KR101851975B1 - Apparatus and method for inspecting appearance of work - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a work which can precisely position the work on the transport table and which does not cause electrostatic breakdown or deterioration of characteristics of the work.
As a means for solving such a problem, the appearance inspection apparatus 30 for a work includes a linear feeder 1 for carrying a work W in the form of a hexahedron, a work W from the linear feeder 1, A transferring table 2 for transferring the workpiece W from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer table 2 and a transferring table 2 for transferring the workpiece W from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer table 2, (15), and an image pickup means (20) for picking up images of six surfaces of the work (W). The conductive plate 15 of the holding means is disposed along the work transferring arc on the downstream side of the straight line connecting the transfer point 4X and the confluence point 7X and the confluence point 7X.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR INSPECTING APPEARANCE OF WORK [0002]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a work for picking up a six-sided body of the work while conveying a work of a hexahedron, and a method for inspecting the appearance of the work.

BACKGROUND ART [0002] Conventionally, as a visual inspection apparatus for a chip-type electronic component (hereinafter referred to as " workpiece ") such as a resistor having a hexahedron shape or a capacitor, a work is placed on a transport table made of a transparent body such as glass, 2. Description of the Related Art [0002] There is known a device for picking up images of each surface by an image pickup means such as a camera while carrying a work to perform a visual inspection.

In this case, the work carrying table of the visual inspection apparatus electrostatically attracts and transports the work by electrostatic force.

That is, first, the work is charged on a linear feeder that aligns and conveys the work by vibration, and the work is placed on a transport table and transported to a predetermined work position, and the workpiece surface of the transport table is moved And the work is electrostatically adsorbed thereon (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 5598912

However, the conventional appearance inspection apparatus for work has the following problems.

That is, when the work is transferred at the transfer point, the work is leaped on the transfer table to change the posture of the work, and as a result, the work can not be accurately imaged by the imaging means .

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is possible to precisely position the work when the work is transferred from the linear feeder to the transport table.

The present invention relates to a rotary feeder comprising a linear feeder for feeding a work having a hexahedron shape, a rotatable circular transporting table for transporting the work from the linear feeder at a transfer point, , Discrete alignment means arranged between the linear feeder and the conveyance table for aligning and aligning the work from the linear feeder on the conveyance table and a conductor disposed under the conveyance table, Holding means for holding the workpiece placed on the conveyance table by applying an electric field and generating an electric field and imaging means for picking up six surfaces of the workpiece on the conveyance table, And has an alignment guide having a linear guide surface when viewed from a plane in which the work is aligned, The plane includes a plane surface (plane), a separation point, and a confluence point on the downstream side of the separation point joining with the workpiece transfer arc, and the guide surface has a straight line connecting the separation point and the confluence point, The straight line connecting the separation point and the confluence point has an acute angle with respect to a straight line connecting the separation point and the rotation axis of the conveyance table and the straight line on the downstream side of the confluence point is perpendicular to the straight line connecting the confluence point and the rotation axis of the conveyance table , The work transferred to the transfer point is pressed by a straight line connecting the transfer point and the confluence point of the guide surface while being held by the holding means and is conveyed along the guide surface, and the conductor of the holding means is a straight line connecting the transfer point and the confluence point And is disposed along the workpiece transfer arc on the downstream side of the confluence point.

The present invention is a device for inspecting the appearance of a workpiece characterized by further comprising a non-oscillation portion provided between the linear feeder and the transport table.

The present invention is an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a workpiece characterized in that a magnetic force line generating section is further arranged as a jump preventing means along a straight line connecting the transfer point and the confluence point below the transfer table.

The present invention is an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a work, characterized in that the circular transport table is made of a transparent glass body.

The present invention is a work visual inspection apparatus characterized in that the conveying speed of the work by the conveying table is larger than the conveying speed of the work by the linear feeder.

According to the present invention, the guiding surface of the alignment guide forms an acute angle of 75 degrees to 88 degrees with respect to a straight line connecting the transfer point and the rotation axis of the transfer table on a plane.

The present invention provides a method for inspecting the appearance of a workpiece using the apparatus for inspecting the appearance of workpieces described above, comprising the steps of: transporting a workpiece having a hexahedron shape by a linear feeder; A step of aligning the workpiece with the guide surface of the alignment guide, and a step of holding the workpiece placed on the transfer table by the holding means, and transferring the workpiece on the workpiece transferring arc of the transfer table And a step of picking up images of the six surfaces of the work on the transport table by the image pick-up means.

The present invention provides a method for inspecting a workpiece using a visual inspection apparatus for a workpiece according to the present invention, comprising the steps of: transporting a work having a hexahedron shape by a linear feeder; A step of aligning the workpiece with the guide surface of the alignment guide while the workpiece is held on the transfer table on the circular transport table and the step of holding the workpiece placed on the transfer table by the holding means, And a step of picking up images of six surfaces of the work on the transfer table by the image pickup means.

