Device for inspecting the heat insulation of household appliances, more particularly refrigerators

• US 4,890,244 A
• Filed: 07/09/1987
• Issued: 12/26/1989
• Est. Priority Date: 07/09/1986
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Industrie Zanussi S.P.A.
• Original Assignee: Zeltron - Instituto Zanussi Per La Ricerca SPA
• Inventors: Boscolo, Antonio, Baggio, Dino
• Primary Examiner(s): Lall, Parshotam S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ramirez, Ellis B.
• Application Number:
  US07/072,844
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 364/551, 364/557, 374/137, 374/121, 374/124, 374/4, 374/162, 356/43, 356/51, 250/342, 250/330, 250/334
• US Class Current: 702/84
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 25/72 Investigating presence of flaws

Abstract

A device for inspecting the heat insulation of household appliances, more particularly refrigerators, includes a traditional thermographic apparatus for detecting the thermographic images of the insulation by use of the exothermic reaction produced during foaming of the insulation and a control and processing unit, known per se, connected to the thermographic apparatus, possibly to a monitor, and to an input unit. The control and processing unit contains coded data corresponding to the conditions under which the heat insulation is properly produced, such data being compared with that produced by the thermographic apparatus and corresponding to the effective condition of the heat insulation of each applicance produced. Depending on this comparison, the unit proceeds to control the forward movement of a conveyor device so as to enable the appliances to be assembled, repaired or replaced.

Claims

1. In a plant for manufacturing a product including insulation material, said plant including means for forming the insulation material by foaming a polyurethane or similar material, thereby causing an exothermic reaction, and transport means for moving the product through said plant during the manufacture thereof, the improvement comprising means for inspecting the insulation characteristics of the insulation material, said inspecting means comprising:

thermographic means to be directed toward the product for, during said foaming, detecting a heat image of said insulation material as a function of said exothermic reaction and for generating detected coded data representative thereof;

processing and control means containing reference coded data representative of a heat image of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics and operatively connected to said thermographic means for receiving said detected coded data therefrom, for comparing said detected coded data with said reference coded data, and for generating coded response data as a function of such comparison; and

said processing and control means being operatively connected to said transport means for controlling the operation of said transport means as a function of said coded response data.

2. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein said processing and control means contains plural reference coded data representative of heat images of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics of respective different products, and further comprising input means operatively connected to said processing and control means for selecting a respective said reference coded data corresponding to a particular product to be manufactured.

3. The improvement claimed in claim 1, further comprising a monitor connected to said processing and control means for visually displaying said detected heat image.

4. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein said thermographic means is capable of orientation toward plural different areas of the product.

5. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein said transport means comprises a conveyor for moving products through said plant, and further comprising an auxiliary conveyor for conveying defective products, said processing and control means causing said conveyor or said auxiliary conveyor to operate as a function of said coded response data being respectively within or without a predetermined range.

6. The improvement claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least one additional thermographic means, and means for selectively switching said thermographic means and said at least one additional thermographic means into and out of operative connection with said processing and control means.

7. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein said thermographic means is connected to said processing and control means by an interface.

8. The improvement claimed in claim 7, wherein said thermographic means further is connected to said processing and control means by an analog/digital converter.

9. The improvement claimed in claim 1, wherein said processing and control means is connected to said transport means by an interface.

10. The improvement claimed in claim 9, wherein said processing and control means further is connected to said transport means by a digital/analog converter.

11. An inspecting device, for use in a plant for manufacturing a product including insulation material, said plant including means for forming the insulation material by forming a polyurethane or similar material, thereby causing an exothermic reaction, and transport means for moving the product through the plant during the manufacture thereof, means for inspecting the insulation characteristics of the insulation material, said inspecting means comprising:

thermographic means to be directed toward the product for, during the foaming operation, detecting a heat image of the insulation material as a function of said exothermic reaction and for generating detected coded data representative thereof;

processing and control means containing reference coded data representative of a heat image of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics and operatively connected to said thermographic means for receiving said detected coded data therefrom, for comparing said detected coded data with said reference coded data, and for generating coded response data as a function of such comparison; and

said processing and control means including means to be operatively connected to the transport means for controlling the operation of the transport means as a function of said coded response data.

12. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein said processing and control means contains plural reference coded data representative of heat images of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics of respective different products, and further comprising input means operatively connected to said processing and control means for selecting a respective said reference coded data corresponding to a particular product to be manufactured.

13. A device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising a monitor connected to said processing and control means for visually displaying said detected heat image.

14. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein said thermographic means is capable of orientation toward plural different areas of the product.

15. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein said thermographic means is connected to said processing and control means by an interface.

16. A device as claimed in claim 15, wherein said thermographic means further is connected to said processing and control means by an analog/digital converter.

17. A device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising an interface for connecting said processing and control means to the transport means.

18. A device as claimed in claim 17, further comprising a digital/analog converter for further connecting said processing and control means to the transport means.

19. A device as claimed in claim 11, wherein the transport means comprises a conveyor for moving products through said plant and auxiliary conveyor for conveying defective products, and said processing and control means causes the conveyor or the auxiliary conveyor to operate as a function of said coded response data being respectively within or without a predetermined range.

20. A device as claimed in claim 11, further comprising at least one additional thermographic means, and means for selectively switching said thermographic means and said at least one additional thermographic means into and out of operative connection with said processing and control means.

21. In a process for manufacturing a product including insulation material, said process including forming the insulation material by foaming a polyurethane or similar material, thereby causing an exothermic reaction, and moving said product by transport means during the manufacture thereof, the improvement comprising inspecting the insulation characteristics of said insulation material, said inspecting comprising:

directing thermographic means toward said product and thereby, during said foaming, detecting a heat image of said insulation material as a function of said exothermic reaction and for generating detected coded data representative thereof;

providing processing and control means containing reference coded data representative of a heat image of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics;

delivering said detected coded data from said thermographic means to said processing and control means and therein comparing said detected coded data with said reference coded data and generating coded response data as a function of such comparison; and

controlling the operation of said transport means as a function of said coded response data.

22. The improvement claimed in claim 21, comprising provided said processing and control means with plural reference coded data representative of heat images of insulation material of acceptable insulation characteristics of respective different products, and inputting to said processing and control means a selected respective said reference coded data corresponding to a particular product to be manufactured.

23. The improvement claimed in claim 21, further comprising visually displaying said detected heat image on a monitor connected to said processing and control means.

24. The improvement claimed in claim 21, further comprising orienting said thermographic means toward plural different areas of said product.

25. The improvement claimed in claim 21, wherein said transport means comprises a conveyor for moving products and an auxiliary conveyor for conveying defective products, and further comprising causing said processing and control means to operate said conveyor or said auxiliary conveyor as a function of said coded response data being respectively within or without a predetermined range.

26. The improvement claimed in claim 21, further comprising providing at least one additional thermographic means, and selectively switching said thermographic means and said at least one additional thermographic means into and out of operative connection with said processing and control means.

27. The improvement claimed in claim 21, comprising connecting said thermographic means to said processing and control means by an interface.

28. The improvement claimed in claim 27, further comprising connecting said thermographic means to said processing and control means by an analog/digital converter.

29. The improvement claimed in claim 21, comprising connecting said processing and control means to said transport means by an interface.

30. The improvement claimed in claim 29, further comprising connecting said processing and control means to said transport means by a digital/analog converter.

31. The improvement claimed in claim 21, wherein said product is a household appliance and said insulation material is thermal insulation.

32. The improvement claimed in claim 31, wherein said product is a refrigerator.