JPH0643104A - Equipment and method for inspecting liquid substance - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the precision in inspection of a pulp solution flowing with extraneous matters contained in a paper manufacturing process. CONSTITUTION:An inspecting tube 10 is connected between two cylindrical tubes 1 through which a pulp solution flows, and an inspecting part 11 of which the section of a flow passage is made slender with a cross-sectional area reduced and of which the lateral wall surfaces are made transparent is formed in the vicinity of the center of the inspecting tube 10. The pulp solution flows at an increased velocity through the flow passage of this inspecting part 11, while a fluorescent lamp 5 projects light to the pulp solution flowing through the inspecting part 11, through the transparent lateral wall surface. After the light projected by the fluorescent lamp 5 and transmitted through the pulp solution is transmitted again through the transparent lateral wall surface of the inspecting part 11, it is sensed by a linear CCD camera 7 and an image of an extraneous matter contained in this pulp solution is picked up.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid material inspection apparatus and an inspection method for inspecting a pulp liquid or the like which flows while containing foreign matters in a papermaking process or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an inspection device and an inspection method of this type, an inspection device and an inspection method concerning the presence or absence of a binding fiber (hereinafter referred to as a shive) in a pulp liquid as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 54-13522. There is.

In this inspection apparatus and inspection method, a pulp liquid is caused to flow through a transparent wall measuring pipe, a light beam having a wavelength of 750 nm to 950 nm is directed perpendicularly to the measuring pipe, and a light beam passing through the pulp liquid is transmitted. Is measured by a photoelectric detector to detect the shives in the pulp liquor based on the output signal from the detector.

According to the inspection apparatus and the inspection method having the above construction, when a shive is present in the pulp liquid flowing through the measuring tube, an output signal corresponding to the length and the cross-sectional dimension of the shive is generated from the photoelectric detector, and during the night of the pulp. A test result is obtained that a shive is present.

In particular, the device and method are
By directing a light beam with a wavelength in the infrared region from 950 nm to 950 nm, any pulp liquor that has been liquefied through a chemical or mechanical treatment step will have the same size present in the pulp liquor. The aim is to get the same test results for shives.

Further, since the conventional inspection device and inspection method described above are intended to detect a relatively large shive in the pulp liquid, they cannot detect minute foreign matters.

On the other hand, as a recent trend, the use of waste paper as a pulp source for resource protection is increasing,
In order to reuse this printed waste paper, it is necessary to deink the printing ink.

Due to such a need, carbon particles that could not be completely deinked may exist as fine foreign matters in the waste paper raw material pulp produced by deinking the waste paper. Is an important theme at present in the paper manufacturing industry, but the conventional inspection apparatus and inspection method described above have a poor detection sensitivity and cannot detect minute foreign matter.

Therefore, under the present circumstances, the raw material pulp is collected several times a day, hand-made, visually inspected for the number and size of residual carbon, and the raw material pulp is sent to the papermaking process. There is an urgent need to develop an apparatus and method that can continuously measure the flow of raw pulp without stopping the flow of the pulp during the process of feeding the raw pulp.

[0010]

However, the objects to be detected by the above-described conventional inspection apparatus and inspection method are as follows:
As mentioned in the previous item, it is the shive in pulp liquor.

Therefore, when a wavelength in the visible light region is used as the light beam projected on the pulp liquid, there are some types of pulp, such as unbleached mechanical pulp to bleached chemical pulp, which have different degrees of coloring. Absorption and scattering also differ depending on the type of pulp, so even if the same number of shives are present in different types of pulp liquid, the measured values based on the light transmitted through the pulp liquid also differ for each pulp type. It becomes a thing.

Therefore, in the conventional inspection apparatus and inspection method, the wavelength in the infrared region having good transparency was unavoidably adopted in order to prevent an error in the measurement result due to the difference in pulp color. The flaws listed are problems.

(1) Since the wavelength in the infrared region is used, light absorption / scattering in the measuring tube is less than that of visible light, but the foreign matter detection sensitivity is deteriorated, and minute foreign matter can be detected. Can not.

