JP4156645B2 - X-ray foreign object detection device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention, for example, X-ray foreign matter for detecting foreign matter in the inspection object from the amount of X-ray transmission when X-rays are irradiated to the inspection object of various varieties such as raw meat, fish, processed food, and medicine The present invention relates to a detection device.

  The X-ray foreign object detection device irradiates X-rays to inspected products of various varieties such as raw meat, fish, processed foods, and pharmaceuticals that are sequentially transported on the transport line, and the amount of transmitted X-rays transmitted. This is a device that detects whether or not a foreign object such as metal, glass, stone, or bone is mixed in the inspection object.

  In this type of X-ray foreign object detection apparatus, an image display indicating the internal state of the inspection object at the time of X-ray exposure, a quality determination display, and the like are displayed on a display screen of a display provided on the front surface of the apparatus main body. It is like that.

  By the way, when the inspected object 2 is a retort product as shown in FIG. 3, the food or the like as the contents is sealed in a bag. When this type of retort product is sterilized, the time and heat amount to be sterilized are determined according to the volume of the contents. If the amount of heat is insufficient, sufficient sterilization treatment is not performed. For this reason, attention is paid to the amount of bubbles 21 generated in the retort product 2 as shown in FIG. 3, and not only the presence / absence of the above-mentioned foreign matter is mixed, but the quality of the product is determined according to the amount of bubbles inside. It was necessary to inspect.

  Therefore, in the past, the retort product was soaked in water in a separate process from the foreign substance inspection process, and the quality was checked by looking at the amount of bubbles exiting from it.

  However, in the conventional inspection method described above, since a part of all products is sampled and inspected, all products cannot be inspected, and the inspection reliability is lacking. Moreover, since the bubble inspection is performed in a process separate from the foreign substance inspection process, there is a problem that the inspection takes time and effort.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an X-ray foreign object detection device capable of performing bubble inspection of all inspection objects simultaneously with the inspection of contamination of the inspection objects. It is an object.

In order to achieve the above object, an X-ray foreign matter detection device according to claim 1 of the present invention is a flat inspection object sealed in a bag that is sequentially transported horizontally on a belt conveyor provided in a transport line. The object 2 is exposed to X-rays in a screen shape from above the transport line, and the flat-shaped object is determined from the amount of X-rays transmitted through the flat object to be inspected as the X-rays are irradiated . In the X-ray foreign matter detection apparatus 1 for inspecting the entry of foreign matter in the inspection object,
Aforementioned flat thresholds and compared for detecting contamination which is previously set in the array of the line sensor X-ray transmission amount when exposure to X-rays to the inspection object determine the contamination of foreign substances Control means 13 for determining the quality of the flat inspection object,
Control means, further, the flat threshold for bubble discrimination X-ray transmission amount for the central portion of the polarization plane shape of the object when exposure to X-rays is set in advance in the object to be inspected A bubble presence / absence discriminating means 13a for discriminating the above portion as a bubble;
Area calculating means 13b for calculating the area of the portion determined to be a bubble by the bubble presence / absence determining means;
A pass / fail judgment means 13c for judging pass / fail of the inspection object when a total value of the areas calculated by the area calculation means is equal to or larger than a preset reference area;
It is characterized in that the determination of the presence / absence of a foreign substance in the inspection object and the determination of the quality of the bubble amount are performed simultaneously.

  According to the X-ray foreign object detection device of the present invention, it is possible to determine the quality by inspecting the amount of bubbles of all the inspection objects simultaneously with the inspection of the contamination of the inspection objects. And since all the test objects can be inspected for bubbles, the reliability of the inspection is improved as compared with the conventional case. In addition, since the bubble inspection can be performed simultaneously with the foreign object inspection, it is possible to inspect all the inspected objects without taking time and effort. In addition, if the configuration is such that the presence or absence of air bubbles is determined at the central part of the object to be inspected, in particular, when the object to be inspected is a retort product, the property that the air bubbles come closer to the center of the sealed bag is used. The presence or absence of bubbles is determined from the amount of X-ray transmission at the center of the object, and when the total area of the areas determined to be bubbles is greater than the reference area, the inspection object is automatically determined as a defective product for bubble inspection. The required processing time can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an X-ray foreign object detection device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the X-ray foreign object detection device.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the X-ray foreign object detection device 1 is provided in a part of the conveyance line, and is mixed in the inspection object 2 (including the surface) that is sequentially conveyed at a predetermined interval. The amount of bubbles in the inspection object 2 is inspected simultaneously with the detection of the presence or absence of foreign matter. In this X-ray foreign matter detection apparatus 1, a transport unit 3 and a foreign matter detection unit 4 are provided in the apparatus main body 1a, and an operation panel 7 including a setting input unit 5 and a display 6 is provided in the upper front portion of the apparatus main body 1a. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the transport unit 3 transports, for example, various kinds of inspection objects 2 such as raw meat, fish, processed food, medicine, and the like, for example, a belt conveyor arranged horizontally with respect to the apparatus main body 1 a. Consists of. The conveyance unit 3 carries out the inspection object 2 carried in from the carry-in port 3a in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1 to the carry-out port 3b at a predetermined conveyance speed set in advance by driving of the drive motor 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the foreign matter detection unit 4 detects foreign matter in the middle of the transport path of the object to be inspected 2, and is provided above the belt conveyor 3 at a predetermined height away. A generator 9 and an X-ray detector 10 provided to face the X-ray generator 9 in the belt conveyor 3 are provided.