According to the present invention, since the workpiece is attracted to the conveyance table by using both the electrostatic attraction and the magnetic attraction, stable adsorption power can be obtained, which is greater than in the case of electrostatic attraction alone. Further, after the workpiece is aligned on the workpiece carrier arc, the electrostatic attraction is continued for a while to stabilize the posture of the workpiece. This makes it possible to prevent leaping out of the workpiece carrying arc due to the centrifugal force which acts regardless of the size of the large size or hardness of the workpiece when the workpiece is carried or the workpiece is transported. Then, the workpiece placed and aligned on the workpiece carrier is transported in a stable posture. In addition, in order to obtain a large attraction force only by the electrostatic attraction of the prior art, it is necessary to increase the voltage applied to the conductive plate, which leads to a large capacity of the direct current power source. This increases the volume of the power supply and increases the cost. On the other hand, in the present invention, the cost of the members added to the prior art is very low, and their arrangement space is also small.

1 is a plan view of an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a work.
2 is a perspective view showing a work.
3 is an enlarged plan view showing the area S of Fig. 1; Fig.
4 is a perspective view of the region S of Fig. 1 viewed in the direction of arrow Y. Fig.
5 is a schematic view showing the adsorption of a work to a conveyance table;
6 is a perspective view showing an electric-force generating unit and a magnetic-force generating unit according to the present invention.
7 is a view showing the positional relationship between the conveyance table and alignment guide in Fig. 6, the electric force generating unit and the magnetic force generating unit in the vertical direction.
Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the vicinity of the electric-force generating line and the magnetic-force generating line in Fig. 6; Fig.
Fig. 9 is a side view of the vicinity of the electric-force generating unit and the magnetic-force generating unit in Fig. 6 as viewed from the direction of the arrow H in Fig.
Fig. 10 is a side view of the vicinity of the electric-force-generating portion and the magnetic-force-generating portion in Fig. 6 as viewed from the direction of an arrow N in Fig.
11 is a view showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

≪ First Embodiment >

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 10 are views showing a first embodiment of an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a work and a method for inspecting the appearance of a work according to the present invention.

First, the work to be inspected by the visual inspection apparatus of the work will be described with reference to Fig.

2, the work W to be a chip component such as a capacitor and a resistor has a hexahedron shape and includes a main body Wd made of an insulator and an electrode made of a conductor formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the main body Wd (Wa, Wb). The work W is placed on the transport table 2 to be described later and the transport table 2 is rotated in the direction of the arrow Z in Fig. Return. The image pickup means 20 picks up the side surface opposite to the paper surface in the direction of the arrow A, picks up the front side of the paper in the direction of the arrow B, picks up the image in the direction of the arrow C, The image of the front surface is taken in the direction of the arrow E, and the image of the rear surface is taken in the direction of the arrow F. At this time, by using the transparent transport table 2 made of glass, it is possible to pick up the entire six surfaces of the work W with the work W placed thereon.

Next, an apparatus for inspecting the appearance of a workpiece will be described. 1 and 3, a visual inspection apparatus 30 for a workpiece includes a linear feeder 1 for conveying a workpiece W and a conveyor 2 for conveying the workpiece W from the linear feeder 1 to a transfer point 4x A circular transport table 2 made of a transparent material which is transported on the workpiece carrier 5 in a state where the workpiece W is placed on the transport table 2 and a workpiece W from the linear feeder 1, And an image pickup means 20 for picking up images of six surfaces of the work W on the transport table 2.

The separation sorting means 21 has an alignment guide 7 for aligning the work W and the alignment guide 7 includes a guide surface 7a for aligning the work W. [ The guide surface 7a has a straight shape when viewed in a plan view (viewed from above).

The imaging means 20 includes a side camera portion 8, an inner camera portion 9, an upper side camera portion 10, a lower face camera portion 11, a front camera portion 12, And a rear camera unit 13, as shown in Fig.

Next, each constituent part of the visual inspection apparatus 30 of the work will be further described with reference to Figs. 1 to 4. Fig.

3 is a magnified plan view of a region S surrounded by a broken line in Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the region S surrounded by broken lines in Fig. 1. Fig. 1 as viewed in the direction of the arrow Y. As shown in Fig.

1, the linear feeder 1 of a linear shape is vibrated by a drive source (not shown), and the work W fed into a feed feeder (not shown) located on the upstream side of the linear feeder 1 is aligned And is conveyed in the direction of arrow N by vibration.

The conveyance table 2 provided below the linear feeder 1 is made of a transparent glass and is horizontally provided and rotates clockwise (in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 1) about the rotary shaft 3 by a driving source ). As shown in Fig. 4, the linear feeder 1 is lowered toward the transport table 2 with a slight inclination. As a result, the work W is gradually lowered from the linear feeder 1 and is transferred to the transport table 2.

1, a workpiece carrier 5 is formed as an arc around the rotary shaft 3, and a workpiece W (a workpiece W) is provided in the vicinity of the outer edge of the upper surface of the transport table 2, Is transferred from the noninvasive portion 4 to the transfer table 2 and then aligned on the workpiece carrier 5 by the action of the alignment guide 7 which will be described later. Here, the workpiece carrier 5 is the assumed target position for aligning the workpiece W, and no indication is visible on the top surface of the carrier table 2 that the workpiece carrier 5 can be visually recognized .