(2) Since the measuring tube is thick despite the use of wavelengths in the infrared region having good transparency, a light source that generates a strong light beam, such as an expensive light emitting diode, is required. It is necessary to direct a light beam having high directivity to the pulp liquid.

(3) Since the photoelectric detector only generates an output signal according to the intensity of the light beam that has passed through the pulp liquid,
It is not possible to recognize the number, shape, etc. of foreign matter contained in this pulp liquid.

(4) Conventionally, a measuring tube having a transparent wall is used, but the pulp liquid for papermaking contains pitch and filler in the pulp, and additives such as a sizing agent, As time passes, these adhere to the transparent wall to impair the transparency, and the detection accuracy deteriorates.

(5) As mentioned above, it is the residual ink in the deinked waste paper that is currently desired to be continuously detected in the papermaking process. In this case, the foreign matter is also black and the color of the pulp. There is almost no need to consider the effect of. Rather, the greatest challenge is to raise the accuracy of detecting minute foreign matter.

Therefore, the present invention has been made by paying attention to the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the transparency of the transparent wall of the inspection tube from being deteriorated due to the adhesion of the sticky substance and to detect the foreign matter having a small size. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid material inspection apparatus and inspection method capable of recognizing the number, shape, and the like of foreign matter even with an inexpensive light source such as a fluorescent lamp.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the invention according to claim 1, the cut cross section of the flow path is elongated in the middle of the pipe through which the liquid substance flows, and the side wall surface is formed. An inspection tube having a transparent inspection part, a light projecting means for projecting light onto a liquid substance flowing through the flow path of the inspection part, and a liquid substance transmitted by the light projecting means. An image pickup means for picking up an image of a foreign matter contained in the liquid material by receiving the generated light through the transparent side wall surface of the inspection section.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 2, the image pickup means according to claim 1 comprises a CCD camera, and the bit number of the CCD camera and the width through which the light of the inspection section is transmitted. It is characterized in that a foreign matter having a predetermined size or more is detected based on the above.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 3, a liquid material is provided in an inspection portion of an inspection tube in which a cross section of a flow passage has an elongated shape with a small sectional area and a side wall surface is transparent. In addition, the light is projected onto the liquid material guided to the flow path of the inspection unit, and the light transmitted through the liquid material is received through the transparent side wall surface to image foreign matter contained in the liquid material. It is characterized by doing.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 4, the inspection device according to claim 1 or 2 is connected to a branch pipe branched from a main flow pipe that is provided between the liquid treatment facilities. It is characterized by being.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 5, the tank is connected to a tributary pipe branched from the main flow pipe that is piped between the liquid treatment facilities, and the tank and the above-mentioned The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 is connected.

In order to achieve the above object, in the invention according to claim 6, the liquid material introduced into the tank according to claim 5 is diluted or colored, and then the liquid material after this treatment is subjected to the above-mentioned method. It is characterized in that the inspection is conducted by being guided to the inspection device according to the item 1 or 2.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the wavelength of the projected light is 700 nm or less.

[0026]

For example, a pulp raw material liquid, which is a liquid material in the paper manufacturing process, flows in a pipe connected between various processing equipments. Therefore, by making a part of the side wall surface of this tube a transparent wall, it is possible to detect foreign matter in the pulp liquid at this part, but in such a method, as described above, in the pulp liquid, The sticky substance or the fine fibers adhered to the transparent wall impairs the transparency and causes deterioration of the detection accuracy.

Therefore, according to the first and third aspects of the present invention, in the case where the flow rate of the liquid substance flowing through the inspection tube is constant, in the inspection section having a narrow cross section and a narrow channel, Since the liquid material flows at a higher flow velocity than before flowing into the inspection unit, the sticky material attached to the transparent side wall surface of the inspection unit is swept away by the liquid material flowing at a high speed. Therefore, the transparent side wall surface of the inspection unit is always kept clean by the cleaning action of the high-speed flow of the liquid substance, so that the transparency of the light projected by the light projecting unit and transmitted through the liquid substance of the inspection unit is impaired. Therefore, the imaging unit can stably image the foreign matter with a small measurement error.

