Side face examination apparatus for pressed articles, conveyor for pressed articles and external appearance examination apparatus for pressed articles
First Claim
1. A side face examination apparatus for pressed articles comprising:
- an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of one of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider by a predetermined tolerance than a width of said pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section;
a conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical;
a pressed article rotating roller disposed at a predetermined position in the inside of said conveying drum, and rotating said pressed articles in said pockets stopped at said predetermined position more than one turn around their horizontal axes; and
an image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said conveying drum at said predetermined position, and picking up picture images of side faces of said pressed articles in said pockets.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Pressed articles are arranged substantially vertical in guide grooves, and transferred to pockets of a conveying drum which is intermittently rotated. The pressed articles are rotated at least more than one turn by a pressed article rotating roller while the pockets are stopped at predetermined positions, and the whole side face of the pressed article is observed by an image pickup apparatus. After changing posture of the pressed articles to be substantially horizontal posture by a posture changing apparatus, front and rear surfaces of the pressed articles are observed by image pickup apparatuses while the pressed articles are held and conveyed on respective sides of equilateral polygons of conveying drums which have equilateral polygonal cross-sections.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A side face examination apparatus for pressed articles comprising:
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an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of one of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider by a predetermined tolerance than a width of said pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section; a conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical; a pressed article rotating roller disposed at a predetermined position in the inside of said conveying drum, and rotating said pressed articles in said pockets stopped at said predetermined position more than one turn around their horizontal axes; and an image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said conveying drum at said predetermined position, and picking up picture images of side faces of said pressed articles in said pockets. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A conveyor for pressed articles comprising:
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a conveying drum having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in a vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis; and connection holes and wide use pockets provided at predetermined positions on each side of said equilateral polygon for holding pressed articles by negative pressure via said connection holes in said pockets in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed article having a largest area is substantially parallel to said horizontal axis; wherein each of said wide use pockets has a portion parallel to a rotation direction of said conveying drum and a substantially V-letter shaped portion having an apex angle of substantially 90 degrees which has an apex at a point which is a predetermined distance from center of said connection hole in said rotation direction.
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10. A conveyor for pressed articles comprising:
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a conveying drum having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in a vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis; and connection holes and wide use pockets provided at predetermined positions on each side of said equilateral polygon for holding pressed articles by negative pressure via said connection holes in said pockets in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed article having a largest area is substantially parallel to said horizontal axis; wherein each of said wide use pockets has a portion parallel to a rotation direction of said conveying drum and a substantially V-letter shaped portion having an apex angle of substantially 90 degrees which has an apex at a point which is a predetermined distance from center of said connection hole in said rotation direction, and further wherein said wide use pockets are formed on a block having a substantially rectangular cross-section in each direction, and each block is interchangeably fixed on each side of said equilateral polygon of said conveying drum. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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11. A conveyor for pressed articles comprising:
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an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider by a predetermined tolerance than a width of said pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section; a first conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having first pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical; a posture changing apparatus disposed below said first conveying drum, having second pockets arranged for facing said first pockets, and changing posture of said pressed articles in a manner so that a direction of said cross-section of said pressed article having the largest area is changed from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal; and a second conveying apparatus disposed below said posture changing apparatus, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein connection holes are provided at predetermined positions facing said second pockets on each side of said equilateral polygon for holding said pressed articles in a manner so that said cross-section of said pressed articles is substantially parallel to said horizontal axis by negative pressure via said connection holes. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14)
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15. A conveyor for pressed articles comprising:
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an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider a predetermined tolerance than a width of said pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section; a first conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having first pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical; a posture changing apparatus disposed below said first conveying drum, having second pockets arranged for facing said first pockets, and changing posture of said pressed articles in a manner so that a direction of said cross-section of said pressed article having the largest area is changed from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal; and a second conveying apparatus disposed below said posture changing apparatus, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein connection holes and wide use pockets are provided at predetermined positions facing said second pockets on each side of said equilateral polygon for holding said pressed articles in a manner so that said cross-section of said pressed articles is substantially parallel to said horizontal axis by negative pressure via said connection holes. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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18. An external appearance examination apparatus for pressed articles comprising:
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an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider a predetermined tolerance than a width of the pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section; a first conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having first pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical; a pressed article rotating roller disposed at a predetermined first position in the inside of said first conveying drum, and rotating said pressed articles in said pockets stopped at said predetermined first position more than one turn around horizontal axes; a first image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said first conveying drum at said first predetermined position, and picking up pictures of side faces of said pressed articles in said first pockets; a posture changing apparatus disposed below said first conveying drum, having second pockets arranged for facing said first pockets, and changing postures of pressed articles in a manner so that a direction of said cross-section of said pressed articles is changed from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal; a second conveying drum disposed below said posture changing apparatus, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein first connection holes are provided at predetermined positions facing said second pockets on each side of said equilateral polygon, and hold said pressed articles by negative pressure via said first connection holes in a manner so that said cross-sections of said pressed articles are substantially parallel to said horizontal axis; a second image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said second conveying drum at a second predetermined position, and picking up pictures of first faces of said pressed articles; a third conveying drum disposed below said second conveying drum, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein second connection holes are provided at predetermined positions facing said first connection holes on each side of said equilateral polygon, and hold said pressed articles, which are received from said second conveying drum, by negative pressure via said second connection holes in a manner so that said cross-sections of said pressed articles are substantially parallel to said axis; and a third image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said third conveying drum at a third predetermined position, and picking up pictures of second faces of said pressed articles, which are back sides of said first faces. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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19. An external appearance examination apparatus for pressed articles comprising:
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an arranging apparatus for arranging pressed articles, which are supplied at random, in a manner so that a cross-section of said pressed articles having a largest area is substantially vertical, and having a plurality of guide grooves which have a width wider by a predetermined tolerance than a width of the pressed articles in a direction perpendicular to said cross-section; a first conveying drum intermittently rotated around a horizontal axis, and having first pockets arranged for facing said guide grooves and holding said pressed articles, which are arranged by said arranging apparatus, in a manner so that said cross-section is substantially vertical; a pressed article rotating roller disposed at a predetermined first position in an inside of said first conveying drum, and rotating said pressed articles in said pockets stopped at said predetermined first position more than one turn around horizontal axes of said pressed articles; a first image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said first conveying drum at said first predetermined position, and picking up pictures of side faces of said pressed articles in said first pockets; a posture changing apparatus disposed below said first conveying drum, having second pockets arranged for facing said first pockets, and changing postures of pressed articles in a manner so that a direction of said cross-section of said pressed articles is changed from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal; a second conveying drum disposed below said posture changing apparatus, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction, and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein first connection holes and first wide use pockets are provided at predetermined positions facing said second pockets on each side of said equilateral polygon and hold said pressed articles by negative pressure via said first connection holes in a manner so that said cross-section of said pressed article is substantially parallel to said horizontal axis; a second image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said second conveying drum at a second predetermined position, and picking up pictures of first faces of said pressed articles; a third conveying drum disposed below said second conveying drum, having an equilateral polygonal cross-section in the vertical direction and rotated around a horizontal axis, wherein second connection holes and second wide use pockets are provided at predetermined positions facing said first connection holes on each side of said equilateral polygon, and hold said pressed articles, which are received from said second conveying drum, by negative pressure via said second connection holes in a manner so that said cross-section of said pressed article is substantially parallel to said axis; and a third image pickup apparatus disposed for facing an outer surface of said third conveying drum at a third predetermined position, and picking up pictures of second faces of said pressed articles, which are back sides of said first faces. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification