JPH01291110A - Inspection instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably hold and carry an object to be inspected by executing an intermittent rotation in one direction, and also, providing an induction turntable on which plural inspected object placing pedestals are arranged at a prescribed interval extending over the whole outside peripheral edge. CONSTITUTION:An object to be inspected 1 is placed on pedestals 7 which are arranged extending over the whole outside peripheral edge of an induction turntable 10 for executing an intermittent rotation, and the pedestal 7 is used as an inspecting station and stops successively at every part where illuminating equipments 11 (11a-11g) and image pickup devices 12 (12a-12g) are provided, by following up am intermittent rotation of the table 6, and the surface to be inspected of is irradiated by the equipment 11, and brought to image pickup by the device 12. The object to be inspected which is placed on the pedestal 7 is held by a roller 9 and the table 10, and rotated itself. A supply of the object to be inspected to the table 6 and its collection are executed by a star wheel 5, and the object to be inspected which is collected by the wheel 5 is sorted to a defective and a non-defective by a sorting device 19 which response to a failure signal from an image processor 22 which has processed an image signal of the device 12.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to the appearance, dimensions, presence or absence of defects, etc. of mainly plate-shaped products and cylindrical products such as pharmaceuticals (vials, ampoules) and foods (drinking water). The present invention relates to an inspection device that performs inspection.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, various inspection devices have been proposed for inspecting the presence or absence of foreign matter in ampoules or vials. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-11416, a transparent container filled with liquid is rotated at high speed, then suddenly stopped, the transparent container is irradiated with a light beam, and a photodetector receives the light from the opposite side. An inspection device is disclosed that detects the presence of foreign matter that continues to float and rotate together with the content liquid based on the amount. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-183351 discloses that while the ampoule is held by a pair of upper and lower holders of the inspection drum, the ampoule is rotated at high speed around its axis, and then stopped, and the ampoule is rotated in a predetermined direction. An ampoule inspection device is disclosed that inspects non-defective products and defective products while irradiating transmitted light from the ampoule and capturing images with a television camera.

In addition, in order to inspect the vial, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the vial 40 is held in an oblique position with a pair of bars 4
41 and rotate the vial 40 from below using the rotating roll 42.
There is an inspection device on the market that allows a large number of vials 40 to be lined up in a row while rotating the vials 40 while being brought into contact with the side surface of the tube, continuously transported to an inspection section, and visually inspected.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The above-mentioned JP-A-57-11416 and JP-A-59-
In the inspection device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 183351, in order to rotate and transport transparent containers and ampoules, it is necessary to grip them with holders from above and below.

For this reason, the ampoule could not be inspected from above or below, and therefore the entire surface could not be visually inspected. In addition, the holders and the like get in the way, making it impossible to bring the illumination device close to the objects to be inspected and provide high-intensity, homogeneous illumination over the entire surface, making it difficult to perform highly accurate inspections.

In addition, in the conveyance form shown in FIGS. 6 and 7,
Since the vial 40 is held on the side, inspection cannot be performed with that holding portion, and because the vial 40 is not gripped sufficiently, there is a risk that the vial 40 may shake during the inspection.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an inspection device that can stably grip and transport an object to be inspected, and can perform highly accurate full-surface inspection under uniform illumination conditions.

[Means for solving problems]

The inspection conveyance device of the present invention includes an index turntable that performs intermittent rotation in one direction and has a plurality of test object mounting bases arranged at regular intervals over the entire outer periphery; a disc turntable that is arranged concentrically on the upper part and rotates, and whose outer circumferential surface contacts the circumferential surface near the bottom of the object placed on the pedestal to rotate the object to be inspected; and the index turntable. They are provided outside the disk turntable and on both sides of the pedestal so as to be able to approach and separate from each other with the object to be inspected placed on the pedestal in between, and the outer circumferential surface is a circumferential surface near the bottom of the object to be inspected. a pair of rollers that partially overlap with the index turntable, and in conjunction with the intermittent rotation of the index turntable, index the object to be inspected at a first intersection with the index turntable. a star foil that is supplied to the turntable and retrieves the object to be inspected from the index turntable at a second intersection; A plurality of illumination devices arranged at each stop position and illuminating the inspection target surface of the object to be inspected placed on a pedestal, and imaging the inspection target surface of the inspection object illuminated by each of these illumination devices. a plurality of imaging devices that output image signals by processing the image signals, an image processing device that processes the image signals output from the imaging devices and generates a defective signal of the object to be inspected, and is provided near the star foil; The apparatus is equipped with a sorting device that selects defective products from among the inspected objects collected by the star foil in response to the defect signal.

