KR101707990B1 - auto focusing apparatus using slitbeam and auto focusing method using thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an autofocusing apparatus using a slit beam and a slit beam for adjusting the position of a camera for inspection, and a method of autofocusing using the slit beam.
The present invention relates to a slit beam generating apparatus which includes a light source for outputting a slit beam, a slit beam output from the light source to be reflected on a surface of a test subject and being stepped along a line of the slit beam, An image sensor for acquiring a line image reflected by the inspected object; an analyzer for determining a height of the inspected object according to an imaging position of a line image acquired by the image sensor; And a distance adjusting unit for adjusting the distance between the inspection camera and the test object in correspondence with the height of the inspected object determined by the analyzing unit, and to an autofocusing method using the autofocusing apparatus using the slit beam.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an auto focusing apparatus using a slit beam and an auto focusing apparatus using the same,

The present invention relates to an autofocusing apparatus using a slit beam and an autofocusing method using the slit beam. The slit beam and the multi-step reflection means are used to grasp the height of the inspected object, And an autofocusing method using the autofocusing apparatus.

Generally, various panels and inspected objects in the form of a cell or a module are characterized by features such as low voltage driving, low power consumption, full color implementation, light weight and small size, and can be used in a variety of fields such as a clock, a calculator, Personal digital assistants, mobile phones, and the like.

Particularly, in order to manufacture an LCD panel, first, a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) plate and a color filter plate are manufactured, and then a TFT plate and a color filter plate are bonded through an assembling process. Then, when the TFT plate and the color filter plate are bonded, they are separated into individual unit panels through scribing and breaking. Subsequently, when the TFT plate and the color filter plate are bonded to each other and cut into LCD cells, a liquid crystal is injected between the TFT plate and the color filter plate and then sealed to seal the LCD panel.

In general, LCD panels are subjected to various quality tests after their manufacture. Among them, important quality tests are to perform vision tests on the surface of LCD panels including indentations caused by pressing. In the case where an indentation due to excessive pressing or the like is generated on the LCD panel, there arises a problem that the image quality is deteriorated due to the light refraction of the light passing through the LCD cell. As a result, the degree of indentation greatly affects the acceptance / The defect inspection on the surface of the LCD panel such as indentation is an important part of the inspection item.

In recent years, there has been provided a large number of auto focus functions for automatically adjusting the focus of a subject for the user's convenience in an imaging device such as a camera. The autofocus method is mainly used with a TTL (Trough The Lens) autofocus method using light coming in through a photographing lens. The autofocus module detects whether the subject is in focus by using a contrast detection method, a phase difference detection method, or the like. In the TTL autofocus mode, a submirror is used to guide light coming through the photographic lens to the autofocus module.

Generally, the AF area indicating the area that can be measured by the auto focus module is smaller than the imaging area. This is because the size of the submirror is limited by the structure. Accordingly, studies for increasing the AF area have been made. An error may occur in the autofocus due to manufacturing tolerances occurring in manufacturing the optical components used in the imaging device or assembly tolerances occurring in assembling the optical components. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a robust imaging device for manufacturing tolerances and assembly tolerances. Further, as the autofocus module is used in an imaging device, the size of the imaging device is increased. When a consumer purchases an imaging device, the size of the imaging device becomes a very important factor. Accordingly, attempts have been made to reduce the size of the autofocus module.

Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2013-0029681

An object of the present invention is to provide an autofocusing apparatus using a slit beam capable of increasing the sampling rate, widening the measurement range while maintaining the resolution, and reducing the time and cost required for manufacturing and operating an apparatus for autofocusing, and Thereby providing an autofocusing method.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light source device including a light source for outputting a slit beam, a slit beam output from the light source, A plurality of slit beams divided into a plurality of slit beams to irradiate the subject with a plurality of slit beams, the image sensor acquiring a line image reflected by the subject; An analyzing unit for determining the height of the inspected object in accordance with the imaging position of the acquired line image and a distance adjusting unit for adjusting the distance between the inspected camera and the inspected object in correspondence with the height of the inspected object determined by the analyzing unit An auto focusing device using a slit beam is provided.

The first reflecting means may include a first mirror disposed at an inclined position in the central portion, a second mirror disposed in parallel with the first mirror on one side of the first mirror, and a second mirror disposed on the other side of the first mirror. And a third mirror disposed in parallel with the first mirror.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image processing method including the steps of irradiating a slit beam from the light source, acquiring a line image reflected by the inspected object with an image sensor, And adjusting the position of the inspection camera according to the position of the inspection camera

The step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera may include maintaining the inspection camera in place when the image of the line irradiated through the first reflecting means located in the center of the image sensor and reflected by the inspected object is formed, When the image of the line irradiated through the first reflecting means located on the upper side of the image sensor is reflected and the image of the line reflected by the subject is focused, the inspection camera is raised, and the image is irradiated through the first reflecting means located below the image sensor, When the reflected line image is formed, the inspection camera is lowered.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to increase the sampling rate, to widen the measurement area while maintaining the resolution, and to reduce the time and cost required for manufacturing and operating the apparatus for autofocusing.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the center is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor;
FIG. 2 is a front view of an auto focusing device in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at an upper portion is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor;
FIG. 3 is a front view of an auto focusing apparatus showing a state in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the bottom is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor,
4 is a perspective view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting unit located at the center is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor,
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at an upper portion is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor,
6 is a perspective view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting unit located at the bottom is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor.

