JP5864488B2 - Foreign object inspection method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for inspecting foreign matter contained in a large amount of powder particles such as bulk powder, drinking water and seasonings.

Various inspection apparatuses for automatically or visually inspecting foreign matters mixed in products in a production line have been proposed.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses that a foreign substance adhering to a solid food such as rice cracker or laver is automatically detected, and the detected foreign substance is automatically excluded by an exclusion device.
And in patent document 2, since there is variation in such automatic determination, the mounting accuracy found by the automatic inspection is taken again with a camera or the like, and the inspection accuracy is confirmed by visually checking the taken image. It has been proposed to improve work load and reduce work load.
However, since automatic inspection is a technology that determines defects as normal only by different image processing conditions, the reliability of inspection can be determined simply by visual inspection of the areas that are determined as defective by automatic inspection. Is low. For this reason, if automatic inspection is abolished and the scope of visual inspection is expanded, the reliability of inspection will increase, but problems such as increased work burden will occur. This conflicting problem is caused by raw powder, drinking water and seasonings. This is noticeable when inspecting foreign substances contained in a large amount of powder particles.

Japanese Patent No. 4209926 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-85436

  Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide the method and inspection apparatus which can test | inspect the foreign material contained in the large amount of granular material currently mounted in the conveyance path of a conveyor efficiently.

In order to achieve the above object, the foreign matter inspection method of the present invention takes the following means.
First, the invention according to claim 1 is a foreign object contained in a large amount of powder (W) such as raw powder, food and drink, seasoning, etc., placed on a conveyance path (H) of a conveyor (10). (G) A foreign matter inspection method for inspecting the presence / absence of a particle, wherein the conveying path (H) in which the particles (W) are diffused and placed is placed on each loading range in which the particles are placed. Included in the imaging data, a step of imaging by the imaging means (20), a step of storing imaging data for each placement range obtained by imaging in the step in association with information relating to a transport position of the conveyor (10), and the imaging data Image processing based on the respective pixel data to automatically determine the presence / absence of the foreign matter (G), and storing the positional information of the foreign matter (G) determined to be a foreign matter in the imaging data; Each range of imaging data and the allocated data are allocated for visual inspection. Based on the positional information regarding the foreign matter (G) corresponding to each of these imaging data, the granular material (W) and the foreign matter (G) are enlarged from the actual size in the display unit (90) associated with each range. A step of highlighting the position of the foreign matter (G) in the image displayed as an image and an enlarged display thereof, and each found by visual inspection through the respective images displayed corresponding to each of the allocated ranges. Of collecting the information on the position of the foreign matter (G) and the position information of the stored foreign matter (W), and generating a signal on the removal of the foreign matter based on the collected position information of the foreign matter and information on the transport position of the conveyor (10). And a step of performing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the presence / absence determination of the foreign matter (G) is performed by automatic inspection and visual inspection, so that the presence / absence of the foreign matter (G) can be accurately inspected. And in visual inspection, while displaying as an image which expanded granular material and a foreign substance from the actual size in the display part matched for every range which allocates the mounting range which performed automatic inspection, the image which carried out enlargement display Since the foreign matter (G) determined by the automatic inspection is highlighted, the burden on the operator who performs the visual inspection can be reduced, such as easy determination of the foreign matter (G).
And since the signal regarding a foreign material removal is produced | generated based on the information regarding the information regarding the position of each foreign material (G) found by the automatic inspection and the visual inspection, and the information regarding the conveyance position of the conveyor (10), the powder (W) The contained foreign matter (G) can be easily removed.

Next, an invention according to claim 2 that is dependent on claim 1 includes a step of diffusing a large amount of powder (W) upstream of the imaging unit (20).
According to the second aspect of the present invention, a large amount of powder (W) is diffused at a position upstream of the image pickup means (20). Thereby, in the state imaged by the imaging means (20), the granular material (W) is in a state in which it is reliably diffused, and the foreign object (G) can be reliably determined.

