JP4334099B2 - Corrugated board laminate inspection system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cardboard laminate inspection apparatus for inspecting the quality of a cardboard laminate formed by laminating and binding flat corrugated cardboard boxes and corrugated paperboard.
[0002]
[Prior art]
This type of corrugated board laminate is widely used as a form for transporting and storing products mainly made of corrugated board. In particular, an unused corrugated cardboard box can be generally used as a corrugated cardboard laminate. That is, the corrugated box has an adhesive piece provided on the side surface of one side plate that is superposed and bonded to the side plate of the other end to form a rectangular tube-shaped body portion, and a bottom portion and a top portion are formed by flaps continuously provided on each side plate. Is formed. Then, the cardboard box is folded in a flat state in an unused state, and a plurality of cardboard boxes are stacked and bundled together to be shipped. The operation of stacking a plurality of cardboard boxes and binding them together is generally performed by an automatic machine.
[0003]
However, in the laminated body of the cardboard boxes, there may be cases where the number of cardboard boxes is excessive or insufficient and each cardboard box is defective. In particular, as a defect of the cardboard box, the overlapping width of the adhesive pieces may be too wide or conversely narrow depending on how the side plate is bent when forming the body portion. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate it as a defective product.
[0004]
Therefore, conventionally, an inspection operator has visually inspected a laminated body of corrugated cardboard boxes to check the number of laminated sheets, damage to the corrugated board liner, crushing of the core of the corrugated cardboard, and the gap between the flaps of the corrugated cardboard box. Was to eliminate.
[0005]
However, in the case of visual inspection, there is a problem that it is difficult to keep the inspection quality constant because the inspection level fluctuates due to the difference in proficiency of the inspection worker, fatigue, and the like. Therefore, it is conceivable to perform inspection by image processing to make the inspection level constant and improve the inspection quality, and to save labor for the operator.
[0006]
However, in the laminated body of the cardboard boxes, the lamination of the corrugated cardboard boxes is affected by the deterioration of the stacking accuracy of the work of stacking and binding the corrugated cardboard boxes (by an automatic machine) or the vibration during the transportation of the cardboard laminated body. The state becomes uneven (for example, a state in which the corrugated cardboard box is laterally shifted), and unevenness may occur on the end face of the stack. In the inspection by image processing, the end face of the laminated layer becomes unclear due to unnecessary shadows and reflections caused by unevenness generated on the laminated end surface, and there is a disadvantage that the inspection accuracy by the image is remarkably lowered.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In order to eliminate such inconvenience, the present invention provides a clear contrast by preventing unnecessary shadows and reflections on the end face of the corrugated board laminate, thereby enabling high-accuracy image processing. An object is to provide an inspection device.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been made to achieve such an object, and relates to an inspection apparatus for inspecting a corrugated board laminated body in which flat corrugated boards are laminated in the vertical direction and bound together. The inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a conveying path that exposes and conveys the laminated end surface of the corrugated board laminate, and a direction perpendicular to the laminating direction of the corrugated board laminate that is conveyed along the conveying path. The light projecting means for projecting light onto the laminated end surface of the corrugated board laminate at a predetermined angle, and the imaging of the laminated end face of the corrugated board laminate illuminated by the light projecting means to obtain inspection image data A first light projecting means for projecting light on a front end side of the corrugated board laminate in the traveling direction in the transport path, and a stack on the rear end side in the travel direction of the corrugated board stack in the transport path. A second light projecting unit that projects light onto the end surface, and the image capturing unit is illuminated by the first image capturing unit that captures the stacked end surface illuminated by the first light projecting unit and the second light projecting unit. Second to image the end face of the stack Characterized in that comprising the image unit.
