JP2008298569A - Hollow fiber ferrule inspection apparatus and inspection and determination method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method capable of accurately inspecting hollow fiber ferrules in a short time by acquiring images of fiber-spinning holes and liquid injection holes of the hollow fiber ferrules through the use of an optical system and automatically performing inspection and determination on the basis of quantitative management criteria. <P>SOLUTION: The hollow fiber ferrule inspection method comprises: an illumination means (A) for inspection for inspecting and determining the concentricity of the fiber-spinning holes and liquid injection nozzles; an illumination means (B) for inspection for inspecting and determining the surfaces and inside of the fiber-spinning holes; an illumination means (C) for inspection for inspecting and determining the liquid injection holes; and their imaging means. The means (A) is installed at a position on the hollow fiber discharge side of supported and fixed hollow fiber ferrules. The means (B) and (C) are installed at such positions as to enable the transmission of illumination light from the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber ferrules. The imaging means can image reflected light from the surfaces of the fiber-spinning holes on the hollow fiber discharge side of light irradiated by the means (A) and transmitted light irradiated by the means (B) and (C). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a process / quality control in a hollow fiber manufacturing process.

  Conventionally, an abnormal product of a hollow fiber is found by sampling a spun yarn and observing a cross-sectional shape, inspecting in a state of being incorporated in a hollow fiber module (for example, refer to Patent Document 1), or continuing a process (in-line). ) In a state where the yarn width / system is measured and monitored (see, for example, Patent Document 2). However, since it takes a long time to identify the cause when an abnormal yarn is found, there has been a problem that loss such as a reduction in operating rate and occurrence of enormous product loss cannot be reduced.

Therefore, when trying to perform a die inspection in the pre-spinning stage, a minute light passing through the spinning hole is confirmed using illumination and a microscope, or the state is confirmed by passing water through the hole. However, in any case, there is no clear thing such as a quantitative criterion value in the sensory test. For this reason, there is a problem that it can only be carried out by a specific inspector, and it is difficult to inherit the technology and thus cannot maintain future production. In addition, the visual inspection of minute holes tends to cause variations due to the health condition of the inspector, and is likely to cause problems in terms of accuracy. Furthermore, these operations require a long time. When production is performed using a large amount of caps in the case of an increase in production, it is a great obstacle to shortening the operation time.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-281159 JP-A-9-152323

An object of the present invention is to provide a management method for inspecting a hollow fiber base before spinning to prevent the occurrence of abnormal yarn due to the base, and using the imaging means and inspection illumination, An object of the present invention is to provide a hollow fiber cap inspection method which can be performed accurately and in a short time by acquiring images of spinning holes and injection liquid holes, and automatically performing inspection and determination based on a quantitative management standard.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
1. The following (A) to (C) inspection illumination means and imaging means therefor, the means (A) is installed at a position relative to the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber base supported and fixed, and the hollow fiber base The means (B) and (C) are installed at a position where the irradiation light from the hollow fiber discharge side can be transmitted, and from the spinning hole surface on the hollow fiber discharge side of the light irradiated by the means (A) A hollow fiber cap inspection apparatus characterized in that the imaging means can take an image of the reflected light of (2) and the transmitted light emitted from the means (B) and (C).
(A) Illumination for inspection / determination of concentricity of spinning hole and injection liquid nozzle (B) Illumination for spinning hole surface and internal inspection / determination (C) Illumination for inspection / determination of injection hole Further, the light having the following (D) illumination means and its imaging means, the (D) means is installed at a position with respect to the portion to which the management ID is assigned in the hollow fiber base, and the light emitted from the (D) means 2. The hollow fiber cap inspection device according to 1, wherein the imaging means can image reflected light from a portion to which the management ID is assigned.
(D) Illumination for reading management ID The above 1 or 2 characterized in that it has an automatically transportable shaft for providing a plurality of hollow fiber caps for inspection / determination by the illumination means and its imaging means and a holder capable of fixing the hollow fiber caps to the shaft. The hollow fiber cap inspection device described.

  According to the present invention, quantitative hollow fiber base management standards can be established as described below. In addition, the inspection time can be shortened. Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of abnormal yarn due to the abnormality of the cap.