Next, in the invention according to claim 3 dependent on claim 1 or claim 2, the suction means (32) uses the foreign matter (G) together with a part of the granular material (W) around the foreign matter based on the signal concerning the foreign matter removal. ) Is removed by suction.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the foreign matter (G) is removed by the suction means (32) together with a part of the granular material (W) around the foreign matter (G) to be removed. Therefore, the foreign matter (G) can be reliably sucked and removed.

Next, the invention according to claim 4 that is dependent on any one of claims 1 to 3 is assigned to the imaging data allocated to the specific display unit (90) and the other display unit (90). An image is enlarged and displayed on a specific display unit based on the imaging data, and the foreign matter (G) found by visual inspection is limited to an image range enlarged and displayed based on the imaging data allocated to the specific display unit (90). The storage of position information is allowed.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the storage of the position information of the foreign matter (G) found by visual inspection is allowed to be performed on an enlarged image based on the imaging data allocated to the specific display unit (90). Limited to range. For this reason, it is impossible to store and input the foreign matter (G) by visual judgment other than the specific display unit assigned to the worker who performs the visual inspection. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the display unit (90) to be visually inspected from being mistakenly inspected.

Next, the invention according to claim 5 is a foreign matter inspection apparatus for inspecting the presence or absence of foreign matter (G) contained in a large amount of powder (W) such as raw powder, food and drink, and seasoning, The granular material is placed on the conveyor (10) for conveying the large amount of granular material (W) and the conveying path (H) in the conveyor (10) where the granular material (W) is diffused and placed. An image pickup means (20) for picking up an image of the placed placement range, and image data for each placement range obtained by picking up an image by the image pickup means (20) are stored in association with information relating to the transport position of the conveyor (10). The display range can be displayed in correspondence with the respective ranges, which can display the respective ranges assigned to be visually inspected by sharing the placement ranges and can highlight the foreign matters found by the automatic determination by the image processing. And a processing unit (80) that is disposed corresponding to the respective ranges, Based on the display data, the entire area of each of the allocated ranges is enlarged and displayed so that the image of the particles is larger than the actual size, and the image of the foreign matter included in the one range is highlighted. Setting means for designating the position of the image of the foreign matter (G) found by visual inspection based on the display unit (90) and an image enlarged and displayed on the display unit (90) corresponding to each display unit (90) The processing unit (80) is designated by the setting means (78) in the position information in the placement range of the foreign matter (G) included in the imaging data obtained by the automatic determination. The position information of each foreign matter (G) in the placement range described above by adding the position information in the placement range of the foreign matter (G) obtained from the information on the position of the image of the foreign matter (G) and the transport position of the conveyor (10) Foreign matter based on information Characterized by being configured to generate a signal related to G).
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus capable of appropriately carrying out the foreign matter inspection method according to the first to fifth aspects.

Next, in the invention according to claim 6 that is dependent on claim 5, the display unit (90) is configured by a display device including a touch panel type display screen, and the setting means touches the display screen and visually inspects. The position of the image of the foreign matter (G) found in step 1 can be designated.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, storage input to the processing unit (90) of the foreign matter (G) by visual inspection can be performed by a touch panel screen, so that the operator can easily and easily input the input. Can be done.

According to the above-mentioned means of the present invention, in the visual inspection, the foreign matter inspection is enlarged from the actual size on the display unit corresponding to each range obtained by allocating the mounting range in which the automatic inspection is performed. In addition to being displayed as an image, foreign objects determined by automatic inspection are highlighted in the enlarged image, so that the burden on the operator can be reduced.
In addition, the information on the position of the foreign matter obtained by automatic and visual inspection is combined, and the signal on the removal of the foreign matter is generated based on the information on the position of the foreign matter and the information on the conveying position of the conveyor. It is not necessary to eliminate by this, and it can eliminate efficiently.

