JP2024116887A - Inspection Equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an inspection device that can more reliably measure dimensions of a specific area and can detect foreign matter and defects in an area having relatively low surface reflectance in an inspection object having different surface reflectance depending on areas.SOLUTION: An inspection device for inspecting quality of an electrode material for batteries by an optical method includes multiple piece of lighting for applying inspection light to the surface of an electrode material, and an imaging section for imaging the surface of the electrode material by receiving each of reflection light, the multiple pieces of light includes first lighting in which an incidence angle is set such that regular reflection light by the surface of the electrode material of applied inspection light impinges on the imaging section, and the inspection device further includes an adjustment section for adjusting or setting a predetermined condition such that signal intensity acquired based on reflection light of inspection light applied from the first light from among multiple pieces of light is reduced selectively in the imaging section.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an inspection device that uses optical techniques to inspect the quality of electrode materials for batteries.

Conventionally, there are known inspection and monitoring devices for measuring the dimensions of specific points or areas on the surface of an object being transported in a predetermined direction or an object being rotated in a predetermined direction around a rotation axis, or for detecting defects such as foreign bodies or defects. These devices make it possible to easily and highly accurately inspect the quality of objects, prevent defective products from being mistakenly shipped, and improve yields (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3).

However, depending on the type of object, it may be difficult to inspect the quality of the object even if the inspection device or monitor device described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 is used. One example of such an object is an electrode material for a battery (e.g., a lithium-ion secondary battery). The reflectance of the surface of the electrode material varies depending on the region, and when the inspection device or monitor device described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 is used, for example, it is difficult to detect the boundaries between such regions in the captured image of the surface of the electrode material, so there is a risk that the accuracy of measuring the dimensions of a specific region will decrease. There is also a risk that the accuracy of detecting foreign objects and defects in regions with low reflectance will decrease.

JP 2022-020873 A JP 2014-178249 A JP 2012-251929 A

The technology disclosed herein has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide an inspection device that enables accurate inspection of the surface of an object whose surface reflectance varies depending on the area.

The present disclosure for solving the above problems is as follows:
An inspection device for inspecting the quality of an electrode material for a battery by an optical method,
A plurality of illuminators for irradiating the electrode material with inspection light;
an imaging unit that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminators and reflected by a surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
the plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light by a surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit;
The inspection device includes an imaging unit that further includes an adjustment unit that adjusts or sets predetermined conditions so that the signal intensity obtained based on the reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light irradiated from the first lighting among the multiple lighting is selectively reduced.

The surface of the electrode material to be inspected by the inspection device according to the present disclosure often includes areas with significantly different reflectances. Therefore, when the surface of the electrode material is imaged by an imaging unit such as a monochrome camera provided in a conventional inspection device, the surface of the electrode material may not be inspected with high accuracy due to the state in which the image obtained includes excessively bright and dark areas. By using the inspection device according to the present disclosure, such a problem is solved, that is, the boundary between areas with significantly different reflectances can be detected in the image obtained from the imaging unit. Here, the above-mentioned "selectively reducing the signal intensity" indicates that the degree of reduction in the signal intensity by the first illumination is relatively large compared to other illuminations. Note that this only indicates the degree of change, and the magnitude of the signal intensity itself after the change does not matter. In addition, the above-mentioned "adjusted or set" is intended to include both the case where the conditions are adjusted during or before inspection, and the case where the conditions are set during design or manufacturing.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the multiple illuminators may include a second illuminator that irradiates inspection light having a different wavelength and angle of incidence from the first illuminator, and the imaging unit may receive the inspection light irradiated from the first illuminator and the inspection light irradiated from the second illuminator and reflected by the surface of the electrode material, respectively, and obtain an image that makes it possible to distinguish the uneven shape of the surface of the electrode material based on the difference in color. This makes it easier to evaluate the quality of the electrode material.

