KR102539716B1 - Apparatus for secondary battery appearance inspection - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for inspecting an appearance of a secondary battery including a side inspection module which can photograph an area including at least some of blind spots of a camera using a mirror when photographing a side of the secondary battery, and can generate an inspection image by combining an image obtained by directly photographing the side of the secondary battery and an image obtained by reflection with the mirror. According to the device for inspecting an appearance of a secondary battery of the present invention, an image can be obtained for an area of 180 degrees or more on the side of the secondary battery when shooting in a first position, and an image of all sides of the secondary battery can be obtained in a second position so that an inspection speed can be dramatically improved. The device for inspecting an appearance of a secondary battery comprises: the side inspection module; a top and bottom inspection module; and a transfer portion.

Description

Secondary battery appearance inspection device {APPARATUS FOR SECONDARY BATTERY APPEARANCE INSPECTION}

The present invention relates to a secondary battery appearance inspection device.

A secondary battery is a battery that converts chemical energy into electrical energy to supply power to the outside, and when discharged, receives external power and converts electrical energy into chemical energy for storage. Secondary batteries are being applied to various devices in various fields due to the development of electronic devices.

These secondary batteries are produced in various forms, and as one of the various forms, cylindrical batteries, which are conventionally commonly used forms, have been widely used to date.

Since the cylindrical secondary battery is composed of a cylindrical shape and the side surface is formed as a curved surface, performing an inspection while rotating 360 degrees is used as a general exterior inspection method.

Republic of Korea Patent Registration No. 1030449 (announced on April 25, 2011) has been disclosed for an external inspection device for such a cylindrical shape.

However, this conventional inspection method has a problem in that inspection efficiency is low because one battery is inspected using one or two cameras to inspect the side of the battery.

Republic of Korea Patent No. 1030449 (Announced on April 25, 2011)

An object of the present invention is to provide a secondary battery appearance inspection device for solving the low inspection efficiency, which is a problem of conventional secondary battery appearance inspection devices.

As a means of solving the above problems, when photographing the side of the secondary battery, an area including at least a part of the blind area of the camera is photographed using a mirror, and the image obtained by directly photographing the side of the secondary battery is reflected by the mirror A secondary battery exterior inspection device including a side inspection module capable of generating an inspection image by synthesizing acquired images may be provided.

In addition, according to the present disclosure, a first side inspection module for obtaining a side image of a secondary battery in a first posture, a reverser for converting a posture of a secondary battery from the first posture to a reversed second posture, and the secondary battery as described above A second side inspection module for obtaining a side image of the secondary battery in a state of being switched to the second posture may be included.

In addition, the secondary battery exterior inspection device according to the present disclosure may include a lighting unit capable of irradiating light in various combinations.

In addition, the secondary battery appearance inspection device according to the present disclosure may include an upper surface inspection module and a lower surface inspection module capable of inspecting the upper and lower surfaces, respectively.

Meanwhile, the upper surface inspection module and the lower surface inspection module may respectively acquire images of the upper and lower surfaces of the secondary battery by irradiating light in various combinations.

The external appearance inspection device for a secondary battery according to the present invention may obtain an image of an area of 180 degrees or more from a side surface of a secondary battery when photographed in a first posture, and acquire an image of an entire side surface of a secondary battery when photographed in a second posture. This has the effect of significantly improving the inspection speed.

1 is a perspective view of a secondary battery appearance inspection device according to the present disclosure.
2 is a cutaway perspective view of a side inspection module.
3 is an exploded perspective view of a side inspection module.
4 is a cross-sectional view of a side inspection module.
5 is a view illustrating a lighting unit of a side inspection module.
6 is a diagram illustrating a concept of a combination of a light emitting module and a photographed image in a side inspection module.
7 is an operating state diagram illustrating the concept of photographing the side of a secondary battery in a first side inspection module.
8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first inverter.
9 is an operating state diagram illustrating the concept of photographing the side of a secondary battery in a second side inspection module.
10 is a diagram illustrating the concept of a side area captured by a first side inspection module and a second side inspection module.
11 is a diagram illustrating a concept of generating an inspection image in an image processing unit.
12 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the concept of position change of the secondary battery by the operation of the second inverter and the operation of transferring the secondary battery to the third transfer unit.
13 is a diagram illustrating a second inverter, a third transfer unit, and an upper and lower surface inspection module.
14 is a perspective view of an upper surface inspection module.
15 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an optical axis of an upper surface inspection module according to the present disclosure.
16 is a partially exploded perspective view of an upper surface inspection module.
17 is another cross-sectional view of the upper surface inspection module.
18 is an exploded perspective view of the upper surface inspection module.
19 is a cross-sectional view of an upper surface lighting unit.