Further, since the passage of the inspection portion is elongated, the light passage length in the inspection portion is shortened, so that the attenuation amount of the light transmitted through the liquid material is also small, and even a minute foreign matter is present. The image pickup means can take an image with high accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the invention, instead of the image pickup means for picking up an image by receiving light, a CC as an image sensor is used.
By using the D camera, it is possible to detect the number and size of foreign matters.

That is, by subdividing the bit number of the CCD camera, it becomes possible to detect the foreign matter corresponding to the size of the foreign matter.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, a part of the liquid substance flowing between the processing facilities flows into the tributary pipe branched from the main flow pipe, and only the liquid substance flowing into the tributary pipe is inspected by the inspection device. The quality of the liquid material as a whole can be determined with a small amount of the liquid material, and the amount of the liquid material flowing into the inspection device is reduced, so that the contamination of the inspection tube is reduced.

In the inventions according to claims 5 and 6, it is assumed that the concentration of the liquid substance flowing through the main flow pipe is too high, or that it is not suitable as a liquid substance for inspection as it is. Since the liquid substance introduced therein is reduced to a concentration suitable for measurement by the diluting process or the foreign substance is easily detected by the coloring process, the measuring accuracy of the liquid substance by the inspection device is improved.

In the invention described in claim 7, since the wavelength of the projected light is in the visible light region of 700 nm or less, the light receiving sensitivity of the image pickup means is improved especially for black, and among the foreign substances contained in the liquid substance. , It becomes easier to detect black foreign matter.

[0034]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of a liquid material inspection apparatus and inspection method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the whole of one embodiment of the inspection apparatus.

In this figure, the inspection device is a foreign substance such as metal or sand contained in the pulp liquid after the liquid treatment in the papermaking process or the deinking treatment of waste paper, and the residual carbon particles that have not been completely deinked (hereinafter collectively referred to as “deinking treatment”). And is referred to as a foreign substance).
An inspection tube 10 connected to the cylindrical tube 1 through which the pulp liquid flows, a fluorescent lamp 5 for projecting light onto the pulp liquid flowing through the inspection tube 10, and light received by the fluorescent lamp 5 and transmitted through the pulp liquid. The linear CCD camera 7 for picking up foreign matter contained in the pulp liquid by doing so and the controller 8 for detecting the foreign matter based on the output signal from the linear CCD camera 7 are roughly configured.

Next, a detailed structure of the inspection tube 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 1 and FIGS.

In FIG. 1, the inspection pipe 10 is connected by vertically connecting two cylindrical pipes 1 by fastening their flanges to each other with bolts, and flows through the upper cylindrical pipe 1. The pulp liquid that flows in flows through the inspection tube 10 and again flows through the lower cylindrical tube 1.

Each portion of the inspection tube 10 has a cylindrical shape in the vicinity of the upper and lower edges, like the cylindrical tube 1, and is formed in a tapered shape so that the cross-sectional area of the flow passage becomes smaller toward the vicinity of the center. An inspection unit 11 having a transparent side wall surface is provided near the center thereof.

That is, the inspection tube 10 is composed of a cylindrical portion 12 near the end edge, an inspection portion 11 near the center, and a taper portion 13 which is continuous from the cylindrical portion 12 to the inspection portion 11.

2 and 3 are a plan view and a sectional view showing the inspection portion 11 and the taper portion 13 of the inspection pipe 10.

2 and 3, the tapered portion 13
Is formed so that the cross-sectional area of the flow path 10a becomes smaller as it approaches the inspection unit 11, and the inspection unit 11 is
The cross-section of the flow channel 10a is elongated and smaller than the cross-sectional area of the flow channel of the cylindrical portion 12, and the side wall surface is transparent.

In other words, the inspection unit 11 has a flow passage 10a having an elongated cross section, and has an inspection unit main body 11a in which two opposite side surfaces have circular holes, and the inspection unit main body 11a has two circular holes. It is composed of two tempered glasses 11c fitted as transparent side wall surfaces via O-rings 11b, and two body covers 11d for tightly fixing the tempered glass 11c to the inspection unit body 11a.

A round transparent body 11e is formed on the side surface of the main body cover 11d so that light can pass through the pulp liquid flowing through the flow path 10a through the tempered glass 11c.

Further, the main body cover 11d is fastened to the inspection unit main body 11a with a bolt 11g sandwiching a tempered glass 11c and a packing 11f.

