An apparatus for manufacturing an electrode performs press-working of a strip electrode being conveyed. This manufacturing apparatus includes a press roll including a roll surface having a width that is twice or more a width of the strip electrode, a switch configured to switch a contact region of the roll surface contacting with the strip electrode during press-working, and a controller. When an abnormality of the roll surface is detected in a state where the contact region of the roll surface is a region located on the left side with respect to a center line of the roll surface, the controller controls the switch such that the contact region of the roll surface is switched to a region located on the right side with respect to the center line of the roll surface.

A detection device and a detection method for detecting a hole or a pinhole present in a material are provided. The detection device includes: an illumination unit irradiating light at one side of the material; a light receiving unit acquiring an image of the material at the other side of the material to output a detection signal; a detection unit determining whether or not the hole or the pinhole is present in the material using the detection signal; and an illumination control unit dividing the illumination unit into a plurality of regions and controlling the illumination unit to irradiate light having different intensities of illumination for each of the plurality of regions.

Provided is a sample manufacturing method that includes: a step of forming a hanging drop consisting of a liquid drop of a medium solution in a hanging state while causing at least one cell aggregate to be encapsulated in the liquid drop of the medium solution, the medium solution becoming substantially transparent upon gelling or solidifying; and a step of causing the hanging drop to gel or solidify by causing a promoting factor that promotes gelling or solidification of the medium solution to act on the hanging drop.

A method for inspecting filled containers for foreign bodies, comprising: providing a planar illuminating device designed to emit radiation which radiates through a container to be examined; providing a detection device designed to detect the radiation which was emitted by the illuminating device and has radiated through the container and to create a photograph of the container on the basis of the detected radiation; providing an evaluation device designed to evaluate the image created by the detection device; wherein the detection device is aimed, at an acute angle ? relative to the horizontal, at the bottom region of the container to be inspected, and wherein a foreign body on the container bottom is recognized as a local disturbance in the imaging photograph.

An optical inspection system for capturing images of backlit test objects on a detector at two or more aperture settings includes a telecentric imaging system having a first setting associated with a first size aperture stop and a second setting associated with a second larger size aperture stop. An illumination system includes a substage illuminator incorporating (a) a first set of one or more light sources surrounded by a first barrier that defines a first size aperture stop of the illumination system and (b) a second set of one or more light sources located beyond the first barrier and surrounded by a second barrier that defines a second larger size aperture stop of the illumination system. The first size aperture stop of the illumination system images to the first size aperture stop of the telecentric imaging system at the first setting and the second larger size aperture stop of the illumination system images to the second larger size aperture stop of the telecentric imaging system at the second setting.

Inspection of microelectronic devices is described using near infrared light. In one example, a dielectric material layer on a substrate is illuminated with a near infrared light beam. The substrate has at least one contact land, the dielectric material layer overlies at least a portion of the contact land, and the substrate has at least one via defined in the dielectric material layer, the via exposing at least a portion of the contact land. Reflected near infrared light is reflected from the substrate at a camera. The position of the via is determined relative to the contact land from the reflected light beam using an image processing device.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for detection and identification of opaqueness of vehicle windows. An example vehicle includes a window including an interior surface and an exterior surface, a light transmitter to emit light, and light sensors to measure the light. The light sensors include a first sensor offset from and a second sensor aligned with the interior surface. The light sensors also include a third sensor offset from and a fourth sensor aligned with the exterior surface. The example vehicle also includes a controller for detecting a source of opaqueness of the window via the light sensors.

A product inspection system includes an image acquisition system having a camera generating an inspection image of a product arranged between a plurality of mirrors. The inspection image has a plurality of sub images of different sides of the product. The inspection system has a calibration member with a plurality of correction patterns on different sides; the camera receives light from the calibration member reflected by the mirrors to generate a calibration image of the calibration member. A computer of the product inspection system receives the inspection image and the calibration image and determines a relative mirror position relationship between the mirrors. The computer forms a single spliced image of the product.

A surface characteristics evaluation method for evaluating a surface characteristic of a painted surface including a glittering material, including: a multi-angle condition image acquisition step S101 for acquiring a multi-angle condition image including multi-angle conditions in a continuous manner by performing an image-capturing process to capture how a reflection condition of the painted surface changes when rotating an illumination device 2 emitting light onto the painted surface, the image-capturing process being performed by the line scan camera 4 while a sample P having the painted surface is moved in a certain direction; an in-plane chromaticity distribution acquisition step S102 for acquiring an in-plane chromaticity distribution of the painted surface from the multi-angle condition image acquired; and a surface characteristics evaluation step S107 for calculating particle characteristics S as surface characteristics evaluation values of the multi-angle conditions, on the basis of the in-plane chromaticity distribution acquired.

It is therefore an objective to provide an object multi-perspective inspection apparatus and a method therefor. The apparatus includes an image capture device; an inspection site and at least two reflection devices, being arranged for reflecting simultaneously to the image capture device at least two different side views of the object located in the inspection site; wherein: the image capture device has a field of view including the at least two different side views of the reflection. By introducing reflection devices into the inspection apparatus to enable the image capture device to see the part from multiple views at once, multiple surfaces can be inspected at once, in one image frame, without having the need to reposition the reflection device, the camera and/or the object for every single surface. There are more than one reflection devices placed in the camera's field of view to assist the inspection process by exploiting otherwise hidden surfaces of any given solid object. The effort inspecting every single part form multiple sides is reduced. Therefore, the period of the inspection cycle time can be reduced and inspection on the level of multi-surfaces becomes possible increasing overall quality.