4 is a perspective view of the area S surrounded by the broken line in the direction of arrow Y in Fig. 4, a conductive plate 15 made of a conductor is disposed slightly below the lower surface of the transport table 2 on the lower side of the transport table 2. The conductive plate 15 has a planar shape and its surface 15a is substantially parallel to the transport table 2 as shown in Fig. Further, a DC power supply 16 is connected to the conductive plate 15 and a DC voltage is applied thereto to constitute an electric field generating means. The placement of the conductive plate 15 is shown in Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a region S surrounded by a broken line in Fig. 3, the conductive plate 15 extends in an elongated shape in the horizontal direction and extends from the transfer point 4x to the work transfer arm 5 on the transfer table 2 of the work W, The longitudinal direction is disposed along the workpiece carrier arcs 5 of the workpiece W below the transport table 2 corresponding to the guide surface 7a of the workpiece W.

Among these constituent parts, the guide 7 having the guide surface 7a constitutes the debris arranging means 21.

3, the alignment guide 7 having a linear guide surface 7a is disposed slightly above the transport table 2 just above the outer edge side of the transport table 2 . 3 shows a straight line connecting the transfer point 4x and the rotation axis 3 of the transport table 2 as a broken line K. In Fig.

3, the alignment guide 7 is formed so that the angle? Formed by the guide surface 7a and the broken line K is an acute angle of 75 degrees to 88 degrees, and the guide surface 7a is the clearance point 4x Of the workpiece W is tangent to the workpiece carrier 5 at the confluence point 7x of the workpiece carrier 5 located downstream of the workpiece W in the conveying direction. That is, when the straight line connecting the confluence point 7x and the rotary shaft 3 of the conveyance table 2 is represented by the broken line L, the angle? Formed by the broken line L and the guide surface 7a is 90 degrees do.

1, the side camera portion 8, the inner surface camera portion 9, the upper surface camera portion 10, and the bottom surface portion 8 constituting the image pickup means 20 are disposed along the rotation direction of the transport table 2, A camera section 11, a front camera section 12, and a rear camera section 13 are provided. The image pickup means 20 can pick up images of the respective surfaces of the work W shown by the arrows A to F in FIG. 2 with respect to the work W on the workpiece carrier 5 to perform the visual inspection. At this time, the conveying direction of the work W indicated by the arrow Z in Fig. 2 coincides with the rotation direction X of the conveying table 2 in Fig.

More specifically, the side camera portion 8 picks up the side surface A opposite to the ground on the work W, the inner surface camera portion 9 picks up the front side B of the ground surface, 10 picks up the image of the upper face C and the lower camera part 11 picks up the lower face D and the front camera part 12 picks up the front face E and the rear face camera part 13 picks up the rear face F).

As shown in Fig. 1, a discharge unit 14 as a discharge means is provided on the downstream side of the image pickup means 20 in the rotational direction of the transport table 2. The work W that has undergone the appearance inspection is discharged from the workpiece transfer arcuate surface to a storage box (not shown) by the discharge portion 14 in accordance with the result of the appearance inspection.

Incidentally, below the conveying table 2, an electric-force generating line 15e and a magnetic-force generating line 18 are provided. Here, Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the electric-force generating section 15e and the magnetic-force-generating section 18 in the present invention. Fig. 6 shows the work W (Fig. 2) to be transported, as in Fig. 3, the work W2 and the confluence point 7x immediately after being transferred from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer point 4x Only the work W9 separated from the guide surface 7a and carried on the workpiece carrier 5 is described. 7 is a view showing the positional relationship between the conveyance table 2 and the alignment guide 7, the electric-force generating unit 15e and the magnetic-force generating unit 18 in the vertical direction in Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of the vicinity of the electric-force-generating portion 15e and the magnetic-force-generating portion 18 in Fig. For convenience of explanation, we make a part perspective view. 9 is a view in the vicinity of the electric-force-generating portion 15e and the magnetic-force-generating portion 18 in Fig. 6 as viewed in the direction of the arrow H in Fig. Fig. 10 is a view in the vicinity of the electric-force-generating portion 15e and the magnetic-force-generating portion 18 in Fig. 6 as viewed from the direction of the arrow N in Fig. The work W (Fig. 2) conveyed in Figs. 8 to 10 includes the work W2 and the confluence point 7x immediately after being transferred from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer point 4x in Fig. 3, Only the work W9 separated from the guide surface 7a and carried on the workpiece carrier 5 is described.

In Fig. 6, the electric-force-generating portion 15e is provided on a conductive plate frame 15f1 made of an insulator and arranged at a slight distance from the conveying table 2 below the conveying table 2. Fig. The magnetic force line generating portion 18 is accommodated in the conductive plate frame 15f1. Fig. 7 shows these positional relationships. That is, when assembling the electric force line generating portion 15e and the magnetic force line generating portion 18, the magnetic force line generating portion 18 shown at the lowermost portion in Fig. 7 is moved in the direction of the arrow U1 (vertically upward) And stored in the conductive plate frame 15f1 of the electric-force-generating portion 15e. The conductive plate frame 15f1 accommodating therein the magnetic line generating portion 18 is transferred in the direction of the arrow U2 (vertically upward) to form a slight gap (not shown) directly below the transport table 2 . The whole thus assembled is shown in Fig. Here, the positional relationship between the transport table 2 and the conductive plate frame 15f1 in the vertical direction is as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. Fig.