The inspection section body 11a and the tempered glass 11
c and the main body cover 11d form a channel 10a having an elongated cross section and a transparent side wall surface of the inspection unit 11, and the channel 1 having a tapered cross-sectional area.
The end portions of the taper portion 13 and the inspection portion main body 11a are connected by welding so that 0a and the flow path 10a in which the cross-sectional area of the inspection portion 11 is kept small and continuous are continuous.

Next, the structure of the inspection apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1 again.

In FIG. 1, two supporting columns 3 are formed so as to cross two cylindrical portions 12 formed near the edge of the inspection tube 10, and are fixed to the central portion of the supporting column 3. The rectangular frame 4 is horizontally installed so as to surround the inspection unit 11.

Here, a fluorescent lamp 5 and a linear CCD camera 7 are installed at opposite positions on the frame 4 with the inspection unit 11 sandwiched therebetween.

The fluorescent lamp 5 is connected to a high-frequency lighting device 6 which supplies a high-frequency current. By turning on the switch of the high-frequency lighting device 6, the fluorescent lamp 5 is 700 nm away from the fluorescent lamp 5.
Light of the following wavelengths is generated, and this light is configured to pass through the strengthened glass 11c and the transparent body 11e of the inspection unit 11 and to be projected onto the liquid substance flowing in the flow path 10a.

The linear CCD camera 7 includes a fluorescent lamp 5
The light that has been transmitted by the pulp liquid that has been projected by and is transmitted through the flow path 10a of the inspection unit 11 is received by the transparent body 11e and the tempered glass 11c to image the foreign matter contained in the pulp liquid and to control the image pickup signal by the controller. It is configured to output to 8.

Further, the controller 8 is a linear CCD
The controller 8 is connected to the ANN 9 (annunciator) so as to recognize the number, shape, etc. of the foreign matter based on the image pickup signal output from the camera 7, and to issue an alarm when the controller 8 fails.

The configuration of the controller 8 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the controller 8. The controller 8 comprises a discrimination circuit 8
a, a bit number counter 8b, a comparator 8c, a reference bit number setting device 8d, a foreign matter number counter 8e, and a timer 8f.

The discrimination circuit 8a discriminates the image pickup signal output from the linear CCD camera 7 based on a threshold value, and outputs the discriminated signal as a binarized bit signal to the bit number counter 8b. The bit number counter 8b counts the number of bits of the bit signal.

Next, the comparator 8c causes the bit number counter 8b to operate.
And the number of bits counted by the reference bit number setter 8 in advance
While comparing with the reference bit number set in d, a bit signal having a bit number equal to or larger than the reference is converted into a foreign matter detection signal and output to the foreign matter number counter 8e.

The foreign matter number counter 8e, which has received the foreign matter detection signal, counts the number of foreign matter within a certain period of time assuming that the foreign matter is detected every time the signal level drops.

Here, the time for the foreign matter number counter 8e to count the number of foreign matter corresponds to the flow rate of the pulp liquid, and the foreign matter number counter 8e is initialized by the reset operation of the timer 8f, and at a constant time interval. That is, the number of foreign matters existing at a constant flow rate is counted.

The reference bit number set by the reference bit number setting unit 8d can be changed, and when the foreign matter number counter 8e overflows, an abnormal alarm is generated by ANN9.
Is configured to originate from.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of each signal expressed in the above description, in which (a) is an image pickup signal,
(B) shows a bit signal and (c) shows a foreign matter detection signal.

In this figure, as an example, the inspection unit 11
Width of light, that is, the width of light passing through the tempered glass 11c (hereinafter, referred to as inspection width) is 100 mm, linear CC
It is assumed that the scanning bit number of the D camera 7 is 2500 bits and the reference bit number set in the reference bit number setting unit 8d is 5 bits.

Under the above conditions, (a) shows an image pickup signal composed of 2500 scanning bits for an inspection width of 100 mm, and
(B) shows a bit signal consisting of 2 bits and 5 bits which are binarized by discrimination, and (c) shows a bit signal having a reference bit number of 5 bits or more among the above bit signals. A foreign matter detection signal obtained by converting a bit signal is shown.