The autofocusing apparatus according to the present invention adjusts the position of the inspection camera for detecting the height of the inspected object by using the slit beam and the multi-step reflection means and performing the vision inspection for the focus adjustment. An example is shown in Figs. 1 to 6.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the center is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor, FIG. 2 is a front view of the slit beam passing through the first reflecting means, FIG. 3 is a front view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the bottom is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor, Fig.

The auto focusing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a light source 110, a first reflecting unit 120, an image sensor 130, an analyzing unit 140, and a distance adjusting unit 150 .

The light source 110 outputs a slit beam, and may be provided with a slit beam output unit, and may output a slit beam from an upper portion to a lower portion. As another example, the light source 110 may include a lamp for outputting surface illumination, a slit member for passing the surface illumination output from the lamp through a slit and outputting the slit beam as a slim beam, and a slit beam output from the slit member as parallel light The lens may include a lens.

The first reflecting means 120 reflects the slit beam outputted from the light source 110 to the surface of the inspected object 10 and transmits the reflected slit beam to the inspected object 10 through the slit beam, 10 are divided into a plurality of slit beams and irradiated.

Even if one slit beam 110 is outputted from the light source 110 in the case where the first reflecting means 120 is stepped in multiple stages as described above, A plurality of slit beams may be irradiated step by step.

For example, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 122 arranged on the upper side is irradiated to the surface of the inspected object 10 at a position distant from the first reflecting means 120, and is reflected by the first reflecting means The slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 121 is irradiated to the central surface of the inspected object 10 and the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 122 disposed at the lower portion is irradiated to the object (Not shown).

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the first reflecting unit 120 includes a first mirror 121 inclined at a central portion thereof, a second mirror 121 disposed at an upper portion of one side of the first mirror 121, And a third mirror 123 arranged on the other side of the first mirror 121 in parallel with the first mirror 121. The second mirror 122 is disposed in parallel with the first mirror 121,

Here, the mirrors 121, 122 and 123 are formed so as to be multi-stepped along the line of the slit beam outputted from the light source 110, and the mirrors 121, 122 and 123 are arranged so as not to overlap each other. When the mirrors 121, 122 and 123 are arranged in a stepwise manner as described above, the slit beam outputted from the light source 110 is divided and reflected by the mirrors 121, 122 and 123 having different heights, A stepped slit beam can be irradiated.

Alternatively, the first reflecting means 120 may be constituted by at least five mirrors, and a plurality of mirrors may be symmetrically arranged on the upper and lower sides of the first mirror 121 disposed at the center, can do.

The image sensor 130 acquires the line image LI reflected from the inspected object 10. [ The image sensor 130 may be formed so as to face the line image reflected by the inspected object 10.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a second reflection unit 160 reflects the line image LI reflected by the inspected object 10 and transmits the reflected image to the image sensor 130. In this case, the image sensor 130 is disposed in parallel with the light source 110 and the camera for inspection 10, and is reflected by the second reflecting means 160 arranged symmetrically with respect to the first reflecting means 120, It is possible to obtain a line image LI whose path has been changed.

The analysis unit 140 determines the height of the subject 10 according to the imaging position of the line image LI acquired by the image sensor 130. The distance control unit 150 analyzes the height of the subject 10, The distance between the inspection camera 200 and the inspected object 10 is adjusted in correspondence with the height of the inspected object 10 determined.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an auto focusing apparatus in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the center is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an auto focusing apparatus that is reflected by a subject and is incident on an image sensor. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a state in which a slit beam passing through a first reflecting means located at the bottom is reflected by a subject, Fig.

1 and 4, when the subject 10 is positioned within the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 121 located at the central portion of the subject Is irradiated on the central surface of the specimen 10 and then reflected to be imaged at the center of the image sensor 130. At this time, the slit beams reflected by the first reflecting means 122 and 123 located at the upper and lower parts, not the central part, are irradiated to the surface of the inspected object 10, reflected and then incident on the image sensor 130,

2 and 5, when the subject 10 is positioned above the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 122 located at the upper side And is reflected on the surface of the inspected object 10 at a position remote from the reflecting means 120 and is imaged on one side of the image sensor 130. At this time, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 121 and 123 located at the central portion and the lower portion, not the upper portion, is irradiated to the surface of the test object 10, reflected and then incident on the image sensor 130, And / or the size and position of the second reflecting means 160 are set, no image is formed.

3 and 6, when the subject 10 is positioned below the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means 123 located at the lower portion Is irradiated onto the surface of the inspected object 10 at a position close to the reflecting means 120, and is reflected and is imaged on the other side of the image sensor 130.

