JPH0377499B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a character imaging device, particularly a character imaging device that images engraved characters, and an object of the present invention is to downsize an illumination system that illuminates engraved characters.

Since engraved characters are formed by being engraved with a stamper on the surface of a metal plate or the like, contrast is difficult to obtain and imaging is difficult.

Therefore, if the engraved surface is relatively flat, shine light 2 on the engraved surface 1 from one direction as shown in FIG.
The reflected light 3 on the marking surface 1 is imaged by an imaging device 4 from the other direction. In this case, since the engraved part 5 reflects light from the engraved surface as shown by the broken line 6, the light reflected by the engraved part does not reach the imaging device 4, and the engraved part becomes dark.
Other parts are imaged brightly.

The present invention relates to such an engraved character imaging device.

FIG. 2 shows a conventional imaging device that images an imaged part in which marking parts are widely distributed.

In Figure 2, 10 is a flat metal plate engraved with letters A to H, 11 is a milky white diffuser plate, 1
2 and 12' are light sources arranged at the rear of the diffuser plate 11, and the light from this light source 12 is transmitted to the diffuser plate 11.
The light becomes uniform through the light. When uniform light from the diffuser plate 11 is irradiated onto the engraved surface of the metal plate 10, as explained above, the reflected light from the flat area around the engraved characters enters the imaging device and forms a character image in which the engraved characters stand out darkly. can be obtained. In this case, the diffuser plate 11
The light emitted from the left end 14 of the metal plate 10 is reflected at the left end of the metal plate 10 and enters the imaging device 13, and the light emitted from the right end 14' of the diffuser plate 11 is reflected from the right end of the metal plate 10 and enters the imaging device 13. Because it is incident on the metal plate 10
and the distance between the diffusion plate 11 and the distance between the metal plate 10 and the imaging device 13 are equal, the distance between 14 and 14', which is the width of the diffusion plate 11, is equal to the distance between 15 and 15', which is the width of the metal plate 10. It requires twice the distance between them. For this reason, in the past, in order to read engraved characters, a lighting device with a large uniform light emitting surface was required.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks, and one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, 20 is a flat metal plate engraved with letters A to H, 21 is a milky white diffuser plate, and 22 and 22' are light sources placed at the rear of the diffuser plate 21. The light from this light source 22 becomes uniform light through the diffusion plate 21. Uniform light from the diffuser plate 21 is irradiated onto the stamped surface of the metal plate 20. 23 and 23' are reflecting mirrors that further reflect the reflected light reflected from the stamping surface toward the center;
The reflecting mirrors 23, 23' are arranged in front of the metal plate 20 near both ends thereof. In addition, in FIG. 3, the reflecting mirror 23 has a reflecting surface facing upward, and the reflecting mirror 23
3' has a reflective surface facing downward. 24 and 24' are lens systems that condense the light reflected by the reflecting mirrors 23 and 23', respectively, and 25 and 25' are reflecting mirrors arranged above and below in the center of the reflecting mirrors 23 and 23'. The reflecting mirror 25 reflects the light passing through the lens system 24 toward the prism 26, and the reflecting mirror 25' reflects the light collected by the lens system 24' toward the prism 26. In FIG. 3, the reflective mirror 25 has its reflective surface facing downward, and the reflective mirror 25' has its reflective surface facing upward. Further, the lens system 24 is located on the optical axis connecting the reflecting mirrors 23 and 25, and the lens system 24' is located on the optical axis connecting the reflecting mirrors 23' and 25.
It is located on the optical axis with 5'. The cross sections of the prism 26 are 28, 29, 28', 2 as shown in FIG.
The light from the reflecting mirror 25 composed of the reflecting surfaces 9' is reflected by the reflecting surfaces 28 and 29, and the light from the reflecting mirror 25' is reflected by the reflecting surfaces 28' and 29' onto the film surface 2.
Have 7 form a sending image.

Next, the operation based on this configuration is as follows.
The image of the left half of the metal plate 20 uniformly irradiated by the diffuser plate 21 is reflected by the reflecting mirror 23, the lens system 24, the reflecting mirror 25, the reflecting surface 28 of the prism 26, and the reflecting surface 28 of the prism 26, as shown by the solid line 40 in FIGS. 3 and 4. An image is formed by the surface 29 on the upper half of the film surface as shown in FIG. Similarly, the image of the right half of the metal plate 20 is as shown by the broken line 40' in FIG.
8' and reflecting surface 29', an image is formed on the lower half of the film surface as shown in FIG. Note that the reflecting mirrors 23, 23', 25, 2 in the above embodiment
5', a prism may be used.

According to the above operation, the diffuser plate 21 in FIG.
The width is much improved compared to the structure shown in FIG. 2, as long as the width is the same as the width of the metal plate 20 on which the characters are engraved. This is because the configuration in FIG. 3 equivalently becomes the configuration in FIG. 6. That is, in the same figure, a uniformly emitting diffuser plate 30 with an illumination lamp behind it,
The metal 32 engraved with characters is arranged in the same manner as in FIG. 2, but the imaging devices 34 and 34' are located at the left end 31 and right end 31', which are the opposite ends of the diffuser plate 30, respectively.
The imaging device 34 images the left half surface of the metal plate 32, and the imaging device 34' images the right half surface of the metal plate 32. Here, the light emitted from the left end 31 of the diffuser plate 30 is reflected by the left end 33 of the metal plate 32 and enters the imaging device 34, passing along the trajectory of the solid line 35, and the light emitted from the right end 31' of the diffuser plate 30 is reflected by the left end 33 of the metal plate 32. It passes along the trajectory of a solid line 36 that is reflected at the center and enters the imaging device 34 . Also, the light emitted from the left end 31 of the diffuser plate 30 is transmitted to the metal plate 32.
The light reflected at the center of the metal plate 32 passes through the trajectory of the broken line 36' and enters the imaging device 34', and the light emitted from the right end 31' of the diffuser plate 30 is reflected at the right end 33' of the metal plate 32 and enters the imaging device 3.
4' along the locus of the broken line 35'.

As described above, according to the present invention, the light from the uniform surface emitting light source is reflected by the surface of the metal plate on which the marking is made, and by receiving this light at two places, the uniform surface emitting light source can be used as the stamped character surface. It can be reduced to the same width, and even if the imaged part has widely distributed markings, the film surface can be used effectively by dividing it left and right and rearranging it vertically, and the overall character image of the marking can be made smaller. It can be obtained with this configuration.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the principle of reading engraved characters.
Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a conventional engraved character imaging device;
4 is a schematic diagram of an engraved character imaging device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a character image obtained by the same device, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a character image equivalent to the same device. FIG. 20...metal plate, 21...diffusion plate, 22,2
2'...Light source, 23,23'...Reflector, 24,2
4'...Lens system, 25, 25'...Reflector, 26
...Prism, 27...Film surface, 28,2
8', 29, 29'... Reflective surface.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A uniform surface emitting light source with approximately the same width as the engraved character surface that directly illuminates the engraved character surface, and a light source that is placed in front near both ends of the engraved character surface and reflected from approximately half of the engraved character surface. two first reflecting mirrors or prisms that reflect the
two lens systems that condense the light reflected by the first reflective mirror or prism; a second reflective mirror or prism that configures the light condensed by each of the lens systems into one screen; The engraved character imaging device comprises a film surface for photographing the engraved character surface by dividing the engraved character surface into left and right parts by adjusting the angle of a mirror or prism, and by rearranging the engraved character surface vertically.