As a result, (inspection width) / (scanning bit number) × (reference bit number), that is, in one example,
The number of foreign matters of 100/2500 × 5 = 0.2 mm or more is detected.

The operation will be described again with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 in which the inspection apparatus having the above-described structure is connected to the main flow pipe through which pulp liquid flows between various processing steps as a first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the vertically-arranged cylindrical pipe 1 is the main flow pipe, and the pulp liquid flows in the main flow pipe at a constant flow rate.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, first, the pulp liquid flowing through the upper cylindrical tube 1 is the cylindrical portion 1 on the upper side of the inspection tube 10.
2 and then from this cylindrical portion 12 to the tapered portion 13 on the upper side of the inspection tube 10.

Here, since the flow passage 10a of the taper portion 13 is formed so that its cross-sectional area becomes smaller as it approaches the inspection portion 11, the flow velocity of the pulp liquid in the taper portion 13 approaches the inspection portion 11. It flows while speeding up.

Next, the pulp liquid flowing through the taper portion 13 while increasing the flow velocity flows into the inspection unit 11 at the highest flow velocity and passes through the flow path 10a of the inspection unit 11 while maintaining a constant flow velocity.

Further, the pulp liquid flowing through the inspection section 11 flows into the taper section 13 below the inspection tube 10 and passes through the taper section 13 while decreasing the flow velocity as it approaches the cylindrical section 12 below the inspection tube 10. And finally the cylindrical part 1
It passes through 2 and flows into the lower cylindrical tube 1.

On the other hand, since the pulp liquid flowing through the inspection unit 11 of the inspection pipe 10 flows faster than the flow velocity in the cylindrical pipe 1, the viscous foreign matter contained in the pulp liquid forms the flow path 10a of the inspection unit 11 in the tempered glass. It is difficult to adhere to 11c, and further foreign matter is easily separated.

Also, 700 nm emitted from the fluorescent lamp 5
Light of the following wavelengths passes through the transparent body 11e of the inspection unit 11 and the tempered glass 11c to pass the pulp liquid flowing through the flow path 10a of the inspection unit 11, and again passes through the tempered glass 11c and the transparent body 11e on the opposite side. The linear CCD camera 7 receives the light.

When light passes through the pulp liquid, the light impinging on the foreign matter contained in the liquid material is reflected, and the light does not pass through the portion having the foreign matter.

As a result, the foreign matter contained in the pulp liquid flowing through the inspection section 11 is imaged by the linear CCD camera 7 and the number and shape of the foreign matter are recognized.

In the inspection apparatus of the first embodiment having the above-mentioned structure and operation, the wavelength of the light from the fluorescent lamp 5 which transmits the pulp liquid is 700 nm or less, so that the minute foreign matter contained in this pulp liquid, especially the black residual carbon The particles can be reliably imaged by the linear CCD camera 7.

Further, since the pulp liquid flowing through the inspection unit 11 has a high flow rate, the sticky foreign matter is unlikely to adhere to the tempered glass 11c of the inspection unit 11, and the foreign matter is easily separated. An image can be taken by the camera 7.

Further, since the linear CCD camera 7 receives the light generated by the fluorescent lamp 5 which is cheaper than the light emitting diode or the like to image the foreign matter, the inspection apparatus itself can be constructed at a low cost.

Furthermore, based on the image information of the foreign matter taken by the linear CCD camera 7, the number and shape of the foreign matter can be recognized.

Next, as a second embodiment, a case where the inspection device is connected to a tributary pipe branched from the main pipe which is piped between pulp liquid processing facilities will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, the main flow pipe 2 through which the pulp liquid flows.
A chest 21 for accommodating the pulp liquid and adjusting the flow rate is installed at 0, and the pulp liquid once accumulated in the chest 21 flows to the next processing facility through the main flow pipe 20.

The main flow pipe 20 is provided in the middle of the main flow pipe 20 through which the pulp liquid flows from the chest 21 to the next processing facility.
A tributary pipe 22 branched from is provided, and an inspection device 23 is connected to the tributary pipe 22 via a valve 24.

Here, a part of the pulp liquid flowing through the main flow pipe 20 flows through the tributary pipe 22.

