JPH09196645A - Data processing apparatus, data processing method thereof, defect inspection apparatus and inspection method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect an actual defect region from a defect region which is detected so as to be divided fine due to the influence of a signal level expressing a defect. SOLUTION: Extraction data 8 which expresses a defect and its coordinate data 12 are obtained from an input signal 7 and a scanning synchronizing signal 11. In a defect-feature-amount conversion circuit 3, the state of a defect is converted into defect feature amounts 9 as values expressing the state characteristically. In an identity detection circuit 4, the distance between the defect feature amounts 9 is compared so as to be divided into groups. Then, in a defect- feature-amount integration circuit 5, feature amounts which belong to an identical defect region are integrated under a prescribed condition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing apparatus for observing an object surface and a data processing method therefor, and more particularly to a data processing apparatus which should be homogeneous in nature, for example, a surface defect in a drum of a copying machine or a liquid crystal display device. The present invention relates to a defect inspection device and an inspection method for detecting adhesion of dust and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the conventional signal processing of defect inspection data, JP-A-60-95335 and JP-A-63-1801 are used.
As shown at 76, it is common to detect a defective portion by comparing a signal obtained by sequentially scanning the surface of the inspection object two-dimensionally with a preset threshold value. In addition, as a method based on the above concept, the reflected light on the surface to be inspected is received, the abnormal portion and the normal portion are judged based on the level of the obtained signal waveform, and the signal of the abnormal portion is detected as defect data. And convert the extracted defect data into a defect feature amount in accordance with a scanning synchronization signal for scanning the surface of the object (for example, a peak value of a signal waveform as a feature amount representing a defect feature, a time during which a level indicating an abnormality continues). It was converted into width, detection area, etc.). Then, a defect having a peak value of a predetermined value or more, a defect having a continuous time width of a predetermined value or more, or a defect having a detection area of a predetermined value or more, or a combination thereof The defect was determined to be a defect by matching. A conventional example of such a system is shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing signal processing of defect inspection data as a conventional example of the present invention.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, the detection range as a defect extends over many pixels, such as spots and scratches, but the level of the detection signal indicating the defect is small and the influence of noise is small. If the signal level is not negligible, it becomes difficult to detect the entire defect area that actually exists as a defect. Then, although it is actually one defect area, it is detected by being divided into several small defect portions. Therefore, the detection area, which is an important judgment material for judging whether it is a defect, is measured to be considerably smaller than the area of the actual defect area,
There is a problem that a place that should be judged as a defect is mistakenly judged to be non-defective.

Therefore, the present invention is directed to a data processing apparatus, a data processing method therefor, a defect inspection apparatus, and an inspection method therefor capable of detecting an actual defect area from a defect area finely divided and detected by the influence of a signal level representing a defect. For the purpose of providing.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the data processing device of the present invention has the following features.

That is, a data processing device for converting an input signal obtained by scanning an area to be scanned according to a synchronizing signal into a feature amount showing the same feature, wherein the input signal is preset to a predetermined value. State determination means for creating a determination signal for determining the state of the input signal by comparing with the threshold value of, and characteristic data extraction means for extracting characteristic data from the input signal according to the determination signal, and according to the determination signal. A coordinate detecting means for detecting a coordinate from the synchronization signal, and a converting means for converting the extracted feature data and the coordinate into the feature amount, further comparing the feature amount with a predetermined condition set in advance. An associating unit for associating the feature amounts satisfying the predetermined condition with each other, and an integrating unit for integrating the feature amounts according to the association,
It is characterized by having. As a result, the detection portions that are detected as being divided into a plurality of portions that have the same characteristics are integrated based on a predetermined condition.

Further, the coordinate detecting means detects the coordinates at the same time as the extraction of the characteristic data. This speeds up the process and simplifies the device configuration.

Further, as a predetermined condition of the associating means, the positional relationship between the feature amounts is compared. As a result, the defective portion, which is a single portion and is detected by being divided into a plurality of portions, is integrated into one defective area.

Further, the comparison of the positional relationship between the feature amounts is performed by comparing the coordinates of the rectangular area including the feature amounts. As a result, it is possible to easily and quickly determine whether or not there is a proximity using a small storage area.

Further, the maximum value and / or the minimum value of the characteristic data is set as the characteristic amount. In this way, a serious defect of a certain degree is judged as a defective portion regardless of its size.