Hereinafter, a secondary battery appearance inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the description of the following embodiments, the name of each component may be called a different name in the art. However, if they have functional similarity and identity, even if a modified embodiment is employed, it can be regarded as an equivalent configuration. In addition, signs added to each component are described for convenience of description. However, the contents of the drawings in which these symbols are written do not limit each component to the scope in the drawings. Likewise, even if an embodiment in which the configuration in the drawings is partially modified is employed, it can be regarded as an equivalent configuration if there is functional similarity and identity. In addition, in light of the level of a general technician in the relevant technical field, if it is recognized as a component that should be included, the description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, the secondary battery will be described on the premise that it is composed of a cylindrical shape, and the curved surface will be referred to as a side surface, and the top and bottom surfaces of the cylindrical structure will be referred to as an upper surface and a lower surface, respectively. In addition, the axis connecting the center of the upper surface and the center of the lower surface will be described as a longitudinal axis.

1 is a perspective view of a secondary battery appearance inspection device according to the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the secondary battery exterior inspection apparatus 1 according to the present disclosure may be configured to perform exterior inspection by acquiring images while moving a cylindrical secondary battery to each inspection position.

The secondary battery appearance inspection device 1 according to the present disclosure may include a side inspection module, a transfer unit, an inverter, and an upper and lower surface inspection module 402 .

The side inspection module is configured to acquire images of the side of the secondary battery and perform exterior inspection.

The side inspection module may include a first side inspection module 100 and a second side inspection module 200 . In order to acquire images of the side of a secondary battery composed of a curved surface, it is necessary to photograph the secondary battery from various angles. At this time, in order to change the angle, a method of rotating the secondary battery around an axis in the longitudinal direction is sometimes used. However, when the secondary battery is configured in a large size, the moment of inertia increases and it may take some time to change the posture. In the present disclosure, the side inspection module turns the battery around the width direction axis to change the posture.

The first side inspection module 100 and the second side inspection module 200 are each configured to acquire an image of an area of 180 degrees or more from the side of the secondary battery when photographing once. To this end, the first side inspection module 100 and the second side inspection module 200 may include mirrors. However, even in this case, posture change is required to obtain an image of the entire side of the secondary battery. In the present disclosure, after the secondary battery is seated in the first posture in the first side inspection module 100, an image of the side is acquired, and the second posture is reversed from the first posture using the first inverter 340. After changing the posture of the battery, it is transferred to the second side inspection module 200 so that images of the other side can be obtained.

The transfer unit is configured to transfer the secondary battery. A plurality of transfer units may be provided, each of which may include a secondary battery seating unit, and each seating unit may be configured to be moved along a predetermined path on a guide rail. The transfer unit may include a first transfer unit 310 , a second transfer unit 320 and a third transfer unit 330 . Meanwhile, guide rails included in each transfer unit may be connected to an external base, and this configuration is omitted for convenience of description.

The first transfer unit 310 transfers the secondary battery to the first side inspection module 100, first acquires an image of the side of the secondary battery, and then transports the secondary battery from the first side inspection module 100 to the first half. It is configured to transfer the secondary battery to the electricity 340 side.

The second transfer unit 320 transfers the secondary battery whose posture is reversed from the first inverter 340 to the second side inspection module 200, and secondarily acquires an image of the side of the secondary battery, and then the second side. It is configured to transfer the secondary battery from the shading module to the second inverter 350 side.

The third transfer unit 330 is configured to transfer the secondary battery transferred from the second inverter 350 to the upper and lower surface inspection positions.

Meanwhile, the first transfer unit 310 to the third transfer unit 330 may include various moving elements and sensors for driving the transfer unit. However, since this configuration can be applied as a well-known configuration, further detailed description of the configuration will be omitted.

The inverter is configured to change the posture of the secondary battery for external inspection. The inverter may include a first inverter 340 and a second inverter 350 . The first inverter 340 is provided between the first side inspection module 100 and the second side inspection module 200, and may be configured to change the posture by inverting the secondary battery around an axis in the width direction. .

The second inverter 350 may change the arrangement angle of the secondary battery around a vertical axis so that the secondary battery that has undergone side inspection can be changed into a posture for upper and lower surface inspection.

The first inverter 340 and the second inverter 350 include a first gripper module and a second gripper module, respectively, and may include a first rotation driving unit and a second rotation driving unit for angle conversion.

The upper and lower surface inspection module 402 may be configured to obtain images of the upper and lower surfaces of the secondary battery.

The upper and lower surface inspection module 402 may include an upper surface inspection module 401 configured to inspect the upper surface of the secondary battery and a lower surface inspection module 402 configured to inspect the lower surface of the secondary battery.

