JPH0638043B2 - Automatic appearance sorter for chip parts - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial field of application) The present invention relates to an automatic visual inspection / selecting device for chip parts for visually inspecting chip-shaped electronic / electrical parts such as core parts such as chip capacitors and coils and other LC composite parts. Regarding

(Prior Art) This type of electronic component has a defect in external shape such as vertical and horizontal lengths and thickness, a dimensional error in each main part of the component, and other defects and cracks, which affect the characteristics and mounting. Since the above also causes inconvenience, it is necessary to perform an inspection by appearance in addition to the characteristic value inspection in the manufacturing process.

Conventionally, the visual inspection of chip parts is performed by visual inspection using the naked eye or a magnifying lens. As an example, as shown in the process charts of FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (c), first, an appropriate number of components 50 are arranged so as not to overlap with each other on the glass pallet 51 (FIG. 12 (a)), and enlarged. The component 50 on the glass pallet 51 is magnified using the lens 52, and the defective or defective component 50 'is visually determined to remove the defective component 50' (FIG. 2B), and the glass is further arranged. Another glass pallet 53 is overlaid on the pallet 51, the front and back are reversed (FIG. 7C), and the back surface of the component is inspected and selected in the same manner as described above.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the above-described conventional visual inspection with the naked eye, there are many sensory elements, and it is difficult to quantify the inspection standard. It tends to vary. In addition, alignment of parts on the glass pallet, sorting of non-defective products and non-defective products are all done by hand, which may cause fatigue, human error, and a mood effect at that time. Especially in the case of chip capacitors and LC composite parts, inspection is required. The number of personnel must be increased, and there is a drawback that the cost becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is a chip component automatic appearance selection capable of quantifying inspection standards, improving quality, stabilizing, speeding up inspection processing, and reducing inspection personnel. To provide a machine.

(Means for Solving Problems) The present invention includes a component-conveying concave groove that allows light to pass therethrough, and a conveying path in which a chip component slides in the concave groove by an air flow, and a component conveying groove. And a component separating / stopping mechanism that includes two separating pins that are spaced apart from each other in a direction and that intermittently stops a plurality of components by an alternating operation of the separating pins, and is disposed on both front and back sides of the component transporting concave groove. Oblique illumination / transmissive illumination device including a television camera, an image processing device including an A / D converter, a video memory and a central processing unit, and three sorting chutes and chute opening / closing gates provided at the lower part of the inclined conveyance path. A chute opening / closing gate member, and a chute opening / closing gate member for counting the number of parts sliding on the conveyance path. Device output It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic appearance sorter in which the sorting chute is switched and operated by a signal and a count signal from the component counting mechanism section.

(Example) Next, the Example of this invention is described with reference to drawings.

The following embodiment is a case where a chip capacitor 1 having electrode portions 2 at both ends as shown in FIG. 1 (a chip described in the following description refers to this chip capacitor) is inspected for appearance. The inspection items are the L dimension of the entire length, the width W dimension of the base portion 3, the electrode widths B ₁ , B ₂ , B ₃ , B ₄ dimensions, and the through breakage (W _max.- W _min. ) Of the base portion 3 _. It is an item.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an image processing unit according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is oblique light and transmitted illumination in a case where a chip capacitor, which is a component to be inspected, is optically irradiated to inspect and image the appearance with a TV camera. It is a schematic diagram of a part. Inclined transport path 4 described later
The chip capacitor 1 held on the frosted glass 5 is illuminated by the light source 7 from the lower side of the frosted glass 5, and the camera is also illuminated by oblique light from the light source 7 through the condenser lens 8 and the slit 4a and the reflector 9. 1
0, and the A / D of the image processing unit as a video signal
Input to the conversion unit. Such an optical system and camera 1
Two 0s are installed along the chip transport path, one of which detects the front side of the chip capacitor 1 and the other of which detects the back side thereof. It should be noted that although the inclined conveying path is used in the following embodiments, the present invention is not limited to this, and a conveying path having an angle of 0 to 90 ° with respect to the horizontal plane can be applied.

The image processing unit is, as shown in FIG. 3, the camera units 11a and 11b including the oblique light and the transillumination system, and the A / D converters 12a and 12 described above.
b, video memory units 13a and 13b, image processing CPU
14a, 14b, CPU for comprehensive judgment and mechanism control
15 and a CRT monitor section 16 connected to each of the video memory sections 13a and 13b through a switch 17. The CPU 15 for comprehensive determination and mechanism section control performs a comprehensive determination of the results of the front and back sides obtained by the image processing CPUs 14a and 14b and control functions of the mechanism section such as chip transportation, separation, stop at inspection position, and sorting. Take charge.
The video signals on the front and back surfaces of the chip captured by the camera units 11a and 11b are digitized by the A / D conversion units 12a and 12b and stored in the video memory units 13a and 13b, and further processed by the CPUs 14a and 14b and the CUP 15. .