Further, the tributary pipe 22 uses the pulp liquid that has passed through the inspection device 23 again to the chest 2 installed on the main flow pipe 20.
It is configured to lead to 1.

In addition to the effects of the first embodiment, in the inspection apparatus of the second embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration and operation, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, when the inspection apparatus 23 itself is inspected or when the inspection apparatus 23 fails, the main pipe 20 flows. It is not necessary to stop the pulp liquid, and by simply closing the valve 24 provided in the tributary pipe 22, the operating equipment can be operated as it is, and the papermaking operation can be efficiently continued.

Next, as a third embodiment, a case where the inspection device is connected to a tributary pipe in which a tank is installed branching from a main pipe provided between pulp liquid processing facilities will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, the main flow pipe 2 through which the pulp liquid flows.
At 0, a chest 21 for accumulating the pulp liquid is installed, and the pulp liquid once accumulated in the chest 21 flows to the next processing facility through the main flow pipe 20.

The main flow pipe 20 is provided in the middle of the main flow pipe 20 through which the pulp liquid flows from the chest 21 to the next treatment facility.
A tributary pipe 22 branched from is provided, and a tank 25 is installed in the tributary pipe 22 via a valve 24.

Here, a part of the pulp liquid flowing through the main flow pipe 20 flows through the tributary pipe 22.

The tank 25 is charged with a chemical for diluting the foreign matter in the pulp liquid and a dilution water, and the stirrer 26 for stirring the chemical and the drain liquid for the pulp liquid in the chest are discharged. A drainage channel 27 is provided.

Further, an inspection device 23 is connected to the tank 25 via a valve 24 so that the pulp liquid flowing from the tank 25 passes through the inspection device 23 and flows again to the chest 21. There is.

In addition to the effects of the first and second embodiments, in the inspection apparatus of the third embodiment having the above-mentioned structure and operation, coloring chemicals and dilution water are added to the tank 25 connected to the branch pipe 22. By doing so, the foreign matter contained in the pulp liquid is easily imaged, so that the inspection accuracy based on the image information of the foreign matter imaged by the linear CCD camera 7 is improved.

As another embodiment of the inspection device, there is an inspection device having a structure as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

This apparatus is different only in the installation positions of the inspection unit 11 of the inspection tube 10 and the fluorescent lamp 5 of the inspection apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. That is, the fluorescent lamp 5 is in the same direction as the linear CCD camera 7 as viewed from the inspection unit 11, and is installed in the frame of the frame 4.

In the inspection section 11 of the inspection tube 10, the reflector 1 is provided between the main body cover 11d and the tempered glass 11c on the opposite side where the fluorescent lamp 5 and the linear CCD camera 7 are installed.
1h is sandwiched.

That is, to explain with reference to FIG. 9, the right tempered glass 11c and the flow path 10 are projected from the fluorescent lamp 5.
The light passing through the pulp liquid flowing through a and the left tempered glass 11c in this order is reflected by the reflector 11h provided outside the left tempered glass 11c, and again flows through the left tempered glass 11c and the channel 10a. The linear CCD camera 7 is passed through the pulp liquid and the right tempered glass 11c in this order.
Is configured to be received by.

[0095]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the first and third aspects of the invention, the liquid substance flowing through the inspection portion of the inspection tube flows through the elongated passage having a narrow cut cross section. Since it flows faster than it was before it flowed into this flow path, the sticky foreign matter contained in the liquid substance is less likely to adhere to the transparent side wall surface of the inspection unit, and this foreign matter is more likely to be separated and It is possible to capture an image of a foreign substance by the image capturing means.

Further, since the thickness of the inspection portion through which the light passes is small, the light projecting means can be constituted by an inexpensive light source without using a light beam having high directivity.

Further, since the image pickup means receives the light emitted from the light projecting means, the foreign matter contained in the liquid substance is imaged, and therefore the number and shape of the foreign matter can be recognized.

According to the invention described in claim 2, CC
By adjusting the number of bits of the D camera and the width of the inspection unit through which light is transmitted, it is possible to detect a foreign substance having a size equal to or larger than a predetermined size corresponding to the size of the foreign substance.