The image processing unit may be configured to process the obtained image to determine whether or not there is a defect. In particular, the image processing unit distinguishes between an area in which the secondary battery is directly photographed and an area obtained by reflection in a mirror in the image obtained from the side inspection module, and may perform image correction for each part and synthesize them into a single image. After synthesizing one side image to create an inspection image, defects in appearance can be identified. At this time, a plurality of inspection images are obtained according to various lighting combinations of the side lighting unit, which will be described later, and the image processing unit determines defects in each inspection image to determine whether or not there is a final defect.

Hereinafter, configuration and functions of the side inspection module will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2 to 11 . Meanwhile, the configuration and functions of the side inspection module described below may be equally applied to the first side inspection module 100 and the second side inspection module 200 . Therefore, the configuration of the first side inspection module 100 will be described as a premise.

Figure 2 is a cutaway perspective view of the side inspection module, Figure 3 is an exploded perspective view of the side inspection module.

2 and 3, the side inspection module 100 includes a side camera 110, a light path changing unit 120, a case 130, a side lighting unit, a mounting unit 150, a mirror 160, and a mirror. It may be configured to include the support part 170 .

The side camera 110 is configured to acquire an image of the secondary battery 1000 seated in the case 130 to be described later. The side camera 110 is configured to be able to adjust the focus, and adjusts the focal length by reflecting the difference between an optical path when the secondary battery 1000 is directly photographed and an optical path when photographed using a mirror 160 to be described later. It can be configured so that The side camera 110 is disposed so that an optical axis can be formed in a horizontal direction, and an optical axis can be formed in a vertical direction through an optical path conversion unit 120 to be described later. This configuration makes it possible to configure the height lower than when the side camera 110 is disposed in the vertical direction.

The optical path changing unit 120 is provided in the optical path changing unit fixing unit 121 on the upper side of the case 130 and is configured to change the path of the optical axis of the side camera 110 . As an example, the light path changing unit 120 may be provided in the same configuration as a beam splitter, and may be disposed at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizontal. The optical path changing unit 120 is provided on the upper side of the case 130, and has openings formed in a direction toward the side camera 110 and a direction toward the inside of the lower case 130, It may be configured not to cause interference with light directed to the camera.

The case 130 is configured to allow the secondary battery 1000 to be seated therein, and is configured to minimize the influence of external light damage when photographing the secondary battery 1000 . The case 130 is configured to irradiate light to the secondary battery 1000 from the inside while minimizing light introduced from the outside. The case 130 may include a side wall 131 , an inlet wall, and an outlet wall 134 .

The sidewall 131 may be configured as a curved surface extending generally along the circumferential direction around an axis parallel to an axis in the longitudinal direction of the secondary battery 1000 seated on the seating portion 150 . An uppermost end of the sidewall 131 may be connected to the optical path changing unit fixing unit 121 and may have an opening through which light may pass. The inlet wall 132 is generally planar and is configured to close the rear end of the side wall 131 . The outlet wall 134 is substantially planar, and may be configured symmetrically with the inlet wall 132 to close the front end of the side wall 131 . Here, "front" means a direction in which the secondary battery 1000 is transported.

The case 130 is configured such that a lower side thereof can be connected to an external base, and a first transport unit may be disposed on the inside. The first transfer unit may be provided at a position passing through the lower sides of the inlet wall 132 and the outlet wall 134 . Meanwhile, an inlet cut to a predetermined size from the lower side may be formed in the inlet wall 132, and an outlet may be formed in the same size as the inlet in the outlet wall 134. The inlet and outlet may be formed in a size that allows the seating unit 150 and the secondary battery 1000 to move on the first transfer unit.

The side lighting unit may be formed on an inner surface of the sidewall 131 of the case 130 . At this time, a plurality of lighting modules may be provided for each position in the front and rear directions. Each lighting module can be configured to be selectively actuated. The entire side lighting unit may be operated according to a preset pattern, or lighting modules spaced apart from each other may be selected and operated, or a plurality of rows of lighting modules may be operated simultaneously, and may be operated in various combinations.

The seating part 150 is provided in the conveying part, and may be configured such that the secondary battery 1000 can be seated thereon. The seating part 150 is configured to be movable on the guide rail 301 of the transfer unit, and is configured to be able to enter and exit the case 130 together with the secondary battery 1000 through the inlet and outlet of the case 130. The upper surface of the seating portion 150 may be concave to accommodate the convex side surface of the secondary battery 1000 so that the side surface of the secondary battery 1000 can be supported upward and fixed by gravity.

The mirror 160 is configured so that when the side camera 110 photographs the secondary battery 1000 seated on the mounting portion 150, an image of at least a part of the rectangular area formed in the lower half can be captured by the camera. A pair may be provided on both sides of the secondary battery 1000 in the lateral direction centering on the seating portion 150 . The pair of mirrors 160 may be disposed inclined at an angle of about 40 degrees to about 60 degrees in a direction of looking at each other from a vertically upward direction. That is, the secondary battery 1000 seated on the seating portion 150 may be provided symmetrically left and right around the center.

