Dimension measuring device and method

Abstract

A dimension measuring device includes: a rail for moving two sheets of material; a plurality of range finders arranged at a preset interval along a direction of traveling of the material, so as to measure a distance from side surfaces of the material; and an imaging device for taking images between the first and second range finders, which are disposed at the first and second locations with reference to the entry side of the material, respectively.

Claims

1. A dimension measuring device comprising: a rail for moving two sheets of material in parallel; a plurality of range finders arranged at a preset interval along a direction of traveling of the material, while being spaced from both side surfaces of the material, so as to measure a distance from the side surfaces of the material; an imaging device for taking images between first and second range finders, which are disposed at first and second locations based on an entry side of the material, respectively; and a controller for controlling the imaging device to take images of the material as the first range finder receives a signal indicating that a tail-end of one of the two sheets of the material passes through the first range finder and a front-end of the one of the two sheets of the material is detected by an nth range finder disposed at an nth location based on the entry side of the material, and wherein a length of each of the two sheets of the material is obtained by the following equation:
P=(n2)*L+L, where P is the length of each of the two sheets of the material, L is a distance between each of the plurality of range finders, L is a distance from the second range finder to a tail-end of each of the two sheets of the material, and n is a number of the plurality of range finders that detect the material.

2. The dimension measuring device of claim 1, wherein the distance from the second range finder to the tail-end of each of the two sheets of the material is obtained from images taken by the imaging device.

3. The dimension measuring device of claim 1, wherein the controller: receives a signal indicating that the tail-end of the one of the two sheets of the material that first enters the first range finder passes through the first range finder, controls the imaging device to take images of the material as the front-end of the one of the two sheets of the material that first enters the nth range finder is detected by the nth range finder disposed at the nth location based on the entry side of the material, and controls the imaging device to take images of the other one of the two sheets of the material as a front-end of the other one of the two sheets of the material is detected by the nth range finder.

4. The dimension measuring device of claim 1, wherein perpendicularity of the front-end of the one of the two sheets of the material is calculated from images taken by the imaging device as the second range finder detects the front-end of the one of the two sheets of the material.

5. The dimension measuring device of claim 1, wherein a camber, a width, a length and perpendicularity of each of the two sheets of the material are measured using distance information continuously measured by one among the plurality of range finders arranged along a longitudinal direction of the material and images taken by the imaging device.

6. The dimension measuring device of claim 5, wherein images are taken as the front-end of one of the two sheets of the material is detected by each of the plurality of range finders that are arranged at the preset interval based on a signal obtained by detecting the front-end of the one of the two sheets of the material using the first range finder.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a view of an apparatus and method for measuring a length of a steel plate according to the related art.

(2) FIG. 2 is a view of a dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(3) FIG. 3 is a view of an operation of measuring a length of a thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention from a lateral direction.

(4) FIG. 4 is a view of an operation of measuring a length of a thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention from an upward direction.

(5) FIG. 5 is a view of another embodiment in which a length of each of two sheets of a thick-plate wide-width material in which a position difference between the two sheets of the thick-plate wide-width material occurs, is measured using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(6) FIG. 6 is a view of an operation of acquiring gap position information between two sheets of a thick-plate wide-width material and gap information using an imaging device of the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(7) FIG. 7 is a view of a camber of the thick-plate wide-width material.

(8) FIG. 8 is a view of an operation of measuring a camber of the thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(9) FIG. 9 is a graph showing the result of a measured camber of the thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(10) FIG. 10 is a view of an operation of measuring perpendicularity of the thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(11) FIG. 11 is a front-end image of the thick-plate wide-width material taken using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(12) FIG. 12 is a front-end image of the thick-plate wide-width material converted by the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(13) FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a dimension measuring method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

MODES OF THE INVENTION

(14) As the present invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to particular modes of practice, and it is to be appreciated that all changes, equivalents, and substitutes that do not depart from the spirit and technical scope of the present invention are encompassed in the present invention.