In the present invention, as described above, the image is captured by the television camera, the dimension is measured by traveling in the selected address system, and the measured value and the set value at each location are compared to determine the quality. First of all, regarding the external inspection of the chip capacitor, as shown in FIG.
The image is made to appear in the central part on T, and the image is traced from both sides of the screen up and down from the address corresponding to the central part, and the boundaries changing to white and black parts are detected, and the outer shape is recognized. Here, presence / absence of tip, W and L dimensions, tip inclination θ
(See FIG. 2 (b)) and the missing item are determined. The inclination θ is obtained from the shift amount of the X address of Y _{min. And} the X address of Y _max . Next, the electrode part 2 of the chip capacitor
In the inspection of, the W dimension obtained by the above-mentioned outer shape recognition is divided into four equal parts, and on the line (Fig. 2 (a) ,,,,
) Measure the width of the electrode. At this time, the electrode width detection value is corrected by the value of the tip inclination θ. In the case of electrode discrimination, depending on the state of the base material portion 3 of the chip, the center portion of the base material may illuminate white as indicated by the symbol A in FIG.
In order to distinguish this from the electrode portion, the limits of the width of white and the width of black are set, and when a continuous black portion is within the limit, for example, as shown by the symbol p in FIG. Judge that the white part is the electrode.

As described above, according to the present invention, high-speed processing can be performed by performing the selected address method instead of the simple sequential address method.

As the optical system, in addition to using the condenser lens and the reflecting plate as shown in FIG. 4 described above, it is possible to use an illuminating means by a fiber ring as shown in FIG. A fiber 20 for transmitted light and a fiber ring 21 for oblique light are installed concentrically with the chip capacitor 1 on the glass 5 and on the front and back sides thereof, and are connected to the light source 7 by fiber cables 22 and 23, respectively. Also, the camera 10 is installed concentrically with the fiber ring 21 for oblique light, and an image obtained by combining oblique light and transmitted light is detected. The adjustment of the optical system becomes significantly easier than in the case of the lens and the reflector shown in FIG.

Next, an automatic appearance inspection / sorting machine of the present invention suitable for carrying out the above-described appearance inspection method will be described. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of the appearance sorter, and FIG. 7 is a view F of FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a chip transport unit and a chip selection unit as seen from the direction. On the upper front surface of the apparatus main body 30, in this embodiment, the chip transfer path 2 inclined at about 45 ° with respect to the horizontal plane.
4 is formed, and a chip feeder 25 is provided at the upper end of the transport path. The chip separation mechanism unit 2 is provided on the transport path 24.
6, a front surface side inspection unit 27a, a back surface side inspection unit 27b, a counting mechanism unit 28, and a sorting mechanism unit 29 are provided.

First, the transport path 24 extends from the upper end of the apparatus main body 30 to the lowermost sorting mechanism portion 29, and the entire transport path is formed of a transparent or translucent member such as tempered glass, and has the entire length in the transport direction at the center thereof. A concave groove 31 having a sharpened edge is formed. The chip condenser 1 supplied from the chip feeder 25 is conveyed along the concave groove 31 of the conveying path 24 by a flow of air (air jet) ejected from an air jet nozzle opened in the concave groove. Hereinafter, the transport operation by this air jet will be described.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view (cross-section along the concave groove) of the concave groove portion of the conveying path at the opening position of the chip conveying air jet nozzle. The upper surface of the groove 31 is covered with a cover plate 60 made of a transparent or semi-transparent material such as tempered glass. However, the cover plate of the portion into which the air jet is introduced has an angle of 15 ° or less with respect to the bottom surface of the groove. As a concrete example, an air jet nozzle 55 having an angle of about 8 ° is formed, and an air jet 49 is ejected from this air jet nozzle into the concave groove. Due to this air jet 49, a tip suction action occurs in the groove 31 on the upstream side (indicated by symbol U) of the opening position of the air jet nozzle 55, and on the downstream side (indicated by symbol D) of the nozzle opening position. ) Causes chip extrusion.
Therefore, the chip 1 in the concave groove is transported by the suction action on the upstream side of the nozzle position, and is pushed by the air jet to be transported when passing the nozzle position. The air jet nozzle may be provided on the bottom surface side of the concave groove instead of being provided on the cover plate.