[0009]
That is, in the present invention, the light projecting means is provided in the transport path, and is provided on the stacking end surface of the corrugated board laminate at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction from the side perpendicular to the stacking direction of the corrugated board stack. Flood light. As a result, the border end (liner) of each corrugated cardboard exposed on the stacking end face of the corrugated cardboard laminate, the laminated end face is surely bright and dark according to the core shape of the step, and the like when the image is input by the imaging means Sufficient contrast can be imparted to the laminated end face. Therefore, for example, the inspection image data collected by the imaging unit is clear, and the corrugated board laminate can be inspected with high accuracy.
Furthermore, according to the present invention, the laminated end surface of the corrugated board transported along the transport path is illuminated by the first light projecting means while being picked up by the first imaging means, and the progress thereof. The laminated end surface on the rear end side in the direction is illuminated by the second light projecting unit and imaged by the second imaging unit. Thereby, both lamination | stacking end surfaces located in the front-back side of a cardboard laminated body can be test | inspected efficiently.
[0010]
In the present invention, the imaging means images the stacking end surface of the corrugated board laminate illuminated by the light projecting means from a direction orthogonal to the stacking direction of the corrugated board laminate. As a result, for example, when unevenness is generated on the laminated end face, it is possible to prevent the edge of the corrugated cardboard from being disturbed by the protruding edge of the corrugated cardboard and preventing the image of the edge of the corrugated cardboard from being imaged. Even if this occurs, it is possible to input a highly accurate image without being affected by the unevenness.
[0011]
Further, in the present invention, the light projecting means includes a light source, and a reflector that irradiates the laminated end surface to be imaged with an angle of 15 ° to 45 ° using the emitted light from the light source as parallel light. And a louver that blocks direct light to a portion other than the laminated end surface to be imaged. The present inventor has found that, when the irradiation angle with respect to the end face of the laminate is smaller than 15 ° by various tests, excessive brightness and darkness occur in the gap formed by the stepped core, and the reflection at the highlight portion is large. If the angle of irradiation with respect to the end face of the stack is greater than 45 °, sufficient brightness cannot be obtained in the gap due to the stepped core, and the image quality is too low. It was found that the accuracy of the image was lowered. Based on this, the reflection plate irradiates the light from the light source onto the laminated end surface to be imaged with an angle of 15 ° to 45 °, so that the contrast of the most suitable laminated end surface is given at the time of imaging. be able to.
[0012]
At this time, further, by using the reflecting plate to make the radiated light from the light source into parallel light, the difference in the distance between the laminated end faces to be imaged is reduced, and uniform over the corners of the laminated end faces in the imaging range. Contrast can be obtained. In addition, since the direct light to other than the end face of the laminated layer is blocked by the louver, it is possible to prevent unnecessary reflected light from affecting the input image by the imaging means.
[0015]
And any one of the said 1st imaging means and the said 2nd imaging means images through the reflective mirror which carries out reflective projection of the lamination | stacking end surface used as imaging object, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.
[0016]
Here, as the inspection based on the image, for example, the difference (positional deviation) of the input image of the laminated end surface with respect to the reference pattern of the laminated end surface, or predetermined reference coordinates from the input image of the laminated end surface For example, it is possible to determine whether or not a bright and dark portion is within a predetermined range by calculating position data for. At this time, if both the stacking end faces located on the front and back sides of the corrugated board stack are directly imaged by the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit, respectively, the image captured by the first imaging unit, and the second The images picked up by the image pickup means are mutually inverted images. For this reason, in the inspection based on the image by the inspection means, the respective reference patterns and the respective reference coordinates of the input image by the first imaging means and the input image by the second imaging means are used separately, or the inspection It is necessary to invert one of the reference patterns and the reference coordinates in the inspection processing stage by means.
[0017]
On the other hand, according to the present invention, it is possible to input an inverted image from any one of the first imaging unit and the second imaging unit by the reflecting mirror. Since the image can be shared and it is not necessary to invert the image input at the inspection processing stage, the inspection can be performed efficiently and quickly.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing a schematic configuration of the present apparatus, FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view showing a conveyance path of the present apparatus, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view of a corrugated board laminate to be inspected by the present apparatus. It is.
