Hole inspection apparatus and method

An apparatus for inspecting a plurality of holes formed in an inspected object, comprising:

• image pickup means for picking up an image of said inspected object having said plurality of holes for acquiring object pattern data;
• storage means for storing master pattern data expressing an ideal state of said inspected object;
• area division means for dividing said object pattern data into a plurality of object pattern divisional areas having a prescribed size;
• defect candidate area extraction means for comparing each said object pattern divisional area with master pattern data corresponding to said each object pattern divisional area thereby determining whether or not each said object pattern divisional area is a defect candidate and extracting a defect candidate area from said plurality of object pattern divisional areas;
• first acquisition means for obtaining first hole information as to holes present in said object pattern divisional area extracted as said defect candidate area from said plurality of object pattern divisional areas;
• second acquisition means for obtaining second hole information as to holes present in an area of said master pattern data corresponding to said object pattern divisional area extracted as said defect candidate area;
• and
• defect determination means for comparing said first hole information and said second hole information with each other for determining whether or not each said hole is defective on the basis of a result of comparison.