KR20150104765A - Apparatus for Controlling of Video signal in Vision inspection Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an image signal control device for a vision inspection device comprising: a stage to support an object to be inspected; one or more lighting units to irradiate light to the object; a main camera installed in the upper part of the stage to photograph an image of the object and then to output a main image signal; a plurality of sub cameras installed in the upper part of the stage and arranged around the main camera while facing each other to output a plurality of sub image signals; one or more multiplexers receiving the main image signal or the sub image signals through the plurality of sub cameras and a plurality of input lines, selecting one among the main image signal and the sub image signals, and then transmitting the image signal through one output line; one or more image grabbers to output a digital image signal converted from the image signal transmitted through the main camera or the output line of the multiplexers as a digital signal; and an image processing device to image-processing and outputting the digital image signal outputted from the image grabbers. The present invention reduces a number of the expensive image grabbers by selecting one among the plurality of image signals transmitted from the plurality of cameras using the multiplexers in a vision inspection device using the plurality of cameras and transmitting the selected image signal to the image grabbers through one output line; thereby reducing complexity and costs on the building of the vision inspection device.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a video signal control apparatus for a vision inspection apparatus,

The present invention relates to a video signal control apparatus for a vision inspection apparatus, and more particularly, to a vision inspection apparatus using a plurality of cameras using a minimum image grabber using a multiplexer, And more particularly, to a video signal control apparatus for a vision inspection apparatus capable of reducing the number of video signals.

With the rapid development of information and communication, there is a demand for technology to make electronic devices such as mobile phones, notebooks, smart phones, and tablet PCs smaller, lighter, and more functional. In order to realize the demands of these technologies, it is necessary to build an overall infrastructure for high-density integration that can produce not only miniaturization and high integration of electronic parts mounted in electronic devices, but also proper mounting equipments, operation technology, inspection technology, The mounting element technology became necessary.

Among them, the vision inspection analyzes an image of a chip moving at a high speed using a camera to judge whether or not there is a defect in the appearance of the product. In general, the vision test acquires and analyzes images within a short time of 10 to 20 msec. If the vision inspection time is delayed, the production time is delayed and the productivity is lowered. Therefore, there is a need for a vision inspection technology for accurately judging whether or not the appearance of the product is defective within a short period of time.

Such a vision inspection apparatus generally includes a lighting device for illuminating a light toward a subject to be inspected, a camera for photographing the illuminated inspection object, and a screen photographed by the camera, And a discriminating means for discriminating a discrimination result.

In the case of a lighting device and a camera, usually, a light source is disposed on the opposite side of the object to be inspected, and light is irradiated toward the object to be inspected and the illuminated object is photographed. The distinguishing means outputs a screen shot by the camera, And it is determined whether the object to be inspected is manufactured in the correct state.

The vision inspection apparatus includes a main camera and a plurality of sub cameras. The vision inspection apparatus includes a main camera and a plurality of sub cameras. The vision inspection apparatus includes a grabber that converts an image of an inspection object into a digital value to visually recognize the image, ) Can be connected to each camera.

As a prior art document, Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0064381 (published on July 09, 2008) discloses a description of a soldering apparatus and method in which the grapple sequence is changed.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a solder testing apparatus in which a grapple sequence is changed according to an embodiment of the prior art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional solder inspecting apparatus 10 is an apparatus for detecting an error in soldering by continuously photographing an image in units of one or more frames. The apparatus includes a camera 11, a grabber 12, More than two lights 13, a lighting control unit 14, and a processor 15. [

Such a solder inspection apparatus can reduce one illumination setting time per frame because the image is grabbed using the first illumination after moving the last illumination from the previous frame in the previous frame to the next frame.

Since a grabber usually operates on a PC basis, only one grabber can be connected to a single camera in a structured way. If the vision inspection apparatus uses one main camera and four sub cameras, five grabbers are required since a grabber must be installed for each camera.

On the other hand, when the vision inspection apparatus uses a dual base type grabber, the dual base type grabber has two input terminals, so that two analog video signals can be input and processed as digital video signals.

Accordingly, when the conventional vision inspection apparatus uses a dual base type grabber, three grabbers must be installed when one main camera and three sub cameras are used.