[0019]
1 and 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, and reference numeral 2 denotes a bundling apparatus provided on the upstream side of the inspection apparatus 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the bundling device 2 forms a corrugated board laminate 5 by integrally bundling a plurality of flat cardboard boxes 3 with a bundling string 4. In the corrugated cardboard box 3 constituting the corrugated cardboard laminated body 5, a side plate 7 forming a square cylindrical body 6 is folded flat, and an adhesive piece 8 connected to one end edge of the side plate 7 is attached to the side plate 7. Bonded to the other end. A plurality of flaps 9 for closing the body 6 are connected to both ends of the body 6 that are opened.
[0020]
1 and 2, the inspection apparatus 1 has an excess or deficiency in the number of stacked cardboard boxes 6, the size or positional deviation of the intervals 9 a of the flaps 9, and the flaps 9. Inspects for the presence or absence of defects such as crushing or damage. As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection device 1 includes a conveyance path 10 that is connected to the downstream side of the bundling device 2 and conveys the corrugated board laminate 5 discharged from the bundling device 2. The conveyance path 10 includes a first conveyance conveyor 11 using a roller conveyor and a second conveyance conveyor 12 using a belt conveyor. The second transport conveyor 12 sends out the corrugated board laminate 5 along the transport path 10 further downstream. The second transport conveyor 12 is provided with a discharge conveyor 13 for discharging the corrugated board laminate 5 from which a defect has been detected from the transport path 10. The discharge conveyor 13 is configured by a roller conveyor that discharges the corrugated board laminate 5 in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the transport path 10. The corrugated board laminated body 5 paid out from the bundling device 2 and conveyed along the conveying path 10 is conveyed with the laminated end surfaces 5a and 5b at the front end of the flap 9 positioned on the front and rear sides in the traveling direction.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 1, the second conveyor 12 includes a plurality of belts 15 positioned between the rollers 14 of the discharge conveyor 13. As shown in FIG. 2, each belt 15 includes a drive pulley 16 and a pair of belts 15. It is stretched around the driven pulley 17. The second conveyor 12 is moved up and down by a lifting / lowering means (not shown) so that the belts 15 protrude and retract from between the rollers 14 of the discharge conveyor 13.
[0022]
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the first transport conveyor 11 is provided with an inspection position X at a predetermined position through which the corrugated board laminate 5 passes. A pair of projectors 18 and 19 are arranged on one side along the first conveyor 11, and a plurality of cameras (inspection CCD cameras) 20, 21, 22, and 23 are arranged on the other side. It is installed.
[0023]
The light projectors 18 and 19 project the first light projector 18 for projecting and illuminating the front laminated end surface 5a in the traveling direction of the corrugated board laminate 5, and the laminated end face 5b on the rear side in the traveling direction of the corrugated board laminated body 5. And a second projector 19 for illuminating and illuminating. The first light projector 18 is open on the side facing the conveyance path 10, and a lamp 25 is housed in a housing 24 that shields the other portions. The lamp 25 is provided with a reflecting plate 26 provided on the back side thereof so that the radiated light from the lamp 25 is converted into parallel light, and is 15 ° to 45 ° on the laminated end surface 5a on the front side in the traveling direction of the corrugated board laminate 5. Light is projected at an angle of °. In addition, a louver 27 is provided on the open side of the casing 24 so as to block direct light to other than the laminated end surface 5a. Furthermore, inside the louver 27, there is provided a diffusing member (acrylic plate or the like) 28 that diffuses and transmits the light passing through the louver 27 and uses it as a surface light source. In order to prevent thermal refraction, a fan that forms an air flow is provided inside the housing 24. The second projector 19 is the same as the first projector 18 except that the second projector 19 projects light at an angle of 15 ° to 45 ° to the stacking end surface 5b on the rear side of the corrugated board stack 5 in the traveling direction. Since it is a structure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected in a figure and the description is abbreviate | omitted.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 1, the cameras 20, 21, 22, and 23 capture an image of the laminated end surface 5 a (illuminated by the first projector 18) on the front side in the traveling direction of the cardboard laminated body 5. A pair of first cameras 20, 21 and a pair of second cameras 22, 23 that capture images of the stacking end surface 5 b (illuminated by the second projector 19) on the rear side in the traveling direction of the corrugated board stack 5. It consists of.