[Effect]

According to this invention, the objects to be inspected are placed on the pedestals arranged over the entire outer periphery of the index turntable that rotates intermittently. The above-mentioned pedestal serves as an inspection station, and as the index turntable rotates intermittently, it stops sequentially for each part where the illumination device and imaging device are installed. The surface is illuminated and imaged with an imaging device. At this time, the object to be inspected placed on the pedestal is held by a pair of rollers and a disc turntable on its circumferential surface near the bottom, and is rotated by rotation of the disc turntable.

The object to be inspected is supplied to and recovered from the index turntable using a star foil. That is, the star foil is provided so as to partially overlap the index turntable, and the test object is supplied and recovered at the first and second intersections thereof, respectively.

The objects to be inspected collected by the star foil are sorted into defective items and non-defective items by a sorting device that responds to a defective signal from an image processing device that has processed the image signal from the imaging device.

〔Example〕

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of the inspection device in this embodiment, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the transport mechanism of the object to be inspected in this inspection device, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the holding mechanism of the object to be inspected. FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view.

The inspection apparatus of this embodiment uses a vial as an inspection object, and as shown in FIG. 1, a rectifying table 3 is provided at the tip of a supply conveyor 2 that supplies an inspection object 1. A screw feeder 4 is connected via a rectifying table 3. The straightening table 3 aligns the objects 1 to be inspected in a line, and transfers the objects 1 to the screw feeder 4 . The screw feeder 4 sequentially transfers the objects 1 to be inspected to the star foil 5 at predetermined intervals.

The star wheel 5 rotates intermittently in one direction, and
As shown in the figure, conveyance pockets 5 are placed at predetermined intervals around the circumference.
A is provided, and the object to be inspected l is held in this transport pocket 5a. The star wheel 5 partially overlaps the index turntable 6 and rotates intermittently in conjunction with the index turntable 6.

The index turntable 6 has, over its entire circumference, a plurality of pedestals 7 for placing objects to be inspected, which protrude in the radial direction from the outer periphery, as shown in FIG. This pedestal 7 is made of a material with low frictional resistance, such as ceramics, in consideration of the slipperiness of the rotating test object 1. A pair of arms 8, 8 are arranged on both sides of the pedestal 7. The upper surface of the tip of the arm 8゜8 has an outer circumferential surface that is
Rollers 9, 9 are attached to contact the peripheral surface of.

The arms 8.8 are attached such that their distal ends can move toward and away from each other, and a spring 16 is stretched between these distal ends to bias the rollers 9, 9 toward each other.

Further, above the index turntable 6, there is provided a disc turntable 10 which is concentric with the index turntable 6 and has a radius larger than that of the index turntable 6 (the outer peripheral surface thereof is in contact with the object 1 to be inspected). For this reason,
The object to be inspected 1 is held by rollers 9, 9 and a disk turntable 10 on its circumferential surface near its bottom, and is rotated by the rotation of the disk turntable 10.

The object to be inspected 1 is supplied from the star foil 5 to the pedestal 7, as shown in FIG. When approaching the intersection 17, the object 1 to be inspected is placed on the pedestal 7 by spreading the gap between the pair of rollers 9.9, and then the index turntable 6 starts intermittent rotation and starts. The object to be inspected 1 is separated from the foil 5.

The index turntable 6 is in the form of a disc that rotates intermittently in one direction, and repeats stopping and rotating at regular intervals, and each pedestal 7 serving as an inspection station has a stop position as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG.
a to l1g and imaging devices 12a to 12g (line sensor cameras, etc.) are arranged. Each of the illumination devices 11a to fig uniformly illuminates different surfaces to be inspected of the object to be inspected 1, and images of each surface to be inspected are captured by the imaging devices 12a to 12g.

When the object 1 to be inspected is a vial, the top surface of the cap, the side surface of the head, the side surface of the shoulder of the container, the side surface, the surface of the contents, the bottom surface, etc. can be inspected. It can be selected as appropriate depending on the purpose.

