal scanning line, and the same determination is made. Execute processing.

As a result of counting the number of white pixels for all horizontal scanning lines and comparing them with the threshold, if it is determined that all horizontal scanning lines are below the threshold, steps 5 to 6 are executed. Thereafter, the process moves to step 7, where the control section 18 outputs a determination result indicating that the inspection object 4 is a non-defective product.

Note that in the above embodiment, the number of white pixels is counted for each horizontal scanning line, but the invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to count the number of black pixels and compare the change with a threshold value. Discrimination is possible.

Further, in the above embodiment, the protrusion of the paper piece at the end face of the stack is detected, but it is of course possible to detect the retraction of the paper piece using the same method.

Further, in the above embodiment, defective products are separated and extracted using a sorting device, but for example, an alarm such as a buzzer may be emitted at the same time as defective products are identified, and defective products may be manually extracted.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, the present invention counts the number of pixels constituting the laminate or the background for each horizontal scanning line in the binary image of the input image obtained by imaging the outline of the end face of the laminate of each inspection target. However, since the uneven state of the sheet material is determined based on the change in the counted value, inspection of the end face of the laminate of the laminate can be automated, and highly accurate and rapid inspection is possible without requiring any skill. .

Furthermore, since 100% inspection is possible, unlike conventional sampling inspections, there is no risk of defective products being overlooked and being supplied to the market as is.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of a laminate inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
An explanatory diagram showing a value image, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the circuit configuration of the control processing section, Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the control processing section, and Fig. 5 is an explanation showing the manufacturing process of the laminate. 6 and 7 are enlarged perspective views showing the state of the stacked end faces of defective products, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are front views showing the state of the stacked end faces of non-defective products. 7... Imaging device 8... Control processing unit 14.
... Image processing section 15 ... Judgment section 18 ...
control part

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a laminate inspection device for inspecting the uneven state of the sheet-like object on the end face of the stack for an object to be inspected consisting of a large number of stacked sheets, the outline of the end face of the stack is determined for each object to be inspected. an imaging means for capturing an input image by capturing an input image; a counting means for counting the number of pixels constituting a layered body or a background for each horizontal scanning line in a binary image obtained by binarizing the input image; 1. A laminate inspection apparatus comprising: discrimination means for discriminating the uneven state of a sheet-like article at an end surface of the laminate based on a change in the count value for each horizontal scanning line.