The mirror support 170 is configured to support the mirror 160, and one side may be connected to the mirror 160 and the other side may be connected to the base. The mirror support 170 is also configured as a pair to support each mirror 160 .

4 is a cross-sectional view of a side inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 4 , the secondary battery is located at the lower center side of the case in a state in which it has been transferred in the longitudinal direction. At this time, the mirror 160 spaced apart from both sides of the secondary battery 1000 by a predetermined distance and fixed to the mirror support 170 changes the optical path so that an image of a part of the lower half can be secured. The side camera 110 can take pictures from the side of the case by the light path changing unit 120, and the viewing angle of the side camera 110 is configured so that the secondary battery and the mirror can be taken directly. do. On the other hand, as described above, when acquiring an image through a mirror, it is necessary to adjust the focal length because the light path is different. At this time, the focal length of the side camera can be adjusted. At this time, the lighting unit 140 provided in the case 130 radiates light into the case, and the side camera 110 can acquire an image in a state where the light is irradiated to the secondary battery 1000 .

5 is a view illustrating a lighting unit of a side inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 5 , the side lighting unit 140 provided in the side inspection module may be provided on an inner surface of the case and may include light emitting modules provided in a plurality of rows in the front-back direction. Columns of each light emitting module are disposed along the curved surface of the case, and each column is configured to operate independently. At this time, the light emitting module 142 that is operated and the light emitting module 141 that is not operated may be selected by the controller.

6 is a diagram illustrating a concept of a combination of a light emitting module and a photographed image in a side inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 6 , an image of a secondary battery obtained when light is irradiated with different combinations of light emitting modules operated in a side lighting unit is shown. At this time, the operating state of the side lighting part can be confirmed from the image reflected on the pair of mirrors 160 provided on the side of the secondary battery 1000 . That is, in an area where the mirror 160 is checked, the light emitting module 142 that is activated and the light emitting module 141 that is not activated among the lighting units substantially provided above the mirror 160 can be checked at the same time. In addition, the guide rail 301 and part of the base are checked together, but these areas are not used for external inspection of the secondary battery. Referring to FIG. 6(a) , in the first combination of light emitting modules that operate, a predetermined number of columns from the left in the drawing operate, and can also emit light in three areas spaced apart from each other like bands spaced apart from each other. In this case, the side camera may obtain an image when the light emitting module operates in the first combination. At this time, an image including an area Ad where the secondary battery 1000 is directly photographed and a blind area Ar reflected by the mirror 160 may be simultaneously obtained.

Referring to FIG. 6(b) , when the light emitting module is operated in the second combination, the side camera may obtain an image of the secondary battery. In this case, the light emitting module operating in the second combination may be operated at a position shifted to the right on the drawing compared to that in the first combination. Referring to FIG. 6(c) , the light emitting module may be operated in a third combination, and at this time, an image of the secondary battery may be acquired. The third combination increases the number of continuously operated columns of the light emitting modules compared to the first combination or the second combination, and at this time, the light emitting area may be thicker than the previous combination. However, this operation example is only an example, and light may be irradiated by selecting a combination of numerous light emitting modules. As described above, since the side lighting unit changes various angles, light amounts, and light emitting positions, differences in shadows for physically occurring defects on the external appearance of the secondary battery can be found, and thus the defect detection rate can be increased.

7 is an operating state diagram illustrating the concept of photographing the side of a secondary battery in a first side inspection module. In this drawing, description will be made on the premise that the secondary battery 1000 is transported from the outside to the inside of the first side inspection module and is positioned on the seating part 150 .

Referring to FIG. 7 , when acquiring an image from the upper side, the upper half of the secondary battery 1000 may directly acquire an image with a side camera. In addition, the side camera may acquire an image of an area including a blind spot area reflected by a pair of mirrors 160 . Meanwhile, at this time, the width of the transfer unit may be determined to correspond to an area of 150 degrees or less among the circumference of the secondary battery 1000 so as to prevent interference on the light path when capturing an image reflected by the mirror 160 . Therefore, the moving part does not appear in the image taken by the side camera. On the other hand, the area A1 obtained by one shot by the side camera is about 200 to 300 degrees including the upper half of about 180 degrees that is directly photographed and the region that is photographed using the mirrors 160 on both sides. can However, a plurality of mirrors 160 may be applied to secure an image of a wider area. However, even when the number and arrangement of the mirrors 160 are changed, it is impossible to acquire images of all sides of the secondary battery 1000 at once, that is, an area corresponding to 360 degrees, so additional shooting is required, which is the second side inspection module. can be performed in

8 is a diagram illustrating the operation of the first inverter.

