JP4454746B2 - Defect detection method and apparatus for feeling valve for liquid filling machine - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting a failure of a feeling valve for filling liquid, and more particularly, a feeling for controlling filling when a foaming liquid such as beer is filled in a container such as a can. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting whether or not a valve is defective.
[0002]
For example, in an automatic filling machine that fills cans with beverages, a can whose upper end is opened is moved along a predetermined path by a conveyor or the like, and the upper part of the conveyor is filled along the path along with the can. A large number of heads are provided, and while both the can and the filling head move along a predetermined path, each filling head is brought close to the upper part of the corresponding can and a beverage is poured into the can from the filling nozzle provided on the filling head. A predetermined amount is filled. And the filling amount of the drink is controlled by a feeling valve provided for each filling nozzle.
[0003]
Conventionally, as a method of automatically monitoring the beverage filling result by such an automatic filling machine, mainly,
(1) The height of the liquid level of the liquid filled in the can is detected by irradiating the can with the lid that has been filled and covered with an X-ray by an X-ray inspection device, thereby detecting the excess or deficiency of the filling amount. How to detect,
(2) The height of the liquid level of the liquid filled in the can is detected using an image processing inspection machine, and a signal obtained by quantifying the excess or deficiency of the detected filling amount is fed back to the filling machine. And a method of eliminating excess and deficiency of the filling amount (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-218077),
Etc. are done.
[0004]
In the method (1), the quality of the filled can is detected by detecting the quality of the amount of filling (the amount of beverage filled in the can), and based on that, the poorly filled can is conveyed to the subsequent process. The method of (2) is intended to reduce the occurrence of poorly filled cans as much as possible by feeding back the detection signal to the filling machine. However, there is a problem of poor filling, and it does not detect a defective feeling valve of the filling machine.
[0005]
In addition, the method of detecting a bad taste by detecting the height of the liquid level as described above is, for example, when detecting a bad taste of an effervescent beverage that easily foams during filling, such as beer. Since it is difficult to detect, the liquid level is stable, that is, after completion of the can lid winding process, it must be inspected and it is difficult to cope with high speed filling. There is a problem that the production loss due to the discharge of poorly filled cans after completion of the winding process cannot be avoided.
[0006]
As a result of intensive research on the detection of bad taste of sparkling beverages such as beer, the present inventor has found that one of the causes of bad taste is a defective feeling valve, and the filling of the defective feeling valve during filling The present invention was completed by obtaining the knowledge that it can be detected by evaluating the state of bubbles generated above the liquid level of the beverage. That is, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the production loss due to the poor taste of the sparkling beverage by evaluating the state of the foam when filling the sparkling beverage and detecting the feeling valve failure. Furthermore, according to this invention, the quality control of the drink was also enabled by observing the foaming state at the time of filling of this sparkling drink correctly.
[0007]
Furthermore, according to the present invention , when the operator sticks in front of the filling machine to monitor the state of the foam and directly monitors the state of the foam of the beverage immediately after being filled in the can, It is possible to accurately detect a defective feeling valve by solving problems such as the burden on the operator, (b) inspection cost, (c) operator skill, and (d) 100% inspection.
[0008]
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for automatically monitoring foam generated after filling a container with foamable liquid by a filling machine and thereby detecting a defective feeling valve of the filling machine. It is what.
The present invention further captures the state of bubbles generated after filling with an imaging device, measures the area of the bubbles in a predetermined measurement region from the image, compares the measured area with a reference value, It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for determining pass / fail.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the method for detecting a failure of a feeling valve for a liquid filling machine according to the present invention, the state of bubbles generated after filling a container is imaged by an imaging means, and the quality of the feeling valve is determined by the state of the imaged bubbles. Is configured to determine.
In the feeling detection method of the feeling valve, the determination of the quality of the feeling valve according to the state of the bubble measures the area occupied by the imaged bubble image in a predetermined measurement area, and the measured area and the reference value And the feeling valve may be determined to be defective when the measured area deviates from the reference value. Moreover, you may measure the area of a bubble by binarizing the image of a bubble, and the image other than a bubble. The imaging means is preferably provided immediately after filling. In this case, the imaging means is preferably inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal, and at least half of the opening of the container is imaged by the imaging means. Here, immediately after filling, the state of foam generated above the liquid level of the beverage can be estimated as a whole by detecting at least an image of the half of the opening of the container. Furthermore, the liquid filling machine is provided with a plurality of filling heads, each filling head is provided with a feeling valve, and the filling operation of the filling machine and the imaging operation by the imaging means are linked to each other in the container. It may be possible to identify the filling head that has been filled. In that case, the number of times of failure judgment regarding the feeling valve of each filling head is counted, and when the count number exceeds a predetermined value, it is finally judged as defective. May be.