  In the present invention, the inspection illumination shown in FIG. 1 installed to perform the above (A) to (C) is performed for each of the above (A) to (C) for the purpose of performing each inspection of the hollow fiber cap. At least one each is required to construct. As shown in FIG. 2, the hollow fiber cap has a structure in which a nozzle having an injection liquid hole is inserted and combined with a spinning hole. That is, each one of the inspection illuminations means observing the presence / absence of the misalignment of the spinning hole and the nozzle, ie, the concentricity, for “(A) Concentration inspection / determination of spinning hole and injection liquid nozzle”. Target reflected illumination, Transmitted illumination for observing the presence or absence of clogging or foreign matter adhesion inside the spinning hole for “(B) Spinning hole surface and internal inspection / determination”, “(C) Injection hole This is another transmitted illumination aiming at observing the presence or absence of internal clogging or foreign matter adhesion for “inspection / determination”. The reflected illumination of (A) is used for the purpose of irradiating the inspection object with light and causing the reflected light to enter the imaging means, and is installed at a position relative to the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber base. . That is, when the hollow fiber base is inspected, if the discharge side is supported and fixed so that the discharge side faces upward, the reflected illumination of (A) is installed at a position above the base in a direction in which the irradiation light is irradiated downward. Next, the transmitted illuminations (B) and (C) are installed at positions where the irradiated light can be transmitted from the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber cap. The directions of illumination in (B) and (C) may be the same, but they may be in different directions as long as the irradiation light is transmitted from the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber cap. Commercially available high-intensity LEDs can be used for both illuminations, but (C) for illumination of the injection hole inspection / determination, monochromatic blue light having a peak value in the wavelength region of 460 nm to 490 nm may be used. Desirable for obtaining clear images.

  Moreover, the imaging means in the present invention enables imaging of the reflected light from the spinning hole of the light irradiated from (A) and the transmitted light of the base of the light irradiated from (B) and (C). Need to be installed in position. In this case, the imaging means may be singular or plural, but by installing the imaging means at the same position on the discharge side of the hollow fiber as the means of (A), imaging of the reflected light and transmitted light is possible with one imaging means. It is. As such imaging means, a general CCD camera can be used.

  Further, in addition to the above, it is preferable that the (D) illumination means for reading the management ID is provided. Here, the management ID is a unique number of the hollow fiber cap, and is associated with information of the hollow fiber cap in a database described later. Although the installation position of the illumination in (D) is not particularly limited, it is installed at a position with respect to the portion to which the management ID is assigned in the hollow fiber base, and is used for printing on the base by using together with the image reading means for ID reading. It must be possible to read the stamped management number (ID). In addition, the imaging unit needs to be installed at a position where the reflected light from the portion with the management ID of the light emitted from the unit (D) can be imaged. However, it may be installed at a position where the ID reading can be performed in the middle of the conveyance of the hollow fiber base, and it is installed at a position where the ID reading can be performed by changing the direction of the hollow fiber base. It may be. As will be described later, from the means of (A) to (C), information on the base is obtained from the read ID, and appropriate inspection / determination can be performed based on the information. It is preferable that ID reading is performed at a stage prior to the inspection by irradiation light.

  One embodiment of the hollow fiber cap inspection apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an apparatus configuration diagram according to the present invention, and shows an example of the configuration of an apparatus that automatically conveys a plurality of hollow fiber caps and performs inspection / determination with a plurality of imaging means and inspection illumination. In FIG. 1, 1 is a hollow fiber base, 2 is a base holder, 3 is a base transport shaft, 4 is a base ID reading camera, 5 is ID reading illumination, 6 is an inspection camera (imaging means), and 7 is an inspection camera drive. Axes, 8 for misalignment inspection illumination (means (A)), 9 for injection hole inspection illumination (means (C)), 10 for spinning hole inspection illumination (means (B)) And stored in the same frame. Reference numeral 11 denotes an image processing / determination personal computer (PC).

  The base holder 2 is used to fix a plurality of hollow fiber bases 1 to the base transport shaft 3 and automatically transport the base. Here, the die is set on the conveying shaft 3 so that the spinning hole discharge side faces upward. The base conveying shaft 3 is composed of a general servo motor and a ball screw, etc., and transports the base to a position where inspection / determination can be performed by an optical system including the illumination unit and the imaging unit. It is. Further, the ID reading camera 4 and the illumination 5 form one optical system for reading the management ID of (D) above, and by reading the management number printed / engraved on the base, the judgment reference image is called and the inspection / Save the judgment result.

