JP3189175U - X-ray inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an X-ray inspection apparatus capable of inspecting a tall product which is easily overturned without overturning the product. An irradiation chamber 2 for irradiating an object M to be inspected with X-rays and a carry-in conveyor 3 for carrying the object M to be inspected into the irradiation chamber 2 are provided. A tunnel-shaped protective cover 4 is provided on the entrance 21 side of the irradiation chamber 2 so that X-rays leaking from the irradiation chamber 2 are not leaked to the outside. Further, the carry-in conveyor 3 is a belt conveyor having a length extending from the upstream side of the entrance 21 side of the protective cover 4 to the downstream side of the outlet 22 side of the irradiation chamber 2, and the inspected object M is transferred to the conveyor. A fall prevention means 5 for preventing a fall is provided on the carry-in conveyor 3 upstream on the inlet 21 side. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an X-ray inspection apparatus that inspects the quality of contents by irradiating an inspection object with X-rays.

  An X-ray inspection apparatus is widely known as an apparatus for inspecting foreign matters in processed foods, cracks and cracks in packaged products, and the like. Various types of accessory devices may be attached to this type of inspection device depending on the inspection target. For example, in the case of a light product that falls by an X-ray shielding curtain, a guide rail (see Patent Document 1 below), a conveyor belt (see Patent Document 2 below), etc. for preventing the fall are provided in the X-ray examination room. Yes.

Japanese Patent No. 4723752 JP 2010-032462 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-49883

  However, there are products that easily fall over even with the techniques described in these patent documents. For example, in the case of iced candy stored in a cone-shaped container, if it is transported in a laid state, it will become unstable due to rolling, but it will be transported in an upright position. Just touch the curtain and it will fall down easily. An X-ray inspection apparatus that does not use a shielding curtain has been proposed for such an inspected object (see Patent Document 3). The technique of Patent Document 3 employs a method in which an object to be inspected is raised to a higher inspection area with an uphill inclined conveyor provided in an inspection room and then returned to the original conveyance level with a downhill conveyor. However, when the inclined conveyor is used, there is a problem that a tall and unstable inspection object may fall over during transportation and cannot be used. Also, there is a risk of falling over when transferring from conveyor to conveyor.

  In order to solve these problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a new X-ray inspection apparatus capable of inspecting even a tall product that easily falls over without causing it to fall over.

  An X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention is an X-ray inspection apparatus including an irradiation chamber for irradiating an inspection object with X-rays and a carry-in conveyor for transferring the inspection object into the irradiation chamber. A tunnel-shaped protective cover that does not leak X-rays leaking from the entrance of the irradiation chamber to the outside is provided on the entrance side of the irradiation chamber, and the carrying conveyor extends from the upstream side of the entrance side of the protective cover to the downstream side of the exit side of the irradiation chamber. The belt conveyer has a belt conveyor, and a fall prevention means for preventing the fall of the inspection object when the inspection object is transferred to the conveyor is provided on the entrance conveyor upstream.

  This X-ray inspection apparatus inspects, for example, the presence / absence of a foreign substance contained in an object to be inspected, the presence / absence of a cavity, or an abnormal shape of a storage container. In the present invention, in order to eliminate the shielding curtain in the apparatus, a tunnel-shaped protective cover is provided on the entrance side of the irradiation chamber irradiated with X-rays so that X-rays leaking from the entrance of the irradiation chamber are not leaked to the outside. Like that. At that time, a similar protective cover may be provided on the exit side of the irradiation chamber.

  And the carrying-in conveyor which carries in to-be-inspected object in an irradiation chamber comprises a belt conveyor which has the length extended from the entrance-side upstream of a protective cover to the exit-side downstream of an irradiation chamber, and inspects an object in an upright posture with the conveyor Bring it into the irradiation room. And since there is a possibility that the inspection object may fall over when it moves from the upstream conveyor to the carry-in conveyor, a prevention means for preventing the inspection object from falling is provided on the entrance side of the carry-in conveyor. deep.

This overturn prevention means is, for example, a belt conveyor arranged such that the lower conveyor surface of the belt conveyor is positioned slightly higher than the height of the object to be inspected, and the lower conveyor surface of the conveyor belt is It is configured to move at the same speed. Even if the tilted inspection object comes into contact with the lower conveyance surface, the lower conveyance surface comes into contact with the head of the inspection object to prevent the object from falling, and thereby the inspection object is brought upright by its own weight. It is made to restore to.
Further, if necessary, guides for preventing the fall are provided on both sides of the conveyance path of the inspection object. As a result, the tall inspection object transferred to the carry-in conveyor is carried into the irradiation chamber in an upright posture without falling down.

  In addition, in the case of such a tall product, there is a risk of falling over due to a step between the conveyors when transferring from an upstream conveyor to a downstream carry-in conveyor. Therefore, in the present invention, a belt-type transit conveyor is provided between the upstream conveyor and the downstream carry-in conveyor to convey the object to be inspected from both sides. Thereby, even if it is a tall and unstable to-be-inspected object, it can be moved from an upstream conveyor to a downstream carrying-in conveyor, without falling down.