Next, a detailed configuration of the electric-force-generating section 15e will be described with reference to Fig. The electric force line generating portion 15e shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is constituted by a conductive plate frame 15f1. The range in which the conductive plate frame 15f1 is disposed is determined so that the workpiece carrying circle 5 is moved from the position immediately below the transfer point 4x to the position along the alignment guide 7 via the confluence point 7x, Is a portion along the conveyance path of the work W up to the front surface 7b of the alignment guide 7 at the downstream position where the work W9 positioned on the work W is conveyed. A rectangular receiving recess 15sd having a rectangular shape is formed on the upper surface of the conductive plate frame 15f1 from a position immediately below the separation point 4x to a position slightly downstream of the confluence point 7x. A linear portion 15s (hereinafter referred to as a straight portion 15s) of a conductive plate formed in a thin rectangular parallelepiped shape made of a conductor (conductor) is accommodated in the linear receiving groove 15sd. The straight section 15s is a rectangular shape whose long side is along the conveying direction of the work W, and the guide surface 7a is located just above the midpoint of the short side.

8, a concave portion having the same depth as that of the rectilinear receiving groove 15sd is formed on the downstream side of the position slightly downstream of the confluence point 7x along the workpiece conveyance arbor 5 on the conveyance table 2, The dome-curve receiving groove 15wd is provided so as to be connected to the straight receiving groove 15sd. A curved portion 15w (hereinafter referred to as a curved portion 15w) of a conductive plate formed in a thin plate shape and made of a conductor electrically connected to the straight portion 15s is accommodated in the curved line accommodating groove 15wd . As shown in Fig. 8, the curved portion 15w has a shape in which a substantially intermediate point in the horizontal width direction perpendicular to the carrying direction of the work W follows directly under the work carrying arc 5. When the width 15wb2 at the position far from the width 15wb1 at the position upstream of the straight line 15s is compared with the width 15wb2 at the downstream side, there is a relationship of 15wb1 > 15wb2. That is, the curved portion 15w becomes narrower in width as it goes downstream. The tip end 15t of the curved portion 15w is pointed at the most downstream point of the conductive plate frame 15f1 in the conveyance path of the work W and the sharp point is indicated by a dotted line W90 That is the width W of the short side constituting the two opposing sides Ws1 and Ws2 of the work W and the line Wem connecting the midpoints of the shorter sides having the width Wem = W90). The rectilinear section 15s and the curved section 15w are connected to the DC power supply 16 shown in Fig. 5, but the DC power supply 16 is not shown in Fig. 6 to Fig.

The electric power line generating portion 15e is constituted by the conductive plate frame 15f1, the straight portion 15s, the curved portion 15w and the direct current power source 16 shown in Fig. The straight portion 15s and the curved portion 15w constitute a conductor plate (also referred to as a conductor) 15 as a holding means.

Next, the detailed configuration of the magnetic-force-generating section 18 will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 10. Fig. The magnetic force line generators 18 shown in Figs. 6 and 7 are accommodated in the conductive plate frame 15f1 as described above. The major constituent members of the magnetic force line generation section 18 are the element magnet 18m shown in Figs. 8 to 10. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the element magnet 18m is a permanent magnet, and the magnet block 18mb, which is three-dimensionally stacked in the vertical direction so as to follow the longitudinal direction of the work W in the carrying direction, Three rows are arranged in the conveying direction of the wafers W, and two rows are arranged in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. The position at which the magnet block 18mb is disposed is substantially right below the guide surface 7a of the alignment guide 7 as shown in Fig. The range to be disposed is a portion along the conveyance path of the work W from the position immediately below the release point 4x to the position slightly downstream of the confluence point 7x along the alignment guide 7.

In Fig. 9, numerals from [m11] to [m33] are individually assigned to nine element magnets 18m in a range visible to the naked eye. Here, when i = 1, 2, and 3, [m11] to [m13] constitute one magnetic block 18mb. 8 to 10, the magnet blocks 18mb are arranged in three rows in the conveying direction of the work W and in two rows in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. However, the number of rows of the magnet blocks 18mb is But is not limited thereto. It is also possible to use a large permanent magnet as the element magnet 18m to constitute the magnet block 18mb as one element magnet 18m or to arrange the entire magnet block 18mb arranged in three columns and two columns as one element As long as it can be constituted by the element magnet 18m, this may be done.

As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, each element magnet 18m is arranged such that the N pole is closer to the transport table 2 and the S pole is farther. However, the arrangement of the N pole and the S pole is not limited to this, but may be arranged so that the S pole is closer to the transfer table 2 and the N pole is farther.

On the magnet block 18mb, a magnetic overlapping bar 18p made of a magnetic material is disposed in the longitudinal direction coinciding with the longitudinal direction of each element magnet 18m. The magnetic overlapping bar 18p extends from the transfer point 4x along the carrying direction of the work W to the vicinity of the end of the conductive plate frame 15f1 or the tip end 15t of the curved portion 15w. Here, as shown in Fig. 10, since the magnet blocks 18mb are arranged in two rows in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the conveying direction, the self-stacking bars 18p are arranged on the respective columns, have. By disposing the magnetic overlapping bar 18p in this position, the magnetic force lines coming from the N pole of the magnet block 18mb are prevented from diffusing to the surroundings and concentrated on the workpiece W placed on the top surface of the transport table 2 .