It is a top view which shows the conveyor and its peripheral device in a foreign material inspection apparatus. It is a side view of FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the process part and display part in a foreign material inspection apparatus. It is explanatory drawing in the case of distributing a mounting range into four ranges. It is a figure which shows the display part which displays one distributed range as an image expanded from the exact size. It is the figure which showed another embodiment.

The foreign matter inspection apparatus of the present embodiment includes a belt conveyor 10 (hereinafter referred to as the conveyor 10), a line sensor 22 in the imaging means 20 disposed above the transport path H in the conveyor 10, a foreign matter removal apparatus 30, A belt conveyor 16 (hereinafter referred to as the conveyor 16) is connected to the upstream side of the conveyor 10, which includes a processing unit 80 and a display unit 90.
On the conveyance path H of the conveyor 16, a large amount of powder W (raw powder, food or drink, seasoning, etc.) is diffused by a vibration generator (not shown).
The conveying speed of the conveyor 10 is faster than that of the conveyor 16, and the conveyor 10 and the conveyor 16 are intermittently driven synchronously at a constant speed.
The conveyor 10 moves the conveying path H in units of the loading range X (1 to n) where the particles are placed, that is, intermittently moves at regular intervals, and spreads the dispersed particles W falling from the conveyor 16. The motor 14 is driven and controlled by the second processing unit 84 in the processing unit 80 so as to be further diffused and mounted within one range of each mounting range X (1 to n).

When the granular material W is placed in one range (for example, X5) of each placement range X (1 to n) while driving the conveyor 10, the preceding range X4 adjacent to the range X5 is a line. The sensor 20 scans (images) line by line in the width direction intersecting the conveyance direction, and the image data for each line is associated with information about the conveyance position obtained from the encoder 18 attached to the conveyor 10, and the processing unit 80. Is stored in the first processing unit 82 (82A).
In order to reduce the shadow of the granular material W when the line sensor 22 takes an image, the imaging unit 20 of the present embodiment is irradiated with the LED illumination 24 perpendicularly to the conveyance path H through the half mirror 26. A coaxial irradiation method for imaging is adopted.

In addition, when the granular material W is placed within one range (for example, range X5) of each placement range X (1 to n), the processing unit 80 generates the range X2 that precedes the range X5. The foreign matter removing means 30 sucks and removes the foreign matter contained in the granular material W placed in the range X2 based on the signal concerning the foreign matter removal described later.
The foreign matter removing means 30 is extended between the pair of guide bodies 34 and a pair of guide bodies 34 that extend parallel to the width direction perpendicular to the transport path H at a position above the transport path H and supported by the frame of the conveyor 10. In addition, a moving body 36 that is moved and guided in the width direction of the conveyor by a rail disposed in the guide body 34, and a movement guide that is supported by the moving body 36 and that is disposed in the moving body 36 in the transport direction. A suction means 32 is provided.
Each guide body 34 has a belt 45 wound around a pair of pulleys, and a moving body 36 is fixed to the belt 45, and the servo motor 44 is connected to the guide body 34 via a plurality of sets of pulleys 46 supported by the frame. When the drive is transmitted to the pulley 48, the moving body 36 moves in the width direction via the belt 45.
The moving body 36 is wound around a pair of pulleys 40B, and a belt 42C is disposed. The suction means 32 is fixed to the belt 42C, and a plurality of sets of pulley belts 40A supported by the moving body 36 are interposed. When the driving force of the servo motor 38 is transmitted to the pulley 40B, the suction means 32 moves in the transport direction via the belt 42C.
When the motors 38 and 44 are driven and controlled on the basis of the signal related to the removal of foreign matter generated by the processing unit 80, the suction means 32 has a foreign matter within the placement range surrounded by the point ABCD (for example, X2 in FIG. 1). Move horizontally to the position.

