JPS6024425B2 - Automatic detection method for solids in liquids - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a method for inspecting solid substances that may be mixed in a transparent liquid filled in a sealed transparent container, and in particular to a method for inspecting solid substances that may be mixed in a transparent liquid filled in a sealed transparent container, and in particular, This system accurately detects foreign substances mixed in the solution.

(Prior art) For inspecting and sorting solid substances that may be mixed in sealed transparent containers such as ampoules, vials, bottled liquids, etc., pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, pregnancy products, chemicals, reagents, etc. In addition to visual inspection, there are various liquid testing methods that utilize photoelectric elements.

The present invention relates to an improvement of the liquid test method in which the intensity of transmitted light is measured among these known liquid test methods. The degree of shielding of the light beam is measured by a photoelectric element.

In this case, when no foreign matter is present, the amount of light that has passed through the liquid in the container, for example, the ampoule, is received. On the other hand, if a foreign object is present, the light beam is blocked by the foreign object and the amount of received light is reduced. Therefore, this is used to measure the amount of foreign matter present in the liquid content.
In the conventional optical fiber linear one-circle transducer, one end of the optical fiber receiver is formed as a circular end arranged in a circle, and the optical fiber receiver is formed as a row of straight ends arranged in a vertical line. ing.

The liquid in the container is given rotational energy before the test, so the solids in the liquid rotate several times during the test and cross the straight edge row. If there is a solid object that moves regularly, it may fail to be captured. (Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The present invention improves the drawbacks of the optical fiber light receiving section as described above, and makes it possible to more reliably capture solid objects that move irregularly. It is.

(Means for Solving the Problems) Therefore, in order to achieve the technical problem of more reliably capturing solid objects that move irregularly, the present invention provides an optical fiber for each straight end of the light receiving section. By changing the position of the focal point, the focal range on the object to be inspected is widened, making it possible to capture irregular movements of solid objects more reliably.

That is, the present invention rotates a sealed transparent container filled with a transparent liquid, rotates solid matter that may be mixed in the liquid, irradiates it with light, and adjusts the intensity of the light that passes through the container. In this method, the straight ends of an optical fiber linear one-circle transducer are formed in two rows or in multiple rows, and the lengths of the straight ends are different, so that each straight end is connected to the container. This invention relates to an automatic detection method for solid matter mixed in a transparent liquid, characterized in that a step is created at a distance interval of . (Example) An example of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described.

In the layout diagram of FIG. 1, an irradiation light beam lamp 1 is turned on, a parallel light beam is created by a condensing lens 2 installed in front of it, and the ampoule a to be inspected fixed on a rotary pedestal 3 is irradiated. When the rotary pedestal 3 is rotated at high speed and then suddenly stopped, foreign substances mixed in the ampoule fixed to the pedestal rotate within the ampoule together with the liquid content. An image of this foreign material is generated by the imaging lens 4 on the straight ends 5, 5' of the optical fiber 6 of the scanner, and blocks direct light from the lamp 1 from being projected onto the light receiving surface of the optical fiber. . In this way, the darkened state due to the blocking of the projected light is transmitted to the circular end 7 through the optical fiber 6.
The state of the circular end 7 is picked up one by one by the rotary scanner 8 and transmitted to the light receiving surface of the photoelectric element 9, where it is converted into an electric pulse signal and amplified by the amplifier 10 to produce a signal.
In this way, the presence or absence of a solid foreign substance is converted into the presence or absence of an electric pulse signal, and this signal allows the ampoule sample to be sorted based on solid impurities. The scanner has a large number of microscopic light-receiving surfaces arranged in tandem, each having an area corresponding to at least the minimum specified size of foreign matter to be captured by the bundle of optical fibers of the optical fiber type linear circular transducer. They are arranged in a straight line, and the mechanism is such that these tiny light receiving surfaces are sequentially scanned one by one.