9 and 10, an auxiliary member 18s made of a non-magnetic material is disposed under each of the magnet blocks 18mb. 9, numerals [S1] to [S3] are assigned to the respective auxiliary members 18s corresponding to the respective magnetic blocks 18mb. The auxiliary member 18s adjusts the distance between the uppermost surface of the magnetic block 18mb and the upper surface of the transport table 2 so as to adjust the distance between the top surface of the magnet block 18mb and the top surface of the transport table 2, . 9 and 10, a magnet fixing frame 18f made of a non-magnetic material is disposed so as to surround the lower side and the side surface of each magnet block 18mb and each of the auxiliary members 18s in an L-shape . 9, numbers [F1] to [F3] are assigned to the magnet fixing frames 18f corresponding to the respective magnet blocks 18mb and the respective auxiliary members 18s. The auxiliary member 18s and the magnet fixing frame 18f corresponding to the respective magnetic blocks 18mb are integrally fixed to the conductive plate frame 15f1 by fixing screws not shown together with the magnetic overlapping bars 18p have.

The magnetic force line generating section 18 is constituted by the element magnet 18m, the magnetic overlapping bar 18p, the auxiliary member 18s and the magnet fixing frame 18f. The element magnet 18m and the magnetic overlapping bar 18p constitute jump preventing means.

Next, a method for inspecting the appearance of a work using the apparatus for inspecting the work of the work having such a constitution will be described in detail.

1, the work W is fed into a feed feeder (not shown) located on the upstream side of the linear feeder 1, and the work W fed into the feed feeder is fed to a linear feeder 1), and are serially transported in the direction of the arrow N in Fig. At this time, the work W is aligned so that the longitudinal direction thereof coincides with the transport direction, and the arrow Z in Fig. 2 becomes the transport direction of the work W. That is, the direction of the arrow Z in Fig. 2 coincides with the direction of the arrow N in Fig.

Next, the operation of the linear feeder 1 will be described in detail with reference to Fig. Fig. 4 shows the shape of the work W carried by the linear feeder 1, and is a perspective view of the region S surrounded by the broken line in Fig. 1 as seen from the direction of the arrow Y. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the position of the alignment guide 7 in broken lines in order to make the shape of the work W on the transfer table 2 easier to see. As for the work W, work on the individual constituent parts is shown as work (WO to W6), and a general work is shown as work (W) regardless of the place.

As shown in Fig. 4, the linear feeder 1 has a slight inclination toward the transport table 2 horizontally positioned below the linear feeder 1, and is pushed by the follower work W by the vibration of the linear feeder 1, The work W is lowered gradually toward the transport table 2 in the forward and backward directions as shown by WO.

3, the work W conveyed in line by the vibration of the linear feeder 1 is transferred to a transfer point 4x on the conveying table 2, 15 and is attracted to the upper surface of the transfer table 2 by dielectric induction and dielectric polarization by the action of electric charges generated in the transfer table 2.

The shape of this adsorption action is shown in Fig. 5, the conductive plate 15 is disposed with a slight gap between the lower surface of the transport table 2 and the DC power supply 16 is connected to the conductive plate 15, and a positive DC voltage is applied. For this reason, a positive charge appears on the conductive plate 15.

Dielectric polarization is caused by the action of the positive charge, negative charge appears on the lower surface side of the inside of the transport table 2 opposite to the conductive plate 15, and positive charge appears on the upper surface side. Likewise, in the work W2 transferred from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer point 4x on the transfer table 2, the electrodes Wa and Wb are electrostatically induced and the main body Wd is subjected to dielectric polarization Negative charges appear on the lower surface side and positive charges appear on the upper surface side, respectively.

An electrostatic attraction force G indicated by the arrow acts between the negative charges appearing on the lower surfaces of the electrodes Wa and Wb and the body Wd and the positive charge on the conductive plate 15, Is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X by the rotation of the conveying table 2 while being adsorbed on the upper surface of the conveying table 2.

The work W transferred to the transfer point 2x on the transfer table 2 appears as a work W2 and is transferred to the transfer table 2 by the rotation of the transfer table 2 X direction.

In this case, the conveying speed by the rotation of the conveying table 2 is set to be larger than the conveying speed by the linear feeder 1, so that the intervals between the works on the conveying table 2 (for example, between W2 and W3) have. 1 allows the front face E of the work W shown in Fig. 2 to be picked up and the rear face camera unit 13 of Fig. 1 When picking up the rear face F of the work W shown in Fig. 2, it is possible to surely capture the entire face.

That is, when the work W is transferred from the transfer point 4x to the transport table 2 and transported, in the section P in Fig. 3, the work W is in the electrostatically adsorbed state and W2 → W3 → W4 And the interval of the work in the section Q is widened as, for example, between W4 and W5.