The suction unit 32 is configured such that a suction unit 32A composed of an air nozzle can be moved up and down by a lifting unit (not shown), descends prior to foreign matter suction, approaches the granular material W on the conveyance path H, and the periphery S of the foreign matter G (see FIG. The foreign matter G is sucked together with the granular material W of 5).
The foreign matter G and the granular material W sucked by the suction means 32 are collected by the foreign matter collecting unit 60 through the suction duct 50. The foreign matter G and the granular material W collected by the foreign matter collecting unit 60 are classified by visual judgment by the operator, and those judged as the foreign matter G are discarded, and those judged as the granular material W are again conveyed to the conveyor 10. It may be arranged in a diffused manner and re-inspected.

A sorting device 52 is disposed at the downstream end of the conveyor 10. The sorting device 52 includes a sorting member 54 in which a first guide plate 54A made of a flat plate wider than the transport path H and a second guide plate 54B wider than the transport path H and bent by a flat plate are integrated.
By rotating the distributing member 54 around the rotating shaft 66 shown in FIG. 2 by the driving means such as the driving motor 68 shown in FIG. 1 through the crank mechanism, the inclination of the distributing member 54 is changed between the state a and the state b. Switch. The switching of the distribution member 54 is performed for each placement range in accordance with the number of foreign objects G detected in the placement range. The sorting member 54 is rotated so as to be accommodated in the re-inspection product accommodating portion 64 for the granular material W in the placement range in which the number of foreign matters G is detected at the set number or more. Since it is determined that there is a high possibility that there is a detection failure of the foreign matter G when the number of foreign matters G is large, the granular material W in the placement range is accommodated in the reinspection product accommodating portion 64 and is again conveyed to the conveyor 10. It is diffused and inspected. On the other hand, when the foreign matter G is less than the set number, the sorting member 54 is rotated so that the granular material W is accommodated in the non-defective product accommodating portion 62.
When the distribution member 54 distributes the granular material W to the non-defective product accommodating portion 64, the upper end portion of the first guide plate 54A is positioned upstream of the conveyance path H in the conveyance direction as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. However, it is designed to sink below the pulley 12B of the conveyor 10. Thereby, when the granular material W is accommodated in the non-defective product accommodating portion 62, the granular material W is prevented from falling to the re-inspected product accommodating portion 64 side.

The processing unit 80 includes a plurality of first processing units 82 (82 </ b> A to 82 </ b> D) arranged corresponding to each display unit 90 described later, and a second processing unit 84 that performs mutual communication with the first processing units 82. I have.
The first processing unit 82 includes a processing unit 82A that performs master processing and processing units 82B to 82D that are subordinate to the processing unit 82A. The processing unit 82A is mainly image data obtained by the line sensor 22 of the imaging unit 20. , Information gathering from the processing units 82 </ b> B to 82 </ b> D, and transmission of information being photographed and completion information to the second processing unit 84. In addition, the processing unit 82A performs image processing that binarizes any one of the luminance information, the saturation information, and the brightness information included in each pixel data in the imaging data to determine the presence or absence of the foreign matter G, and performs the foreign matter G The position of the foreign substance G in the imaging data is associated with information related to the transport position of the conveyor 10 obtained from the pulse of the encoder 18, and the foreign substance G is stored as position information.
In addition, the processing unit 82A uses the stored imaging data for each placement range X to display an image of the foreign matter G obtained by automatic determination of the presence or absence of the foreign matter G together with the image of the granular material W and the conveyance path H of the display unit 90. 4 so that the image of the foreign object G is highlighted with a red frame when displayed on each screen, and the range to be visually inspected in the display units 90A to 90D corresponding to the processing units 82A to 82D can be specified. Display data is generated so as to display frame images allocated to the four ranges Xa to Xd, and transmitted to the processing units 82B to 82D.
The second processing unit 84 mainly inputs an operation signal sent from a switch such as start / stop or stores setting information such as the conveyance speed of the conveyor 10 input via the operation panel 78 or the like, Furthermore, the pulse of the encoder 18 attached to the conveyor 10 is monitored, for example, by the imaging start command toward the first processing unit 82, various motors and air in the conveyor 10, the foreign matter removing means 30, and the sorting device 52. A drive command is given to the drive means 79.
When the display data is transmitted to each processing unit 82, the range Xa in the placement range X is displayed on the display unit 90A, the range Xb is displayed on the display unit 90B, the range Xc is displayed on the display unit 90C, In the range Xd, the display unit 90D is enlarged and displayed in a size larger than the actual size such as the granular material W, and the foreign matter G automatically determined as the foreign matter G in the processing of the first processing unit 82 is highlighted with a red frame mark. Displayed. For this reason, it is set as the state which can identify the state of the granular material W and the foreign material G reliably by this image display.
As shown in FIG. 4, the range Xa is an area partitioned by a line connecting four points (Xa1, Xa2, Xa3, Xa4). Similarly, Xb has four points (Xb1, Xb2, Xb3, Xb4), The range Xc is a region divided by lines connecting four points (Xc1, Xc2, Xc3, Xc4) and the range Xd is connecting four points (Xd1, Xd2, Xd3, Xd4). In these ranges Xa to Xd, adjacent portions are partially overlapped, and the areas of the ranges Xa to Xd are the same.