Following the chip supply unit from the chip feeder 25, the separation mechanism unit 26 provided with an appropriate transport direction distance S is
As shown in FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (c), separation pins 32 and 33 having a pair of cushions that rise and fall vertically with respect to the transport path 24 and move into and out of the concave groove 31 are provided. , The chip capacitors that have continuously slid in the concave groove are separated into predetermined intervals one by one, and the inspection units 27a, 2 in the next stage are separated.
It is designed to be sent to 7b. A pair of separation pins 3
An air jet nozzle 34 for chip separation opens perpendicularly to the bottom surface of the groove in the groove 31 of the transport path 24 at an intermediate position between 2, 33, and the chip is operated at a predetermined timing in conjunction with the separation pin. Separation air is blown out. At the stage of FIG. 10A, the separation pin 32 on the chip feeder side rises and the separation pin 33 on the inspection section side descends, so that the separation pin 33 is located above the separation pin 33 (on the chip feeder side).
The chip capacitor 1 located at is stored in the transport path 24 without a gap. Next, the feeder-side separation pin 32 descends and presses the chip (chip capacitor) at its tip, whereby the chip at the position of the separation pin 32 is fixed (FIG. 10 (b)). Next, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the separation pin 33 on the inspection portion side rises, and at the same time, air is blown out from the air jet nozzle 34 for chip separation, so that one of the tips that has been stopped by the separation pin 33 is stopped. Chips slide downward, and the chips are separated. Thereafter, the separating pin 33 is lowered again and the separating pin 32 is raised to return to the state of FIG. 10A, and this cycle is repeated, and the chips are sent one by one at a predetermined interval to the subsequent inspection unit. As can be seen from the above, the distance T between the separating pins 32 and 33 is set to be equal to or more than the length of one chip to be applied and equal to or less than the length of two chips. The chip separation air jet nozzle 34 is provided to prevent the chip supply tooth gap from being generated due to inability to run due to close contact (due to static electricity or the like) between the concave groove 31 of the chip transport path 24 and the adjacent chip. Is. The air jet nozzle 55 for the purpose of chip transportation described in FIG. 8 is provided between the chip movement and the stop portion, specifically between the separating mechanism portion 26 and the back surface side inspection portion 27b, the front surface side and the back surface side. The auxiliary air jet nozzle 54, which is provided at an intermediate position between the side inspection parts 27a and 27b and an intermediate position between the front surface side inspection part 27a and the counting mechanism part 28, and similarly has the purpose of transport, is located above the separation mechanism part 26 in the section S. (See FIG. 7).

The front surface side inspection unit 27a and the back surface side inspection unit 27b are shown in FIG.
Oblique / transmissive illumination devices 35a, 3 as described with reference to FIG.
5b (see FIG. 6), television camera units 11a and 11b are provided across the transport path 24, and the image processing unit described above performs visual inspection of the front and back surfaces of the chip. As shown in FIG. 9, each inspection unit has a shutter 1 for temporarily stopping the chips 1 dropped one by one at the optical center position.
8 and a shutter confirmation sensor 36 (FIG. 7) are provided. The shutter 18 is made of tempered glass or a mirror-finished stainless plate. In the case of a stainless steel plate, its mirror surface totally reflects the irradiation light so that this light appears white in the image and does not affect the appearance of the chip.

After the optical inspection of the front and back surfaces of the chip, for example, a chip counting mechanism unit 28 including a photoelectric detector and a movable stopper pin (not shown) is used, and a sorting mechanism unit 29 at the lowermost stage is used to separate the good product, the defective product, and the uninspectable (RI) into three parts. Done. FIG. 11 is an enlarged sectional view of the sorting mechanism section taken along line XX of FIG. Here, the transport path 24 is divided into three passages of a non-defective product discharge passage 37 in the center, an RI discharge passage 38 and defective product discharge passage 39 on both sides thereof, and a pair of gate plates 40 and 41 for switching these passages are rotatable. It is provided in. The pivot 43 of each gate plate has a cam floor 4 that engages a cam 46.
5 is connected to the solenoid 5 via a lever 44 and is also connected to a solenoid 47. The cam 46 operates to perform a modified sinusoidal rotational motion, and counts the signal from the image processing unit and the chip component by the chip counting mechanism unit 28. By the completion signal, the solenoid 47 is turned on and off to start and stop, thereby switching the above three passages. In FIG. 7, when the gate plate is in the solid line position, the non-defective product discharge path 37 is open, and when the gate plate 40 falls to the broken line position, only the RI discharge path 38 is open and the chip transfer path is opened. It communicates with 42. Of course, the upper surfaces of the discharge paths 37 to 39 are closed by the cover plate 48. As for the operation of the solenoid 47, in the case of a normal stop or an emergency stop, the gate plate stops at a position where the chip capacitor always falls into the RI discharge path regardless of the result of the inspection unit, which causes some abnormality. In order to prevent RI or defective chips from being mixed in with good products. Further, when a defective signal is continuously output a certain number of times (for example, 5 times), the entire apparatus is stopped, thereby eliminating erroneous detection due to dust adhesion or the like.