After one shot is taken in the first side inspection module, the first transfer unit transfers the secondary battery to a position adjacent to the first inverter 340 in the longitudinal direction. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8(a), the first inverter 340 closes the distance between the first grippers 341 to grip the secondary battery in the width direction of the secondary battery, and performs the first rotation as shown in FIG. 8(b). The driving unit 342 rotates to reverse directions of the upper and lower surfaces of the secondary battery so that the first posture can be switched to the second posture. Thereafter, the first inverter 340 seats the secondary battery to the second transfer unit. When the secondary battery is seated, the second transfer unit moves in the longitudinal direction to transfer the secondary battery to the inside of the second side inspection module, and moves the secondary battery to the inspection position.

9 is an operating state diagram illustrating the concept of photographing the side of a secondary battery in a second side inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the second side inspection module acquires an image including a region directly showing the secondary battery and a blind area reflected by a mirror, similarly to the first side inspection module.

At this time, the area to be photographed among the side surfaces of the secondary battery 1000 becomes an area A2 of 180 degrees or more in a state where the lower half surface, which was not photographed by the first side inspection module, becomes the upper half surface in the second posture. That is, in the second side inspection module, it is possible to additionally obtain an image of a blind area by the mirror 160 as well as an area where the secondary battery is directly photographed.

10 is a diagram illustrating the concept of a side area captured by a first side inspection module and a second side inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 10 , an area photographed by the first side inspection module is an area A1 of 180 degrees or more of the side of the secondary battery 1000, and an area A2 photographed by the second side inspection module is also 180 degrees or more. However, it is determined vertically and symmetrically with the area photographed in the first side inspection module.

11 is a diagram illustrating a concept of generating an inspection image in an image processing unit. 11, for convenience of description, scales are shown at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the secondary battery.

Referring to FIG. 11(a), the image processing unit may generate an inspection image by processing each of a plurality of acquired images. At this time, the viewing angle of the side image composed of a cylindrical shape gradually decreases from 90 degrees as it moves away from the central axis in the longitudinal direction in the lateral direction. Therefore, it becomes difficult to acquire an accurate image toward the lateral end on the image. At this time, since the optical axis of the area Ar reflected by the mirror is changed compared to the area Ad where the secondary battery is directly photographed, the same result as photographing the secondary battery from a different angle is obtained.

Referring to FIG. 11(b), the image processing unit corrects the first area Ad directly photographed, inverts the second area Ar photographed by a mirror, and corrects the distortion to form one continuous image. generate As a result, the image of 180 degrees or more of the side of the secondary battery is finally converted into a plane, and a distortion-corrected inspection image I can be obtained. Generation of such an inspection image may be performed for each of a plurality of images obtained by changing lighting combinations in the first side inspection module and the second side inspection module.

Meanwhile, since the image processing algorithm for generating the above-described inspection image is widely used, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

12 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the concept of position change of a secondary battery by the operation of a second inverter and an operation of transferring the secondary battery to a third transfer unit.

Referring to FIG. 12 , after the inspection of the side of the secondary battery is completed, the second transfer unit transfers the secondary battery 1000 toward the second inverter 350 . At this time, the second inverter 350 picks up the secondary battery and prepares to transfer it to the third transfer unit 330 .

Meanwhile, the upper and lower surfaces of the secondary battery may be inspected continuously, and at this time, the upper and lower surfaces of the secondary battery 1001 previously transported may be inspected.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiment, an embodiment in which a side inspection of a secondary battery is performed in a state in which two side inspection modules are provided has been described. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and when a configuration capable of rotating or inverting the secondary battery seated in the mounting portion is added, the side inspection of the secondary battery can be performed with only one side inspection module. .

Hereinafter, the upper and lower surface inspection module in the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 19 .

13 is a diagram illustrating a second inverter, a third transfer unit, and an upper and lower surface inspection module.

Referring to FIG. 13 , after the side image inspection is completed from the second side inspection module, the secondary battery is taken out in the longitudinal direction. At this time, the second gripper 351 of the second reversing unit 350 operates to grip the secondary battery from the side, and the second rotary driving unit 352 rotates to change the angle in the horizontal direction to 90 degrees. At this time, after adjusting the 90-degree interval, the second reversing part is additionally controlled to move horizontally on the base so that it can be stably seated on the third conveying part, or the position of the secondary battery on the horizontal is adjusted by rotation with the gripper leaning to one side on the rotary driving part. It can be configured so that As a result, the transport direction of the secondary battery 1000 may be switched from the longitudinal direction to the width direction by the second inverter 350 . Thereafter, the secondary battery 1000 may be transferred to the upper and lower surface inspection positions by the third transfer unit 330 .

The upper surface inspection module 401 and the lower surface inspection module 402 may be configured to acquire images of the upper and lower surfaces in a state in which the secondary battery is loaded in the transfer unit. The upper surface inspection module and the lower surface inspection module may be disposed in opposite directions to face the secondary battery therebetween.