  The inspection camera 6 is a general CCD camera, but is used in combination with a high-magnification lens and has a drive shaft 7 for focus adjustment. The resolution of the camera and the magnification of the lens may be determined from the size of the inspection target hole. The drive shaft 7 is composed of a general servo motor and a ball screw, but it is preferable to select a highly accurate positioning accuracy with a variation of 5 μm or less in order to perform fine focus adjustment.

The observation of the spinning hole 12 is performed by setting the inspection camera 6 on the discharge side of the spinning hole and irradiating illumination from the stock solution injection side, but the presence or absence of foreign matter inside the spinning hole is determined only by the observation image near the discharge side surface. Can not. The hollow fiber cap generally has a structure having straight pipe portions 18 and 19 and a tapered portion 20 from the raw material injection side 15 toward the discharge side 16 as shown in FIG. No matter which part of the straight pipe portions 18 and 19 and the tapered portion 20 adheres, the flow path of the undiluted solution may be disturbed and abnormal yarns may be generated. The light transmission state is only near the discharge side 16 surface. It cannot be said that abnormal yarn does not occur at best. Therefore, when the depth of focus of the camera is changed with respect to the inside of the spinning hole, the position where the observation image changes and a characteristic shape can be obtained can be found. For example, as shown in 21 to 24 in FIG. 4, when the spinning holes are cut at the observation depth, characteristic shape images can be obtained, and all of these are used for inspection and determination. Here, the depth may be determined from the internal structure and operation of the base to be used, but is preferably 4 or more, more preferably 5 or more.
The processing / management PC 11 for performing inspection / judgment includes a base ID number and various information on the base such as an inspection reference image associated with the base ID, illumination dose, and observation focus height of the camera. As stored. The inspection reference image, illumination dose, and observation focus height are preferably held and operated in common with the base, but can be held individually and updated sequentially. These parameters can be set optimally by the inspector confirming the captured image by conveying the management target base to the apparatus in advance.

  In the present invention, the pass / fail judgment of the hollow fiber base 1 can be performed using the above-described inspection apparatus. The reflected light amount and transmitted light amount obtained in the inspection apparatus are binarized with a predetermined threshold value in the pass / fail judgment parameter, and a measured value is obtained by image processing. The pass / fail determination parameters include a luminance value, a dimension, an area value, a shape, and the like. Thus, inspection / determination can be performed by a known method such as binarized area determination, pattern matching between an acquired image and a reference image, or feature extraction. In addition to the determination result, the acquired image, brightness, size, area, etc. can be automatically saved and the inspection result can be viewed later. In addition, by producing a hollow fiber using a base that has been accepted by the above-described determination by the inspection method, it is possible to prevent occurrence of abnormal yarn due to the abnormality of the base.

FIG. 5 shows a flow of automatic conveyance / inspection. The inspector first sets a plurality of hollow fiber caps in the base holder at 25 and sets the holder on the base transport shaft at 26. When the automatic start is applied at 27, the base holder is first positioned at 28 at an ID reading unit composed of 3 and 4. Here, automatic character discrimination of the ID printed / engraved on the base surface is performed, the recognition data is transmitted to the processing / management PC 11, and various kinds of information from the database, that is, inspection reference image, illumination used, illumination dose, observation focus Reserve the height. Next, at 29, the base is transported and positioned on the inspection section composed of 5 and 7. Here, first, automatic focusing is performed on the surface of the die 30 by using the reflected illumination 8, the center is shifted by 31, the surface of the spinning hole is 32, the inside of the spinning hole is 33 to 36, and the injection hole is 37. The inspections are automatically executed sequentially. Each inspection uses the illumination used, the illumination irradiation amount, and the observation focus height assigned by the processing / management PC 11, and the determination using the corresponding determination parameter is performed at 38 and displayed on the PC 11 screen. Here, the order of inspection / determination may be any first. As shown by 39, the number of times set in the base holder 1 is repeatedly executed, and the sequential determination result is output on the PC screen. When all the inspections / determinations of all the bases are completed, the base holder 1 returns to the insertion port at 40 to end the series of operations, and at 41, all the inspection determination results are stored.

