JPH044492A - Method and device for counting superimposed number of metal plates - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To instantaneously count the superimposed number of metal plates with high accuracy by arithmetically processing the intensity of the light reflected from the side end face of the laminated body of the superimposed metal plates and counting the number of peak values. CONSTITUTION:The output signal of a reflecting light detector 4 is inputted and converted into continuous reflecting light intensity distributions by analog processing, but peaks P1, P2,... appear in the intensity of the reflecting light from the side end face 2a of the laminated body of superimposed metal plates 2 at regular intervals at every metal plate. The intensity of the reflecting light is subjected to Fourier transformation. Since the waveform of this spectral intensity has peak values before and after the representative plate thickness T0 of the metal plates 2, filtering is performed on the waveform of the vector intensity between + or -alpha against the value of the representative plate thickness T0. Then comparison is made between a threshold LSH which is preset by Fourier inverse transformation and the intensity of the reflecting light and the number of peaks exceeding the threshold LSH is outputted to a display device 6 after counting so as to display the number as the number of superimposed metal plates 2. Therefore, the number of superimpose metal plates can be counted easily and accurately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring the number of laminated plates.

<Conventional technology> Conventionally, for example, the method of counting the number of laminated plates in a plate production/processing line such as in the steel industry or non-ferrous metal industry is to measure the stacking height of the plates and calculate the average plate thickness or representative plate. It is generally calculated by dividing by the thickness, or by measuring the total weight and dividing it by the average weight or representative weight of the board.

<Problem to be solved by the invention> However, with the conventional method described above, it is difficult to automatically count the exact number of sheets because the thickness and weight of each sheet varies. Ta. □ In order to eliminate the drawbacks of such conventional methods, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-133883,
A hand that can be opened and closed to capture a plurality of stacked thin plates at the same time, and an image sensor camera that receives reflected light from the end faces of the plurality of thin plates, converts it into an electrical signal, scans it, and converts it into a time-series electrical signal. , the above electric signal is transmitted to each vi
A conversion device that converts the pulse signal into a pulse signal compatible with the J plate, a counting device that counts the pulse signal without contact, and a calculation device that uses this pulse signal to calculate the required movement amount and moves the thin plate until a predetermined set value is reached. A thin plate counting device has been proposed in which a supporting stand or a mounting device for the camera and the hand opening/closing device is relatively moved up and down, and a predetermined number of thin plates are captured by the hand opening/closing device.

However, with this counting device, the image of the image sensor camera may be partially missed due to factors such as uneven shape of the end surface (cut surface) of the plate material and misalignment of the plate materials, resulting in inaccurate counting results. The problem is that it lacks accuracy.

Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 61-286708 discloses a one-dimensional image sensor in which an image of the laminated surface of laminated plate materials is projected by an optical system, and a predetermined angle in the lamination direction with respect to the optical axis of the optical system. an irradiation device that irradiates the laminated surface from a direction in which the laminate is irradiated, a data creation unit that creates a plurality of data containing the intervals between the peaks of the output waveform of the -dimensional image sensor, and an integer of the standard value S that represents the unit thickness of the plate material. A data classification unit that sorts the plurality of data into n types of hierarchies, each set with a predetermined vertical width, and calculates the number of data that can fit into each hierarchy, and performs calculations on the number of data. An apparatus for measuring the number of laminated plates is disclosed, which is characterized by comprising an arithmetic processing circuit having an arithmetic unit for calculating the number χ of plates.

However, with this device, the dropped signal is estimated using the signal generation interval up to the previous time, and the set hierarchy and the actual data hierarchy are compared using the preset unit thickness S of the plate material. By doing so, counting errors are reduced by incorporating complex logic that complements missing signals and removes unnecessary signals. After all, it is inevitable that some counting errors will occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art as described above and to provide a simple and accurate method and apparatus for counting the number of laminated plates.

<Means for Solving the Problems> The present invention processes light from the side surface of laminated plate materials, performs filtering processing, and further performs □−□−1− Fourier inverse transform processing. This is a method for measuring the number of laminated sheets of plate material, which is characterized by counting the number of peaks exceeding a predetermined threshold value of a waveform. A reflected light detector that receives reflected light, a signal conversion means that converts a light signal received by the reflected light detector into an intensity waveform, a Fourier transform processing means, a filtering processing means, a Fourier inverse transform means, and a peak number counting means. This apparatus is characterized in that it is comprised of a signal calculation processor.