FIG. 4(A) shows the position of the imaging device 12a for inspecting the side surface of the object 1 to be inspected, and images are taken through a mirror 14a provided in front of the object 1 to be inspected. Further, in FIG. 4(B), the arrow 30 indicates the image pickup device 12 in FIG. 4(A).
This is the inspection line according to a. Figure 5 (A) shows the object to be inspected 1.
The position of the imaging device 12b for inspecting the bottom surface of the object 1 is shown, and the image is captured through a slit 15 provided at the bottom of the pedestal 7 on which the object 1 to be inspected is placed, and via lower mirrors 14b and 14C. Further, in FIG. 5(B), an arrow 31 is an inspection line by the imaging device 12b of FIG. 5(A).

In this way, the object to be inspected 1 is gripped by the pair of rollers 9.
9 and the disk turntable IO sandwich the circumferential surface near the bottom of the object 1 to be inspected, and since the object 1 to be inspected is rotated by rotation of the disk turntable 10, the grip of the object 1 to be inspected is stable. At the same time, since any surface to be inspected of the object 1 to be inspected can be uniformly illuminated from any required direction with high brightness, it is possible to inspect the entire surface.

The inspected object 1 that has been inspected at each inspection station is
As shown in FIG. 2, the object 1 to be inspected is received by the transport pocket 5a of the star foil 5 at the second intersection 18, and then the star foil 5 rotates intermittently in the direction to take out the object 1 to be inspected. to separate from *The inspection object 1 collected in the transport pocket 5a is sorted by the sorting device 19 into 20 non-defective items.
and defective products 21. That is, as shown in FIG. gate 23
(see FIG. 2), the non-defective product 20 is discharged from the star foil 5 by the non-defective product discharge belt 24, and is conveyed to the next process by the non-defective product discharge conveyor 25.

On the other hand, if the defective product is determined to be defective, the gate 23 is closed in response to the defective signal, the defective product is allowed to pass through, and is discharged by the defective product discharge conveyor 26.

In this way, from the screw feeder 4 to the star foil 5
The object 1 to be inspected is placed on the pedestal 7 of the index turntable 6, and after inspection, the same star foil 5
Since the inspected objects 1 are collected by the sorting device 19 and sorted by the sorting device 19, the device can be made more compact and the inspected objects 1 can be transported stably.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to this invention, the object to be inspected is intermittently transferred to the pedestal of the index turntable via the star foil, and after being inspected, the object to be inspected is recovered by the same star foil,
Since the sorting is performed using a sorting device, the entire device can be made compact and the objects to be inspected can be transported stably.

In addition, since a pair of rollers and a disc turntable grip the peripheral surface near the bottom of the object to be inspected, and the rotation of the disk turntable causes the object to be inspected to rotate, the grip of the object to be inspected is stable and Since any surface of the object to be inspected can be illuminated uniformly with high brightness from the necessary direction, highly accurate full-surface inspection is possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing its conveyance mechanism, FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing a gripping mechanism for an object to be inspected, and FIG. A) and (B)
5(A) and (B) are schematic side views and bottom views showing the imaging mechanism for the bottom surface of the object to be inspected, and FIGS. FIG. 7 is a side view and a front view showing a holding device for an object to be inspected in a conventional visual appearance inspection mechanism. 1...Object to be inspected, 4-screw feeder, 5-.-
Star foil, 6... - index turntable, 7 - pedestal, 9... roller, 10 - disc turntable, lla to l1g - lighting device, 12a to 12g.
~Image device, 19-... Sorting device, 22-Image processing device ) 414°Figure 7

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An induction turntable that performs intermittent rotation in one direction and has a plurality of test object mounting pedestals arranged at regular intervals along the entire outer periphery; a disk turntable that is arranged in a shape and rotates, and whose outer circumferential surface contacts the peripheral surface near the bottom of the object placed on the pedestal to rotate the object to be inspected; They are provided outside the disk turntable and on both sides of the pedestal so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, with the object to be inspected sandwiched therebetween, and the outer circumferential surface contacts the circumferential surface near the bottom of the object to be inspected. a pair of rollers that partially overlap the index turntable and move the object to be inspected onto the index turntable at a first intersection with the index turntable in conjunction with the intermittent rotation of the index turntable; a star foil that supplies the object to be inspected and retrieves the object to be inspected from the induction turntable at a second intersection; and a star foil that collects the inspection object from the induction turntable at a second intersection; a plurality of illumination devices arranged on the pedestal and illuminating the inspection target surface of the inspection object placed on a pedestal; and images of the inspection target surface of the inspection object illuminated by each of these illumination devices, respectively. a plurality of imaging devices that output signals; an image processing device that processes the image signals output from the imaging devices to generate a defective signal of the object to be inspected; and a sorting device that selects defective products from among the inspected objects in response to the defect signal.