Further, the areas of the characteristic quantities are compared. Thereby, a defect having a serious size is judged as a defective portion regardless of its degree.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of input signals are obtained in accordance with the synchronizing signal, and the characteristic data are extracted from the input signals and converted into the characteristic amount by the converting means. As a result, a defect that can be detected only in a specific combination of detection circuits is detected.
Then, the type of defect is classified from the data of which detection circuit detected.

Further, the characteristic data is data of a defective portion in the area to be scanned, and the data processing apparatus is a defect inspection apparatus for detecting and integrating a defective area from the area to be scanned. It is characterized by
Here, the scanning target is a developing sleeve, an aluminum drum, a glass substrate, a charging roller, a rubber roller, a magneto-optical disk, a liquid crystal substrate, a liquid crystal display device, a resin film, an OHP.
It is characterized by being a sheet, a printed matter, a copied matter, a lens, an optical mirror, a polygon mirror, or a product having these as components. As a result, defective portions that are the same defective area and are detected by being divided into a plurality of portions are integrated in the same manner as the actual defective area based on a predetermined condition.

In order to achieve the above object, the data processing method of the data processing device of the present invention has the following features.

That is, a data processing method of a data processing device for converting an input signal obtained by scanning an area to be scanned according to a synchronization signal into a feature amount showing the same feature, wherein the input signal is Comparing with a predetermined threshold value set in advance, a state determination step of creating a determination signal for determining the state of the input signal; a characteristic data extraction step of extracting characteristic data from the input signal according to the determination signal; A coordinate detection step of detecting coordinates from the synchronization signal in accordance with the determination signal, and a conversion step of converting the extracted characteristic data and the coordinates into the characteristic amount, further comprising a predetermined amount of the characteristic amount set in advance. An associating step of associating feature quantities that satisfy the predetermined condition with each other and a integrating step of integrating the feature quantities according to the associating are provided. Characterized in that was. This allows
Detecting portions that have the same characteristics but are detected by being divided into a plurality of portions are integrated based on a predetermined condition.

Further, as a predetermined condition of the associating step, the positional relationships between the feature amounts are compared with each other. As a result, the defective portion, which is a single portion and is detected by being divided into a plurality of portions, is integrated into one defective area.

Further, the comparison of the positional relationship between the feature amounts is performed by comparing the coordinates of the rectangular area including the feature amounts. This makes it possible to easily determine whether or not they are close to each other using a small storage area.

Further, it is characterized in that the maximum value and / or the minimum value of the characteristic data is used as the characteristic amount. In this way, a serious defect of a certain degree is judged as a defective portion regardless of its size.

Further, the areas of the characteristic quantities are compared. Thereby, a defect having a serious size is judged as a defective portion regardless of its degree.

Further, the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of input signals are obtained according to the synchronization signal, and the characteristic data are extracted from the input signals and converted into the characteristic amount in the converting step. As a result, a defect that can be detected only in a specific combination of detection circuits is detected.
Then, the type of defect is classified from the data of which detection circuit detected.

Further, the characteristic data is data of a defective portion in the area to be scanned, and the data processing method of the data processing apparatus detects a defective area from the area to be scanned and integrates the defects. The method is an inspection method of an inspection device. Here, the scan target is
Development sleeve, aluminum drum, glass substrate, charging roller, rubber roller, magneto-optical disk, liquid crystal substrate, liquid crystal display device, resin film, OHP sheet, printed matter, copied matter,
It is characterized by being a lens, an optical mirror, a polygon mirror, or a product having these components. This allows
Defective portions that are the same defective region and are detected by being divided into a plurality of portions are integrated like an actual defective region based on a predetermined condition.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The data processing apparatus according to the present embodiment receives an analog input signal obtained by scanning a surface to be inspected two-dimensionally and a scan synchronization signal, and quantizes a data group (hereinafter, multi-valued data) quantized by AD conversion. This is a defect inspection apparatus in which the coordinates of the value data are extracted only in a region including a defect, converted into a feature amount representing the defect, and then the feature amounts that can be regarded as belonging to a single defect region are integrated into one.