The second inverter 350 may be applied in various configurations capable of changing the posture of the secondary battery. It can be transformed into various configurations capable of changing posture, such as a hand capable of picking up and rotating a secondary battery, or a configuration capable of rotating an angle while supporting a lower portion of a secondary battery.

However, the second inverter 350 may be omitted when a part of the secondary battery transport path of the transfer unit is configured in a direction orthogonal to the direction in which the secondary battery is taken out of the second side inspection module. That is, when the posture of the secondary battery is finally changed by the third transfer unit 330 even if the second inverter 350 is not provided, or when the posture is not changed, the upper surface inspection module and the lower surface inspection module can inspect the position. It can be applied in various configurations in which secondary batteries can be placed. As an example, if the posture of the secondary battery is maintained, but the third transfer unit 330 switches the transfer direction to 90 degrees in the width direction, the secondary battery is transferred to a position where image acquisition of the upper and lower surfaces becomes smooth even if the second inversion period is omitted. It can be.

14 is a perspective view of the upper surface inspection module, and FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view of the upper surface inspection module in the present disclosure. Meanwhile, the lower surface inspection module may have the same configuration as the upper surface inspection module. In the following description, description of the lower surface inspection module 402 will be omitted and only the upper surface inspection module 401 will be described in order to avoid redundant description.

Referring to FIG. 14 , the upper surface inspection module 401 on FIG. 14 may include an upper surface lighting unit 430 provided on the lower side and an upper surface camera. The upper camera and the upper surface lighting unit of the upper surface inspection module are arranged in a vertical direction, and may be configured to acquire an image by photographing the upper surface of the secondary battery located on the lower side.

Referring to FIG. 15 , an optical axis of the upper surface inspection module may be disposed in a horizontal direction, that is, parallel to a longitudinal axis when the secondary battery is disposed at the inspection position P by the transfer unit. In this case, the upper surface inspection module may be arranged such that the center of the upper surface of the secondary battery is placed on the optical axis. Meanwhile, although not shown, the lower surface inspection module may be disposed in opposite directions around the upper surface inspection module and the secondary battery, and may be provided at a position where an image can be obtained while looking at the lower surface of the secondary battery.

Hereinafter, the configuration and function of the upper surface inspection module 401 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 16 to 19 .

16 is a partially exploded perspective view of the upper surface inspection module 401, FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of the upper surface inspection module, FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of the upper surface inspection module, and FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view of the upper surface lighting unit.

Referring to FIGS. 16 to 19 , the upper surface inspection module 401 may be configured to acquire images of inspection positions spaced apart by a predetermined distance on the optical axis. Meanwhile, the lower surface inspection module 402 may be disposed in the same configuration as the upper surface inspection module 401, but may be disposed such that photographing directions are opposite to each other. The upper surface inspection module 401 acquires an image by radiating light to the inspection position, and may also be configured to obtain an image while changing a focal length.

The upper surface inspection module 401 may include a lens module 410, an image sensor module 420, and an upper surface lighting unit 430, and a case 450 surrounding the lens module 410 and the image sensor module 420. ), may be configured including.

The lens module 410 is configured to change the focal length when acquiring an image of a subject, that is, an object in an inspection position. The lens module 410 may include one or more lens kits. The lens is configured to change the focal length, and may be configured of, for example, a polymer lens. When the polymer lens is provided, the shape of the lens itself is changed by an external force so that the focal length can be adjusted. In this case, a focal distance adjusting unit (not shown) may be included so that the shape can be changed by transmitting force to the polymer lens.

The image sensor module 420 may be configured to generate an electrical signal by photographing a subject. However, since a widely used configuration may be applied to the image sensor module 420, further detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The top lighting unit 430 may be configured to radiate various types of light to an object. Since objects are composed of various shapes and materials, there may be defects that cannot be determined by any one lighting method according to optical characteristics such as reflectance and shadow. Accordingly, the upper surface lighting unit 430 irradiates a variety of optically different lights, such as the angle and amount of light, to check whether or not there is a defect in the exterior, and to improve the accuracy of the defect.

The top lighting unit 430 may include a plurality of light sources to radiate various types of light. As an example, the top lighting unit 430 may include a lighting frame 440, a coaxial lighting unit 431, a fiber lighting unit 433, a dome lighting unit 437, and oblique lighting units 438 and 439. The top lighting unit 430 may be configured rotationally symmetrically with respect to an optical axis as a whole. In addition, the plurality of lighting units provided in the upper surface lighting unit 430 are divided into a plurality of areas along the rotation direction, and operation of each lighting unit 430 may be independently determined. As an example, the area may be divided and controlled at intervals of 90 degrees along the rotation direction around the optical axis. Meanwhile, in some cases, it may be controlled to irradiate light by operating lighting units provided in two areas spaced apart from each other by 180 degrees.