Each display 90A-90D is comprised by the display which consists of a touchscreen system display screen, and if the operator touches the position of the image of the foreign material in the display screen found by visual inspection, the position of the foreign material can be designated. Thus, setting means is configured. Therefore, the operator can easily and easily input data when performing a visual inspection of the foreign matter G described later.
In addition, in each display part 90A-90D, the range adjacent to the range (Xa, Xb, Xc, Xd) targeted for the visual inspection may be partially displayed. The input is restricted even if you touch the part where the range is displayed, but the area that is subject to visual inspection and the adjacent range are displayed partially overlapping or on the boundary of both ranges When touched, the input is set to be valid.

Next, a foreign substance inspection method by the foreign substance inspection apparatus of the above-described embodiment will be described.
First, the granular material W of the inspection product is diffused and placed on the upstream side of the conveyor 10 as the conveyance path H. The diffusion of the granular material W is performed by, for example, a vibration generator (not shown). The conveyor 10 on which the powder body W is placed conveys the powder body W by intermittent driving in units of placement range X. The conveyance in the placement range X is performed at a constant speed.
The powder particles being transported in the mounting range X at a constant speed are scanned line by line by the line sensor 22 of the imaging means, and image information is read in units of the mounting range X, and the captured image data is subjected to the first processing. The data is stored in the processing unit 82A of the unit 82.
The processing unit 82A performs image processing for determining the presence or absence of the foreign matter G based on the stored imaging data, and stores the result of automatic determination in association with information related to the transport position of the conveyor 10.
When the imaging data of the placement range X unit is visually inspected, the display unit 90A generates display data in which the placement range X is allocated to the four ranges Xa to Xd corresponding to the display units 90A to 90D. And transmitted to the processing units 82B to 82D.
When the display data allocated to the four ranges Xa to Xd are transmitted to the respective processing units 82B to 82D, each of the indicators 90A to 90D associated with each of the ranges Xa to Xd corresponds to the corresponding display data. The granular material W and the foreign matter G in the range (Xa to Xd) are displayed enlarged from the actual product, and the automatically determined foreign matter G is highlighted with a red frame mark or the like. In the range Xd shown in FIG. 5, two foreign objects G are detected by automatic determination and highlighted with a red frame, and “NG” of “detection number 2” is displayed on the display screen. In the range Xd shown in FIG. 5, there is one foreign object G that has not been detected by the automatic determination, and this foreign object G is a target to be detected by visual inspection.
When a foreign object G that has not been determined to be a foreign object G by automatic inspection is visually confirmed in the display units 90A to 90D by an operator assigned to each of the display units 90A to 90D, the display position of the foreign object G is touched. The position of the foreign object G in the range (Xa to Xd) is obtained by the processing unit 82 corresponding to the display unit 90 displaying the foreign object G, and the foreign object G is also highlighted with a red mark, etc. When any of the processing units 82B to 82D determines the position of the foreign object G, the acquired position information of the foreign object G is transmitted to the processing unit 82A.
In the processing unit 82 </ b> A, the position information of all the visually observed foreign substances G obtained from the respective processing units 82 is collected, and the collected positional information of all the foreign objects G is sent to the second processing unit 84. The second processing unit 84 generates a signal related to foreign matter removal based on the generated positional information of all foreign matter G and information related to the transport position of the conveyor 10.