First, the basic operation of the defect inspection apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 1 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a divided area determination circuit, 2 is a defect data extraction circuit, 3 is a defect feature amount conversion circuit, 4 is an identity detection circuit, 5 is a defect feature amount integration circuit, and 6 is an extracted data coordinate detection circuit. , 7 is an input signal, 8 is extracted data, 9 is a defect feature amount detected by being divided into a plurality of regions, 10 is an integrated defect feature amount, 11 is a scanning synchronization signal, and 12 is coordinate data.

In the defect inspection apparatus having the above structure, an input signal input from a sensor (not shown) that scans the inspection area is generally obtained as a signal having a level change at the defect portion. Such a signal is used as the input signal 7,
The divided area determination circuit 1 compares the level setting value with a preset level setting value. The comparison result is converted into a status signal, and a divided area signal is created with the time width in which the same status in the status signal continues as one divided area. On the other hand, the value of the input signal 7 is extracted by the defect data extraction circuit 2 over the range indicated by the divided area signal. The extracted data is transferred to the defect feature amount conversion circuit 3 as the extracted data 8. On the other hand, the above-mentioned divided area signal is subjected to coordinate conversion using the scan synchronization signal 11 in the extracted data coordinate detection circuit 6. This converted data is used as the coordinate data 12 for the defect feature amount conversion circuit 3
Sent to The defect feature amount conversion circuit 3 converts the extracted data 8 and the coordinate data 12 into a defect feature amount 9 which is a value characteristically representing the state of the defect. For example, the maximum value and / or the minimum value of the signal level as a value indicating the degree of the defect, the total number of pixels in the detection portion as the size of the defective area, and the number of pixels in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction as the size of the defective area. In addition, the defect feature amount 9 is used as the detected coordinates for specifying the defect position.
Ask as. The feature amount at this stage is a state in which the same defect is still detected while being divided into a plurality of parts. This is due to the fact that the thin defect portion in the actual defect area, the defect at the limit of the preset comparison level, or the peripheral portion of the defect has a low signal level and is buried in noise. This is because if there is a portion that is not detected, it is actually a defect area, but it is detected as a plurality of small defect portions. Then, in the identity detection circuit 4, the above-mentioned detected feature amount 9 is compared with a distance between defects which can be determined from the position of the defect preset as one of the feature amounts representing the defect, and a predetermined value is obtained. If the defects are short, the defects are determined to belong to the same defect area, are associated, and then are grouped. Next, the defect feature quantity integration circuit 5 determines the identity detection circuit 4
The maximum value and the minimum value in the feature amounts that are grouped as the same are selected as defect feature values.
In addition, all the sizes of the areas of the defective portions are added. The position of the defect is set to a value that includes the positions occupied by a plurality of defect parts to be integrated. As a result, the defect feature quantity integration circuit 5 integrates a plurality of defect feature quantities into one as the integrated defect feature quantity 10 according to the signal input from the identity detection circuit 4.

By operating as described above, the feature quantities of defects detected by being divided into a plurality of parts can be integrated,
The feature amount can be obtained as exactly one defect area.

<First Modification> Next, a first modification of the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a first modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 13 is a data storage circuit, 14 is a coordinate storage circuit, 15 is a CPU, and 16 is an input / output bus of the CPU 15.

In this modification, the extracted data 8 and the coordinate data 12 are temporarily stored in the storage circuits (the data storage circuit 13 and the coordinate storage circuit 14), respectively, and the CPU 15 handles all the data while performing signal processing. The processing procedure of this modification will be described below. Extraction data 8 and coordinate data 12 are generated from the input signal 7 and the scan synchronization signal 11 (detailed description is the same as in the above-described embodiment, and therefore omitted). Then, the data storage circuit 13 stores the extracted data 8 obtained by extracting the defective portion. On the other hand, the coordinate storage circuit 14
Stores the coordinate data 12 detected by the extracted data coordinate detection circuit 6. Each memory circuit is composed of a first-in first-out (FIFO) memory. As a result, the read operation by the input command of the CPU 15 can be performed in parallel with the write operation of the extracted data 8 and the coordinate data 12. In addition, the data storage circuit 13 is provided between the input signal acquisition process that requires high speed, the defect feature amount conversion process that is complicated and time-consuming, and the defect feature amount integration process.
By including the coordinate storage circuit 14, the arbitration operation is performed for the high speed of storing the extracted data 8 and the coordinate data 12 and the time required for the conversion processing of the defect feature amount and the integration process of the defect feature amount. Then, the CPU 15 reads the stored content of the data storage circuit 13 and the stored content of the coordinate storage circuit 14, and sends each to the defect feature amount conversion circuit 3. Since the subsequent process of converting the defect feature amount to the process of integrating the defect feature amount is similar to that of the above-described embodiment, the description thereof will be omitted.