In the present disclosure, the predetermined condition may be the intensity of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, or the sensitivity of the imaging unit to the reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination by the surface of the electrode material. This makes it possible to easily adjust or set the signal intensity acquired based on the reflected light of the surface of the electrode material. The predetermined condition may include the installation angle of the first illumination, the distance between the first illumination and the electrode material, etc., in addition to the intensity of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination and the sensitivity of the imaging unit to the reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination by the surface of the electrode material. It may also include attaching a neutral density filter or an aperture to the first illumination.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the adjustment unit may reduce the signal strength of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, which is acquired based on the reflected light from the surface of the electrode material, to 1/100 or less. In general, the signal strength acquired based on the specular reflected light is higher than the signal strength acquired based on the diffuse reflected light. Therefore, if the signal strength acquired based on the reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination is not adjusted, the signal strength acquired by the imaging unit may exceed the allowable value due to the first illumination, which has an incident angle set so that the specular reflected light from the surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit, or appropriate imaging may be impossible in relation to the intensity of the inspection light from other illumination. Therefore, by setting a restriction to reduce the signal strength to 1/100 or less, such a problem is solved.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the multiple illuminators may include an infrared illuminator that irradiates infrared light as the inspection light, and the infrared illuminator may irradiate the inspection light with the highest irradiation intensity among the multiple illuminators. This makes it possible to easily detect foreign objects of even darker colors in dark areas that have a low reflectance to visible light in an image acquired from an imaging unit that receives reflected infrared light.

In the present disclosure, the angles of incidence of the inspection light from the plurality of illuminations may be different from each other, and the absolute value of the angle of incidence of the inspection light from the first illumination may be the smallest among the angles of incidence of the inspection light from the plurality of illuminations. This makes it easier to adjust the angles of the first illumination and the imaging unit, and makes it possible to more reliably or easily cause the specularly reflected light of the first illumination to be incident on the imaging unit. In addition, since it becomes possible to increase the difference between the angle of incidence of the inspection light of an illumination other than the first illumination, which causes diffusely reflected light to be incident on the imaging unit, and the angle of incidence of the first illumination, it is possible to more reliably separate the diffusely reflected light from the illumination other than the first illumination from the specularly reflected light of the illumination and cause it to be incident on the imaging unit.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the electrode material for the battery may be formed by applying a coating of active material onto a metal sheet. The coating has a significant effect on the quality of the electrode material, and its quality evaluation is essential in the production of electrode materials. By making it possible to detect the boundary between the metal sheet, which has a relatively high reflectivity, and the coating, which has a relatively low reflectivity, in the captured image, it is possible to easily measure dimensions such as the width of the coating, which can lead to improvements in the quality of the electrode material.

Furthermore, in the present disclosure, the boundary between the coated product and the metal sheet may be detected by the reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, and the dimensions of the coated product may be measured by detecting the boundary between the coated product and the metal sheet. By using the specularly reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, the boundary between the coated product and the metal sheet is more clearly displayed in the captured image. In other words, the above-mentioned dimensional measurement can be performed more efficiently.

In addition, in the present disclosure, the multiple lights may further include a light that emits red light, a light that emits blue light, and a light that emits green light. This makes it possible to vary the wavelength of the reflected light incident on the imaging unit depending on the shape of defects such as foreign matter or unevenness in the captured image, and to clearly display defects on the surface of the electrode material by a combination of light of different wavelengths depending on the type of defect.

The present disclosure also provides
An inspection device for inspecting the quality of an electrode material for a battery by an optical method,
A plurality of illuminators for irradiating an inspection light onto a surface of the electrode material;
an imaging unit that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminators and reflected by a surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
the plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light by a surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit;
a boundary between the coated object and the metal sheet is detected by reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, thereby making it possible to measure a dimension of the coated object;
The present invention includes an inspection device capable of detecting defects or foreign matter in the coating or the metal sheet by reflection of the inspection light, which is irradiated from an illumination other than the first illumination among the plurality of illuminations, by the surface of the electrode material.

In other words, the inspection device disclosed herein is capable of not only measuring the dimensions of the coating, but also detecting defects or foreign matter in the coating. In other words, it is possible to more carefully evaluate the quality of the electrode material, and it is more likely that the results will lead to improvements in the quality of the electrode material.

The means for solving the above problems can be used in combination with each other whenever possible.

The technology disclosed herein makes it possible to perform highly accurate inspection of the surface of an object to be inspected, even when the surface reflectance varies depending on the area.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an inspection device according to an embodiment. Fig. 2A is an RGB image showing a plan view of an electrode material according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2B is an enlarged view of an image corresponding to a portion surrounded by a dashed line X in Fig. 2A. Fig. 2C is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a dashed line Y in Fig. 2A. Fig. 3A is an infrared image showing a plan view of an electrode material according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3B is an enlarged view of a portion surrounded by a dashed line Z in Fig. 3A. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the relative positions of a red light illumination and an infrared light illumination with respect to a line camera. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams of the relative positions of green and blue light illumination with respect to the line camera. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an example of display content on a display unit included in the inspection device according to the embodiment.