Next, the actions of the electric-force generating unit 15e and the magnetic-force generating unit 18 will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 10. Fig. The work W (Fig. 2) transferred to the transfer point 4x in Fig. 8 is subjected to the electrostatic chucking by the electric line of force generated by the straight line portion 15s and the magnet block 18mb m11] [m12] [m13]) is adsorbed on the top surface of the transport table 2 by self-adsorption by the generated magnetic line. Here, magnetic force lines generated by the magnet block 18mb will be described with reference to Figs. 9 and 10. Fig. 9 and 10, the magnetic force lines having the N pole on the upper surface of each magnet block 18m as the starting point and the S pole on the lower surface as the end point are indicated by broken lines. Among the lines of magnetic force, magnetic lines of force phi 0a1 and phi 0b1 near both ends of the magnet block 18mb in Fig. 9 all show from the start point to the end point. However, the magnetic lines of force? 1N1 and? 1S1 other than the magnetic lines of force reach the end point after reaching far from the viewpoint (in some cases, infinite distance), only the vicinity of the view point and the vicinity of the end point are shown. The magnetic force lines? 0c1 and? Od1 in FIG. 10 and the magnetic lines of force? 1N2 and? 1S2 are also the same. Here, magnetic attraction acting on the work W in the transfer point 4x is determined by magnetic force lines passing through the transfer table 2, that is, the magnetic force line 1N1 in Fig. 9 and the magnetic force lines 1N2 in Fig. . As described above, because the electrostatic attraction and the self-attraction are used together at the transfer point 4x, stable adsorption can be realized as compared with the case where electrostatic adsorption is used as in the prior art. Therefore, even if a workpiece having a large size and a high weight or a workpiece having a high hardness is taken, the workpiece is immediately adsorbed on the upper surface of the transport table 2 without being leaped at the time of dropping onto the release point 4x and placed in the correct posture.

8, the work W transferred to the transfer point 4x is attracted to the upper surface of the transfer table 2 by electrostatic attraction and self-attraction, and is transferred in the direction of the arrow X of the transfer table 2 Is pressed against the guide surface 7a of the alignment guide 7 and is transported like the workpiece W2. The workpiece W is accelerated to the rotational speed of the conveyance table 2 while being moved from the transfer point 4x to the confluence point 7x and is separated from the guide surface 7a at the confluence point 7x, 5) and transported. Here, after the work W is separated from the guide surface 7a and placed on the workpiece carrier 5 for a while, specifically, the tip end 15t of the curved portion 15w in Fig. 8, The electrostatic attraction by the curved portion 15w located directly under the workpiece carrier 5 acts on the work W until the position of the workpiece W9 is reached. Therefore, the work W is sucked and carried on the upper surface of the transport table 2 until reaching the position of the work W9 corresponding to the tip end 15t of the curved portion 15w. As described above, since both the electrostatic attraction and the self-attraction are used during the period from the transfer point 4x to the confluence point 7x, stable adsorption can be realized as compared with the case of electrostatic attraction alone as in the prior art. Therefore, stable adsorption is realized even when a large acceleration is applied while the work W is being transported from the transfer point 4x to the confluence point 7x. When the workpiece W arrives at the confluence point 7x and is aligned and transported on the workpiece carrier 5 by stable adsorption, the workpiece W is moved by the centrifugal force regardless of its size, And does not escape to the outside of the conveying arc 5. Since the work W immediately after the placement and alignment on the workpiece carrier 5 continues to be attracted to the upper surface of the transfer table 2 for a while by the electrostatic attraction by the curved portion 15w, It becomes possible to carry it.

Further, in the present invention, a curved portion 15w and a magnetic force line generating portion 18 are provided. The cost is much lower than the cost in the case where the DC power source is made large in order to obtain a large attraction force only by the electrostatic attraction acting on the work W as will be described later. The curved portion 15w and the magnetic line generating portion 18 are disposed by arranging the curved portion 15w on the upper surface of the conductive plate frame 15f1 with the conductor plate frame 15fo slightly enlarged, And the generator 18 is stored. Accordingly, the increase in the layout space is very small as compared with the increase in the volume when the DC power source is increased in capacity.

However, as described above, since the conveying speed by the rotation of the conveying table 2 is larger than the conveying speed by the linear feeder 1, the positioned workpiece W is subjected to the interruption The adsorbed state is rapidly accelerated to the conveying speed by the rotation of the conveyance table 2 like W2? W3? W4, and the interval of the work in the section Q is widened, for example, between W4 and W5. The work W5 is conveyed while being pressed against the guide surface 7a in the same manner as the section P and gradually approaches the work transferring arc 5. The carrying direction of the workpiece W6 having reached the confluence point 7x at which the guide surface 7a contacts the workpiece carrier 5 coincides with the direction of the workpiece carrier 5 in the section R, The workpiece W6 is transported in a direction away from the guide surface 7a. That is, since the electrostatic attraction force acts on the work W6 on the conveying table 2 from the positive charge existing on the lower surface of the conveying table 2, the work W6 is attracted to the conveying table 2, Away from the surface 7a, and then conveyed in a state aligned on the workpiece carrier 5.

The work W reaches the imaging means 20 and the side camera portion 8 of the imaging means 20, the inner surface camera portion 9, the upper surface camera portion 10, the lower surface camera portion 11, The front camera section 12 and the rear camera section 13 pick up images of the respective surfaces in the directions indicated by the arrows A to F in Fig. In this case, since the work W is precisely positioned by the attraction by the charge existing on the lower surface of the transfer table 2 and the action of the guide surface 7a, the imaging accuracy by the imaging means 20 . The work W that has undergone the appearance inspection reaches the discharge portion 14 and is discharged toward a storage box (not shown) according to the result of the appearance inspection.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects are exhibited.