<Second Modification> Next, a second modification of the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, the processes up to the process of storing the extracted data 8 and the coordinate data 12 generated from the input signal 7 and the scan synchronization signal 11 in the two storage circuits are the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiment, and therefore the description thereof is omitted. This modification is an example in which the subsequent conversion processing of the defect feature amount and the integration process of the defect feature amount are realized by software on the CPU 15.

First, the outline of the conversion processing of the extracted data and the coordinate data stored in this software into the defect feature amount will be described. The input data is the stored extracted data and the corresponding stored data. It is the coordinate data. First, these are converted into required feature quantities. Here, the maximum value, the minimum value, the area of the signal, and the coordinates of the upper left corner and the lower right corner of the rectangle including the defect are determined as the feature amount in order to specify the position occupied by the defect. As the maximum value and the minimum value, the maximum data value and the minimum data value are selected from the extracted data for each defective area. Similarly, the area is obtained by counting the total number of pixels of the extracted data for each area.
If the extracted data does not extend over a plurality of lines and is one line at a time, the coordinate value of the start position may be subtracted from the extraction end position of the defect area. The position occupied by defects is 2
For both the X and Y coordinates of the dimension, the values of the left and right ends of the X coordinate and the upper and lower ends of the Y coordinate of the area extracted as the defective area are obtained. With this, the coordinates of the upper left corner and the coordinates of the lower right corner of the rectangle including the defect can be determined. With respect to the coordinate axes, the upper left is the origin and the right direction is the + axis of the X axis and the down direction is the + side of the Y axis. In this way, each numerical value is obtained and stored as array data in the memory for storing the characteristic amount (not shown) inside the CPU 15,
Conversion of the extracted data and the coordinate data into a defect feature amount is realized.

Next, the integrated processing of the converted defect feature amount will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of the defect inspection apparatus as the second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the connectivity of the feature values of the defect inspection apparatus as the second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing criteria for determining the connectivity of the defect inspection apparatus as the second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data array of feature quantities of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

First, in the integration processing of defect feature quantities of this modification, the array of feature quantities to be input is called an input feature quantity,
The array of output feature quantities will be called the output feature quantity. The number of elements of the input feature amount is iEnd, and the number of elements of the output feature amount after integration is jEnd. Assuming that the element numbers start from 0, these arrays have iEn
d and jEnd represent the element next to the final element, respectively.

The process of integrating defect feature amounts in this modification will be described below with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In step S1, which is the first step, the pointer i that sequentially indicates the input feature amount is set to 0, and the number of output feature amounts is initialized to 0. In step S2, it is determined whether or not the input feature amount is over by comparing i and iEnd. If the values do not match, the processing from step S3 is continued. On the other hand, if they match, the integration process ends. Step S
In 3, the pointer j for sequentially instructing the output feature amount is initialized to 0, and the connected flag f is cleared to 0. Step S
At 4, the determination as to whether the pointer j indicating the output feature amount has reached the end is made by comparing j and jEnd. The processes from step S5 are continued until they match. If they match, we have reached the end, so we exit this loop. In step S5, it is determined whether the feature quantities designated by the pointers i and j are in contact with each other. This function that determines whether or not the object is approaching Contact ()
Then, the function of this function will be described with reference to FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 5, with respect to the coordinate axes, the upper left is the origin and the right direction is the + axis of the X axis, and the down direction is the + side of the Y axis. Y1 is the Y coordinate value of the upper left coordinate of the upper rectangular area, Y3 is the Y coordinate value of the lower right coordinate of the upper rectangular area, and Y2 is the upper left coordinate of the lower rectangular area. Y coordinate value, Y4 is the Y coordinate value of the lower right coordinate of the rectangular area located on the lower side, X1 is the X coordinate value of the upper left coordinate of the rectangular area located on the upper side, and X2 is the rectangular area located on the upper side. X coordinate value of the lower right coordinate, X3 is the X coordinate value of the upper left coordinate of the lower rectangular area, and X4 is the X coordinate value of the lower right coordinate of the lower rectangular area. The positional relationship of the regions was classified into 15 patterns shown in FIG. And when showing their positional relationship in a schematic diagram,
It becomes like the positional relationship column of FIG. 6, and when it is expressed by the relational expression of each coordinate value, it becomes like the condition column of FIG. The connection state at that time is as shown in the connectivity column in the figure. Yes is a connected state, and No is a separated state. A function that returns Yes or No according to the conditions in this table is Contact
(). In step S6, it is checked whether or not the connected flag f is 0. If 0, it means that the input feature quantity (i) is first found to be connected to the output feature quantity (j), so these two are integrated. On the other hand, if f is other than 0, it means that it is already connected to another output feature amount, and is integrated with the output feature amount.
Therefore, the two output feature quantities are integrated. In step S7, the input feature amount (i) and the output feature amount (j) are integrated,
Overwrite the output feature amount (j). Here, a function that returns a result obtained by integrating the two feature quantities is represented by Unify ().