At this time, the slit beam reflected by the first reflecting means (122, 121) located at the upper and central portions, not at the lower portion, is irradiated to the surface of the inspected object (10), reflected and is not incident on the image sensor (130)

Thereafter, the line image LI imaged on the image sensor 130 is analyzed through the analysis unit 140, and when the line image LI is formed only on the central portion of the image sensor 130, It is determined that the camera 200 is located in the photographing range of the camera 200 and the inspection camera 200 is not moved. On the other hand, when the line image LI is formed only on one side of the image sensor 130, it is determined that the subject 10 is located above the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection and a driving signal corresponding thereto is output, The control unit 150 is operated to raise the inspection camera 200 by a predetermined distance and when the line image LI is formed only on the other side of the image sensor 130, And outputs a driving signal corresponding thereto to operate the distance adjusting unit 150 to lower the inspection camera 200 by a predetermined distance.

The auto focusing method according to the present invention uses an auto focusing apparatus according to the various embodiments described above and includes a step of irradiating a slit beam from the light source 110, And a step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera 200 according to the image formation position of the line image acquired by the image sensor 130. [

The slit beam output from the light source 110 is incident on the first reflecting means 120 and is reflected thereby to be changed to an optical path and irradiated to the inspected object 10. At this time, even if one slit beam 110 is output from the light source 110, a plurality of slit beams are irradiated on the surface of the inspected object 10 in a stepped manner by the step number of the first reflecting means 120 .

As described above, a plurality of slit beams illuminated at different positions are reflected in different directions, and only one of the plurality of line images is imaged by the image sensor 130.

For example, the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera 200 may include the step of adjusting the position of the inspection image by irradiating the image sensor 130 with the line image reflected by the inspected object 10 through the first reflecting means 121 located at the center of the image sensor 130 LI) is formed, it is determined that the subject 10 is located in the shooting range of the camera 200 for inspection, and the camera for inspection 200 is held in place.

In another embodiment, the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera 200 may include adjusting the position of the inspection image of the line image reflected by the inspected object 10 through the first reflecting means 122 positioned above the image sensor 130, It is determined that the subject 10 is positioned higher than the photographing range of the inspection camera 200 and the inspection camera 200 is raised.

In another embodiment, the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera 200 may include the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera 200 by irradiating the image sensor 130 with the light reflected from the inspected object 10 through the first reflecting means 123, When the image LI is formed, it is determined that the subject 10 is positioned below the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection and the camera 200 for inspection is moved down.

Therefore, even if the subject 10 is outside the photographing range of the camera 200 for inspection, the position of the camera 200 for inspection can be quickly compensated to increase the sampling rate, the measurement range can be widened while maintaining the resolution, The simple configuration reduces the time and cost of building and operating equipment for autofocusing.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

Accordingly, the true scope of protection of the present invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

10:
110: Light source
120: first reflecting means
121: first mirror
122: second mirror
123: Third mirror
130: Image sensor
140:
150:
160: second reflecting means
200: Camera for inspection

Claims (7)

1. An auto focusing apparatus for automatic focus adjustment of a camera for inspection which performs vision inspection,
A light source for outputting a slit beam;
First reflecting means for reflecting the slit beam outputted from the light source to the surface of the subject and delivering the slit beam so as to be stepped along the line of the slit beam so as to divide the slit beam into a plurality of slit beams to irradiate the subject;
An image sensor for acquiring a line image reflected by the subject;
An analyzer for determining a height of the subject according to an imaging position of a line image acquired by the image sensor;
And a distance adjuster for adjusting an interval between the inspection camera and the subject in correspondence with the height of the inspected object determined by the analyzer,
Wherein the first reflecting means comprises a first mirror arranged to be inclined at a central portion and reflecting a slit beam to a surface of the object to be distant from the first reflecting means;
A second mirror disposed on one side of the first mirror and disposed in parallel to the first mirror and reflecting a slit beam to a central surface of the inspected object;
And a third mirror arranged on the other side of the first mirror in parallel with the first mirror and reflecting to a surface of the inspected object near the first reflecting means. delete The method according to claim 1,
And a second reflecting means for reflecting the line image reflected by the inspected object and transmitting the reflected line image to the image sensor.
A method of autofocusing using an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Irradiating a slit beam from the light source;
Obtaining a line image reflected by the subject with an image sensor;
And adjusting the position of the inspection camera according to an imaging position of a line image acquired by the image sensor.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera is to maintain the inspection camera in place when the image of the line irradiated through the first reflecting means located at the center of the image sensor and reflected by the inspected object is focused, Autofocusing method.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera raises the inspection camera when the line image irradiated through the first reflection means located on the image sensor is reflected and reflected by the inspected object, Way.
5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the step of adjusting the position of the inspection camera comprises the step of lowering the inspection camera when the line image reflected by the inspected object is irradiated through the first reflecting means located below the image sensor, Way.

Images