The lighting frame 440 is a base on which various lighting units to be described later can be provided. The illumination frame 440 may be configured in the form of a cone having one side adjacent to the lens module 410 and the other side adjacent to the inspection position and having a wider radius as it approaches the inspection position. The light frame 440 may form a hollow having a predetermined diameter at the center side to form an optical path. The lighting frame 440 may be configured in a rotationally symmetrical shape with respect to the aforementioned optical axis.

On the other hand, at least two cutting surfaces may be provided on the inner surface of the lighting frame 440 so that the lighting unit can be disposed at various angles. The at least two cutting surfaces are configured to have different angles from the inspection position, and the lighting unit disposed on each cutting surface can irradiate light to the inspection position at different angles. Meanwhile, a domed reflective surface 441 may be provided on one side of the lighting frame. The dome-shaped reflective surface 441 is configured such that the light irradiated from the dome lighting unit 437, which will be described later, is reflected by the dome-shaped reflective surface 441 and then reaches the inspection position.

The coaxial illumination unit 431 is configured to irradiate light along the same optical axis as the optical axis through which the image sensor module 420 acquires an image. The coaxial lighting unit 431 may be provided on one side of the aforementioned lighting frame 440 and may be configured to emit light in a direction perpendicular to the aforementioned coaxial lighting unit.

A beam splitter 432 may be provided at a point where an optical path of the coaxial lighting unit 431 and an optical axis of the lens module 410 meet. The beam splitter 432 may be configured to pass light from the inspection position toward the lens module 410 and reflect light emitted from the coaxial lighting unit 431 to be directed to the inspection position.

The fiber lighting unit 433 is provided with a light source 435 on one side so as to generate a greater amount of light than other lighting units, and a plurality of optical fibers penetrating the lighting frame 440 from the light source 435 and having one end exposed to the inside. It can be configured to include. A plurality of optical fibers 436 disposed along one circular path may constitute a bundle and be connected to the light source 435 .

The fiber lighting unit 433 may include a first fiber lighting unit 433 and a second fiber lighting unit 434 having different diameters of circular paths at which ends are disposed. Here, the first fiber lighting unit 433 and the second fiber lighting unit 434 refer to portions of the optical fiber bundle that are exposed to the lighting frame 440 in a circular path. The first fiber lighting unit 433 may be disposed along a circular path having a smaller diameter than the second fiber lighting unit 434 .

The first fiber lighting unit 433 and the second fiber lighting unit 434 may each be connected to a light source 435 capable of generating a large amount of light. Referring to FIG. 5, as an example, two light sources 435 are provided on both left and right sides of the lens module 410, respectively, through a plurality of optical fibers 436, the first fiber lighting unit 433 and the second Light may be transmitted to the fiber lighting unit 434 . Accordingly, light can be selectively irradiated along circular paths of different diameters. However, the arrangement and number of the optical fibers 436 are only examples and may be modified and applied in various numbers and combinations.

The dome lighting unit 437 is configured to radiate light to the aforementioned dome-shaped reflective surface 441 and may be disposed along a circular path. The light irradiation direction of the dome lighting unit 437 is irradiated while looking in the opposite direction to the inspection position, and is reflected on the dome-shaped reflective surface 441 so that the light reaches the inspection position.

The inclined lighting units 438 and 439 are configured to emit light at an angle toward the inspection position. The oblique lighting unit may include a first oblique lighting unit 438 and a second oblique lighting unit 439 that emit light at different angles from the inspection position.

The first oblique lighting unit 438 may be configured to emit light at a greater angle than the second oblique lighting unit 439 to the inspection position. The first oblique lighting unit 438 and the second oblique lighting unit 439 may be respectively provided on cutting surfaces configured with different inclinations on the lighting frame 440 . The first oblique lighting unit 438 and the second oblique lighting unit 439 each form a circular path along the cutting surface, and may be configured to radiate light while enclosing the inspection position. Meanwhile, a translucent plate 442 made of a semi-transparent material may be provided adjacent to the first oblique lighting unit so that light emitted from the first oblique lighting unit 438 emits surface light.

The aforementioned coaxial lighting unit 431, the dome lighting unit 437, the first inclined lighting unit 438, and the second inclined lighting unit 439 may be composed of LEDs. The dome lighting unit 437, the first inclined lighting unit 438, and the second inclined lighting unit 439 are composed of a plurality of LEDs and may be provided on the lighting frame 440 along a rotationally symmetric path.

In addition, the upper surface lighting unit 430 may select one or more of the coaxial lighting unit 431, the fiber lighting unit 433, the dome lighting unit 437, and the oblique lighting unit to obtain an image in a state in which light is irradiated. For example, one lighting unit may be selected, or a plurality of lighting units may be operated simultaneously to emit light and acquire an image.

