JPH1172445A - Recognition apparatus for linear body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a recognition apparatus, for a linear body, by which the linear body can be recognized in a foreign-body detection. SOLUTION: The imaging magnification of an imaging device 33 is adjusted in such a way that the width of a linear body becomes one pixel or lower on an image. In this case, on the basis of an image signal obtained by the imaging device 33, the number of foreign bodies existing on an object to be imaged, their area and their peripheral length are detected. The peripheral length L(K) of every foreign body is divided by its area S(K) so as to obtain a divided value L/S. On condition that the divided value is 2 or higher, the detected foreign body is judged to be a linear body.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus,
The present invention relates to a linear object recognition device capable of detecting and recognizing a linear object on an image.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus for detecting foreign matter including a linear body on an image is conventionally known as, for example, a visual inspection apparatus for a PTP sheet tablet. here,
The PTP sheet is formed by supplying a circular tablet (including a perfect circle and an ellipse) tablets (including capsules) to the pockets of the PVC sheet, and then thermocompression bonding an aluminum film to the back of the PVC sheet so as to seal these pockets. Manufactured. In the PTP sheet tablet manufactured in this way, in a state where the tablet is supplied to the pocket portion (before the thermocompression bonding of the aluminum film), it is inspected whether or not foreign matter is mixed in the PVC sheet.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a PTP sheet tablet appearance inspection apparatus used as the PTP sheet tablet foreign substance inspection apparatus described above. This visual inspection device 4
Reference numeral 0 denotes a conveying device 31 that conveys a PVC sheet (which is later formed into a PTP sheet by thermocompression bonding of an aluminum film) 30
A conveyance control device 35 for controlling the conveyance device 31; a strobe 32 for irradiating the PVC sheet 30 conveyed by the conveyance device 31 from below the sheet; and a CCD for imaging the PVC sheet 30 irradiated by the strobe 32 from the top surface of the sheet. An imaging device 33 composed of a camera or the like; an image processing device 34 for processing image data output from the imaging device 33 and inspecting whether a foreign substance has entered the PVC sheet; and an inspection result of the image processing device 34 If it is determined that a foreign substance has been mixed, the
A discharge device 36 for discharging in TP sheet tablets;
A discharge control device 37 for controlling the discharge device 36 is provided.

[0004] The operation of the conventional inspection apparatus will be described below. The transport device outputs a transport timing signal, and the strobe 32 and the imaging device 33 synchronize the irradiation timing and the imaging timing, respectively, based on the transport timing signal. The image processing device 34 captures the image signal from the imaging device 33 and performs a foreign substance inspection according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, the operation of the image processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. First, in step S21, image data from the imaging device is fetched. In this case, the image data is subjected to binarization processing based on contrast after A / D conversion by an appropriate known technique, and is taken into an image memory. Next, in step S22, the presence or absence of PVC sheet image data is determined. If yes, the process proceeds to step S23. In step S23, a foreign substance inspection is performed on the captured image.

If it is determined in step S24 that there is a foreign substance, in step S25, as described above, data is transferred to the discharge control device to discharge the foreign substance in units of PTP sheet tablets.
Return to 1. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S24 that there is no foreign matter, the process returns to step S1.

[0007]

As described above, the conventional foreign matter inspection apparatus can detect the presence or absence of a foreign matter, but recognizes the foreign matter as to what kind of the detected foreign matter is. I can't. By the way, when the foreign substance is a linear body, the linear body is easily moved by wind pressure or the like, and the position detected on the PVC sheet during the process from the inspection position by the foreign substance inspection device to the discharge processing position of the PTP sheet tablet. May have moved to another location. For this reason,
In the conventional apparatus, in consideration of the case where the detected foreign matter is a linear body, the PVC sheet where the foreign matter is detected and the PVC sheet thereof are used.
A PTP sheet tablet made from the tablets supplied on the sheet is discharged, and two PTP sheet tablets before and after the PTP sheet tablet are also discharged.

However, when the foreign substance is not a linear body such as a piece of a tablet, it does not move on the PVC sheet like a linear body. Therefore, when the foreign matter is not a linear body, only the PTP sheet tablet composed of the PVC sheet portion where the foreign matter is detected may be discharged. Even in such a case, considering the case of a linear body, its PTP
Discharging not only the sheet tablets but also the two PTP sheet tablets before and after the sheet tablets wastes production efficiency, and increases production cost.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such a conventional problem, and it is possible to recognize a linear object in foreign object detection, and thus to detect another linear object in foreign object detection. It is an object of the present invention to obtain a linear object recognition device that can be handled separately from foreign matter.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention provides an image pickup means for picking up an image of an object to be picked up and outputting an image signal, and an image signal output from the image pickup means. A foreign matter detecting means for detecting foreign matter present on the object to be imaged; an area calculating means for calculating an area of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detecting means based on the image signal; A perimeter calculating means for calculating the perimeter of the foreign matter based on the image signal; and the perimeter based on the perimeter calculated by the perimeter calculating means and the area calculated by the area calculating means. Determining means for determining that the object is a linear body.

