JPS6142099Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention relates to a thermometer testing device that is automated using an electronic detection device and a computer.

The conventional thermometer inspection process was a manual process as described below.

First, the silver tank part H of the thermometer M as shown in FIG.
After placing it in a thermostatic bath at 37℃ for several minutes, the worker visually checks the height of the mercury column and the 37℃ position on the scale of thermometer M, and the difference between these positions is determined by the predetermined tolerance. Determine whether it is within the range.
Thermometer M, which was determined to be within the allowable error range, has an additional 39
It is placed in a constant temperature bath at 37°C and subjected to the same tests as in the case of 37°C. Thermometers M whose mercury column height is determined to be within the allowable error range in this 39°C test are considered to be good products, and other thermometers M are considered defective products and are placed in separate sorting boxes. can be placed in

In such a manual inspection process, there may be variations in the judgment of good and defective products due to differences in manual workers, and errors in the judgment of good and defective products by workers may result in inaccurate judgment of good and defective products. There was a fear that this would not be carried out, and improvements were desired.
Furthermore, since the process is done manually, there is a limit to the number of thermometers that one worker can test in a day, and there has been a desire to improve the testing speed.

However, as is well known, thermometers are limited in the angular position in which the mercury column can be seen, and the mercury column can only be clearly seen within an angular range of around 1 to 2 degrees (with the mercury column as the axis).
Due to the inherent problems with thermometers, it was not easy to automate testing, and in the end, we had no choice but to rely on manual testing.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a thermometer testing device that automates the thermometer testing process and enables accurate pass/fail testing and rapid testing.

That is, the features of the present invention include: a conveyance device that conveys the thermometer along a scheduled conveyance path; a temperature control device that is provided on the conveyance path and maintains the thermometer at a predetermined set temperature; Image information including the tip position of the mercury column of the thermometer, which is provided corresponding to the thermometer and maintained at a set temperature by the temperature control device, and the scale position of the thermometer corresponding to the set temperature, is captured using an image pickup device or the like. An electronic detection device that performs electronic detection, and a rotation means that rotates and changes the angle at which the image pickup element, etc. of the electronic detection device faces the thermometer, which is the detection target, with respect to an axis parallel to the mercury column of the thermometer. The tip position of the mercury column and the corresponding scale position are determined by image processing based on the output image information of the electronic detection device in which the mercury column is detected by the operation of the rotating means, and the difference between the two positions is determined. The thermometer is provided with a calculation means for calculation, and a sorting device that is provided on the conveyance path and selects the thermometers according to the difference calculated by the calculation means.

An embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described below.

In FIG. 2, 1 is a conveyor line for transferring the thermometers, and 2 is a loading machine for setting the thermometers on the conveyor line 1. Both of these constitute a conveying device. 3a and 3b are electronic detection devices that measure and detect the position of the tip of the mercury column and the scale position of the thermometer, using, for example, an image sensor, and 4a and 4b are electronic detection devices that measure and detect the position of the tip of the mercury column and the scale position of the thermometer; A rotation device for rotating the thermometer in front of the electronic detection devices 3a, 3b to change the rotation;
5 is a constant temperature bath as a temperature control device containing 37℃ hot water (constant temperature water), 7 is a sorting table as a sorting device for sorting thermometers into good and defective products, 8 is a conveyor line 1, a loading machine 2, an electronic target detection device 3a,
3b is a computer that controls the rotation devices 4a, 4b and the sorting table 7.

Next, the operation of the thermometer testing device according to the present invention configured as described above will be explained.

First, a thermometer as shown in FIG. 1 is set on the conveyor line 1 by a loading machine 2. Although not shown, the conveyor line 1 is equipped with a chuck for holding a thermometer, and the thermometer is fixed to the chuck in the vertical direction and transported by the conveyor line 1. The thermometer is transferred by a conveyor line 1 and first enters a constant temperature bath 5 at 37°C. The movement within the thermostatic chamber 5 should be such that it takes sufficient time for the mercury column in the thermometer to reach 37°C. The thermometer that has left the constant temperature bath 5 is rotated by the rotation device 4a about the vertical direction, that is, the direction parallel to the mercury column. This is so that the mercury column can be detected by the electronic detection device 3a. The computer 8 constantly checks whether the mercury column of the thermometer can be measured via the electronic detection device 3a, and for example, when the thermometer is rotated to a position where it can be measured, it commands the rotation device 4a to stop rotating. Outputs a signal and stops rotation. At this point, the computer 8 takes in the image data of the thermometer captured by the electronic detection device 3a, analyzes the data, and determines the tip of the mercury column of the thermometer.
Calculate how far it is from the 37℃ scale,
Determine whether it is within the allowable range and store it. Next, the thermometer is transferred by the conveyor line 1 to a constant temperature bath 6 at 39°C. And 39℃
After leaving the thermostatic chamber 6 and reaching the sorting table 7, the same operation as in the case of 37° C. is performed. When the thermometer reaches the sorting table 7, the computer 8 determines whether the thermometer is a good product or a defective product. This can be easily determined from the above-mentioned test results at 37°C and 39°C. Based on the determination result, the sorting gate of the block to which the thermometer belongs on the sorting table 8, ie, the good block or the defective block, is opened. In this way, the thermometers are automatically and reliably sorted into good and defective products.

In this way, by measuring the mercury column position using an electronic detection device and a rotating device, it is possible to determine whether a thermometer is good or bad without requiring the operator to do so. In order to perform measurements and judgments using image processing and analysis of thermometers,
Compared to conventional manual inspections, it is possible to perform inspections that are extremely accurate and have no variation in judgment, and also to perform inspections quickly.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings; for example, the reference temperature may be set to 37°C.
Various modifications can be made without changing the gist, such as using a temperature other than 39°C.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically measure the position of the mercury column, realize automation of the thermometer inspection process, and provide a thermometer inspection device that enables accurate pass/fail inspection and rapid inspection. Can be done.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the appearance of a thermometer, and FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. 1... Conveyor line, 2... Loading machine, 3...
Electronic detection device, 4... Rotating device, 5... 37℃ constant temperature bath, 6... 39℃ constant temperature bath, 7... Sorting table, 8...
...computer.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] a conveyance device that conveys the thermometer along a scheduled conveyance path; a temperature control device that is provided on the conveyance path and maintains the thermometer at a predetermined set temperature; and a temperature control device that is provided corresponding to the conveyance path. electronic detection that uses an image sensor or the like to electronically detect image information including the tip position of the mercury column of the thermometer maintained at a set temperature by the temperature control device and the scale position of the thermometer corresponding to the set temperature; a rotating means for rotationally changing the angle at which the image pickup element, etc. of the electronic detection device faces the thermometer to be detected with respect to an axis parallel to the mercury column of the thermometer; and an operation of the rotating means. a calculation means for determining the tip position of the mercury column and the corresponding scale position by image processing based on the output image information of the electronic detection device in which the mercury column was detected, and calculating the difference between the two positions; A thermometer inspection device that is installed on a road and includes a sorting device that sorts the thermometers according to the difference calculated by the calculation means.