As this linear array, an optical fiber linear one-circle transducer will be explained with reference to the enlarged perspective view of FIG. 2. This second
The figure shows an embodiment in which the light-receiving parts of an optical fiber type linear one-circular converter that can be used as a scanner, which is a part of the part shown in FIG. 1, are arranged in two vertical and linear rows. This optical fiber linear one-circle transducer is composed of a large number of thin optical fibers 6, such as 10 capes, a rotary scanner 8, and a photoelectric element 9, and one end of these many optical fibers. The straighteners 5 and 5' are arranged in a vertical line in two rows, and the other end forms a circular end 7 arranged in a circular manner. (Linear one-circle conversion converter structure) One end of a rotary scanner 8 made of optical fiber rotates and scans this circular end 7 along this, and the other end of this scanner 8 is optically attached to the light receiving surface of the photoelectric element 9. connected.
The light beam from the light source is projected onto the light-receiving surface of the minute cross-section of the linearly arranged ends 5 and 5' of this optical fiber through the ampoule, which has changed from a high-speed rotation state to an abrupt stop state, and has a constant brightness. During this time, the light receiving surface of the optical fiber becomes dark because the direct light from the light source is blocked by the foreign material because the image of the foreign material mixed in the optical fiber momentarily crosses the straight edges 5 and 5'. The bright and dark states of the straight ends 6, 5' are sequentially transmitted to the circular end 7 by the optical fiber 6, so the rotary scanner 8 moves to the circular end 7.
The brightness and darkness of each optical fiber is picked up as it rotates, and this state is converted into the strength or weakness of a current by a photoelectric element, and this electrical signal is used to appropriately measure and select the object by a known method. In the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, since the blocking of light on the light receiving surface of the optical fiber by a foreign substance is used for measurement, a signal with a high S-N ratio can be obtained even in the case of a foreign substance with a low light reflectance, so the capture accuracy is is large. In addition, since the projected image of the diameter of each optical fiber is the minimum unit size of the foreign substance that can be captured, the minimum size of the foreign substance that can be captured can be adjusted by adjusting the magnification of the imaging lens. can be changed freely. In FIG. 2, the straight ends of optical fibers are arranged in two rows, A and B, and a step is provided between A and B.

In this case, the optical fibers may be directly adjacent to each other between A and B, or a fixing means or the like may be interposed between A and B. The level difference in the present invention refers to providing a difference in the distance between the straight end of the optical fiber and the test object container. Each end can optionally be stepped.

(Effect of the invention) For example, when you want to capture a 10 micron foreign object, the optical fiber to be used has a diameter that matches the micro foreign object (in this case, 10 micron
It would be sufficient to use optical fibers with a diameter of 1.0 microns, but the thinner the optical fibers, the more difficult it is to manufacture the scanner.

Therefore, generally, the foreign matter is optically magnified and captured. In this case, the object to be inspected is enlarged optically.
As the depth of focus inevitably becomes shallower, it becomes difficult to detect minute foreign objects as their position changes. According to the present invention, the lengths of optical fiber straighteners A and B are different.
Since a difference (arbitrary distance H) is provided between the distances between the light-receiving surfaces of A and B and the container a, an arbitrary focal position on the object to be inspected can be obtained. Also, conventionally, the depth of focus was reduced due to magnification, but since it is possible to focus on two or more points,
Even irregularly moving foreign objects are more likely to be brought into focus.
Also, if the inner diameter of the object to be inspected is R, the position of the foreign object is R.
A sufficiently clear optical image can be formed at either the straight edge A or B even if the distance varies by the distance . In other words, since the focal range can be set wide, irregular movements of foreign objects can be captured more reliably. As described above, the present invention forms the straight ends of an optical fiber linear one-circle transducer in two rows or in multiple rows, and the length of each of the straight ends is different, so that the distance between each straight end and the container is Since the feature is that the intervals are stepped, the number of positions on the object to be inspected that receive light increases, which increases the chance of capturing foreign objects, and the focal range can be set wide, which prevents irregular movement of foreign objects. can also be captured more reliably.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of an apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a scanner, which is a part of FIG. 1, and in these figures, each member is It is as follows. a...Ampoule (sample), 1...Light source for irradiation (lamp)
, 2... Condensing lens, 3... Rotating pedestal, 4
...Imaging lens, 5,5'... Straight end of optical fiber, 6... Optical fiber, 7... Optical fiber circular array end of fiber, 8...rotating scanner, 9...photoelectric element, 10...amplifier, 11...above 5
, 6, 7, and 8. A and B are straight ends of the optical fiber, H'ma A,
Shows the step at the straight end of B. Figure 1 Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 In a method in which a sealed transparent container filled with a transparent liquid is rotated to rotate the solid matter mixed in the liquid, a light beam is irradiated onto the solid matter, and the intensity of the light beam passing through the container is measured. It is characterized by forming two or multiple rows of straight ends of the linear one-circle converter, and having different lengths of the straight ends so that a step is created in the distance between each straight end and the container. Automatic detection method for solids mixed in transparent liquid.