  According to the present invention, even a product that is tall and easily falls can be inspected by X-rays without falling. Therefore, X-ray inspection can be performed without tumbling a cone-shaped ice candy that has been difficult to carry into an X-ray inspection apparatus in an upright posture until now.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention. The configuration block diagram of the above-mentioned one embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an X-ray inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an X-ray inspection apparatus as an embodiment. In this figure, the inspection object M is an ice lolly stored in a cone-shaped container. Usually, it is conveyed via an auxiliary member (not shown) so as not to fall down, but when it is carried into the X-ray inspection apparatus 1, it is transferred to the carry-in conveyor 3 in an upright posture as shown in the figure.

  The X-ray inspection apparatus 1 is provided on an irradiation chamber 2 that irradiates the inspection object M with X-rays, a carry-in conveyor 3 that carries the inspection object M into the irradiation chamber 2, and an entrance side and an exit side of the irradiation chamber 2. The tunnel-type protective cover 4 that does not leak X-rays leaking from the entrance / exit of the irradiation chamber 2 to the outside, and the overturn prevention means 5 that prevents the inspection object M from falling over when the inspection object M is transferred to the carry-in conveyor 3. And a belt-type transit conveyor 6 that conveys the inspection object M from both sides thereof.

  The main body of the X-ray inspection apparatus 1 includes a shield box 11, a collimator 12 that narrows X-rays emitted from an X-ray source (not shown) into a predetermined area, and an X-ray detection sensor disposed at a position facing the collimator 12. 13, a touch panel 14 disposed on the front side of the shield box 11, a control computer 15 to be described later, and four support legs 16 that support the entire X-ray inspection apparatus 1.

  In the irradiation chamber 2, the irradiation port of the collimator 12 faces the ceiling, an opening / closing door (not shown) is provided on the front side, and an inlet 21 for carrying the inspection object M and an outlet 22 for carrying it out are provided on both sides. It has been. The collimator 12 emits beam-shaped X-rays toward the X-ray detection sensor 13 below, and the scattered X-rays leaking from the beam-shaped X-rays are indicated by a one-dot chain line as shown in FIG. The upper edges of the irradiation chamber 2 on the inlet 21 side and the outlet 22 side of the irradiation chamber 2 are squeezed and slightly leaked obliquely downward. In order to prevent the leakage, a tunnel-type protective cover 4 is provided at the entrance 21 and the exit 22. This protective cover 4 is formed of a stainless steel plate that shields X-rays and is formed in a rectangular tube shape. The length of the protective cover 4 is that scattered X-rays that exit diagonally downward from the inlet 21 and outlet 22 of the irradiation chamber 2 leak to the outside. It is set to a length that does not come out.

  The carry-in conveyor 3 is constituted by a belt conveyor having a length extending from the upstream side of the protective cover 4 on the inlet side to the downstream side of the protective cover 4 on the outlet side. In addition, a stainless steel plate that shields X-rays is used for the top plate 31 for running the belt, so that scattered X-rays do not leak out from the entrance / exit of the protective cover 4. And the slit for passing X-rays is provided in the location corresponding to the X-ray detection sensor 13 of the top plate 31.

  The X-ray detection sensor 13 is inserted between the upper and lower belts of the carry-in conveyor 3 and has a plurality of photodiodes arranged in a straight line in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the inspection object M, and superimposed thereon. X-rays composed of a plurality of scintillators and transmitted through the inspection object M are converted into light by each scintillator, and the light is converted into an electric signal by each photodiode and output as an X-ray transmission signal. The The X-ray transmission signal output in this way is converted into a digital quantity by an A / D converter (not shown) and then input to the control computer 15.

  The touch panel 14 is composed of a full-dot display liquid crystal display, and by operating a setting screen displayed there, necessary operating conditions and inspection conditions can be set. For example, conditions such as the conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor 3 and the X-ray intensity when irradiating X-rays can be set on the initial screen before the start of operation. Detection sensitivity for processing an image, and inspection conditions such as cavity inspection and foreign matter inspection can be set.

  The fall prevention means 5 is constituted by a belt conveyor, the lower conveyance surface thereof is arranged at a position slightly higher than the height of the inspection object M, and the lower conveyance surface is the same at the same speed as the inspection object M. It is configured to travel in the direction. As a result, even if the inspection object M is tilted and contacts the lower conveyance surface of the belt conveyor, the relative speed difference between them becomes zero, and the inclination of the inspection object M at that time is also the original posture by its own weight. Therefore, the inclined inspection object M is returned to the upright posture with its own weight after contacting the belt conveyor.

