A method for inspecting an end face, comprising: an arrangement step of arranging a honeycomb structure having a partition wall extending from a first end face to a second end face, at a predetermined position using the second end face as a placement face; a first image data for processing acquisition step of acquiring first image data for processing while irradiating the first end face with light having an angle of 40 or more, the angle being an angle formed between the light and an axis being perpendicular to the placement face of the honeycomb structure; a second image data for processing acquisition step of acquiring second image data for processing while irradiating the first end face with light having an angle of less than 40; and a crack detection step of detecting a crack by comparing the first image data for processing with the second image data for processing.

A system (10) for detecting a level of dirtiness of a filter mat (20) of an airflow cooling system for telecommunications equipment, the system (10) comprising a detector (12) for detecting fluorescent or reflected light backscattered at at least one part in (22) of the filter mat (20) comprising or treated with a fluorescent or reflective material, wherein the detector (12) comprises a light source (12a) for illuminating said at least one part (22) of the filter mat (20) with sampling light, and a photosensor (12b) for detecting fluorescent or reflected light backscattered at said at least one part (22) of the filter mat (20) caused by the illumination thereof with sampling light, wherein the system (10) is configured for inferring the level of dirtiness of the filter mat (20) from the amount of detected fluorescent or reflected light.

Methods of inspecting cellular articles such as cellular ceramic articles are disclosed, wherein the methods comprise characterizing a web structure from intensity values of a digital image. One method comprising establishing an edge location for each of the walls of the web, and an edge intensity slope SE for each edge location, and then searching for a wall intensity slope SW in one of the web walls of the characterized web structure to determine the location of a web defect. Another method involves determining at least one characteristic that defines a conforming cell, then identifying a non-conforming cell region based on the at least one characteristic, and then examining the walls within the non-conforming cell region to locate the defect in one of the walls within the non-conforming cell region.

An in situ inspection system and method to inspect a honeycomb body (122) skin in a skinning system. The inspection system includes a line illuminator (148) to generate a line illumination on the skin (136) perpendicular to an axial direction (112) of the honeycomb body travel, and a detector (152) to detect the line illumination scattered from the skin (136) and generate a signal based on the detected line illumination. A controller (184) is configured to receive the signal generated by the detector (152), compare the received signal to a previously stored defect free signal in real-time, and control at least one skinning process parameter based on the comparison. The method includes in situ inspecting the skin (136) and controlling at least one skinning process parameter based on the inspection. In the method, the in situ inspection includes illuminating a line of the skin (136) perpendicular to the axial direction (112) and detecting the illuminated line scattered from the skin (136).

Methods of inspecting cellular articles such as cellular ceramic articles are disclosed, wherein the methods comprise characterizing a web structure from intensity values of a digital image. One method comprising establishing an edge location for each of the walls of the web, and an edge intensity slope SE for each edge location, and then searching for a wall intensity slope SW in one of the web walls of the characterized web structure to determine the location of a web defect. Another method involves determining at least one characteristic that defines a conforming cell, then identifying a non-conforming cell region based on the at least one characteristic, and then examining the walls within the non-conforming cell region to locate the defect in one of the walls within the non-conforming cell region.

A turbine blade or vane inspection apparatus comprising a controller, mounting for holding a turbine blade or vane, a source of illumination, and a camera. At least two of the source of illumination, the camera, and the mounting are moveable components. The controller is configured to control the moveable components to (a) position the turbine blade or vane mounted thereon relative to the illumination source so as to provide a contrast of illumination between a feature of the turbine blade or vane and an adjacent surface of the turbine blade or vane and (b), position the camera so that the optical axis of the camera is directed towards the feature. The controller is further configured to determine a dimension and/or shape of the feature based on an image obtained by the camera.

In order to provide an inspection device capable of quantitatively evaluating a pattern related to a state of a manufacturing process or performance of an element, it is assumed that an inspection device includes an image analyzing unit that analyzes a top-down image of a sample in which columnar patterns are formed at a regular interval, in which an image analyzing unit 240 includes a calculation unit 243 that obtains a major axis, a minor axis, an eccentricity, and an angle formed by a major axis direction with an image horizontal axis direction of the approximated ellipse as a first index and a Cr calculation unit 248 that obtains a circumferential length of an outline of a columnar pattern on the sample and a value obtained by dividing a square of the circumferential length by a value obtained by multiplying an area surrounded by the outline and 4 as a second index.

An inspection is performed using a captured image obtained by irradiating, with blue light, an optical wavelength conversion sheet that includes a quantum dot layer which contains a quantum dot emitting red light and green light by receiving blue light with blue light from a back surface side and imaging from a front surface side with a camera. A filter which cuts the blue light and transmits the red light and the green light is disposed between the camera and the optical wavelength conversion sheet.

An inspection system includes a thermographic sensor configured to capture thermographic data of a component having holes as a fluid is pulsed toward the holes, and one or more processors configured to temporally process the thermographic data to calculate temporal scores for the corresponding holes, spatially process the thermographic data to calculate spatial scores for the corresponding holes, and calculate composite scores associated with the holes based on the temporal scores and based on the spatial scores. The composite scores represent a likelihood that the corresponding holes are open, blocked or partially blocked.

Improved inspection techniques are described herein for checking for the presence of and identifying surface defects on a honeycomb body. The improved inspection utilizes measurement of travel of an outer surface of the honeycomb body to collect images of the outer surface. The images are combined into a composite image showing the outer surface of the honeycomb body. The composite image is analyzed to identify surface defects.