[Application example]
An outline of an application example of the present invention will be described below with reference to some drawings. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of the configuration of an inspection device 1 to which the technology of this application example is applied. The inspection device 1 in this application example is configured to include a red light illumination 11, an infrared light illumination 12, a green light illumination 13, and a blue light illumination 14 as a plurality of illuminations that irradiate an electrode material 2 for a battery with inspection light of different wavelengths from different angles. In addition, the inspection device 1 is configured to include a line camera 15 that independently receives each of the reflected lights of the inspection light by the surface of the electrode material 2 and images the surface of the electrode material 2, a light amount adjustment unit 161 that adjusts the intensity of each of the plurality of illuminations, and a signal intensity adjustment unit 162 that adjusts the signal intensity relative to the intensity of the reflected light in the line camera 15. Here, the line camera 15 corresponds to the imaging unit in this disclosure. In addition, the light amount adjustment unit 161 and the signal intensity adjustment unit 162 correspond to the adjustment unit in this disclosure.

The red light illuminator 11, the infrared light illuminator 12, the green light illuminator 13, and the blue light illuminator 14 respectively irradiate the electrode material 2 with red light 111, infrared light 121, green light 131, and blue light 141 as detection light. The red light 111, the green light 131, and the blue light 141 are types of visible light, and the cones contained in the human retina can usually recognize any color by combining these three types of visible light in a predetermined ratio. Therefore, in the image captured by the line camera 15, if there is a defect on the surface of the electrode material 2, it is possible to make the wavelength of the reflected light incident on the line camera 15 different depending on the shape, and it is possible to clearly display the defect by a combination of light of different wavelengths depending on the type of defect.

As shown in FIG. 1, the red light illumination 11 and the line camera 15 are installed so that the angle of incidence of the red light 111 is equal to the angle of the optical axis of the line camera 15 relative to the vertical line. This makes it easier for the line camera 15 to receive the specularly reflected light of the red light 111 from the surface of the electrode material 2, and the signal strength obtained based on this specularly reflected light tends to be high. Therefore, the light quantity adjustment unit 161 and the signal strength adjustment unit 162 adjust or set predetermined conditions so that the degree of reduction in this signal strength is greater relative to the other illuminations (infrared light illumination 12, green light illumination 13, and blue light illumination 14).

The predetermined conditions may include, for example, the intensity of the red light 111, the sensitivity of the line camera 15 to the reflected light of the red light 111 by the surface of the electrode material 2, the installation angle of the red light illuminator 11, the distance between the red light illuminator 11 and the electrode material 2, etc. Also, the predetermined conditions may include attaching a neutral density filter or an aperture to the red light illuminator 11. Also, in this application example, the term "adjustment" refers to determining the conditions at the time of inspection or before inspection, and the term "setting" refers to determining the conditions at the time of design or manufacturing. The relative position of the red light illuminator 11 with respect to the line camera 15 will be described in detail in the following examples with reference to FIG. 4A. Also, the red light illuminator 11 corresponds to the first illuminator in this disclosure.

[Example]
The inspection device 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in more detail below with reference to the drawings (including FIG. 1 which has been described in the above application example). Note that the inspection device 1 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the following configuration.

<Device Configuration>
Returning now to the description of Fig. 1, in the following embodiments, detailed description of the contents described in the above application example will be omitted. Also, in this specification, the same components will be described using the same reference numerals.

As described above, the inspection device 1 according to the present embodiment includes four types of illumination. The signal strength obtained based on the reflected light of the detection light irradiated from each illumination is adjusted according to the purpose of the processing of the electrode material 2, but this is not limited to the number of illuminations as long as there are multiple illuminations, and multiple illuminations with the same wavelength of irradiated inspection light may be provided. In addition, the relative position of the line camera 15 with respect to the illumination will be described below using Figures 4A to 5B, but the installation positions of the illumination and the line camera 15 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the positions of the red light illumination 11 and the infrared light illumination 12 shown in Figure 1 may be interchanged, and the positions of the green light illumination 13 and the blue light illumination 14 may be interchanged.