[0010]
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a defect detection device for a feeling valve for a liquid filling machine, the image pickup means for picking up the state of bubbles generated after filling a liquid in a container, And a control device that determines whether the feeling valve is good or bad. In the above apparatus, wherein the controller comprises means for measuring and means for binarizing the image of the bubble, and means for setting a reference value, the area of the binarized processed foam image in a predetermined measurement region And a means for comparing the measured area with a reference value, and a judgment means for judging the quality of the feeling valve based on the comparison. Furthermore, the liquid filling machine has a plurality of filling heads, each filling head has a feeling valve, and the filling operation of the filling machine and the imaging operation by the imaging means are linked to fill the container. It may be possible to identify the filled head.
[0011]
【Example】
Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with respect to detection of a feeling of a feeling valve of a filling machine that fills a can with beer as a foaming liquid.
First, the relationship between the foam generated on the liquid surface of beer and the quality of the feeling valve when beer is filled into the can by the filling machine will be described.
In FIG. 1, immediately after the filling of the beer b into the can a is completed, bubbles f are generated on the liquid surface s of the beer. As a result of conducting various experiments on the amount of foam generated and the state of the foam, the following was found. That is, when the filling atmosphere temperature and pressure, the temperature and pressure of the liquid to be filled, the can feed speed, and the type of beer are the same, they are almost the same as long as the feeling valve is operating normally. As shown in FIG. 1 [B] with respect to the opening of the can a, moderate bubbles are generated (normal state), but when a feeling valve is defective, as shown in FIG. 1 [A]. Bubbles are generated too small compared to the normal state, or bubbles are generated excessively compared to the normal state as shown in FIG. In view of this, the state of these bubbles is picked up by an apparatus described below to create an image, and a reference value for determining the quality of the feeling valve is obtained in advance based on the image.
[0012]
2 and 3, a feeling valve defect detection device (hereinafter simply referred to as a detection device) 1 according to this embodiment is shown. The detection device 1 includes, for example, a CCD camera 2 as an image pickup unit arranged adjacent to a conveyance path of a can a filled with beer by a filling machine. The structure and function of the CCD camera 2 itself are known, and in the direction of transporting the can a so that the state of the foam f generated on the liquid level s of the beer b filled in the can can be reliably detected. It is arranged at a right angle to the can a and inclined at an angle θ (with respect to the horizontal line) as shown by a solid line in FIG. The CCD camera 2 is connected to a control device 3 having an image processing function. When the bubble f needs to be illuminated, the illuminating device 6 may be arranged directly above the conveyance path of the can a so that the illumination area substantially coincides with the upper opening portion of the can. The inclination angle θ may be set so that at least half or more of the opening of the container can be imaged in the predetermined measurement area by the imaging means.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 4, the CCD camera 2 is disposed near the discharge side 13 of the filling machine 10 that fills the can a with beer. The structure and operation of the filling machine 10 are known per se, and are provided with a large number of filling heads 11 swiveling around a rotation center O. Each filling head is provided with a filling nozzle (not shown). When an empty can a is supplied to the supply side 12 by the supply conveyor 21, the filling machine 10 is placed on a conveyor (not shown) that rotates in a clockwise direction indicated by an arrow in synchronization with the filling head. Place and move toward the discharge side 13. While the can moves toward the discharge side, the filling head approaches the top opening of the can and fills the can with a predetermined amount of beer from the filling nozzle under the control of a feeling valve (not shown). To do. The can a that has been filled is delivered to the relay conveyor 22 (FIGS. 2 and 3) on the discharge side 13 and sent to the next can lid winding process (not shown) through the detection position by the detector 1 by the relay conveyor. It is done. Each of the plurality of filling heads is assigned an address (for example, an address from 1 to N when the number of filling heads is N), and which address (for example, address x (1 ≦ x ≦ N)) is assigned. The controller 3 recognizes whether or not the can a filled with the filling head in FIG. 3 is now picked up by the CCD camera 2 of the detection apparatus 1 by linking the operation of the filling machine 10 and the operation of the inspection apparatus 1. It can be done. In FIG. 4, for this purpose, the