(15) It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present invention. As used here, the term and/or includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

(16) It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being connected or coupled to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being directly connected or directly coupled to another element, there are no intervening elements present.

(17) The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms a, an and the are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms comprises, comprising, includes and/or including, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

(18) Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined here.

(19) Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, and those components that are the same or are in correspondence are rendered the same reference numeral regardless of the figure number, and redundant explanations are omitted.

(20) Referring to FIGS. 2 through 12, a dimension measuring device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a moving unit 100 for moving two sheets of material 2, a plurality of range finders 200 arranged to measure a distance between both side surfaces of the entering material 2, an imaging device 300, and a controller 400. Here, a thick-plate wide-width material may be used as the material 2 to be measured. The plurality of range finders 200 may be installed along a direction of traveling of the material 2, while being spaced from the material 2.

(21) The moving unit 100 may include a plurality of rollers 110, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The two sheets of the material 2 that enter while being arranged parallel to each other due to the plurality of rotating rollers 110, are moved in one direction.

(22) That is, the material 2 is moved along a direction of entry due to the rollers 110, after entering due to the moving unit 100. For example, because the thick-plate wide-width material is cut in two sheets in the previous process line thereof and then is moved by the rollers 110, the two sheets may be moved by the moving unit 100 parallel to each other, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

(23) The plurality of range finders 200 are installed to measure a distance between both side surfaces of the entering material 2 and the range finders 200 while being spaced a predetermined distance apart from the material 2. Here, laser range finders may be used as the range finders 200.

(24) As illustrated in FIG. 2, the range finders 200 may be divided into a work side range finder part WS installed at the right side of the material 2 based on a direction of entry of the material while being spaced apart from the material 2, and a drive side range finder part DS installed at the left side of the material 2 based on the direction of entry of the material while being spaced apart from the material.

(25) The work side range finder part WS and the drive side range finder part DS may be installed to face each other in a state in which the entering material 2 is interposed between the work side range finder part WS and the drive side range finder part DS. That is, the range finders 200 installed at the work side range finder part WS and the drive side range finder part DS may be installed to face each other at a preset installation interval C, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

(26) Also, a plurality of range finders 200 may be installed at each of the work side range finder part WS and the drive side range finder part DS along an entry direction of the material 2 while being spaced apart from one another at a preset interval L.

(27) Thus, a plurality of, i.e., first, second, third, . . . , and nth range finders 200 may be installed at each of the work side range finder part WS and the drive side range finder part DS based on an entry side of the material 2.

(28) The imaging device 300 may be installed so as to take images of the material 2 when the material 2 is moved, while being spaced apart from an upper portion of the moving unit 100. For example, the imaging device 300 may be a camera installed to take images between a first range finder and a second range finder.

(29) That is, the imaging device 300 may be installed to take images in an image area IA between the first range finder and the second range finder.

(30) As illustrated in FIG. 2, the imaging device 300 according to the present invention is installed to take images in the image area IA between the first range finder and the second range finder. However, embodiments are not limited thereto, and a plurality of imaging devices 300 may be installed along a direction of movement of the material 2 while being spaced apart from one another at a preset interval. Thus, the plurality of imaging devices 300 may take images in all areas of the moved material 2.

(31) The controller 400 may control the range finders 200 and the imaging device 300. Thus, the controller 400 may be electrically connected to the range finders 200 and the imaging device 300.

(32) Also, the controller 400 may receive signals to be transmitted to include measurement information measured from the range finders 200 and the imaging device 300 and may measure shape such as a length, a width, a camber, and perpendicularity of the material 2, based on the measurement information. The controller 400 may allow a user to perceive a measured measurement value using a display device (not shown).