For the hollow fiber cap used in the dialyzer module, the cap holder for fixing the 16 caps on one line in a single line is transported uniaxially.
The ID reading camera was installed with a CCD having a light receiving element of 400,000 pixels so as to obtain a resolution of about 40 μm, and a reflection optical system was formed using a high-intensity red LED manufactured by CCS as the ID reading illumination. The inspection camera is installed with a CCD with a light-receiving element of 400,000 pixels combined with a lens with a magnification of 5 times so that a resolution of about 1.5 μm can be obtained. Luminance blue LED is irradiated from the spinning hole injection side to form a transmission optical system, and CCS high luminance red LED is used for injection hole observation to irradiate from the injection liquid hole injection side to form a transmission optical system Then, a red LED manufactured by CCS Co., Ltd. was used for center misalignment inspection and irradiated perpendicularly to the spinning hole side to form a coaxial incident optical system. An inspection camera drive shaft with a high precision with a positioning accuracy of 2 μm was used.

  In addition, the inspection PC can store 2000 types of master images and determination results.

  As a result, it was confirmed that the size of the foreign matter adhering to the spinning hole can be detected and judged from about 5 μm or more, and the misalignment from about 4 μm or more.

  As for the inspection time, it takes about 2 minutes per piece when a skilled inspector confirms only the spinning hole and misalignment by visual inspection, but when using this inspection device, all 7 items are per piece. The inspection was possible for about 20 seconds, and the work time was reduced to 1/6.

It is a schematic block diagram of the hollow fiber cap inspection apparatus which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the spinning hole and injection | pouring liquid hole of a hollow fiber nozzle | cap | die. It is a figure which shows the cross section of the axial direction of a hollow fiber nozzle | cap | die, and demonstrates an internal structure. It is a figure explaining the example of the observation focus inside a spinning hole with the enlarged view of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the series operation | movement of hollow fiber nozzle inspection and determination by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: hollow fiber base 2: base holder 3: base transport axis 4: base ID reading camera 5: base ID reading illumination 6: inspection camera 7: inspection camera drive shaft 8: misalignment inspection illumination (reflective illumination)
9: Illumination for injection hole inspection (transmission illumination)
10: Illumination for spinning hole inspection (transmission illumination)
11: Image processing / determination PC
12: Spinning hole 13: Injection liquid nozzle 14: Injection liquid hole

Claims (7)

The following (A) to (C) inspection illumination means and imaging means therefor, the means (A) is installed at a position relative to the hollow fiber discharge side of the hollow fiber base supported and fixed, and the hollow fiber base The means (B) and (C) are installed at a position where the irradiation light from the hollow fiber discharge side can be transmitted, and from the spinning hole surface on the hollow fiber discharge side of the light irradiated by the means (A) A hollow fiber cap inspection apparatus characterized in that the imaging means can take an image of the reflected light of (2) and the transmitted light emitted from the means (B) and (C).
(A) Illumination for inspection / determination of concentricity of spinning hole and injection liquid nozzle (B) Illumination for spinning hole surface and internal inspection / determination (C) Illumination for inspection / determination of injection hole Further, the light having the following (D) illumination means and its imaging means, the (D) means is installed at a position with respect to the portion to which the management ID is assigned in the hollow fiber base, and the light emitted from the (D) means The hollow fiber cap inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit can image reflected light from a portion to which the management ID is assigned.
(D) Illumination for reading management ID   3. A shaft capable of being automatically conveyed to provide a plurality of hollow fiber caps for inspection / determination by the illumination means and its imaging means, and a holder capable of fixing the hollow fiber caps to the shaft. The hollow fiber cap inspection device described in 1.   Using the inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the reflected light amount obtained by irradiating the surface of the spinning hole with light from the means (A) and the means (B) and (C) The amount of transmitted light obtained by transmitting light into the spinning hole and the injection liquid hole is binarized with predetermined threshold values, respectively, and the pass / fail judgment of the hollow fiber cap is performed based on the measured values obtained by image processing. A method for inspecting and judging a hollow fiber cap.   5. The hollow fiber cap according to claim 4, wherein in (B) inspection / determination inside the spinning hole, a plurality of focal depths of the inspection camera are changed, and images at the respective focal depths are observed / acquired. Inspection / judgment method.   The hollow fiber cap inspection according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a monochromatic blue light source having a peak value in a wavelength region of 460 nm to 490 nm is used as the illumination for (C) injection hole inspection / determination. -Judgment method.   A method for producing a hollow fiber, characterized by using a base that is managed by the inspection / determination method according to claim 4 and determined to be acceptable.

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