Meanwhile, as described above, the lower surface inspection module also includes a coaxial lighting unit, a fiber lighting unit, a dome lighting unit, and an oblique lighting unit like the upper surface inspection module, and may also include a camera.

As described above, the secondary battery appearance inspection device according to the present invention can acquire an image of 180 degrees or more when the side inspection module takes one shot, and corrects the acquired image to generate one continuous image more quickly. The external appearance of the secondary battery can be inspected. In addition, it is possible to more accurately determine defects in the appearance of the secondary battery by irradiating light in various combinations.

1: secondary battery appearance inspection device
1000: secondary battery
100: first side inspection module 200: second side inspection module
110: side camera
120: light path changing unit 121: light path changing unit fixing unit
130 case 131 side wall
132: entrance wall
134: exit wall 135: exit
140: side lighting unit 141: light emitting module
150: seating part
160: mirror 170: mirror support
301: guide rail
310: first transfer unit 320: second transfer unit
330: third transfer unit 340: first inverter
341: first gripper 342: first rotation driving unit
350: second inverter 351: first gripper
352: second rotation drive unit
400: upper and lower inspection module
401: upper surface inspection module 402: lower surface inspection module

Claims (17)

a side inspection module configured to acquire an image for inspecting a side of the secondary battery in which the transferred secondary battery is seated in a lying position in the longitudinal direction;
an upper and lower surface inspection module provided to face each other at both sides of the secondary battery in a longitudinal direction at an upper and lower surface inspection position where the secondary battery is transported; and
A transfer unit configured to transfer the secondary battery between the side inspection module and the upper and lower inspection modules;
The side inspection module,
a seating portion configured to seat the secondary battery at a side inspection position;
a side lighting unit configured to radiate light to the secondary battery seated at the side inspection position;
a pair of mirrors provided symmetrically on both sides in a lateral direction about the side inspection position; and
A side camera configured to capture an area including the secondary battery seated in the seating part and the pair of mirrors from an upper side of the side inspection position,
The side camera acquires an image in which half of the side surface of the secondary battery directly exposed to the camera and at least a part of the area not directly exposed to the side camera reflected by the mirror appear together in one shot,
The side inspection module,
a first side inspection module for acquiring an image in a state in which the secondary battery is seated in a first posture; and
A second side inspection module configured to acquire the side image in a state in which the secondary battery is seated in a second posture reversed from the first posture,
An inverter provided between the first side inspection module and the second side inspection module and configured to reverse the secondary battery transferred from the first side inspection module;
The second side inspection module is configured to obtain the side image by receiving the secondary battery in an inverted state from the inverter. delete According to claim 1,
The side inspection module includes a case configured such that the side inspection area is provided inside,
The external appearance inspection device of the secondary battery provided on the inner surface of the side lighting unit. According to claim 3,
The side lighting part,
A secondary battery appearance inspection device comprising light emitting modules arranged in a plurality of rows along the longitudinal direction of the secondary battery in which it is seated. According to claim 4,
The side camera,
Appearance inspection device of a secondary battery, wherein the side lighting unit is controlled to acquire an image when a plurality of columns of the light emitting module are simultaneously operated to irradiate light to the secondary battery. According to claim 5,
The side camera,
Appearance inspection device of a secondary battery controlled to acquire a side image of the secondary battery whenever the light emitting module in which the side lighting unit is operated is switched. According to claim 5,
Further comprising an image processing unit for processing the image obtained from the side camera,
The image processing unit,
Among the images obtained from the side camera, a first region in which the secondary battery is directly photographed and a second region in which the secondary battery is captured and reflected in the mirror are distinguished,
An external appearance inspection device for a secondary battery configured to generate a single image by synthesizing the first area and the second area. delete delete delete delete According to claim 5,
The case includes an inlet and an outlet configured to allow the secondary battery to pass through the case along the longitudinal direction. According to claim 12,
the attachment part,
Appearance inspection device for a secondary battery configured such that the secondary battery can be seated in a longitudinal direction on a straight line connecting the inlet and the outlet. According to claim 12,
The side camera,
It is configured to obtain an image of the upper half of the side surface of the secondary battery seated on the seating part from the upper side,
Wherein the mirror is arranged to reflect a part of the lower half of the secondary battery seated on the seating portion to obtain an image from the upper side of the seating portion. According to claim 14,
The camera includes a lens configured to be able to adjust the focal length,
The camera is configured to adjust the focal length when acquiring an image of the upper half of the secondary battery seated on the seating part and an image reflected in the mirror. According to claim 15,
the lens,
Appearance inspection device of a secondary battery that adjusts the focal length longer when capturing the image reflected in the mirror than when acquiring the image of the upper half. According to claim 5,
The secondary battery appearance inspection device configured to support an area corresponding to an angle within 150 degrees of the circumference of the secondary battery.

Images