The signal related to the removal of foreign matter is sent from the first processing unit 82 to the foreign matter removal means 30 to drive and control the motors 38 and 44 of the foreign matter removal means 30. And by this drive control, the suction means 32 is made into the position where the foreign material G is located, and the foreign material G is removed by suction. The removal of the foreign matter G is performed by suction together with the granular material W around the foreign matter G, and the foreign matter G is reliably removed.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other embodiments can be adopted.
The image pickup means 20 may be an image sensor such as a CCD or CMOS used for cameras, videos, mobile phones and the like.
The conveyor 10 may be a bucket conveyor or the like.
The method for obtaining information related to the conveyor transport position is not limited to encoder pulses, and may be other transmission means that can directly or indirectly detect the conveyor transport operation.
The foreign matter G may be removed by switching the delivery destination according to the presence or absence of the foreign matter G at the conveyance end of the conveyor 10 without removing the foreign matter by suction.
A suction means 32 may be provided in the hand portion of a robot that can freely move in a three-dimensional space of up, down, front, back, left and right, and the foreign matter G on the conveyor 10 may be sucked.
-It is good also as a spreading | diffusion means which diffuses a large amount of granular material W by giving a vibration to the laminated granular material W, spraying air, or smoothing with a board. In addition, about the position which arrange | positions a spreading | diffusion means, it should just be upstream from the imaging means 20, It is preferable to spread | diffuse with a pre-processing apparatus rather than the conveyor 10, and when diffusing the granular material W on the conveyor 10 The manual operation is preferable.
-The conveyor 10 may be continuously run. In this case, the granular material W is placed on the conveyor 10 at a predetermined interval, and the visual inspection is performed while slowly moving without stopping the conveyor 10, and in parallel with the visual inspection, An automatic inspection may be performed.
The processing unit 82A may divide the imaging data and the positional information regarding the foreign matter G corresponding to the imaging data to the subordinate processing units 82B to 82D and transmit only the minimum information necessary for the visual inspection.
・ Non-contact type touch panel such as a capacitance type touches the display screen because the position of the foreign object G can be specified by detecting the operator's finger away from the display screen. However, the act of designating this position may also be included in the concept of “touching the display screen” in claim 6.
The number of processing units 82 and display units 90 may be various.
As the setting means, a method of specifying the position of the foreign object G by clicking the mouse after the cursor is set to the position of the image of the foreign object G using a mouse may be adopted.
Since the position deviated from the center of the foreign matter G can be designated, such as when the foreign matter G is specified by touching the display screen, the suction means 32 can remove the granular material W around the foreign matter G together with the foreign matter G. As shown in FIG. 5, the size of the periphery S is preferably about 2 to 5 times the length of the granular material W with the radius around the granular material W.
As a method of highlighting the foreign matter G, there are a method of enclosing with a frame, a method shown by an arrow, a method shown by blinking, a method of changing a color, and the like.
In the visual inspection of the foreign matter, as shown in FIG. 6, the display screen of the touch panel type display composed of a large screen capable of enlarging and displaying the entire placement range X is divided into a plurality of display units, An operator may be allocated to each display unit and inspected. Specifically, the display unit is laid down like a table so that the display screen of the display unit faces upward, and the display unit is used for visual inspection for each worker by surrounding the display unit from all sides. As shown in FIG. 6, it is better to divide into four ranges (XN, XE, XS, XW) and check the presence or absence of foreign matter G for each range as shown in FIG. For example, an experienced worker can check his / her own inspection range while instructing an inexperienced worker. The areas of the four ranges (XN, XE, XS, XW) are preferably equal, but a setting means that can set the area ratio according to the skill level is provided, and the points (XN1 to XN1) of each range are provided. 3, XE1-3, XS1-3, XW1-3) may be set by the processing unit 82A.