Unify () performs the following processing for each feature amount. That is, the larger one of the maximum values of both feature amounts is set as the maximum value. The smaller one of the minimum values of both feature amounts is the minimum value. The area is the sum of two areas.
The X coordinate of the upper left corner of the defect position is the smaller of the X coordinates (X1, X3) of the upper left corners of both feature amounts. The Y coordinate of the upper left corner of the defect position is the Y coordinate of the upper left corner of both feature amounts (Y1, Y
Take the smaller of 2). The X coordinate of the lower right corner of the defect position is the larger of the X coordinates (X2, X4) of the lower right corners of both feature quantities. The lower right Y coordinate of the defect position takes the larger one of the lower right Y coordinates (Y3, Y4) of both feature quantities. In step S8, the connected flag f is set to 1 to indicate that the input feature amount (i) has already been integrated into another feature amount. In addition, the value of fj is set to j so that it is possible to know which feature amount is integrated. In step S9, 1 is added to the pointer j pointing to the element of the output feature quantity to point to the next element, and then the process returns to point B and repeats the loop. On the other hand, Step S10 is executed under the condition that the output feature quantity (j) and the output feature quantity (fj) are linked via the input feature quantity (i). Therefore, the output feature amount (j) and the output feature amount (fj) are combined by Unify (), and the output feature amount (fj) is overwritten. Step S11
Now, delete the combined output feature (j) from the array,
Pad the array elements that follow to fill the empty space. In step S12, since the number of output feature quantities is decreased by one, jEnd is decreased by one accordingly. Then return to point B. On the other hand, if No in step S4, the process proceeds to step S13. In step S13, it is checked whether or not the connected flag f is 0. If 0, input feature quantity (i)
Indicates that none of the output feature quantities is connected, so the output feature quantity is newly increased by one and the input feature quantity (i) is copied as it is. If connected flag f
If is not 0, the input feature amount (i) has already been integrated into any of the output feature amounts, and therefore the process is skipped to step S16. In step S14,
The input feature amount (i) is copied as it is to the output feature amount (j). In step S15, the value of jEnd is incremented by 1,
The number is combined with the number of output feature quantities increased in step S14.
In step S16, 1 is added to the pointer i indicating the element of the input feature quantity to prepare for the next loop. By processing the feature amounts as described above, the ones that are in contact with each other among the input feature amounts are integrated into one output feature amount array, and the number thereof is obtained in jEnd. Then, the CPU 15 sets the CP as the integrated defect feature amount 10.
It is output via the U bus 16.

<Third Modification> Furthermore, the third modification of the present embodiment.
A modified example will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a third modification of the embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 17 is an input signal data group storage circuit,
Reference numeral 18 is a defect signal detection circuit, 19 is an acquisition range determination circuit, 2
0 is a level setting value, and 21 is a pulse width expansion value. The defect signal detection circuit 18 compares the level of the input signal 7 with a predetermined level setting value 20 set in advance, and outputs it as a status signal indicating the comparison result. Next, the acquisition range determination circuit 19 expands the width of the status indicating the defect in the status signal by the time width indicated by the pulse width expansion value 21 to create the acquisition range signal. On the other hand, the input signal data group storage circuit 17 always stores the value of the input signal 7, outputs the data sequentially after a lapse of a predetermined time after storage, and sends the data to the data storage circuit 13.