The electrode material 2, which is the object of inspection in this embodiment, is one layer of a multi-layered electrode and is a sheet-like member. Specifically, the electrode material 2 is formed by applying a coating 22 of an active material that enables electrical energy to be output to the outside on a current collector such as aluminum foil 21. The reflectance of the aluminum foil 21 is higher than that of the coating 22, that is, the reflectance of the surface of the electrode material 2 varies greatly depending on the region. Here, the aluminum foil 21 corresponds to the metal sheet in this disclosure. In addition, in FIG. 1, when the electrode material 2 is wound from a roll arranged on one side of the inspection device 1 to a winding roll arranged on the opposite side of the inspection device 1, it passes under the four types of lighting and the line camera 15 shown in FIG. At that time, inspection light is irradiated from each lighting toward the surface of the electrode material 2, and the reflected light is incident on the line camera 15, thereby inspecting the condition of the surface of the electrode material 2.

The line camera 15 is also useful in that it can accurately capture the surface of a sheet-like material such as the electrode material 2 even while the material is being transported. Even if the surface of the electrode material 2 is uneven, the unevenness can be clearly confirmed in the captured image. However, the camera for capturing the surface of the electrode material 2 is not necessarily limited to the line camera 15, and for example, an area camera or a contact image sensor (CIS) may be used. It is also natural that the direction in which the electrode material 2 is transported may be the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1 or the opposite direction. In addition, as long as the electrode material 2 moves at a constant speed below the lighting or line camera 15, the manner of movement is not limited to transportation. For example, if the electrode material 2 is a strip-shaped sheet or the like that is difficult to wind into a roll, the inspection device 1 may include a jig (not shown), and with the electrode material 2 fixed to the jig, the jig may move below the lighting and line camera 15 at a constant speed within a certain range in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1, and then move at the same speed within the same range in the opposite direction to the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 1, repeating this process at equal intervals. In addition, the adjustment of at least one of the light quantity adjustment unit 161 and the signal intensity adjustment unit 162 may be performed manually or automatically. In addition, with regard to the installation angle of each illumination, the infrared light illumination 12 is the smallest, and the green light illumination 13 or the blue light illumination 14 is the largest.

2A is an RGB image showing a plan view of the electrode material 2 according to the embodiment. Here, in this embodiment, the RGB image is an image obtained by extracting wavelength components of visible light (i.e., red light 111, green light 131, and blue light 141) from an image captured by the line camera 15. As described above, the aluminum foil 21 and the coating material 22 have different reflectances, and in the RGB image, the aluminum foil 21 having a relatively high reflectance is displayed brighter, and the coating material 22 having a relatively low reflectance is displayed darker.

2B is an enlarged view of an image corresponding to the portion surrounded by the dashed line X in FIG. 2A. In this embodiment, the specular reflection of the red light 111 is set to be incident on the line camera 15, so that the aluminum foil 21 is displayed almost in red in FIGS. 2A and 2B. In addition, in FIG. 2B, by using an image in which only the signal due to the specular reflection of the red light 111 is extracted, the aluminum foil 21 is displayed even brighter, and the boundary between the aluminum foil 21 and the coating 22 can be easily recognized. Therefore, it is possible to easily measure dimensions such as the width of the coating 22 (both the vertical and horizontal widths in FIG. 2B). Since the coating 22 is a part that greatly affects the quality of the electrode material 2, measuring the dimensions of the coating 22 is very meaningful in evaluating the quality of the electrode material 2, and can ultimately lead to improvements in the quality of the electrode material 2. In addition to the boundary between the aluminum foil 21 and the coating 22, for example, the boundary between the wet area and the dry area in the coating 22 can also be detected by the difference in reflectance between those areas.

2C is an enlarged view of the portion surrounded by the dashed line Y in FIG. 2A. The area surrounded by the white line in FIG. 2C represents a defect 3 in the aluminum foil 21. This defect 3 has an uneven shape, and in the uneven shape, there is an area where the green light 131 is irradiated and an area where the blue light 141 is irradiated. The line camera 15 receives the reflected light from the area where the green light 131 is irradiated, and the area is displayed in green in the RGB image shown in FIG. 2C. Similarly, the area where the blue light 141 is irradiated is displayed in blue in the RGB image shown in FIG. 2C. That is, when the aluminum foil 21 has an uneven defect 3, it is possible to make the wavelength of the reflected light incident on the line camera 15 different depending on the shape, and it is possible to clearly display the shape of the defect 3 in the RGB image by combining inspection lights of different wavelengths. This makes it possible to more reliably find such a defect 3. In addition, it is also possible to detect foreign matter (not shown) as a defect in the aluminum foil 21, including its shape, by using the RGB image in the same way. Here, the green light illumination 13 and the blue light illumination 14 correspond to the second illumination in this disclosure.