10 conveyor, 20 imaging means, 32 suction means, 80 processing section,
90 display,
W granular material, G foreign matter, H transport path

Claims (6)

A foreign matter inspection method for inspecting the presence or absence of foreign matter contained in a large amount of powder particles such as bulk powder, food and drink and seasonings placed on a conveyor conveyance path,
The step of imaging the conveying path on which the particles are placed by diffusing with the imaging means together with the placement range on which the particles are placed;
Storing the imaging data for each placement range obtained by imaging in the step in association with information related to the conveyor transport position;
A step of automatically determining the presence / absence of a foreign substance by performing image processing based on each pixel data included in the imaging data, and storing position information in the imaging data of the foreign substance determined to be a foreign substance;
On the display unit associated with each range based on the imaging data of the respective ranges allocated to be visually inspected by sharing the placement range described above and the positional information on the foreign matter corresponding to each of the imaging data Displaying the powder and foreign matter as an image enlarged from the actual size and highlighting the position of the foreign matter in the enlarged image;
A step of collecting information on the position of each foreign matter found by visual observation through the respective images displayed corresponding to each of the allocated ranges, and the position information of the stored foreign matter,
Generating a signal related to the removal of foreign matter based on the collected positional information of the foreign matter and information relating to the conveying position of the conveyor;
Foreign matter inspection method having   The foreign matter inspection method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of diffusing a large amount of powder particles upstream of the imaging unit.   The foreign matter inspection method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the foreign matter is sucked and removed together with a part of the granular material around the foreign matter by a suction means based on a signal relating to the foreign matter removal.   An image is enlarged and displayed on a specific display unit based on imaging data allocated to a specific display unit and imaging data allocated to another display unit, and enlarged based on imaging data allocated to the specific display unit. The foreign matter inspection method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the storage of the positional information of the foreign matter found by visual inspection is allowed only in the displayed image range. A foreign matter inspection device for inspecting the presence or absence of foreign matter contained in a large amount of powder and granular materials such as raw powder, food and drink, seasonings,
A conveyor for conveying the large amount of powder particles;
Imaging means for imaging the conveying path in the conveyor where the powder particles are diffused and placed, together with the placement range on which the powder particles are placed,
Imaging data for each placement range obtained by imaging by the imaging means can be stored in association with information related to the transport position of the conveyor, and each range allocated to be visually inspected by sharing the placement range can be displayed. And a processing unit that generates display data corresponding to the respective ranges, which can highlight the foreign matter found by automatic determination by image processing,
Each of the allocated ranges is enlarged and displayed so that an image of the granular material is arranged based on the display data and is larger than the actual size based on the display data. A display unit that highlights an image of a foreign object included in one range,
Corresponding to each display unit, it is provided with setting means for designating the position of the image of the foreign matter found by visual inspection based on the image enlarged and displayed on the display unit,
The processing unit is configured to place a foreign object obtained from the position information of the foreign object image specified by the setting unit in the position information of the foreign object included in the imaging range included in the imaging data obtained by the automatic determination. A foreign matter inspection apparatus configured to generate a signal related to a foreign matter based on the positional information of each foreign matter in the placement range described above and the information related to the transport position of the conveyor by adding positional information in the range. The display unit is configured by a display device including a touch panel type display screen, and the setting unit is configured to touch a display screen so that a position of an image of a foreign object found by visual inspection can be specified. The foreign matter inspection apparatus according to claim 5.

Images