  The setting input unit 5 includes a plurality of keys for giving various settings and instructions regarding the foreign object inspection of the inspection object 2. Although not specifically illustrated, for example, a start key operated when instructing the start of the apparatus operation, a stop key operated when instructing the stop of the apparatus operation, and a mode in which the image displayed on the display 6 is fixedly displayed. And a screen switching key that is operated when the screen is selectively switched to one of the modes in which the image displayed on the display 6 is scroll-displayed in accordance with the movement of the inspection object 2.

  The X-ray generator 9 has a configuration in which a cylindrical X-ray tube 12 provided in a metal box 11 is immersed in insulating oil (not shown), and an electron beam from the cathode of the X-ray tube 12 is an anode target. X-rays are generated by irradiation. The X-ray tube 12 is provided so that the longitudinal direction thereof is orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the inspection object 2 (the arrow direction in FIG. 1). The X-rays generated by the X-ray tube 12 are turned into a substantially triangular screen shape through a slit (not shown) along the longitudinal direction toward the lower X-ray detector 10. It has come to be exposed.

  The X-ray detector 10 detects X-rays transmitted through the inspection object 2 when the X-rays are exposed to the inspection object 2, and according to the detected X-ray transmission amount. An electrical signal is being output.

  Although not shown, the X-ray detector 10 includes, for example, a plurality of photos arranged in a line in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (the arrow direction in FIG. 1) of the inspection object 2 conveyed on the belt conveyor 3. An arrayed line sensor including a diode and a scintillator provided on the photodiode is used. In the X-ray detector 10 having such a configuration, when X-rays are exposed to the inspection object 2 from the X-ray generator 9, the X-rays transmitted through the inspection object 2 are received by the scintillator. And convert it to light. Further, the light converted by the scintillator is received by a photodiode disposed below the light. Each photodiode converts the received light into an electrical signal and outputs it. The electric signal from the X-ray detector 10 is input to the control means 13 shown in FIG.

  The control means 13 controls the start / stop of the operation of the apparatus by a predetermined key input of the setting input unit 5 or fixedly displays the image of the inspection object 2 during X-ray exposure displayed on the display 6. A screen switching command for selectively switching between the fixed display mode and the scroll display mode in which the image is scroll-displayed in accordance with the movement of the inspection object 2 is output to the display control means 15.

  Further, a signal from the position detection means 14 for detecting the passage of the inspection object 2 is input to the control means 13. The position detection means 14 is comprised with the photo sensor which consists of a pair of light projector / receiver provided in the carrying-in entrance 3a side of the belt conveyor 3, for example. With this configuration, in a state where the inspection object 2 does not pass in front of the photosensor, the light emitted from the projector is received by the light receiver as it is. On the other hand, while the inspection object 2 passes in front of the photosensor, the light emitted from the projector is blocked by the inspection object 2, and the amount of light received by the light receiver decreases. An electric signal corresponding to the amount of received light detected by the light receiver is input to the control means 13 from the photosensor. For example, when the inspection object 2 does not pass in front of the photosensor, an OFF signal is input from the position detection means 14 to the control means 13, and the position detection is performed while the inspection object 2 passes in front of the photosensor. An ON signal is input from the means 14 to the control means 13.

  Further, the control means 13 displays the electrical signal input from the X-ray detector 10 as data of the inspection object 2 after the position detection means 14 detects the front end of the inspection object 2 until the rear end is detected. It is output to the control means 15.

  Then, the control means 13 compares the electric signal corresponding to the transmission amount of the X-rays transmitted through the inspection object 2 with a preset threshold value of the X-ray transmission amount for foreign matter contamination determination, and the comparison result Based on this, it is determined whether or not a foreign object such as metal, glass, stone, or bone is mixed in the inspection object 2, and the quality of the inspection object 2 is determined from the determination result. Alternatively, a selection signal indicating whether the product is defective is output externally.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the control means 13 determines the presence / absence of the bubbles 21 in the inspection object 2 at the same time as the foreign substance inspection, and as shown in FIG. Means 13b and pass / fail judgment means 13c are provided. The bubble presence / absence discriminating means 13a discriminates the presence / absence of the bubble 21 from the image of the inspection object 2 during X-ray exposure. More specifically, a threshold value for the amount of X-ray transmission for bubble discrimination is set in advance, an electric signal corresponding to the amount of X-ray transmission from the X-ray detector 10 is compared with the threshold value, When the electric signal corresponding to the X-ray transmission amount from the detector 10 is equal to or greater than the threshold value, it is determined that there is a bubble. For example, after the position detecting unit 14 detects the tip of the inspection object 2, the area calculating unit 13 b adds a pixel portion in which the electrical signal corresponding to the X-ray transmission amount exceeds the threshold value, and determines a bubble. The area is calculated. When the total value of the areas determined as bubbles calculated by the area calculating unit 13b is equal to or larger than a preset reference area (area when the inspection object 2 is a normal product), The inspection object 2 is automatically determined as a defective product, and a sorting signal indicating the defective product is output to the outside.

