A system for accurately determining whether a work piece such as a plastic molded bottle cap is defective from quality norms and removing those defective pieces from a stream of work pieces includes a feed conveyor for serially delivering work pieces where adjacent work pieces are in contact with ea
A system for accurately determining whether a work piece such as a plastic molded bottle cap is defective from quality norms and removing those defective pieces from a stream of work pieces includes a feed conveyor for serially delivering work pieces where adjacent work pieces are in contact with each other. The feed conveyor delivers these work pieces onto an inspection conveyor with a plurality of air holes. Air is forced through the air holes to impinge upon the work piece and thus rapidly accelerate them away from the adjacent work piece it was in contact with and move through an inspection station. An air blower provides pressurized air through the air holes to continue accelerating and separating the work pieces as they move. The inspection station includes a camera to image each work piece. The camera communicates these images to a processing unit such as a computer that can rapidly compare the image to a set of quality control standards each work piece should meet.
대표청구항▼
What is claimed is: 1. An inspection system for inspecting each of a series of serially fed work pieces in a stream of work pieces, the inspection system comprising: an inspection conveyor having a first end, a second end, and a plurality of air holes in communication with the inspection conveyor,
What is claimed is: 1. An inspection system for inspecting each of a series of serially fed work pieces in a stream of work pieces, the inspection system comprising: an inspection conveyor having a first end, a second end, and a plurality of air holes in communication with the inspection conveyor, wherein each of the work pieces is serially received at the first end and discharged at the second end; a passage from the first end of the inspection conveyor to the second end of the inspection conveyor; an air blower which provides pressurized air through the air holes in order to accelerate and separate each of the work pieces along the inspection conveyor; wherein the air holes located proximate the first end have a different spacing relative to each other than the air holes located proximate the second end; an inspection station located intermediate the first end and the second end of the inspection conveyor, the inspection station including a light source and a camera, the light source being positioned to illuminate each of the work pieces at the inspection station for imaging by the camera; a processing unit operably coupled to the camera to analyze images of the work pieces generated by the camera with respect to predetermined quality control standards; and a rejection mechanism operably coupled to the processing unit to receive a control signal from the processing unit, the rejection mechanism being operable to remove selected work pieces from the inspection conveyor based on the control signal. 2. The inspection system of claim 1, further comprises: a feed conveyor to serially feed the work pieces, each of which is in contact with adjacent work pieces on the feed conveyor. 3. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the inspection conveyor further comprises a shallow groove running lengthwise down the center of the top surface of the inspection conveyor, the shallow groove adapted to allow work pieces with non-planar surfaces to slide along the inspection conveyor without dragging. 4. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the inspection conveyor is created from translucent plastic material. 5. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the passage further comprises: at least two guide rails coupled to the top surface of the inspection conveyor; a guide rail cover coupled to each of the guide rails; wherein the guide rails and guide rail cover are adjustable to size the passage for different sizes and shapes of the work pieces. 6. The inspection system of claim 1, further comprising: a variable speed drive mechanism operatively coupled to the air blower; an air pressure sensor; and a controller which receives readings from the air pressure sensor and modifies the speed of the variable speed drive mechanism to maintain a constant air pressure through the air holes of the inspection system. 7. The inspection system of claim 6, wherein the air blower further comprises a filter adapted to keep containments out of the inspection system, the filter being monitored by the controller so that the filter can be replaced when the filter becomes ineffective. 8. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the inspection conveyor contains one vertical air hole at the inspection station. 9. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the passage has an opening at the inspection station adapted to allow defective work pieces to be removed from the passage by the rejection mechanism. 10. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of air holes in the inspection conveyor are arranged in a single longitudinal line. 11. The inspection system of claim 10, further comprising: a trigger operably coupled to the air holes and activated by the passing of a work piece; an air valve controlling flow of pressurized air into the air holes; and a control mechanism which controls the timing and duration of an air blast coming through the air valve whenever the trigger is activated. 12. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the inspection conveyor further comprises a window at the inspection station adapted to allow the light source and the camera to be reversed or alternatively, two cameras to be used to inspect both sides of each work piece. 13. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the inspection station further comprises a trigger positioned to detect a work piece entering the inspection station and to send a control signal to activate the camera and the processing unit. 14. The inspection system of claim 1, wherein the light source is an infrared light source. 15. An inspection system for inspecting each of a series of serially fed plastic molded bottle caps in a stream of bottle caps, the inspection system comprising: a feed conveyor to serially feed the bottle caps, each of which is in contact with adjacent bottle caps on the feed conveyor; an inspection conveyor disposed generally horizontally and having a first end, a second end, and a plurality of air holes extending from a bottom surface of the inspection conveyor to a top surface of the inspection conveyor, wherein each of the bottle caps is serially received at the first end from the feed conveyor and discharged at the second end; at least two guide rails coupled to the top surface of the inspection conveyor; a guide rail cover coupled to each of the guide rails so that a passage is provided from the first end of the inspection conveyor to the second end of the inspection conveyor; an air blower that provides pressurized air through the air holes in order to accelerate and separate each of the bottle caps along the inspection conveyor; wherein the air holes located proximate the first end have a different spacing relative to each other than the air holes located proximate the second end; an inspection station located intermediate the first end and the second end of the inspection conveyor, the inspection station including a light source and a camera, the light source being positioned to illuminate each of the bottle caps at the inspection station for imaging by the camera; a processing unit operably coupled to the camera to analyze images of the bottle caps generated by the camera with respect to predetermined quality control standards; a trigger which detects a bottle cap entering the inspection station and sends a control signal to activate the camera and the processing unit; and a rejection mechanism operably coupled to the processing unit to receive a control signal from the processing unit, the rejection mechanism being operable to remove selected bottle caps from the inspection conveyor based on the control signal. 16. The inspection system of claim 15, wherein the feed conveyor delivers about 1600 bottle caps per minute to the inspection conveyor.
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