Figure 3A is an infrared image showing a plan view of the electrode material 2 according to the embodiment. Here, in this embodiment, the infrared image is an image captured by the line camera 15, in which the wavelength component of infrared light 121 is extracted. Compared to the RGB image shown in Figure 2A, the coating material 22 appears brighter in the infrared image. Also, Figure 3B is an enlarged view of the part surrounded by the dashed line Z in Figure 3A. Since the coating material 22 appears brighter in the infrared image, it is easy to detect a defect 3 (more specifically, a dark defect) in the coating material 22. This defect 3 is a convex defect that has occurred in the coating material 22, and by acquiring an infrared image, it is possible to more reliably find such defects. That is, in the infrared image, it is possible to easily detect a defect 3 of an even darker color in a dark area due to a low reflectance to visible light. In addition, it is also possible to detect foreign matter (not shown) as a defect in the coating material 22 by using an infrared image in the same way.

As described above, when the boundary between the aluminum foil 21 and the coated material 22 is clearly displayed and the dimensions of the coated material 22 are measured, an RGB image (or an R image) is acquired. When detecting defects 3 or foreign matter in the aluminum foil 21 including their shapes, an RGB image is acquired. When detecting defects 3 or foreign matter in the coated material 22, an infrared image is acquired. In this way, the inspection device 1 according to the embodiment is capable of extracting one or more wavelength components of the four types of inspection light from the image captured by the line camera 15 depending on the content of the inspection of the surface of the electrode material 2.

Next, the relative position of the illumination with respect to the line camera 15 in the inspection device 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A to 5B. FIG. 4A shows an outline of the relative position of the red light illumination 11 with respect to the line camera 15. In FIG. 4A, the red light illumination 11 is installed so that the angle θ1 (incidence angle θ1 of the red light 111) between a virtual line extending vertically from the surface of the electrode material 2 and the center of the red light illumination 11 and the angle θ2 (reflection angle θ2 of the red light 111) between the virtual line and the center of the lens of the line camera 15 are equal, and the reflected light of the red light 111 corresponds to regular reflection light. In addition, the incidence angle θ1 of the red light 111 is smaller than the incidence angle θ3 of the infrared light 121 shown in FIG. 4B below, the incidence angle θ4 of the green light 131 shown in FIG. 5A, and the incidence angle θ5 of the blue light 141 shown in FIG. 5B.

As a result, the installation angles of the red light illumination 11 and the line camera 15 can be more easily adjusted in accordance with the relative position of the red light illumination 11 with respect to the line camera 15 shown in FIG. 4A, and the specularly reflected light of the infrared light 121 can be more reliably or easily made incident on the line camera 15. In addition, since it is possible to increase the difference between θ1 and θ4 shown in FIG. 5A and between θ5 shown in FIG. 5B, it is possible to more reliably separate the diffusely reflected light from illumination other than the red light illumination 11 from the specularly reflected light of the red light illumination 11 and make it incident on the line camera 15. Note that in this embodiment, both θ1 and θ2 may take values close to 7 degrees.

The signal intensity adjustment unit 162 may adjust the line camera 15 so that the signal intensity acquired based on the specular reflection of the red light 111 is reduced to 1/100 or less. In general, the signal intensity acquired based on the specular reflection is higher than the signal intensity acquired based on the diffuse reflection. Therefore, if the line camera 15 is not adjusted as described above, the signal intensity acquired by the line camera 15 may exceed the allowable value due to the red light illumination 11 having an incident angle of θ1 set so that the specular reflection of the red light 111 is incident on the line camera 15, or appropriate imaging may be impossible in relation to the intensity of the inspection light from illumination other than the red light illumination 11. Therefore, by setting a restriction to reduce the signal intensity to 1/100 or less, such a problem is solved.

