JPH0690086B2 - Color recognition device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a color recognition device that can be used in a product discoloration and foreign matter mixture automatic inspection process, shape confirmation, etc. of products such as a chemical production line and an inspection line.

(Technical background of the invention and its problems) Conventionally, in chemical manufacturing lines, inspection lines, etc., in order to maintain product quality, a method has been widely used in which an operator visually inspects discoloration of products and contamination with foreign substances. Has been. However, in the visual inspection method of human beings, uniform color discrimination cannot be performed due to individual differences, and it is difficult to instantly detect and extract the presence or absence of fine foreign matter.

Therefore, there is known a device that captures an image of an object with a monochrome imaging device, performs image processing on the image signal to perform image processing only by the light and shade of the image, that is, the difference in lightness, and identifies the hue.
In such an apparatus, hue discrimination cannot be performed if there is no difference in lightness even if the hues of the objects are different. For this reason, an optical filter corresponding to the color of the object is attached to the black and white image pickup device to detect the difference in shade. However, when an object having a multicolored hue is handled, there is a problem that the operation is troublesome and adjustment is required each time, so that quick recognition cannot be performed.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention has been made under the above circumstances.
An object of the present invention is to separate a color difference signal and a luminance signal from a video signal picked up by a color television camera or the like, determine whether or not these signals are within a preset range, and all signals are set within a preset range. It is to provide a color recognition device capable of automatically recognizing a hue by obtaining a binary (black and white) signal of a specified specific hue by outputting a binary signal under the condition of entering inside. .

(Summary of the Invention) The present invention relates to a device for performing color identification by extracting an image of a specified hue from a video signal captured by an imaging device, and a video signal separating means for separating a color difference signal and a luminance signal from the video signal. A color difference signal comparing unit and a luminance signal comparing unit for comparing the color difference signal and the luminance signal with preset upper limit values and lower limit values and outputting a binary signal, and the color difference signal comparing unit and the luminance signal comparing unit. Gate means for inputting an output to extract a specified hue image, and counting the output of the gate means to measure the area of the specified hue image, and this area is of a preset size of the inspection object. The present invention relates to a color recognition device including an area determination circuit that determines whether or not a value is within a range between an upper limit value and a lower limit value.

(Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the color recognition apparatus of the present invention. The color recognition apparatus is used by being attached to a manufacturing line, an inspection line, or the like. . In the color recognition device, a lens 1 for focusing and imaging an object to be inspected at a desired magnification, an image of the imaged object to be inspected is converted into a color video signal, and the color video signal is
The color difference signal (RY) between the luminance signal Y, the red signal R and the luminance signal Y, and the color difference signal between the blue signal B and the luminance signal Y (B
-Y), the color television camera 2 which outputs the horizontal synchronization signal HS and the vertical synchronization signal VS separately, and the maximum value (MAX) V ₁ and the minimum value (MIN) V ₂ of the set voltage to the window comparator 3.
To the window comparator 4, and to the window comparator 4, and to the window comparator 5, and to the window comparator 5, and to the window comparator 5, the maximum value of the set voltage (MAX) V ₃ and the minimum value (MIN) V _4. ) V ₅ and the minimum value (MIN) V ₆ is input to the setting device 8
And are provided. Here, the window comparator 3 uses the analog color difference signal (RY) and the set voltage.
V _1, V ₂ from the generated color difference signals S ₁ binary, window comparator 4 generates the color difference signals S ₂ of the color difference signals (B-Y) and setting the binary than the voltage V _3, V ₄ analog , The window comparator 5 is an analog luminance signal (Y) and a set voltage.
A binary luminance signal S ₃ is generated from V ₅ and V ₆ .

The binary color difference signals S ₁ and S ₂ generated as described above and the binary luminance signal S ₃ are input to the AND circuit 10,
The color difference signal (RY) is in the range of V2 <RY-V1 and the color difference signal (BY) is in the range of V4 <BY-V3 and the luminance signal (Y) is V6 <when the range of Y <V5, the control signal S ₄ is adapted to be a high level. The horizontal synchronizing signal HS and the vertical synchronizing signal VS from the color television camera 2 are input to the synchronous synthesizing circuit 11, and when the control signal S ₄ is input from the AND circuit 10, synchronous synthesizing of these signals is performed. A black-and-white video output signal S ₅ of one frame is generated, and the black-and-white video output signal S ₅ is image-processed by an image processing circuit (not shown) and set on the black-and-white television monitor screen by the setting devices 6 to 8. The image of the specified hue is displayed in black and white.

Further, in the color recognition device, in order to specify the size of the object to be inspected, the setter 9 for inputting the maximum value (MAX) V ₇ and the minimum value (MIN) V ₈ of the set voltage to the area determination circuit 12, Set voltage V ₇
, V ₈ and the vertical synchronizing signal VS are input, and the area determining circuit 12 internally includes an integrating circuit that integrates the control signal S ₄ from the AND circuit 10 and an output of the integrating circuit. And hold means for holding the signal by the vertical sync signal VS, and a window comparator that outputs the judgment signal S ₆ by judging the magnitude of the specified hue by inputting the output of the sample and hold means and the set voltages V7, V8 Is provided and the determination signal S ₆ is input to a control circuit (not shown) to determine the size of the object to be inspected displayed on the screen of the black-and-white television monitor, and the inclusion of foreign matter of a predetermined size or more is detected. When there is an alarm, a warning alarm is issued.