  The display control means 15 receives inspection data, inspection result data, display data, and the like of the inspection object 2 from the control means 13. In the display control means 15, for example, the display 6 is displayed based on various data from the control means 13 in order to display an image of the inspection object 2 at the time of X-ray exposure, a quality determination display, an inspection result display, and the like on the display 6. Is controlling the display. Further, when a screen switching command is input from the control means 13, the display control means 15 switches to the scroll display mode if the current display is the fixed display mode, and displays the fixed display if the current display is the scroll display mode. The display 6 is controlled by switching to the mode.

  In the X-ray foreign matter detection apparatus 1 configured as described above, when the inspection object 2 is carried in from the carry-in entrance 3a of the belt conveyor 3, the X-ray generator 8 applies X-rays to the inspection object 2 during the conveyance process. Is exposed. X-rays that pass through the inspection object 2 with the X-ray exposure are detected by the X-ray detector 9. And the control means 13 discriminate | determines whether the foreign material is mixed in the to-be-inspected object 2 based on the electrical signal according to the transmission amount of the X-ray detected by the X-ray detector 9, and this discrimination | determination result A sorting signal indicating a non-defective product or a defective product is output externally. At the same time, from the image of the inspection object 2 obtained at the time of X-ray exposure, a portion where the amount of X-ray transmission is equal to or greater than a threshold is determined as a bubble, the area of the portion determined as the bubble is calculated, and the total value is A sorting signal indicating a defective product is output externally when the reference value is exceeded. Then, the inspection object 2 that has been subjected to the above inspection is sorted into a non-defective product and a defective product in accordance with the foreign substance inspection and bubble inspection selection signals output from the control means 13.

  As described above, in the X-ray foreign object detection device 1 of the present example, when X-rays are exposed to the inspection object 2, an air bubble is distinguished from a portion where the X-ray transmission amount is equal to or more than a preset threshold value, The area determined as the bubble is calculated, and when the total value of the calculated areas is equal to or larger than the reference area, the inspection object 2 is automatically determined as a defective product. Even if the calculated total area is within the reference area, if the foreign object is mixed in the inspection object 2, the inspection object 2 is determined to be defective.

  Therefore, according to the X-ray foreign object detection apparatus 1 of the present example, it is possible to inspect the amount of bubbles of all the inspected objects 2 at the same time as the inspection of the contamination of the inspected objects 2 and determine the quality. And since the bubble inspection of all the inspected objects 2 can be performed, the reliability of the inspection is improved as compared with the conventional case. In addition, since the bubble inspection can be performed simultaneously with the foreign object inspection, it is possible to inspect all the inspected objects without taking time and effort.

  By the way, in the X-ray foreign matter detection apparatus 1 of this example, the presence or absence of bubbles is determined from the X-ray transmission amount from the detection of the front end of the inspection object 2 to the detection of the rear end. Then, there is a property that air bubbles come to the center of the sealed bag. Therefore, using this property, the presence or absence of bubbles may be determined from the amount of X-ray transmission in the central portion of the inspection object 2. When the total area of the portions determined as bubbles is equal to or larger than the reference area, the processing time required for the bubble inspection can be shortened by automatically determining the inspection object as a defective product.

It is a block diagram which shows the whole structure of the X-ray foreign material detection apparatus by this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the X-ray foreign material detection apparatus by this invention. It is a schematic perspective view of the retort product as an example of an inspection object.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 X-ray foreign material detection apparatus 2 Inspected object 13 Control means 13a Bubble presence determination means 13b Area calculation means 13c Pass / fail judgment means 21 Bubbles

Claims (1)

X-rays are exposed in the form of a screen from above the conveyance line to a flat inspection object (2) sealed in a bag that is sequentially conveyed horizontally on a belt conveyor provided in the conveyance line. In the X-ray foreign object detection device (1) for inspecting the contamination of the flat inspection object from the amount of X-ray transmitted through the flat inspection object with the exposure of
Aforementioned flat thresholds and compared for detecting contamination which is previously set in the array of the line sensor X-ray transmission amount when exposure to X-rays to the inspection object determine the contamination of foreign substances Control means (13) for determining the quality of the flat inspection object,
Control means, further, the flat threshold for bubble discrimination X-ray transmission amount for the central portion of the polarization plane shape of the object when exposure to X-rays is set in advance in the object to be inspected A bubble presence / absence discriminating means (13a) for discriminating the above portion as a bubble;
An area calculating means (13b) for calculating the area of the portion determined to be a bubble by the bubble presence / absence determining means;
Pass / fail judgment means (13c) for judging pass / fail of the inspection object when the total value of the areas calculated by the area calculation means is equal to or greater than a preset reference area;
An X-ray foreign matter detection apparatus, wherein the foreign matter presence / absence judgment of the object to be inspected and the bubble amount quality judgment are simultaneously performed.

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