Figure 4B shows an outline of the relative position of the infrared light illuminator 12 with respect to the line camera 15. In Figure 4B, the infrared light 121 is reflected as diffuse reflected light in various directions by the surface of the electrode material 2, and the line camera 15 receives a portion of the diffuse reflected light. As a result, as explained above with reference to Figures 3A and 3B, defects 3 and foreign matter in the coating material 22 can be easily detected in the infrared image. Furthermore, by making the irradiation intensity of the infrared light 121 the highest among the irradiation intensities of all the inspection lights, the effect can be obtained more reliably. In this embodiment, θ3 may be set to a value close to 17. Also, θ3 shown in Figure 4B is larger than the reflection angle of the diffuse reflected light incident on the line camera 15, but the magnitude relationship between these may be reversed.

FIG. 5A shows an outline of the relative position of the green light illumination 13 with respect to the line camera 15. In FIG. 5A, a convex defect 3 occurs on the surface of the electrode material 2 (more precisely, the aluminum foil 21), and the green light 131 is irradiated to the defect 3. The line camera 15 may receive a part of the specularly reflected light of the green light 131 irradiated to the defect 3. Here, when the red light 111 is irradiated to the defect 3 from the red light illumination 11 at the position shown in FIG. 4A, the specularly reflected light does not enter the line camera 15. FIG. 5B shows an outline of the relative position of the blue light illumination 14 with respect to the line camera 15, but since it is the same as FIG. 5A, the description is omitted. From the above, in the RGB image, the part corresponding to the left side of the defect 3 in the orientation shown in FIG. 5A may be displayed in green, and the part corresponding to the right side of the defect 3 in the orientation shown in FIG. 5B (or FIG. 5A) may be displayed in blue. In contrast, the part corresponding to the smooth area on the surface of the electrode material 2 where the defect 3 does not occur is likely to be displayed in red. Therefore, it is possible to more easily confirm the defect 3. In this embodiment, both θ4 and θ5 may take values close to 70 degrees. Also, although θ4 shown in Fig. 5A and θ5 shown in Fig. 5B are each larger than the reflection angle of the diffuse reflected light incident on the line camera 15, the magnitude relationship between these may be reversed.

As described above, in the inspection device 1 according to this embodiment, the infrared light illuminator 11 is installed so that the angle of incidence of the infrared light 111 is the smallest among all the angles of incidence of the inspection light, and the reflected light of the infrared light 111 is separated as regular reflected light from other diffuse reflected light, so that the boundary between the aluminum foil 21 and the coated product 22 can be easily detected in the R image, and the part corresponding to the smooth area in the aluminum foil 21 where no defects 3 or foreign matter occurs can be displayed in red in the RGB image so as to be distinguishable from the other parts. In addition, the infrared light illuminator 12 is installed so that the diffuse reflected light of the infrared light 121 is incident on the line camera 15, and the irradiation intensity of the infrared light 121 is set to be the highest among all the detection lights, so that the defects 3 and foreign matter in the coated product 22 can be detected more reliably. In addition, the green light illuminator 13 and the blue light illuminator 14 are installed so that the diffuse reflected light of the green light 131 and the blue light 141 is incident on the line camera 15, so that the defects 3 and foreign matter in the aluminum foil 21 can be easily detected together with their shapes.

The inspection device 1 according to this embodiment may also include a display unit 17 such as a monitor. FIG. 6 shows an example of the display contents on the display unit 17. In the area surrounded by the dashed line x in FIG. 6, a mapping showing the distribution of defects 3 and foreign matter on the surface of the electrode material 2 is displayed as dots, which allows the user to immediately grasp the tendency of which part of the surface of the electrode material 2 is likely to have defects 3 or foreign matter. In addition, in the area surrounded by the dashed line y, an enlarged image of the defect 3 or foreign matter is displayed in accordance with the above mapping, which allows the user to easily grasp the shape of the defect 3 or foreign matter. In addition, in this embodiment, a thumbnail image during actual inspection can be displayed in the area surrounded by the dashed line z, and in addition to the positions of the defects 3 and foreign matter, information on the dimensions of the coating material 22 and the positional deviation of the coating material 22 can also be displayed.