Then, the data storage circuit 13 stores data from the output data of the input signal data group storage circuit 17 in accordance with the fetch range signal. For example, if the pulse width extension value 21 is set to 4 words and the time width until the output of the input signal data group storage circuit 17 is set to 2 words in accordance with a capture clock (not shown), it is expanded by 2 words before and after the defective portion. The data of the area thus formed is stored in the data storage circuit 13, and the data of the peripheral portion of the defect can be obtained at the same time. To detect coordinate data, the extraction range signal is subjected to coordinate conversion by the extraction data coordinate detection circuit 6 by the scanning synchronization signal 11 and stored in the coordinate storage circuit 14. The process for obtaining the integrated defect feature amount 10 from the subsequent process of feature amount conversion and feature amount integration is similar to that of the second modified example of the above-described embodiment, and therefore description thereof is omitted.

<Other Embodiments> Next, a defect inspection apparatus system as another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus system as another embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 22 is a laser scanner, 23 is a photosensitive drum to be inspected, 24 is a synchronous detection sensor for detecting laser beam scanning, 25 is a specular reflection light receiver for receiving specular reflection light, and 26 is scattered light. 27 and 28 are clamp circuits for eliminating unnecessary signal changes at positions other than the surface to be inspected, 29 and 31 are differentiating circuits for emphasizing small defects, and 30 and 32 are emphasizing large defects. A band limiting circuit 33 to 36, a signal level comparing circuit 33 to 36 for comparing the signal level with a normal value or an abnormal value, 37
Is a logical sum circuit for taking the logical sum of the comparison results to produce a defective area signal, 38-41 are defective data extraction circuits for extracting defective data according to the defective area signal, and 42 is the synchronization detection sensor 24.
A coordinate generation counter that converts a defect area signal into a coordinate signal by a synchronization signal from the reference numeral 43, a defect feature amount conversion circuit that converts each extracted defect data and coordinate signal into a defect feature amount, and 44 has the same defect feature amount. Identity detection circuit for detecting whether or not it is a defective portion, 45 is a defect feature amount integration circuit for integrating defect feature amounts according to the output of the identity detection circuit, 4
6 is a defect condition determination circuit for comparing the integrated defect feature amount with the feature amount level to determine whether or not there is a defect, 47 is a detection result display device, 48 is a detection result printer, and 49 is a network. A network interface for outputting inspection results, and 50 is a sequencer as a host controller. The object to be inspected is not limited to the photosensitive drum 23, but a product requiring precise uniformity on the surface.
If it is a member, other cylindrical / disc-shaped members, such as a developing sleeve, an aluminum drum, a charging roller, a rubber roller, a magneto-optical disk, a lens, etc., or a flat member, such as a glass substrate, a liquid crystal substrate, a liquid crystal display. Equipment, resin film, O
It may be a member such as an HP sheet, a printed matter, a copied matter, an optical mirror or a polygon mirror.

The operation of the defect inspection apparatus of this embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described below. Laser scanner 2
2 scans the surface of the photosensitive drum 23, which is an inspection object, with a laser spot light. A specular reflection light receiver 2 for specularly reflected light and scattered light on the surface of the inspection object at that time respectively.
5 and the scattered light receiver 26 receive the light and convert it into an electric signal. By using a photomultiplier for the specular reflection light receiver 25 and the scattering light receiver 26, highly sensitive photoelectric conversion can be performed. Among the obtained input signals, the signals in the inspection target range are passed through as they are, and the signals outside the inspection target range are passed through the clamp circuits 27 and 28 that clamp to zero, and are converted into input signals only in the inspection range. Then, differentiating circuits 29 and 31
The signal of a defect having a small size is emphasized by, or the signal of a defect having the same size as a predetermined value preset by the band limiting circuits 30 and 32 is emphasized. Each of these signals is input to the signal level comparison circuits 33 to 36 for each signal, compared with a preset threshold level, and when the set signal level is not within a predetermined range, a defect detection signal is output. When a defect detection signal is output from any of the signal level comparison circuits 33 to 36, the logical sum circuit 37 takes the logical sum to extract the data of that portion, and the defect detection signal is used as a status signal. Is sent to each defect data extraction circuit 38-41. The defect data extraction circuits 38 to 41 extract signals according to the detection status signal and send them to the defect feature amount conversion circuit 43.

