Visual inspection system for ceramic balls
AssigneeAmatsuji Steel Ball Mfg. Co., Ltd.
InventorMasaki Nagashio
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A visual inspection system for ceramic balls inspects flaws in the surface of ceramic balls, and includes an oil tank holding oil, a rotation device for rotating a ceramic ball targeted for inspection that is immersed in the oil in the oil tank, so that detection of the ceramic ball is possible along a meridian, an imaging means for imaging the entire surface of the ceramic ball rotated by the rotation device, an image processing means for image processing an image imaged by the imaging means, and an assessing means for assessing the presence of flaws in the ceramic ball based on image data resulting from the image processing.
Claims8
A visual inspection system for ceramic balls that inspects flaws in a surface of ceramic balls, the system comprising:
- an oil tank for holding oil;
- a rotation device for rotating a ceramic ball targeted for inspection that is immersed in the oil in the oil tank, said rotation device including a drive roller, a pair of control rollers, and a support roller which fix the ceramic ball in a prescribed position in the oil, wherein each of said control rollers is equipped with an eccentric helical gear and the ceramic ball is rotated by the eccentric helical gears so that detection of the ceramic ball is possible along a meridian;
- imaging means for imaging an entire surface of the ceramic ball rotated by the rotation device, said imaging means including a light source for irradiating light onto the ceramic ball and a digital camera having a lens;
- image processing means for image processing an image taken by the imaging means;
- and
- assessing means for assessing a presence of flaws in the ceramic ball based on image data resulting from the image processing.
A visual inspection system for ceramic balls that inspects flaws in a surface of ceramic balls, the system comprising:
- an oil tank for holding oil;
- a rotation device for rotating a ceramic ball targeted for inspection that is immersed in the oil in the oil tank, said rotation device including a drive roller, a pair of control rollers, and a support roller which fix the ceramic ball in a prescribed position in the oil, wherein each of said control rollers is equipped with an eccentric helical gear and the ceramic ball is rotated by the eccentric helical gears so that detection of the ceramic ball is possible along a meridian;
- an imaging device which takes an image of an entire surface of the ceramic ball rotated by the rotation device, said imaging device including a light source for irradiating light onto the ceramic ball and a digital camera having a lens;
- an image processor which processes an image taken by the imaging device;
- and
- an assessing device which assesses a presence of flaws in the ceramic ball based on image data resulting from the image processing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.