<Appendix 1>
An inspection device (1) for inspecting the quality of an electrode material (2) for a battery by an optical method, comprising:
A plurality of illuminators (11, 12, 13, 14) for irradiating inspection light (111, 121, 131, 141) onto the surface of the electrode material;
an imaging unit (15) that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminations and reflected by the surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
The plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator (11) having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light from a surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit,
The inspection device (1), further comprising an adjustment unit (161, 162) for adjusting or setting predetermined conditions so that a signal intensity acquired based on reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light (111) irradiated from the first lighting among the multiple lightings is selectively reduced in the imaging unit.

<Appendix 2>
An inspection device (1) for inspecting the quality of an electrode material (2) for a battery by an optical method, comprising:
A plurality of illuminators (11, 12, 13, 14) for irradiating inspection light (111, 121, 131, 141) onto the surface of the electrode material;
an imaging unit (15) that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminations and reflected by the surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
The plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator (11) having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light by the surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit,
a boundary between the coated object (22) and the metal sheet (21) is detected by reflected light of the inspection light (111) irradiated from the first illumination, thereby making it possible to measure the dimensions of the coated object;
an inspection device (1) capable of detecting defects (3) or foreign matter in the coating or the metal sheet by reflected light of the inspection light (121, 131, 141) emitted from lighting (12, 13, 14) other than the first lighting among the plurality of lighting, by the surface of the electrode material.

1... Inspection device 11... Red light illuminator 111... Red light 12... Infrared light illuminator 121... Infrared light 13... Green light illuminator 131... Green light 14... Blue light illuminator 141... Blue light 15... Line camera 161... Light quantity adjustment section 162... Signal intensity adjustment section 17... Display section 2... Electrode material 21... Aluminum foil 22... Coated object 3... Defect

Claims (10)

An inspection device for inspecting the quality of an electrode material for a battery by an optical method,
A plurality of illuminators for irradiating an inspection light onto a surface of the electrode material;
an imaging unit that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminators and reflected by a surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
the plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light by a surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit;
An inspection device characterized in that the imaging unit further includes an adjustment unit that adjusts or sets predetermined conditions so that a signal intensity acquired based on the reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light irradiated from the first lighting among the multiple lighting is selectively reduced. the plurality of illuminators include a second illuminator that irradiates inspection light having a wavelength and an incident angle different from those of the first illuminator;
The imaging unit receives each of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination and reflected by the surface of the electrode material, and the inspection light irradiated from the second illumination and reflected by the surface of the electrode material,
2. The inspection device according to claim 1, further comprising: a pickup image that enables identification of the uneven shape of the surface of the electrode material based on differences in color. The inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the predetermined condition is the intensity of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination or the sensitivity of the imaging unit to the reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination by the surface of the electrode material. The inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the adjustment unit reduces the signal intensity acquired based on the reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination to 1/100 or less. the plurality of illuminators include an infrared illuminator that irradiates infrared light as the inspection light,
2. The inspection device according to claim 1, wherein the infrared light illuminator irradiates inspection light with the highest irradiation intensity among the plurality of illuminators. The angles of incidence of the inspection light from the plurality of illuminations are different from each other,
2 . The inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein an absolute value of an incident angle of the inspection light from the first illuminator is smallest among the incident angles of the inspection light from the plurality of illuminators. The inspection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the electrode material for the battery is formed by applying a coating of active material onto a metal sheet. a boundary between the coated object and the metal sheet can be detected by reflected light of inspection light irradiated from the first illumination,
8. The inspection device according to claim 7, wherein the dimension of the coated object can be measured by detecting a boundary between the coated object and the metal sheet. The inspection device according to claim 5, characterized in that the plurality of illuminations further include illumination that emits red light, illumination that emits blue light, and illumination that emits green light. An inspection device for inspecting the quality of an electrode material for a battery by an optical method,
A plurality of illuminators for irradiating an inspection light onto a surface of the electrode material;
an imaging unit that receives each of the inspection light beams irradiated from the plurality of illuminators and reflected by a surface of the electrode material, and images the surface of the electrode material;
Equipped with
the plurality of illuminators include a first illuminator having an incident angle set so that specular light of the irradiated inspection light by a surface of the electrode material is incident on the imaging unit;
a boundary between the coated object and the metal sheet is detected by reflected light of the inspection light irradiated from the first illumination, thereby making it possible to measure a dimension of the coated object;
An inspection device characterized in that defects or foreign objects in the coating or the metal sheet can be detected by reflected light from the surface of the electrode material of the inspection light irradiated from an illumination other than the first illumination among the multiple illuminations.

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