According to the invention described in claim 4, a part of the liquid material flowing between the processing facilities flows into the tributary pipe branched from the main flow pipe, and only the liquid substance flowing into the tributary pipe is detected by the inspection device. Since the inspection is performed, the quality of the liquid material as a whole can be determined with a small amount of the liquid material, and the amount of the liquid material flowing into the inspection device is reduced, so that the contamination of the inspection pipe is reduced.

According to the fifth and sixth aspects of the invention, in particular, the foreign matter contained in the liquid substance is picked up by the imaging means by charging the foreign matter coloring chemical or the dilution water into the tank connected to the tributary pipe. As a result, it becomes easier to capture an image, and the inspection accuracy of the liquid substance is improved.

According to the invention described in claim 7, since the wavelength of the light transmitted by the light projecting means and passing through the liquid material flowing through the inspection part of the inspection tube is 700 nm or less, the black color of the residual ink or the like is produced. On the other hand, since the light receiving sensitivity of the image pickup means is improved, it is possible to reliably pick up an image of a black foreign substance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire embodiment of a liquid material inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an inspection portion and a taper portion of an inspection pipe of this inspection device.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an inspection portion and a taper portion of an inspection pipe of this inspection device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a controller of this inspection apparatus.

5A shows an example of an image pickup signal output from a linear CCD camera, FIG. 5B shows an example of a bit signal output from a discrimination circuit, and FIG. 5C shows foreign matter output from a comparator. The figure which showed an example of the detection signal.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram when the inspection device is connected to a tributary pipe branched from a main flow pipe.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram when the inspection device is branched from a main flow pipe and connected to a tributary pipe to which a tank is connected.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the whole of another embodiment of the inspection apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing an inspection portion and a taper portion of an inspection device of another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 5 Fluorescent lamp (projection means) 7 Linear CCD camera (imaging means) 8 Controller 10 Inspection tube 10a Flow path 11 Inspection section 11a Inspection section main body 11c Tempered glass 11d Main body cover 20 Main flow tube 22 Tributary tube 23 Inspection device 25 Tank

Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Tatsumi Tsuka 3-2-5, Dairaku, Kushiro City, Hokkaido Inside the Kushiro Mill, Honshu Paper Co., Ltd. Inventor Tadahiro Sato 10 Odoron-cho, Hanazono, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An inspection tube having an inspection part formed in an intermediate part of a tube through which a liquid material flows, the cut section of the flow path having an elongated shape with a small cross-sectional area and a transparent side wall surface. A light projecting means for projecting light to a liquid material flowing through the flow path of the part, and the light projected by the light projecting means and transmitted through the liquid material being received through the transparent side wall surface of the inspection part. An inspection device for a liquid substance, comprising: an image capturing unit that captures an image of a foreign matter contained in the liquid substance. 2. The image pickup means according to claim 1 is composed of a CCD camera, and detects a foreign substance having a predetermined size or more based on the number of bits of the CCD camera and the width of the inspection unit through which light is transmitted. Liquid inspection equipment. 3. A liquid material is introduced into an inspection part of an inspection tube having a cross section of a cut end having an elongated shape with a small cross-sectional area and a side wall surface made transparent, and is introduced into the flow path of the inspection part. A method for inspecting a liquid material, comprising: projecting light onto the liquid material, and receiving light transmitted through the liquid material through the transparent side wall surface to image foreign matter contained in the liquid material. 4. An inspection apparatus for a liquid substance, wherein the inspection device according to claim 1 or 2 is connected to a tributary pipe branched from a main flow pipe arranged between treatment facilities for the liquid substance. 5. A tank is connected to a tributary pipe branched from a main flow pipe that is piped between the liquid material treatment facilities, and the tank is connected to the inspection device according to claim 1 or 2. Liquid substance inspection device characterized by being 6. The liquid material introduced into the tank according to claim 5 is diluted or colored, and then the processed liquid material is guided to the inspection device according to claim 1 or 2 for inspection. A method for inspecting a liquid substance, characterized by: 7. The liquid material inspection apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 4, or 5, or the liquid material according to claim 3, wherein the wavelength of the projected light is 700 nm or less. Inspection method.