Method for inspecting stripped condition of electric wire

A method of inspecting a stripped wire to determine if the wire is in good or poor stripped condition, said wire having been stripped of a length of sheath to form a stripped end by means of a stripper for installation of a crimp-style terminal thereon, said method comprising the steps of:

• illuminating a core at a tip portion of said wire and its vicinity by means of illumination means, said tip portion being exposed due to stripping;
• imaging said core and its vicinity by an imaging means, said imaging means disposed in opposite relation to said illumination means with said wire therebetween;
• determining a coordinate position of said stripped end of said sheath in an imaging plane of said imaging means using illumination data of a picture obtained by said imaging means;
• determining a coordinate position of a tip end of said tip portion of said wire in said imaging plane;
• determining a shape of said core;
• and
• determining at least one of whether said coordinate position of said stripped end is within a standard range, whether a length and a thickness of said core are within a standard range, and whether there are strands coming out of said core.