  Further, since there is a level difference that cannot be ignored between the upstream conveyor 7 and the carry-in conveyor 3, a transfer conveyor 6 is provided over the level difference. The transit conveyor 6 is composed of a pair of belt conveyors that convey the inspection object M from both sides. The inspection object M that has been conveyed so as not to fall down on the upstream conveyor 7 is sandwiched between both sides by the transfer conveyor 6 and climbs over the steps in a floating state. Since the posture of M tends to become unstable when moving away from the transfer conveyor 6, the posture of the inspection object M transferred by overlapping the front end portion of the fall prevention means 5 and the rear end portion of the transfer conveyor 6 is changed. Even if it becomes unstable, the to-be-inspected object M is stabilized in an upright posture by the subsequent fall prevention means 5.

  When transferring from the rear end of the carry-in conveyor 3 to the downstream conveyor 8, a similar transfer conveyor 6 is provided, but a tipping prevention means 5 is also provided on the front end of the downstream conveyor 8 as necessary.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration block diagram of the X-ray inspection apparatus 1. In this figure, the control computer 15 is connected to the carry-in conveyor 3, the X-ray source, the X-ray detection sensor 13, and the touch panel 14 to control them, and is also connected to the fall prevention means 5 and the transfer conveyor 6. The conveyance speed is controlled.

  The control computer 15 stores inspection programs such as foreign matter contamination inspection, cavity inspection, container shape inspection, and the like, and reads and executes them to execute inspections on individual inspection objects M. The inspection result is displayed on the touch panel 14 and recorded in the built-in memory.

  In use, first, the X-ray inspection apparatus 1 is activated, and the carrying speeds of the carry-in conveyor 3, the belt conveyor of the fall prevention means 5, and the transfer conveyor 6 are set to predetermined values. When the inspection object M is conveyed from the upstream side at regular intervals, the inspection object M is sent onto the carry-in conveyor 3 via the transfer conveyor 6. At that time, even if the posture becomes unstable, the fall prevention means 5 regulates the inclination of the inspection object M and returns it to a normal upright posture. The inspection objects M thus aligned on the carry-in conveyor 3 are sent into the irradiation chamber 2 through the protective cover 4 while being in an upright posture, where they are exposed to X-rays constantly irradiated from the collimator 12.

  The X-rays that have passed through the inspection object M are detected by the X-ray detection sensor 13 and input to the control computer 15. When no change is found in the input X-ray transmission signal, the control computer 15 determines that the inspection object M has passed through the X-ray detection sensor 13 and the X-ray transmission of the inspection object M input so far. The signal is developed into two-dimensional image data.

  Subsequently, various types of image processing are performed on the two-dimensional image data to inspect the presence or absence of foreign matter in the inspection object M, the presence or absence of cavities, the abnormal shape of the container, and the like. Since these inspections are well known, detailed description thereof is omitted here. If an abnormal inspection object M is found, a distribution signal is transmitted to a downstream distribution device (not shown) in order to exclude it from the line. These processes are sequentially repeated to inspect the inspection object M conveyed one after another.

  In addition, when the inspection object M falls down rarely due to adhesion of ice or the like to the bottom surface of the inspection object M, the falling of the inspection object M is detected before the irradiation chamber 2. For example, a sorting device that is provided with a photoelectric sensor and excludes it from the transport line is configured to be excluded in a protective cover or outside the cover.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to this, Other forms are employable. For example, in this embodiment, a belt conveyor is arranged above the leading end of the carry-in conveyor 3 as the fall prevention means 5, and the inspected object M that has fallen is suppressed to a slight inclination on the lower conveyance surface of the conveyor. Instead of being restored to an upright posture, instead of, for example, approaching from both sides of the inspection object M and entraining the inspection object M around the front, back, left and right, and traveling along a predetermined distance, it is divided into both sides. A circulation transfer means that returns to the original position may be provided along the conveyance direction, and the inspection object M tilted by the circulation transfer means may be restored to an upright posture.

  In this embodiment, X-rays are irradiated from the upper side to the lower side, but instead, X-rays may be irradiated sideways from the side. In that case, the optical axis from the X-ray irradiation means to the X-ray detection sensor is oriented in the horizontal direction. If it does so, since the to-be-inspected object M will be test | inspected from a side surface, a foreign material mixing inspection and a cavity inspection will become easy.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 X-ray inspection apparatus 2 Irradiation room 3 Carry-in conveyor 4 Protective cover 5 Fall prevention means 6 Transfer conveyor 21 Entrance
22 Exit M Object to be inspected

Claims (2)

  An X-ray inspection apparatus comprising: an irradiation chamber for irradiating an object to be inspected with X-rays; and a carry-in conveyor for transferring the object to be inspected into the irradiation chamber; A tunnel-shaped protective cover that does not leak X-rays leaking from the outside is provided, and the carry-in conveyor is a belt conveyor having a length extending from the upstream side of the protective cover to the downstream side of the exit side of the irradiation chamber. An X-ray inspection apparatus characterized in that a fall prevention means is provided on the carry-in conveyor upstream of the entrance side to prevent the fall of the inspection object when the inspection object is transferred. The fall prevention means is constituted by a belt conveyor, and its lower conveyance surface is arranged at a position slightly higher than the height of the inspection object M, and the lower conveyance surface is the same at the same speed as the inspection object M. The X-ray inspection apparatus according to claim 1, configured to travel in a direction.

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