control device 15 of the filling machine and the control device 3 of the inspection device 1 are electrically connected. Therefore, by detecting the state of the foam of the can by the detection device, the address of the filling head that filled the can with the beer can be specified, and the feeling valve can also be specified. The timing at which the bubble image is taken by the CCD camera 2 differs depending on the filling atmosphere temperature and pressure, the temperature and pressure of the liquid to be filled, the feeding speed of the can, the type of beer, etc., but the beer to the can a by the filling machine 10 About 1 second after the completion of the filling is preferred. Therefore, the position of the CCD camera is determined in consideration of the timing, the feed speed of the relay conveyor, and the like.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 3 is connected to a CCD camera 2 as an imaging unit, binarizes the bubble image and measures its area, and sets a reference value. The setting device 32, a comparator 33 that compares the data obtained by processing by the image processing apparatus with the reference value set in the setting device 32, and the quality of the feeling valve is determined based on the compared data. A judgment device 34 and a storage device 35 for recording and counting judgment signals sent from the feeling valve are provided. You may provide with the 2nd determination apparatus 36 which finally determines the defect of a feeling valve by count number.
[0015]
Next, the operation flow of the detection operation of this embodiment by the control device will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the state of the bubble of the can is imaged by the CCD camera 2 to obtain the image data (step S1). The image data from the CCD camera is as shown in FIG. 6A when the direction of the CCD camera 2 is imaged in an inclined state (angle θ with respect to the horizontal line) shown by a solid line in FIG. 3, for example. In this case, the upper opening c of the can a has an elliptical shape. Such image data is binarized by the image processing apparatus 31, and as shown in FIG. 6B, the bubble portion is converted to white (this portion is indicated by w), and the other portions. Is converted to black (step S2). Next, the image processing device 31 determines a region to be measured (hereinafter referred to as a measurement region) as, for example, a region d of an elliptical opening c as shown in FIG. The area ratio A of the white portion w is measured (step S3). On the other hand, an image of a normal bubble state, which is a criterion for determining whether or not the feeling valve is good, is processed to obtain an upper limit reference value Ah of the area ratio A and set in the setting device 32 (step S4). Next, the measured area ratio A is compared with the upper limit reference value Ah by the comparator 33 (step 5). Thereafter, it is determined by the determination device 34 whether or not the area ratio A is within the upper limit reference value Ah (step S6). When A ≦ Ah, the feeling valve state is judged to be good and a yes signal (for example, binary signal 0) is output. When Ah <A, the feeling valve state is judged to be bad and no. (For example, binary signal 1) is output. This output signal is recorded in the storage unit 35 of the control device. Also, by setting the lower limit reference value Al of the area ratio A and detecting A <Al, it detects a failure state other than a failure of the feeling valve, for example, a setting failure of at least one of the temperature and pressure of the liquid to be filled. It is also possible to do.
[0016]
As described above, a method for obtaining a reference value as a criterion for accepting quality in advance is not normal and the state of foam of a can filled with a liquid, that is, beer, through a normal feeling valve using the above-described inspection apparatus 1 ( The test may be carried out a number of times by carrying out the above steps (S1 to S3) on the state of the foam of the can filled with beer via a bad (feeling) feeling valve. This reference value differs depending on the filling conditions such as the type of foamable liquid to be filled, temperature and pressure, filling atmosphere temperature and pressure, can feed speed, etc., but such reference values are different for different types of filling conditions. I ask for it. Using the reference value thus obtained, the above-described inspection is sequentially performed on the cans filled by the filling machine 10.
[0017]
In the foam inspection as described above, since the operation of the filling machine 10 and the operation of the inspection apparatus 1 are interlocked as described above, the beer is fed through the feeling valve of each filling head. It will be done continuously for filled cans. Then, the signal of “0” or “1” is sent to the storage device 35 where it is counted for each feeling valve. When the signal “1” is continuously (or discontinuously) accumulated and counted a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times), the determination device 36 finally determines that the feeling valve is in a defective state. When such a determination is made, the operation of the filling machine is stopped, and the feeling valve determined to be defective is replaced or repaired.
