# US 12,761,156 B2 · Product inspection system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,761,156 B2 - Document ID: US12761156B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/974,807 - Filed: 2022-10-27 - Published: 2023-04-27 - Granted: 2026-10-13 - Earliest claimed: 2021-10-27 - Assignees: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.; TE Connectivity Solutions GmbH - Applicants: Tyco Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.; TE Connectivity Services GmbH - Inventors: Lei (Alex) Zhou; Dandan (Emily) Zhang; Roberto Francisco-Yi Lu; Qing (Carrie) Zhou; Rong Zhang - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12761156B2 ## CPC - G01N 21/8803: {Visual inspection (measuring projectors G01B9/08)} - G01N 2021/177: {Detector of the video camera type} - G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q) ## Abstract A product inspection system includes a separating device separating a pair of adjacent products in a row of products by a predetermined distance, an image capturing device simultaneously capturing a plurality of images of a plurality of surfaces of all the products of the row of products that have been separated by the separating device, and a rotating device simultaneously rotating the products in the row of products separated by the separating device. The surfaces to be inspected of each product in the row of products are successively rotated to an orientation facing the image capturing device. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A product inspection system, comprising: a separating device separating a pair of adjacent products in a row of products by a predetermined distance, the separating device includes a row of carriers; an image capturing device simultaneously capturing a plurality of images of a plurality of surfaces of all the products of the row of products that have been separated by the separating device; a rotating device simultaneously rotating the products in the row of products separated by the separating device, the surfaces to be inspected of each product in the row of products are successively rotated to an orientation facing the image capturing device; and a plurality of limiting members each provided between two adjacent carriers in the row of carriers, each limiting member between the two adjacent carriers has one end connected to a first of the two adjacent carriers in both an initial state and a separate state and an other end having a hook part engaging with a second of the two adjacent carriers in the separate state, at least one limiting member between two adjacent carriers is movable with the first adjacent carrier from the initial state to the separate state, the row of carriers abut in the initial state and are separated by the predetermined distance in the separate state. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the image capturing device simultaneously takes images of a plurality of first surfaces of the products in the row of products when the first surfaces are rotated to face the image capturing device. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The product inspection system according to claim 2, wherein a plurality of second surfaces of the products are rotated to face the image capturing device and the image capturing device simultaneously takes images of the second surfaces of the products after the images of the first surfaces are captured. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the separating device includes: a support; a plurality of support rods fixed to the support and parallel to each other; and the row of carriers slidably mounted on the support rods, the row of carriers is movable along the support rod between an initial state in which the carriers are close to each other and a separated state in which the carriers are separated by the predetermined distance from each other. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The product inspection system according to claim 4, wherein the row of products is simultaneously loaded on the row of carriers in the initial state, and after the row of products is loaded on the row of carriers, the row of carriers is switched to the separated state so that any two adjacent products in the row of products are separated by the predetermined distance. ### Claim 6 (depends on 4) The product inspection system according to claim 4, wherein the separating device includes a driving mechanism mounted on the support, the driving mechanism drives the row of carriers to be switched between the initial state and the separated state. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The product inspection system according to claim 6, wherein the driving mechanism includes: a ball screw rotatably mounted on the support; a nut threaded with the ball screw and connected to a forward most carrier in the row of carriers; and a driver installed on the support to drive the ball screw to rotate. ### Claim 8 (depends on 4) The product inspection system according to claim 4, wherein each carrier in the row of carriers has a first positioning post pluggable into an insertion hole of the products to fix the products on the carrier. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The product inspection system according to claim 8, wherein the rotating device includes: a support frame; a row of gears rotatably mounted on the support frame and meshed with each other; a row of second positioning posts fixed to the row of gears to coaxially rotate with the gears; and a rack movably mounted on the support frame and meshed with an outermost gear in the row of gears to drive the row of gears to simultaneously rotate. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The product inspection system according to claim 9, wherein a distance between a pair of axes of two adjacent gears in the row of gears is equal to the predetermined distance, the row of second positioning posts are simultaneously insertable into the insertion holes of the row of products separated by the separating device. ### Claim 11 (depends on 10) The product inspection system according to claim 10, wherein the rotating device includes a driving device installed on the support frame to drive the rack to move in a direction perpendicular to the axes of the gears. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the hook part of each limiting member between two adjacent carriers is engaged with the other of the two adjacent carriers to limit the spacing between two adjacent carriers to the predetermined distance when the row of carriers is in the separate state, and the hook part of each limiting member between two adjacent carriers is separated from the other of the two adjacent carriers by the predetermined distance to allow the two adjacent carriers to move relative to each other when the row of carriers is in the initial state. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The product inspection system according to claim 12, wherein each of the carriers has a convex part engageable with the hook part of the limiting member and, when the row of carriers is in the separated state, the hook part of the limiting member engages the convex part on the other of the two adjacent carriers. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, further comprising a loading device simultaneously clamping the row of products to simultaneously load the row of products onto the separating device or the rotating device. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, further comprising a supply device supplying the row of products, any two adjacent products in the row of products are close to each other before being separated by the separating device. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, further comprising a determination device determining whether a quality of the product is qualified according to the images of all surfaces to be inspected of the product. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The product inspection system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one limiting member is only movable with the first adjacent carrier from the initial state to the separate state. ### Claim 18 A product inspection system, comprising: a separating device separating a pair of adjacent products in a row of products by a predetermined distance, the separating device includes a row of carriers, each carrier in the row of carriers has a first positioning post pluggable into an insertion hole of the products to fix the products on the carrier; an image capturing device simultaneously capturing a plurality of images of a plurality of surfaces of all the products of the row of products that have been separated by the separating device; and a rotating device simultaneously rotating the products in the row of products separated by the separating device, the surfaces to be inspected of each product in the row of products are successively rotated to an orientation facing the image capturing device.