As described above, the conventional vision inspection apparatus requires a grabber as many as the number of cameras to be used or at least three grabbers when five cameras are used. Therefore, a large amount of cost is required to construct the system and the system construction is complicated, The digital image is transmitted to the processor. Therefore, the processor can not compare many images at one time or determine whether the image is defective, so that it takes much processing time.

In the vision inspection apparatus using a plurality of cameras, a specific image signal is selected from a plurality of image signals transmitted from a plurality of cameras using a multiplexer, and transmitted to an image grabber through one output line, A video signal control apparatus of a vision inspection apparatus capable of reducing the complexity and cost of construction of a vision inspection apparatus by reducing the number of image grabbers is provided.

Among the embodiments, the video signal control device of the vision inspection device includes: a stage supporting the object to be inspected; At least one illuminating device for illuminating the object to be inspected; A main camera installed on an upper portion of the stage to capture an image of the object to be inspected and output a main image signal; A plurality of sub cameras installed on the stage and arranged to face each other around the main camera to output a plurality of sub video signals; The main video signal or a plurality of sub video signals are input through the plurality of sub cameras and a plurality of input lines and one video signal is selected from the main video signal or a plurality of sub video signals, At least one multiplexer for transmitting through; At least one image grabber for outputting the image signal transmitted through an output line of the main camera or the multiplexer to a digital image signal converted into a digital signal; And an image processing device for image processing and outputting the digital image signal output from the image grabber.

The plurality of sub cameras include a first sub-camera and a second sub-camera which are disposed to face each other on the right and left sides of the main camera; And a third sub-camera and a fourth sub-camera which are disposed to face each other on upper and lower sides of the main camera, wherein the multiplexer includes a first multiplexer connected to the first sub- ; And a second multiplexer connected to the second sub-camera and the fourth sub-camera via an input line.

Wherein the image grabber comprises: a first image grabber for outputting a digital video signal converted from a video signal transmitted from the main camera or the first multiplexer; And a second image grabber converting a video signal transmitted from the second multiplexer into a digital signal and outputting the digital signal as a digital video signal.

The video signal control apparatus of the vision inspection apparatus of the present invention is a vision inspection apparatus using a plurality of cameras, in which a specific video signal is selected from a plurality of video signals transmitted from a plurality of cameras using a multiplexer, The number of expensive image grabbers can be reduced by reducing the number of expensive image grabbers by reducing the complexity and cost of construction of the vision inspection apparatus and simultaneously obtaining a plurality of images in the shortest time in the image processing apparatus, Since the inspection can be discriminated, the processing time of the image processing apparatus can be shortened.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a solder testing apparatus in which a grapple sequence is changed according to an embodiment of the prior art.
2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a video signal control apparatus of a vision inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The description of the present invention is merely an example for structural or functional explanation, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited by the embodiments described in the text. That is, the embodiments are to be construed as being variously embodied and having various forms, so that the scope of the present invention should be understood to include equivalents capable of realizing technical ideas. Also, the purpose or effect of the present invention should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention, since it does not mean that a specific embodiment should include all or only such effect.

Meanwhile, the meaning of the terms described in the present invention should be understood as follows.

The terms "first "," second ", and the like are intended to distinguish one element from another, and the scope of the right should not be limited by these terms. For example, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as a first component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected to the other element, but there may be other elements in between. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. On the other hand, other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

It should be understood that the singular " include "or" have "are to be construed as including a stated feature, number, step, operation, component, It is to be understood that the combination is intended to specify that it does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

All terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs, unless otherwise defined. Commonly used predefined terms should be interpreted to be consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and can not be interpreted as having ideal or overly formal meaning unless explicitly defined in the present invention.

2 is a diagram for explaining a configuration of a video signal control apparatus of a vision inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the video signal control apparatus of the vision inspection apparatus includes a stage 110, at least one lighting device 120, a main camera 130, a plurality of sub cameras 140, at least one multiplexer 150, At least one image grabber 160, and an image processing device 170.

The stage 110 supports the object to be inspected 101 and moves the object to be inspected 101 to the inspection position while moving under the control of the image processing apparatus 170.