On the other hand, a part of the scanning light of the laser scanner 22 is received by the sync detection sensor 24 to create a sync signal, which is sent to the coordinate generation counter 42. The coordinate generation counter 42 is incremented every sampling clock (not shown),
It has an X coordinate counter (not shown) that is cleared by a synchronization signal and a Y coordinate counter (not shown) that is incremented for each synchronization signal and cleared by an inspection start signal. Further, the coordinates of the leading edge (leading edge) and the trailing edge (last edge) of the signal obtained by logically adding the respective defect detection signals are sent to the defect feature amount conversion circuit 43.

The defect feature amount conversion circuit 43 converts each defect data and coordinate data into a defect feature amount such as a maximum value and a minimum value for each defect data, and a defect position and area value.

Next, the identity detection circuit 44 refers to the position information of the defect feature amount, and if it is determined that the defects are close to each other and belong to a part of the same defect, the status signal is set to the identity. Defect feature integration circuit 4 as a detection signal
Send to 5. The defect feature quantity integration circuit 45 integrates the defect feature quantities according to the identity detection signal by hardware or software as in the above-described embodiment.

The integrated defect feature amount is sent to the defect condition judging circuit 46. The defect condition determination circuit 46 is configured on a small computer (not shown), and when each value of the defect feature amount is out of a predetermined range, the inspection target is determined to be a defective product. The result is output to a display or printer, and the information is transmitted via the network. Further, the defect information is also transmitted to the upper sequencer which operates this inspection device, and control is performed to sort the products separately from the non-defective products.

Even if the present invention is applied to a system composed of a plurality of devices (for example, host computer, interface device, reader, printer, etc.) as in the other embodiments, a device composed of one device. May be applied to.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus, and to provide a computer (or CPU) of the system or apparatus.
And MPU) read and execute the program code stored in the storage medium.

In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the storage medium storing the program code constitutes the present invention.

As a storage medium for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-ROM, CD
-R, a magnetic tape, a nonvolatile memory card, a ROM, or the like can be used.

When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiment are realized, but also the OS (Operating System) running on the computer based on the instruction of the program code. ) May perform some or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.

Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted into the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, based on the instruction of the program code, It goes without saying that a case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs some or all of the actual processing and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included.

[0064]

As described above, according to the present invention,
There is provided a data processing device, a data processing method therefor, a defect inspection device, and an inspection method therefor capable of detecting an actual defect region from a defect region finely divided and detected by the influence of a signal level representing a defect. As a result, a detection result that accurately reflects the actual surface state can be obtained. Therefore, it is possible to detect even defects that have been overlooked due to the small area of the defect area, improving product reliability, improving the orthogonality rate of the production line by reviewing the threshold level for defect determination, and It is possible to improve the manufacturing tact of the integrated production line.

[0065]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a first modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating connectivity of feature values of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a criterion for determining connectivity of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a data array of feature quantities of a defect inspection apparatus as a second modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a signal block diagram of a defect inspection apparatus as a third modified example of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block configuration diagram of a defect inspection device system as another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing signal processing of defect inspection data as a conventional example of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 division area determination circuit 2 defect data extraction circuit 3 defect feature amount conversion circuit 4 identity detection circuit 5 defect feature amount integration circuit 6 extracted data coordinate detection circuit 7 input signal 8 extracted data 9 detected defect feature Quantity 10 Integrated defect feature quantity 11 Scan synchronization signal 12 Coordinate data signal 13 Data storage circuit 14 Coordinate storage circuit 15 CPU 16 Input / output bus 17 Input signal data group storage circuit 18 Defect signal detection circuit 19 Capture range determination circuit 20 Level Set value 21 Pulse width expansion value 22 Laser scanner 23 Photosensitive drum to be inspected 24 Synchronous detection sensor for detecting scanning of laser beam 25 Scattering light receiver 27, 28 for receiving specular reflection light Clamp circuit 29, 31 Differentiation circuit 30, 32 band limiting circuit 33-36 signal level comparison circuit 37 OR circuit 3 8 to 41 Defect data extraction circuit 42 Coordinate generation counter 43 Defect feature amount conversion circuit 44 Identity detection circuit 45 Defect feature amount integrated circuit 46 Defect condition determination circuit 47 Display 48 Printer 49 Network interface 50 Sequencer