(Effect of the invention) As described above, according to the present invention, since a system combining oblique illumination and transmitted illumination is adopted, a high-precision image of a chip component is captured, and an image on a video memory is selected by an address system. In order to process this with the CPU,
High-speed image processing becomes possible. Chip parts such as chip capacitors slide on the transport path by an air jet, pass through the optical inspection section one by one, and the sorting mechanism automatically sorts good and bad by using the discrimination signal of the image processing section. So fast and accurate automatic appearance sorting is done. Adhesion of parts to the transfer path due to friction of the parts and generation of static electricity is prevented by using air jet transfer, and the parts to be inspected can be smoothly introduced and transferred. When the transport path is inclined as in the embodiment, the component's own weight sliding can be used as an auxiliary in addition to the air jet transport, and the maintainability and operation stability are improved. The whole mechanism is extremely simple, there are few malfunctions, inefficiency due to conventional visual inspection,
Various effects such as elimination of problems such as variations in inspection level can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a chip component (chip capacitor) applied to the present invention, FIG. 2 (a) is a view showing an image scanning mode according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 (b) is FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the inclination angle of the chip capacitor, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an image processing unit according to the present invention, FIG. 4 is a schematic view of an oblique light / transmissive illumination device using a parallel light lens and a reflection plate, and FIG. 5 is a fiber. FIG. 6 is a schematic view of an oblique light / transmissive illumination device using a ring and a fiber cable, FIG. 6 is a partial side view of an automatic visual inspection / sorting machine according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is an enlarged front view of the chip transfer path as seen from the F direction.
FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a concave groove portion of a conveying path in an air jet nozzle portion for chip conveying, FIG. 9 is a front view showing a shutter in an inspection portion of the conveying path, and FIGS. 10A to 10C are chip separating mechanisms. 11 is a side cross-sectional view showing the parts according to the operation sequence of the separating pin, FIG. 11 is a schematic enlarged cross-sectional view of the sorting mechanism part taken along line XX in FIG. 7, and FIG.
(C) is a perspective view showing a conventional chip appearance inspection mode in order of operation. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Chip capacitor (chip), 4, 24 ... Inclined conveyance path, 11 ... Camera section, 12a, 12b ... A / D conversion section, 13a, 13b ... Video memory section, 14a, 14b, 15 ... ... CPU (central processing unit), 16 ... CRT monitor section, 18 ... Shutter, 25 ... Chip feeder, 26 ... Chip separating mechanism section, 27a, 27b ... Inspecting section, 28 ... Counting mechanism section, 29 ...... Sorting mechanism section, 30 ...... Device body, 31 ...... Concave groove, 32,33 ...... Separation pin, 34 ...... Chip separation air jet nozzle, 35a, 35b ...... Slanting / transmissive illumination device, 37 ...... Good product discharge path, 38 ... RI discharge path, 39 ... Defective product discharge path, 40, 41 ... Gate plate, 46 ... Disc cam, 47 ... Solenoid, 55 ... Chip conveying air jet nozzle.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conveying path provided with a transparent or semi-transparent concave groove for transmitting a component capable of transmitting light, wherein a chip component slides in the concave groove by an air flow, and is separated in a component conveying direction. A component separating / stopping mechanism that includes two separated pins that are separated from each other and that intermittently stops a plurality of components by alternating operation of the separating pins; An oblique light / transmissive illumination device including the above, an image processing device including an A / D converter, a video memory, and a central processing unit, and a selection provided at the lower portion of the transport path and provided with three sorting chutes and a chute opening / closing gate member. A chute opening / closing gate member, which has a mechanism and a component counting mechanism section which is provided in the upper transport path of the sorting mechanism and counts the components sliding on the transport path. The above Automatic visual sorter chip component, characterized by operating switching the sorting chute by counting signals from the goods counting mechanism. 2. The transport path is approximately 40 ° to 5 ° with respect to a horizontal plane.
The automatic appearance sorting machine for chip parts according to claim 1, characterized in that it is an inclined conveying path having a gradient of 0 °.