In the present invention, the judging means judges that the foreign matter is a linear body based on a divided value obtained by dividing a peripheral length of the foreign matter by an area of the foreign matter.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to recognize that the foreign matter is a linear body, and it is possible to detect the linear body separately from other foreign bodies. In the embodiment, detection of a foreign substance, calculation of an area, and calculation of a perimeter are performed using a binarized signal based on a contrast (contrast difference) obtained based on an image signal.

[0013] In the present invention, the determining means may include:
When the imaging magnification is adjusted so that the width of the linear body is equal to or less than Δ pixels on the image, it is determined that the foreign matter is a linear body on condition that the division value is equal to or greater than 2 / Δ. Things.

As shown in FIG. 4, the linear body can be considered as a very elongated rectangle. Therefore, when the imaging magnification of the imaging device is adjusted so that the width of the linear body becomes Δ pixels on the image (processing screen), the peripheral length L of the linear body on the image becomes the length of the linear body. Is d pixels, L = 2
× d + 2 × Δ. On the other hand, the area S is S = Δ ×
obtained as d. Therefore, the division value is

L / S = (2 × d + 2 × Δ) / (Δ × d) = 2 / Δ + 2 / d (1)

## EQU1 ## Here, since 2 / d is a very small value and can be ignored, the value of the above equation (1) is approximately 2 / Δ. Therefore, if the width of the linear body is set to Δ pixels or less, the right side of the expression (1) becomes 2 / Δ or more. Therefore, by defining a foreign substance in the case where the value obtained by dividing the perimeter by the peripheral area to be 2 / Δ or more as a linear substance, the linear substance can be recognized from the detected foreign substance.

In this case, for example, the width Δ pixel of the linear object is set to 1 pixel or less (less than) on the processed image according to the imaging magnification of the imaging means.
, The above division value is 2 or more (greater than 2),
If the number is 2 pixels or less (less than), the division value becomes 1 or more (greater than 1). If the number of pixels is 3 pixels or less (less than), the division value becomes 2/3 or more (greater than 2/3). In the above equation (1), the value of the equation (1) becomes smaller as the rectangle departs from the linear body and approaches a large rectangle (square), and it can be recognized that the object is not a linear body.

On the other hand, when the length of the linear body is reduced while the width of the linear body remains unchanged (for example, when a short linear body is detected).
Can be used to recognize a linear body using the recognition condition (2 / Δ or more) as it is (in this case, the second term on the right side of the above equation becomes slightly larger). FIG.
When the linear body is divided into two and appears in the image as shown by 15a and 15b in FIG.
Two linear objects will be recognized. In the right side of the equation (1), it is not necessary to determine the shape of the foreign substance or to determine which of the rectangles is the longer side and which is the shorter side (width).

[0019]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a linear object recognition device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This linear object recognition device is applied to the appearance inspection device for the PTP sheet tablet shown in FIG. 5, and the overall appearance configuration is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. The linear object recognition device illustrated in FIG. 1 includes an imaging device 33 and a signal preprocessing unit 2 connected to the imaging device 33.
And an image memory 3 connected to the signal preprocessing unit 2, a mask processing unit 4 connected to the image memory 33, detection of foreign matter connected to the mask processing unit 4, an area and perimeter calculation unit 5
And a division unit 6 connected to the calculation unit 5 and a comparison unit 7 connected to the division unit 6 and connected to the setting unit 8. An emission control device 37 is connected to the comparison unit 7.

In the above configuration, the image signal from the imaging device 33 is input to the signal pre-processing unit 2, where it is subjected to A / D conversion and binarization processing. Note that a conventionally known method based on the contrast (or contrast difference) of the image is used for the binarization process.
The description here is omitted.

The image signal obtained from the signal preprocessing unit 2 is
The mask processing section 4 performs a masking process on the pocket portion of the PVC sheet, and then the foreign substance detection, area, and perimeter calculating section 5 calculates the number of foreign substances, their respective areas, and their respective perimeters. These values are respectively stored, and using these values, the dividing unit 6 calculates a value obtained by dividing the peripheral length L of each foreign matter by the area S.

The comparison unit 7 compares the value set in the setting unit 8 with the division value obtained by the division unit 6, and on condition that the division value (L / S) is equal to or more than the set value (2). It is determined that the foreign matter is a linear body.