The lighting device 120 irradiates the inspection object 101 supported by the stage 110 with light. The lighting device 120 may be disposed between the four sub cameras 140 as shown in FIG. 2 and may include four lighting devices. The lighting apparatus 120 illuminates the inspection object 101 in different directions at regular intervals to provide an optical environment in which the main camera 130 or the sub camera 140 can capture images. The lighting device 120 may include a variable number of lights, such as two, three, or six.

Such a luminaire 120 may include a light source and a filter to convert it to various types of illumination, including a Moiré grid pattern.

The main camera 130 is installed on the stage 110 to capture an image of the object to be inspected 101 and output a main image signal. The main camera 130 is disposed perpendicular to the reference plane of the stage 110.

The plurality of sub cameras 140 are installed on the stage 110 and are arranged at an angle with respect to the reference plane of the stage 110. In addition, a plurality of sub cameras 140 are arranged around the main camera 130 so as to face each other and output a plurality of sub video signals.

For example, the first sub-camera 141 and the second sub-camera 142 are disposed to face each other on the left and right sides of the main camera 130, and the third sub-camera 143 and the fourth sub- And are disposed on the upper and lower sides of the main camera 130 so as to face each other. The first to fourth sub cameras 144 may be disposed on the same concentric circle centering on the main camera 130.

The at least one multiplexer 150 receives main video signals or a plurality of sub video signals through the respective sub cameras 141, 142, 143, and 144 and four input lines, and outputs a main video signal or a plurality of sub video signals And transmits the selected image signal to the image grabber 160 through one output line.

For example, the first multiplexer 151 is connected to the first sub-camera 141 and the third sub-camera 143 through an input line, the second multiplexer 152 is connected to the second sub- Camera 144 and the input line. That is, the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152 do not connect the two sub-cameras 140 disposed on the same vertical line or horizontal line with the input line, but connect one sub- The camera 140 and one sub-camera 140 disposed on the horizontal line are connected by an input line.

Accordingly, the first multiplexer 151 selects only one sub video signal out of the first sub video signal outputted from the first sub camera 141 and the third sub video signal outputted from the third sub camera 143, Line to the image grabber 160 through the line.

The second multiplexer 152 selects only one sub video signal out of the second sub video signal outputted from the second sub camera 142 and the fourth sub video signal outputted from the fourth sub camera 144 and outputs an output line To the image grabber 160.

At this time, the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152 can select the sub video signal in the first-in first-out mode and are connected to the video processor 170 via the control line, and are controlled by the video processor 170 It is possible to select any one of the sub video signals.

The image grabber 160 converts the main video signal transmitted through the output lines of the main camera 130, the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152, the first through fourth sub video signals into digital signals And outputs the digital image signal to the image processing apparatus 170.

The image grabber 160 includes a first image grabber 161 and a second multiplexer 152 that output a digital image signal converted from a video signal transmitted from the main camera 130 or the first multiplexer 151 to a digital signal, And a second image grabber 162 for converting a video signal transmitted from the first video signal into a digital signal and outputting the digital signal as a digital video signal. At this time, the first image grabber 161 receives the main video signal output from the main camera 130 and the sub video signal output from the first multiplexer 151 with a slight parallax.

Here, the second image grabber 162 may be connected to the main camera 130 or the second multiplexer 152, and the first image grabber 161 may be connected to the first multiplexer 151.

The image processor 170 processes the digital image signal output from the first image grabber 161 or the second image grabber 162 and outputs the digital image signal. The image processing apparatus 170 controls operations of the stage 110, the lighting apparatus 120, the main camera 130, the plurality of sub cameras 140, the multiplexer 150, and the image grabber 160 as a whole.

The image processing apparatus 170 can output the inspection image of the inspection object to the display means (not shown) by using the image signals picked up by the main camera 130 and the first to fourth sub cameras 144 And it is possible to judge whether there is a defect through the inspection image outputted to the display means.

The operation of the video signal control apparatus of the vision inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described.

The first sub video signal and the third sub video signal outputted from the first sub camera 141 and the third sub camera 143 are inputted to the first multiplexer 151 through the respective input lines and inputted to the first multiplexer 151 151 select one of the first sub video signal and the third sub video signal and transmit the selected sub video signal to the first image grabber 161 through the output line.