[0025]
The first cameras 20 and 21 are provided so as to capture images horizontally from the side perpendicular to the stacking direction of the corrugated board laminate 5. One first camera 20 images the horizontal half of the laminated end surface 5a to be inspected, and the other first camera 21 images the remaining half of the laminated end surface 5a to be inspected. A pair of image data input from both the first cameras 20 and 21 is captured by a detection means (not shown) and processed as a single image data. In the present embodiment, by adopting the pair of first cameras 20 and 21, each first camera 20 and 21 is made small, so that it can be easily arranged even in a small installation space. For example, the entire inspection range of the stacked end surface 5a may be imaged by a single camera.
[0026]
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the second cameras 22 and 23 are provided so as to take an image horizontally through a reflecting mirror 29 from the side perpendicular to the stacking direction of the corrugated board laminate 5. The laminated mirror end surface 5b on the rear side in the advancing direction of the corrugated board laminate 5 is reversed left and right by the reflecting mirror 29, so that images inputted from the second cameras 22 and 23 are inputted from the first cameras 20 and 21. The orientation is the same as when the image is taken from the same direction as the captured image. As for the second cameras 22 and 23, as in the first cameras 20 and 21, one second camera 22 takes an image of the lateral half of the laminated end surface 5b to be inspected, and the other second camera 23. Images the remaining half of the laminated end face 5b to be inspected. Then, the pair of image data input from both the second cameras 22 and 23 is captured by a detection unit (not shown) and processed as a single image data. At this time, although the pair of second cameras 22 and 23 is employed in the present embodiment, the first camera 20 and the first camera 20 and 23 may be configured to capture the entire inspection range of the stacked end surface 5b with a single camera. This is the same as 21.
[0027]
Although not shown, the detection means is based on the image data captured from the first cameras 20 and 21 and the second cameras 22 and 23, and the number of stacked cardboard boxes 3 in the cardboard stacked body 5 is determined. 9 is detected, whether or not there is a defect such as collapse or damage of each flap 9, and if any of those defects is detected, the discharge conveyor 13 (see FIG. 1) Is discharged from the transport path 10. That is, when the detection means detects that the corrugated board laminate 5 is defective, first, the corrugated board laminate 5 is moved onto the second transport conveyor 12 by feeding the first transport conveyor 11, as shown in FIG. Next, the corrugated board laminate 5 is moved by controlling the raising / lowering means of the second transport conveyor 12 to lower the belts 15 of the second transport conveyor 12 below the rollers 14 of the discharge conveyor 13. Delivered to each roller 14 of the discharge conveyor 13. Then, the discharge conveyor 13 is driven and discharged from the conveyance path 10.
[0028]
Next, the operation of the inspection apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described. The corrugated board laminate 5 paid out from the bundling device 2 is first transported downstream by the first transport conveyor 11 of the inspection device 1. When the corrugated board laminate 5 transported by the first transport conveyor 11 passes the inspection position X, the front end face 5a in the traveling direction is illuminated by the first projector 18. The light from the lamp 25 of the first projector 18 is converted into parallel light by the reflecting plate 26 and is used as a surface light source by the diffusing member 28 and illuminates the laminated end surface 5a at an angle of 15 ° to 45 °. Sufficient contrast is given to the lamination | stacking end surface 5a. At this time, the laminated end surface 5a is imaged by the first cameras 20 and 21, and image data is captured by the detection means. Since the first projector 18 and the first cameras 20 and 21 illuminate and image the stacked end surface 5a from the horizontal direction as described above, the unevenness is formed on the stacked end surface 5a due to the misalignment of the corrugated cardboard boxes 3. Even in such a case, it is possible to obtain highly accurate image data without the occurrence of shadows of the unevenness.