<Function> According to the present invention, the plate 1!7. is constant, and the side edges of the stacked plates, that is, the cut surfaces of the plates, are rounded, and the reflection intensity of the light irradiated to the side edges has a peak for each plate +A'. Since this peak appears at certain distances, the reflected light intensity distribution detected by the reflected light detector is subjected to Fourier transformation processing, filtering processing is performed to remove the f, and then Fourier inverse Since the number of peak values exceeding the threshold value is counted after performing the conversion process, the number of laminated sheets can be measured accurately and instantaneously.

<Examples> Examples of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of an embodiment of the laminated sheet number measuring device of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the laminated sheet number measuring device of the present invention has a mount l.
A projector 3 that irradiates light onto the side end surface 2a of the plate material 2 cut into a rectangular planar shape and stacked thereon, and a reflected light detector 4 such as a -dimensional image sensor camera that detects the reflected light. It is comprised of a signal arithmetic processor 5 that performs arithmetic processing on the detected signal, and a display 6 that displays the result of the arithmetic processing LIIi. As shown in FIG. 2, the thickness of every 10 pieces of the stacked plates 2 is approximately constant, and the side end surfaces 2a of the stacked plates 2 are rounded.

Here, the flow of signal arithmetic processing in the signal arithmetic processor 5 will be explained using FIG.

(2) Input the output signal from the reflected light detector 4 and perform analog processing. Since this output signal is a discrete value as shown in Figure 4(a), by applying analog processing,
The reflected light intensity distribution is converted into a continuous reflected light intensity distribution as shown in FIG. 4(b). At this time, the side end surface 2a of the laminated plate materials 2
The light intensity for each board is peak P+ +
P2 + Px + P4. P5... will appear at regular intervals.

(2) Next, the reflected light intensity shown in FIG. 4(L)) is subjected to Fourier transform processing to obtain a spectral intensity waveform as shown in FIG. 4(C).

■ This spectral intensity waveform is representative of plate material 2)VTo
Since it has a peak value before and after, filtering processing is performed on the vector intensity waveform between ±α with respect to the value of the representative plate thickness T, as shown in FIG. 4 ((j)).

■Furthermore, the spectral intensity waveform obtained by the filtering process is subjected to inverse Fourier transform, as shown in Fig. 4(e).
The waveform of the reflected light intensity as shown in is II.

(2) Therefore, a comparison calculation is performed between a pre-given threshold value 5.1 and the intensity of the foul light.

■ Threshold L shown in Figure 4(f) obtained as a result of comparison calculation
The number of peaks exceeding s++ is counted as 4 and output to the display device 6, where it is displayed as the number of laminated sheets.

Therefore, the projector 3 is a lkw mercury lamp, and the reflected light detector 4 is a 4000-pixel MOS-type dimensional image sensor IJ.
-Camera and signal processing TI! l! Width: 800 mm x Length: 800 mm x Hand thickness: 0.25 m
How many pieces of 1000 river cutting boards? As a result, a good result was obtained with a counting error of 1 to 2 sheets.The range of filtering at this time was ±1 of the representative sheet thickness.
0%, that is, ±0.025 mm.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the present invention, the intensity of reflected light reflected from the side end surfaces of the plate materials to be laminated is processed and the number of peak values is increased to four. , it is possible to measure the number of stacked W1 sheets with high precision and instantaneously without using complicated or large-scale equipment as in the past,
Contributes to work efficiency.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a part of laminated plate materials, and Fig. 3 shows the function of the signal processing unit of the present invention. The flowchart shown in FIG. 4 is a characteristic diagram showing the processing state of the reflected light waveform in the signal arithmetic processor. 2... Plate material, 2a... Side end surface, 3...
Floodlight. 4... Reflected light detector, 5... Signal calculation processor. 6...Display device. Patent applicant Kawasaki Steel Corporation Figure 1 Figure 2 Drawing 3 Vertical position from mount 1 Vertical position from mount I Vertical position from mount 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Light is irradiated from the side surface of the laminated plate materials, the intensity waveform of the reflected light is subjected to Fourier transform processing, filtering processing is performed, and further Fourier inverse transform processing is performed,
1. A method for measuring the number of laminated plates, characterized by counting the number of peaks of the obtained waveform exceeding a predetermined threshold. 2. A floodlight that irradiates light onto the side end surfaces of the laminated plates;
A reflected light detector that receives reflected light from the side end surface of the plate material, a signal conversion means that converts a light signal received by the reflected light detector into an intensity waveform, a Fourier transform processing means, a filtering processing means, and an inverse Fourier transform means. 1. An apparatus for measuring the number of laminated sheets of plate material, comprising: a signal calculation processor comprising: and a peak number counting means.