In general, when the size of the work W is increased or when the hardness of the work W is increased, the posture of the work W on the transport table 2 changes when the work W is transferred to the transfer point 4x . 3, when the work W is transferred from the linear feeder 1 to the transfer point 4x, the work W falls on the top surface of the transfer table 2 although it is at a very low height. Here, the work W having a large size is large in weight, and the repulsion when landing on the top surface of the transport table 2 is large. Likewise, the rebound when landing the workpiece W having a high hardness on the top surface of the transport table 2 is large. For this reason, the work W falls on the top surface of the transport table 2 and leaps to the top surface of the transport table 2 to be electrostatically adsorbed. The transfer of the work W transferred to the transfer point 4x is switched from the transfer by the oscillation of the linear feeder 1 until that time until the transfer by the rotation of the transfer table 2, And is rapidly accelerated by the rotation of the transport table 2. The fact that the conveyance speed increases sharply due to the switching of the conveyance is also a factor that makes the work W easier to leap. By the jump, the transferred workpiece W changes to an incorrect posture and is conveyed as it is, so that it can not be picked up in the correct direction.

There is also a case where the workpiece W is easily displaced on the workpiece carrier 5 due to the centrifugal force acting on the workpiece W when the workpiece W is placed on the transport table 2 and transported. As described above, the work W placed on the top surface of the transport table 2 is transported from the transfer point 4x to the confluence point 7x until the rotation speed of the transport table 2 Accelerated. A centrifugal force caused by the rotation of the conveyance table 2 acts on the work W9 just after being separated from the guide surface 7a of the alignment guide 7 at the confluence point 7x, It can protrude outward. Even in this case, the workpiece W is changed to an incorrect posture and is conveyed as it is, so that it can not be picked up in the correct direction. In addition, the centrifugal force acts on any work regardless of the size of the work W. I will briefly explain why. The centrifugal force is F, the mass of the work W is m, and the rotational speed of the transport table 2 is v,

[Equation 1]

to be. 3, there is the following relationship between the number of workpieces W carried by the linear feeder 1 and the rotation speed of the transport table 2. In the case of a work W having a large mass m, that is, a work W having a large size, the number of workpieces W conveyed by the linear feeder 1 in a unit time is small. At this time, since the number of workpieces W per unit time supplied to the transport table 2 is small, the rotation speed v of the transport table 2 is small. On the other hand, in the case of the work W having a small mass m, that is, the work W having a small size, the number of the work W carried by the linear feeder 1 in a unit time is large. At this time, since the number of workpieces W per unit time supplied to the transport table 2 is large, the rotation speed v of the transport table 2 is large. That is, if the mass m of the work W is large, the rotation speed v of the transport table 2 is small and if the mass m of the work W is small, the rotation speed v of the transport table 2 ). It can be seen that centrifugal force of the same magnitude acts on the work W irrespective of the magnitude of the mass m of the work W, that is, the magnitude of the magnitude.

It is necessary to increase the electrostatic attraction force acting on the workpiece W placed on the transport table 2 in order to prevent the posture change of the workpiece W due to the centrifugal force at the time of leaping and transporting of the above- . For this purpose, it is conceivable to increase the voltage applied to the linear conductive plate 5s. However, in order to realize this, it is necessary to increase the capacity of the DC power source, thereby increasing the volume of the DC power source and increasing the cost.

On the other hand, according to this embodiment, the workpiece is stably attracted to the transfer table with sufficient force at the time of transfer of the workpiece to the transfer table and at the time of transfer by the transfer table. As a result, the workpiece is transported in the correct posture and can be properly picked up.

≪ Second Embodiment >

Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The second embodiment shown in Fig. 11 is similar to the first embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 10 except that the non-oscillation portion 4 is added to the first embodiment. In the second embodiment shown in Fig. 11, the same reference numerals are given to the same portions as those in the first embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 10, and the detailed description is omitted.

That is, as shown in Fig. 11, a non-oscillation portion 4 having a slope equal to that of the linear feeder 1 and not oscillating is connected to the downstream end of the linear feeder 1. [ The downstream end of the non-vibration section 4 has a slight gap with the transport table 2 in the same manner as the downstream end of the linear feeder 1 in Fig. Thereby, the work W gradually descends from the linear feeder 1 to the non-vibrating portion 4, and is transferred to the conveying table 2. The linear feeder 1 has a slight inclination toward the conveyance table 2 positioned horizontally below the linear feeder 1 and the work W pushed forward by the subsequent work W due to the vibration of the linear feeder 1 , And gradually descends toward the transport table 2 continuously in the forward and backward directions as shown by WO. When the linear feeder 1 is brought close to the position directly above the transport table 2 when the work W is transferred from the linear feeder 1 to the transport table 2 because the linear feeder 1 is vibrating, There is a fear that the linear feeder 1 and the conveyance table 2 come into contact with each other. In order to prevent this, a vibration-free section 4 which does not vibrate is provided between the downstream end of the linear feeder 1 and the transport table 2. [

It is also conceivable that the deviation of the conveying speed of the workpiece W in the linear feeder 1 due to the deviation of the vibration of the linear feeder 1 may occur. And the conveyance table 2, the conveying speed can be made uniform.