[0029]
Subsequently, the corrugated board laminate 5 is further conveyed downstream by the first conveyor 11, and the lamination end surface 5 b on the rear side in the traveling direction passes through the inspection position X. At this time, the laminated end surface 5 b illuminated by the second projector 19 is imaged by the second cameras 22 and 23. Similar to the first projector 18, the second projector 19 makes the light from the lamp 25 parallel light by the reflecting plate 26 and the surface light source by the diffusion member 28, and has an angle of 15 ° to 45 °. Since the laminated end face 5b is illuminated, sufficient contrast is imparted also on the laminated end face 5b. Then, the laminated section 5b is imaged by the second cameras 22 and 23 through the reflecting mirror 29, and image data is taken into the detecting means. In the detection means, it is determined whether or not the corrugated board laminate 5 is defective based on the captured image data. If there is no defect in the corrugated board laminate 5, the corrugated board laminate 5 is detected by the second conveyor 12. 5 is paid out downstream of the transport path 10.
[0030]
When a defect is confirmed in the corrugated board laminate 5, the conveyance is stopped when the corrugated board laminate 5 is positioned on the second transport conveyor 12 by the control of the detection means, and the second transport conveyor 12 is stopped. The corrugated board laminate 5 is transferred to the discharge conveyor 13 by lowering. Then, the discharge conveyor 13 is driven, and the corrugated board laminate 5 is discharged as defective.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory plan view showing a schematic configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory side view showing a conveyance path of the apparatus.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory perspective view of a corrugated board laminate to be inspected by the embodiment apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inspection apparatus, 5 ... Corrugated board laminated body, 5a, 5b ... Lamination end surface, 10 ... Conveyance path, 18 ... 1st light projector (light projection means), 19 ... 2nd light projector (light projection means), 20, 21 ... 1st 1 camera (imaging means), 22, 23 ... second camera (imaging means), 26 ... reflector, 27 ... louver, 29 ... reflector.

Claims (4)

In an inspection apparatus for inspecting a corrugated cardboard laminated body in which flat corrugated cardboard is laminated in the vertical direction and bound together,
A conveying path for conveying the laminated end face of the corrugated board laminate,
A light projecting means for projecting light onto a stacking end surface of the corrugated board laminate at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction from a side perpendicular to the stacking direction of the corrugated board laminate transported along the transport path;
Imaging means for imaging the laminated end face of the corrugated cardboard laminate illuminated by the light projecting means to obtain inspection image data ,
The light projecting unit projects light onto a stacking end surface on the leading end side in the traveling direction of the corrugated board laminate in the transport path, and to a stacking end surface on the trailing end side in the traveling direction of the corrugated board stack in the transport path. Consisting of the second floodlight means,
The imaging unit includes a first imaging unit that images the stacked end surface illuminated by the first light projecting unit, and a second imaging unit that images the stacked end surface illuminated by the second light projecting unit. An inspection apparatus for a corrugated cardboard laminate. 2. The corrugated board laminate according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit takes an image of a stacking end face of the corrugated board laminate illuminated by the light projecting unit from a direction orthogonal to a stacking direction of the corrugated board stack. Inspection device.   The light projecting means includes a light source, a reflection plate that radiates light from the light source as parallel light, and irradiates the parallel light onto the laminated end surface to be imaged at an angle of 15 ° to 45 °, and the laminated end surface to be imaged The corrugated board laminated body inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a louver that blocks direct light to the outside. 4. The image capturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein either one of the first image capturing unit and the second image capturing unit captures an image via a reflecting mirror that reflects and projects a laminated end surface to be imaged. 5. The inspection apparatus for corrugated cardboard laminates as described.

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