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A data processing device for converting an input signal obtained by scanning an area to be scanned according to a synchronization signal into a feature amount showing the same feature, wherein the input signal is preset to a predetermined value. Compared to the threshold of
State determination means for generating a determination signal for determining the state of the input signal, characteristic data extraction means for extracting characteristic data from the input signal according to the determination signal, and coordinates from the synchronization signal according to the determination signal And a conversion unit for converting the extracted feature data and the coordinates into the feature amount, further comparing the feature amount with a predetermined condition set in advance,
A data processing apparatus comprising: an associating unit for associating feature amounts satisfying a predetermined condition with each other, and an integrating unit for integrating the feature amounts in accordance with the association. 2. The data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate detecting means detects the coordinates at the same time as the extraction of the characteristic data. 3. As a predetermined condition of the associating means,
The data processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a positional relationship between the feature amounts is compared with each other. 4. The data processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the comparison of the positional relationship between the feature quantities is performed by comparing the coordinates of a rectangular area including the feature quantities. 5. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a maximum value and / or a minimum value of the characteristic data is used as the characteristic amount. 6. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising comparing the areas of the characteristic amounts. 7. The input signal obtained according to the synchronization signal is plural, and the characteristic data is extracted from each of the input signals and converted into the characteristic amount by the conversion means. Item 1. The data processing device according to item 1. 8. The feature data is data of a defective portion in the area to be scanned, and the data processing apparatus is a defect inspection apparatus that detects and integrates a defective area from the area to be scanned. The data processing apparatus according to claim 1, claim 2, claim 3, claim 4, claim 5, claim 6, or claim 7. 9. The scanning target includes a developing sleeve, an aluminum drum, a glass substrate, a charging roller, a rubber roller, a magneto-optical disk, a liquid crystal substrate, a liquid crystal display device, a resin film, and O.
9. The data processing device according to claim 8, wherein the data processing device is an HP sheet, a printed matter, a copied matter, a lens, an optical mirror, a polygon mirror, or a product including these components. 10. A data processing method for a data processing device, which converts an input signal obtained by scanning an area to be scanned according to a synchronization signal into a feature amount showing the same feature, wherein the input signal is Compared with a preset threshold value,
A state determination step of creating a determination signal for determining the state of the input signal; a characteristic data extraction step of extracting characteristic data from the input signal according to the determination signal; and detecting coordinates from the synchronization signal according to the determination signal. And a conversion step of converting the extracted feature data and the coordinates into the feature amount, further comparing the feature amount with a predetermined condition set in advance,
A data processing method for a data processing device, comprising: an associating step of associating feature quantities that satisfy the predetermined condition, and an integrating step of integrating the feature quantities according to the association. 11. The data processing method of a data processing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein a positional relationship between the feature quantities is compared as a predetermined condition of the associating step. 12. The comparison of the positional relationship between the feature quantities is performed by
The data processing method of the data processing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the coordinates of a rectangular area including the feature amount are compared. 13. The maximum value and / or the minimum value of the characteristic data is set as the characteristic amount.
Alternatively, the data processing method of the data processing device according to claim 12. 14. The data processing method for a data processing device according to claim 10, further comprising comparing areas of the characteristic amounts. 15. A plurality of input signals are obtained according to the synchronization signal, and the characteristic data is extracted from each of the input signals and converted into the characteristic amount in the converting step. Item 10. A data processing method of the data processing device according to item 10. 16. The defect data, wherein the characteristic data is data of a defective portion in the area to be scanned, and the data processing method of the data processing device detects a defective area from the area to be scanned and integrates the defects. A data processing method for a data processing apparatus according to claim 10, 11 or 12, 13 or 14 or 15, wherein the data processing method is an inspection method for an inspection apparatus. 17. The scanning target is a developing sleeve, an aluminum drum, a glass substrate, a charging roller, a rubber roller, a magneto-optical disk, a liquid crystal substrate, a liquid crystal display device, a resin film,
OHP sheet, printed matter, copy, lens, optical mirror,
17. The data processing method for a data processing device according to claim 16, wherein the data processing device is a polygon mirror or a product including these components.