[0018]
When the count number of the signal “1” in the storage device 35 reaches a predetermined number as described above (this determination is made by the determination device 36), the control device 3 sends an alarm signal to the alarm device 4 such as a pager. May be sent to inform the operator. By doing so, it is not necessary to constantly monitor the state of the inspection, and it is possible to easily detect a feeling valve failure even if the worker is performing another work. In addition to or in addition to the above, the state of the count number in the storage device is represented by the display device 5 of the personal computer so as to represent the count number of the defect signal “1” for each filling head as shown in FIG. The worker may operate the personal computer on a regular basis to visually check for defects. In FIG. Indicates the address No. of the filling head. The number shown in the number of times column is the count number of the failure signal “1”.
In addition, although the said Example demonstrated the case where beer was filled into a can, it is possible to apply this invention also to another effervescent liquid.
[0019]
【effect】
According to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
(A) The inspection accuracy and thus the product quality can be improved.
(B) It is possible to eliminate the discharge of filled cans due to insufficient filling on the downstream side of the filling line, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
(D) Since the defective feeling valve can be identified reliably, the liquid filling line stop time required for replacement or repair can be reduced.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the relationship between the state of a feeling valve and the foam of beer filled through the feeling valve.
FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a feeling valve defect inspection apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a relationship between a beer filling machine 10 and an inspection device.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a detection operation performed by the inspection apparatus.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an image processing operation.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a monitor display of inspection results.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Feeling valve defect inspection device 2 CCD camera 3 Control device 31 Image processing device 32 Setting device 33 Comparator 34 Judgment device 35 Storage device 10 Filling machine 11 Filling head S1-S6 Step

Claims (10)

In the defect detection method for feeling valves for liquid filling machines,
Imaging the liquid level of the liquid filled in the container,
The quality of the feeling valve is determined based on the bubble image detected from the captured liquid level image ,
Determination of the quality of the feeling valve measures the area occupied by a bubble image detected from the captured liquid level image in a predetermined measurement region, compares the measured area with a reference value, and measures the measured area A feeling valve failure detection method , comprising: determining that the feeling valve is defective when the value deviates from a reference value . A defect detecting method of feeling valve of claim 1, the measurement of the area of the bubbles, the failure detection method of the feeling valve and an image other than the foam of the image and foam is carried out by binarization. The feeling valve defect detection method according to claim 1 , wherein at least half of the opening of the container is imaged by the imaging means. The feeling valve defect detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the liquid is beer. A defect detecting method of feeling valve according to any one of claims 1 to 4, each filling head and the liquid filling machine provided with a plurality of filling heads comprises a feeling valve respectively, the filling operation of the filling machine And a defect detection method for a feeling valve in which a filling head filled in a container can be specified by interlocking an imaging operation by the imaging means. 6. The feeling valve failure detection method according to claim 5 , wherein the number of times of failure determination for the feeling valve of each filling head is counted, and when the counted number exceeds a predetermined value, a failure is finally determined. Defect detection method for ring valve. In a defect detection device for a feeling valve for a liquid filling machine,
Imaging means for imaging the liquid level of the liquid filled in the container;
A control device that determines the quality of the feeling valve based on a bubble image detected from the captured liquid surface image, and an image processing device that measures the area ratio of bubbles on the liquid surface within a predetermined measurement region. A control device comprising:
The control device has a means for setting a reference value, a means for comparing the measured bubble image area with a reference value, and the feeling valve is defective when the measured area deviates from the reference value. A feeling detecting valve defect detecting device , further comprising a judging device for judging . In the feeling valve defect detection device according to claim 7 ,
A feeling valve defect detection device, wherein the control device detects a bubble image by binarizing the liquid level image. In the feeling valve defect detection device according to claim 7 ,
The feeling valve defect detection device, wherein the imaging means is set so as to image at least half of the opening of the container. A defect detecting apparatus of feeling valve according to claims 7 to 9, each filling head and the liquid filling machine provided with a plurality of filling heads comprises a feeling valves respectively, wherein the filling operation of the filling machine imaging An apparatus for detecting a failure of a feeling valve, in which a filling head filled in a container can be specified by interlocking with an imaging operation by means.

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