FIG. 2 shows the correlation between the hues represented by the luminance signal (Y) and the analog color difference signals (BY) and (RY) output from the color television camera 2. In the color recognition device of the invention, the color television camera 2
The hue of the object to be inspected, which is imaged in, is represented by a combination of analog color difference signals (BY) and (RY). In the figure, each hue is continuously expressed in the combination area of four conditions, and when the analog color difference signals are (BY> 0, RY> 0), magenta However, if the analog color difference signal is (BY <0, RY
> 0), red and yellow, and when the analog color difference signal is (BY> 0, RY <0), blue and cyan are analog color difference signals (BY <0, In the case of RY <0, the color is green, but the analog color difference signal is (BY = 0, R-
In the case of Y = 0), an example in which gray is expressed is shown.
Here, for example, when the hue 30 is designated, the upper limit value and the lower limit value of the analog color difference signal (BY) shown in FIG.
20A, upper limit and lower limit of analog color difference signal (RY)
20B, setting voltages V _{1 to} V ₆ for designating the upper limit value and the lower limit value (not shown) of the luminance signal (Y) are set by the setters ₆ to 8. It should be noted that these hue designations and comparators 3 to
The comparison of 5 may be performed digitally.

Next, a method of using the color recognition device will be described. First,
The user adjusts the lens 1 of the color television camera 2 so that the object to be inspected conveyed to the manufacturing line and the inspection line can be imaged, and the hue of the object to be inspected to be inspected in advance is as described above. It is specified by setting the set voltages V _{1 to} V ₆ of the setters ₆ to 8. When the inspection target object is conveyed to the imaging position of the color television camera 2 in the state where the hue is designated in this way, the color television camera 2 captures an image of the inspection target object.
A luminance signal (Y), color difference signals (BY) and (RY),
The horizontal sync signal HS and the vertical sync signal VS are separated and input to the window comparators 3 to 5 and the sync synthesis circuit 11, respectively. Here, since the hue is designated in advance by the setters 6 to 8, the inspection target object having the same hue as this hue is imaged, and the luminance signal (Y), the color difference signals (BY) and (R
-Y) is input to the window comparators 3 to 5,
The binary color difference signals S ₁ and S ₂ and the binary luminance signal S ₃ are generated and input to the AND circuit 10. When the respective setting ranges of the respective signals match, the control signal S ₄ is sent to the synchronous synthesizing circuit 11. Monochrome video output signal that is input and corresponds to the hue as described above
S ₅ is generated, processed by the image processing circuit, and the image of the specified hue is displayed in black and white on the screen of the black and white television monitor.

Here, when the size (area) of the object to be inspected is designated and the size of the mixed foreign matter is inspected, the setting device 9 is set in advance.
If the allowable size of the object to be inspected is specified by the set voltages V ₇ and V ₈ , the judgment signal S ₆ will be generated and input to the control circuit when a foreign object larger than the set area is conveyed. Then, a warning alarm or the like is issued. In this way, the user can use the screen of the black and white television monitor, the alarm, etc.
The product inspection of the inspection object can be performed correctly.

Although an example of capturing an image of an inspection target object with a color television camera has been described above, an image capturing device such as a CCD camera can also be used. Further, although the output signal of the image pickup apparatus is directly processed in the above description, it is of course possible to store it in the memory and process it later.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the color recognition device of the present invention, the hues of the color difference signal and the luminance signal, which are the video signals of the object to be inspected captured by the color television camera, can be automatically designated by previously designating the hues. Can be confirmed and confirmed on the black and white TV monitor screen, eliminating individual differences and false recognition due to human vision,
Since recognition can be performed under uniform conditions, and the specified values of the hue of the color difference signal and the luminance signal are performed independently of each other, the allowable range of hue due to the effects of uneven lighting is greatly improved, and It is possible to deal with hues and expand the applications, and because it is possible to easily inspect foreign substances by determining the size (area) of the object to be inspected, the reliability of the product is dramatically improved. Produce an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a color recognition apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a hue correlation represented by color difference signals (BY), (RY) and a luminance signal (Y). It is a figure. 1 ... Lens, 2 ... Color TV camera, 3-5 ... Window comparator, 6-9 ... Setting device, 10 ... AND circuit, 11
… Synchronous composition circuit, 12… Area determination circuit, 20A, 20B… Upper limit value and lower limit value, V _{1 to} V ₈ … Set voltage, S ₁ , S ₂ … Binary color difference signal, S ₃ … Binary luminance signal .

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for performing color identification by extracting an image of a specified hue from a video signal picked up by an image pickup apparatus, and a video signal separating means for separating a color difference signal and a luminance signal from the video signal, and the color difference signal. And a luminance signal comparing the luminance signal with preset upper and lower limits, respectively, and outputting a binary signal, and inputting the outputs of the color difference signal comparing means and the luminance signal comparing means. And a gate means for extracting a hue image designated by the above, and counting the output of the gate means to measure the area of the designated hue image, and the area has a preset upper and lower limit value of the size of the object. An area determination circuit for determining whether or not the color recognition apparatus is within the range. 2. The color recognition device according to claim 1, wherein the imaging device is a color television camera. 3. The color recognition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chromaticity signal is a difference between red and the luminance signal and a difference between blue and the luminance signal.