The reason why the setting value is set to 2 is that the imaging magnification of the PTP sheet tablet in the appearance inspection apparatus is as shown in FIG. A linear object having a width of only about 50 μm, which is represented as 480 pixels or 640 pixels, is imaged with a width of 1 pixel or less (less than), and the first term (2/2 /
This is because it is considered sufficient to treat Δ) as 2 or more.

When the linear unit is recognized by the comparing unit 7, that is, when the division value is 2 or more, the discharge control unit 37 forms the PVC sheet portion where the linear unit is detected, as in the related art. A total of three PTP sheet tablets including the PTP sheet tablets and the PTP sheet tablets before and after the PTP sheet tablets are discharged.

On the other hand, when the comparison unit 7 determines that the detected foreign matter is not a linear body, that is, when the divided value is 2
If the number is less than the above, the comparison unit 7 operates the discharge control device 37 to discharge the PTP sheet tablet formed of the PVC sheet portion where the foreign matter is detected.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the above operation. In step S1, image data is fetched, and in step S2, the presence or absence of PVC sheet image data is determined.
If yes, mask processing of the pocket portion is performed in step S3. In step S4, the number N of foreign matters, their respective areas S (n), and their respective perimeters L (n) are calculated and stored.

FIG. 3 is an image showing a state where the mask processing has been performed in step S3, wherein 10 is an image of a PVC sheet, 11 is a mask portion, and 12 is an image of a pocket portion (edge portion). In the processing of step S4 described above, for example,
3 is detected as one foreign substance, but the linear body mixed so as to intersect with the pocket portion 12 as shown by 15 is divided by the mask portion 11. Are recognized as two foreign substances 15a and 15b.

Returning to FIG. 2, in step S5, it is determined whether or not a foreign object has been detected. If not detected (N = 0), the process returns to step S1 to take in the next image signal. On the other hand, if a foreign matter is detected in step S5, the parameter K for performing N processes is initialized in step S4, the parameter K is updated in step S7, and the K-th foreign matter is detected in step S8. Is divided by its area (K) to obtain a division value D.

In step S9, it is determined whether or not the division value D is 2 or more. If it is 2 or more, it is determined that the object is a linear body. Discharge data for discharging the sheet tablet is transferred.

On the other hand, if the division value D is less than 2 in step S9, it is determined that the object is not a linear body.
Discharge data for discharging the TP sheet tablet is transferred. Thereafter, in step S12, it is determined whether or not the recognition process has been performed by the number N of the detected foreign substances, and the number of processes K
Is smaller than N, the process returns to step S7.

As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the division value obtained by dividing the perimeter of the foreign matter by the area is 2 or more, the foreign matter is recognized as a linear body. In addition, the linear body can be easily identified (recognized) from other foreign substances.

As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described by taking the linear object recognition device for PTP sheet tablets as an example of the linear object recognition device.
For example, the present invention can be applied to recognition of a thread or the like such as hair.

[0033]

As is apparent from the above description, the linear object recognizing device according to the present invention can recognize a linear object. When used, the handling when a linear object is detected can be handled separately from the handling when other foreign matter is detected, and the effect of improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing manufacturing cost can be achieved. To play.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a linear object recognition device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a masked image.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a linear body on an image.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional PTP sheet tablet appearance inspection apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of a conventional PTP sheet tablet appearance inspection apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 signal preprocessing unit 3 image memory 4 mask processing unit 5 foreign matter detection, area and perimeter calculation unit 6 division unit 7 comparison unit 33 imaging device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G06T 7/60 G06F 15/70 350D 355

Claims (4)

[Claims] An imaging unit that captures an image of the object and outputs an image signal; and a foreign object detection unit that detects a foreign object present on the object based on the image signal output from the imaging unit. An area calculating means for calculating the area of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detecting means based on the image signal; and a peripheral length for calculating the circumferential length of the foreign matter detected by the foreign matter detecting means based on the image signal. A linear means comprising: calculating means; and determining means for determining that the foreign matter is a linear body based on the perimeter calculated by the perimeter calculating means and the area calculated by the area calculating means. Body recognition device. 2. The linear object recognizing device according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit determines that the foreign object is a linear object based on a division value obtained by dividing a peripheral length of the foreign object by an area of the foreign object. . 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determining unit adjusts the imaging magnification so that the width of the linear body is equal to or less than Δ pixels, and determines that the foreign matter is linear if the division value is equal to or greater than 2 / Δ. The linear object recognizing device according to claim 2, wherein the device determines that the object is a body. 4. The linear object recognition device according to claim 1, wherein the object to be imaged is a PTP sheet tablet.