The non-oscillation portion 4 has a slope equivalent to that of the linear feeder 1 and has a slight gap between the upper surface of the transport table 2 and the upper surface. The work W on the non-vibration section 4 is pushed forward by the subsequent work as in the case of the linear feeder 1 and is gradually lowered toward the transport table 2 continuously in the forward and backward directions as shown by WO.

The work W1 that has reached the downstream end of the non-vibration section 4 is pushed by the immediately succeeding workpiece WO and is transferred to the transfer point 4x on the transfer table 2, In the direction of arrow X in Fig. If the length of the vibrationless portion 4 is too short, it is difficult to equalize the conveying speed. Conversely, if the length is too long, there is a fear that the workpiece W is stopped on the way. In the embodiment of the present invention, since the length of the non-vibration section 4 is eight times the length of the work in the longitudinal direction, the conveyance speed of the work W can be made uniform without stopping the work W .

Further, in the second embodiment, the de-icing unit 4 is constituted by the vibration-free section 4 and the alignment guide 7 shown in Fig. The second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the noninverting portion 4 is added as described above. That is, the configuration and operation of the electric-force-generating portion 15e and the magnetic-force-generating portion 18 described in the first embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment.

1 Linear feeder 2 conveying table
3 Central axis of conveyance table 4 Non-
4x Leverage point 5 Workpiece return arc
7 Alignment Guide 7a Guide Face
7x confluence point 8 side camera part
9 Inner camera unit 10 Top camera unit
11, a camera unit 12, a front camera unit
13 Rear camera part 14 Discharge part
15 conductive plate 15e electric line generating unit
15f1 Conducting plate frame 15s Straight line of the conductive plate
Curved portion of 15w conductive plate 18 magnetic force generating portion
18f Magnetic fixing frame 18m Element magnet
18mb Magnet block 18p Self-overlay bar
18s auxiliary member 20 imaging means
21 Laminating device 30 Appearance inspection device for workpiece
W Work Wa, Wb Work electrode
Body of Wd work

Claims (8)

A linear feeder for feeding a work having a hexahedron shape,
A rotatable circular transport table formed of a transparent body which is transferred from a linear feeder at a transfer point of the work and which carries the work on a work transporting arc,
Disposing alignment means for disposing (arranging) between the linear feeder and the conveyance table and for aligning the work from the linear feeder on the conveyance table,
A holding means for holding a work placed on the conveyance table by generating an electric field by applying a DC voltage to the conductor,
And imaging means for imaging six surfaces of the work on the transfer table,
The discrete alignment means is provided on the downstream side of the linear feeder and has an alignment guide having a linear guide surface when viewed from the plane in which the work is aligned,
The guiding surface of the alignment guide includes a plane surface (on a plane), a separation point, and a confluence point on the downstream side of the separation point and merging with the workpiece transfer arc, and the guide surface has a straight line connecting the separation point and the confluence point, The straight line connecting the transfer point and the transfer point includes an acute angle with respect to a straight line connecting the transfer point and the rotation axis of the transfer table and the straight line downstream of the confluence point is a line connecting the transfer point and the rotation axis of the transfer table The work orthogonal to the straight line and held on the transfer point is pressed by a straight line connecting the transfer point of the guide surface and the confluence point and is conveyed along the guide surface while being held by the holding means,
The conductor of the holding means is arranged along a straight line connecting the transfer point and the confluence point and along a workpiece transfer arc on the downstream side of the confluence point,
Wherein the magnetic force line generating section is further arranged as a jump preventing means along a straight line connecting the transfer point and the confluence point below the transfer table. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the false alignment means further has a non-oscillation portion provided between the linear feeder and the conveyance table. delete 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the circular conveying table is made of a transparent glass body. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the conveying speed of the work by the conveying table is larger than the conveying speed of the work by the linear feeder. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
Wherein the guiding surface of the alignment guide forms an acute angle of 75 to 88 degrees with respect to a straight line connecting the transfer point and the rotation axis of the transfer table on a plane. A method for inspecting the appearance of a workpiece using the apparatus for inspecting a workpiece according to claim 1,
A step of transporting a work having a hexahedron shape by a linear feeder,
Moving the work from the linear feeder to the transfer point on the circular transport table through the alignment guide and aligning the work with the guide surface of the alignment guide,
A step of transporting the work on the workpiece carrier arcs of the transport table in a state where the workpiece placed on the transport table is held by the holding means,
A step of picking up images of six surfaces of the work on the transport table by the image pickup means
And a step of inspecting the appearance of the work. A method for inspecting the appearance of a work using the apparatus for inspecting appearance of a work according to claim 2,
A step of transporting a work having a hexahedron shape by a linear feeder,
Moving the work from the linear feeder to the transfer point on the circular transport table through the non-vibrating portion and the alignment guide, and aligning the work with the guide surface of the alignment guide;
A step of transporting the work on the workpiece carrier arcs of the transport table in a state where the workpiece placed on the transport table is held by the holding means,
A step of picking up images of six surfaces of the work on the transport table by the image pickup means
And a step of inspecting the appearance of the work.

Images