The main image signal output from the main camera 130 is transmitted to the first image grabber 161.

The first image grabber 161 converts a main video signal and a sub video signal input through the first multiplexer 151 into a digital video signal and transmits the digital video signal to the video processor 170. At this time, since the main image signal and the sub image signal are input with a slight time difference, the first image grabber 161 can digitally convert the main image signal and the sub image signal, respectively.

The second sub video signal and the fourth sub video signal output from the second sub camera 142 and the fourth sub camera 144 are input to the second multiplexer 152 through the respective input lines, The multiplexer 152 selects one of the sub video signals of the second sub video signal and the fourth sub video signal and transmits the selected sub video signal to the second image grabber 162 through the output line.

The second image grabber 162 converts the sub video signal input through the second multiplexer 152 into a digital video signal and transmits the digital video signal to the video processor 170.

Accordingly, the image processing apparatus 170 compares the image of the object inputted in advance with the image of the object to be inspected inputted through the image grabber 160 to discriminate the good or bad of the object to be inspected.

In this way, the image processing apparatus 170 allows both the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152 to operate when the vision inspection apparatus uses all five cameras.

The vision inspection apparatus can be configured to use the main camera 130, the two sub cameras 140, the three sub cameras 140, or the four sub cameras 140 in order to take an image of the object to be inspected at various angles , The inspection object is photographed without forming a dead zone within the shooting range of each of the cameras 130 and 140, and a video signal is output.

For example, the vision inspection apparatus uses a first sub-camera 141 and a second sub-camera 142 which are arranged to face each other on the right and left sides of three cameras, that is, the main camera 130 and the main camera 130, A third sub camera 143 and a fourth sub camera 144 which are arranged to face each other on the upper and lower sides of the main camera 130 and the main camera 130 may be used. At this time, if only the main camera 130 and the two sub cameras 140 are used, the image processing apparatus 170 stops the multiplexing function of the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152, and the first multiplexer 151 and the second multiplexer 152 perform only a switching function of transferring the sub video signals of the respective sub cameras 140 to the image grabber 160.

In general, a vision inspection apparatus using five cameras requires one image grabber per camera, so that five image grabbers are required. However, the video signal control apparatus of the vision inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes two multiplexers The two image grabbers 161 and 162 are used by using the two image grabbers 151 and 152, respectively.

Therefore, the video signal control apparatus of the vision inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention can easily construct the camera connection structure of the vision inspection apparatus, and the number of expensive image grabbers can be reduced, thereby reducing the construction cost. In addition, when three cameras or five cameras are shot once, the image processing apparatus can acquire three digital image images at the same time, so that it is possible to compare a plurality of image images in the shortest time, .

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

110: stage 120: illuminator
130: main camera 140: plural sub cameras
150: multiplexer 160: image grabber
170: Image processing device

Claims (3)

A stage for supporting the object to be inspected;
At least one illuminating device for illuminating the object to be inspected;
A main camera installed on an upper portion of the stage to capture an image of the object to be inspected and output a main image signal;
A plurality of sub cameras installed on the stage and arranged to face each other around the main camera to output a plurality of sub video signals;
The main video signal or a plurality of sub video signals are input through the plurality of sub cameras and a plurality of input lines and one video signal is selected from the main video signal or a plurality of sub video signals, At least one multiplexer for transmitting through;
At least one image grabber for outputting the image signal transmitted through an output line of the main camera or the multiplexer to a digital image signal converted into a digital signal; And
And an image processing device for image-processing and outputting the digital image signal output from the image grabber.
The method according to claim 1,
The plurality of sub cameras include a first sub camera and a second sub camera installed to face each other on the right and left sides of the main camera; And a third sub-camera and a fourth sub-camera which are installed to face each other on the upper and lower sides of the main camera,
The multiplexer comprising: a first multiplexer coupled to the first sub-camera and the third sub-camera via an input line; And a second multiplexer connected to the second sub-camera and the fourth sub-camera via an input line.
3. The method of claim 2,
The image grabber
A first image grabber for outputting a digital video signal converted from a video signal transmitted from the main camera or the first multiplexer; And
And a second image grabber converting a video signal transmitted from the second multiplexer into a digital signal and outputting the digital signal as a digital video signal.

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