(33) Hereinafter, a method of measuring the length of the material 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. Here, the imaging device 300 may be installed to take images between the first range finder and the second range finder, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

(34) Also, in description of the present invention, the material 2 to be moved while being located at the right side based on the movement direction of the material 2 will be referred to as a fixing unit material 2a, and the material 2 to be moved while being located at the left side based on the movement direction of the material 2 will be referred to as a moving unit material 2b.

(35) FIG. 3 is a view of an operation of measuring a length of a thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention from a lateral direction, and FIG. 4 is a view of an operation of measuring a length of a thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention from an upward direction.

(36) In more detail, FIGS. 3A and 4A illustrate a case where a front-end portion of a material enters a first range finder, and FIGS. 3B and 4B illustrate a state before a tail-end portion of the material enters the first range finder, and FIGS. 3C and 4C illustrate a state after the tail-end portion of the material enters the first range finder, and FIGS. 3D and 4D illustrate a case where, after the tail-end portion of the material enters the first range finder, the front-end portion of the material enters an nth range finder.

(37) As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 4A, the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b to be moved parallel to each other enter the first range finder of the dimension measuring device 1. Thus, the controller 400 initializes the dimension measuring device 1.

(38) As illustrated in FIGS. 3B and 4B, the front-end portion of the material 2 sequentially passes through a second range finder and a third range finder of the dimension measuring device 1.

(39) As illustrated in FIGS. 3C and 4C, the tail-end portion of the material 2, i.e., an end portion of the material 2 passes through the first range finder, and the first range finder transmits a trigger signal indicating that the tail-end portion of the material 2 passes through the first range finder, to the controller 400.

(40) As illustrated in FIGS. 3D and 4D, when the front-end portion of the material 2 is detected by the nth range finder based on the trigger signal of the first range finder, the controller 400 controls the imaging device 300 to take images of the material 2.

(41) Thus, a length P of the material 2 may be obtained using the following Equation 1.
P=(n2)*L+L,[Equation 1]
where P is a length of material, L is a distance between range finders, L is a distance from the second range finder to a tail-end of the material, and n is the number of range finders that detect the material.

(42) FIG. 5 is a view of another embodiment in which a length of each of two sheets of a thick-plate wide-width material in which a position difference between the two sheets of the thick-plate wide-width material occurs, is measured using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In more detail, FIG. 5A is a view of a case where a front-end portion of a fixing unit material is detected by an nth range finder, and FIG. 5B is a view of a case where a front-end portion of a moving unit material is detected by the nth range finder.

(43) Meanwhile, a method of measuring a length of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b when a position difference between the front-end portion and the tail-end portion of two sheets of the material 2 occurs, will be described with reference to FIG. 5. For example, because the thick-plate wide-width material is cut into two sheets in the previous process line and then is moved by the rollers 110, the position difference between the front-end portion and the tail-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b is not large compared to the length of the material 2, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

(44) When the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b enter so that a predetermined position difference between the front-end portion and the tail-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b occurs, the case where the fixing unit material 2a enters prior to the moving unit material 2b, as illustrated in FIG. 5, will be described as an example.

(45) When the tail-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a is detected by the first range finder, the first range finder transmits a trigger signal indicating that the tail-end portion of the material 2 passes through the first range finder, to the controller 400. The controller 400 controls the nth range finder to detect the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a based on the trigger signal of the first range finder. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, when the nth range finder at a work side range finder part WS detects the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a, the controller 400 controls the imaging device 300 to take images at the tail-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a.

(46) Thus, a length of the fixing unit material 2a (P1=((n2)*L+L1) may be obtained by the above Equation 1.

(47) Also, as illustrated in FIG. 5B, when the front-end portion of the moving unit material 2b is detected by the nth range finder at a drive side range finder part DS, the controller 400 controls the imaging device 300 to take images at the tail-end portion of the moving unit material 2b.

(48) Accordingly, a length of the fixing unit material 2a (P2=((n2)*L+L2) may be obtained by the above Equation 1.

(49) Thus, the controller 400 of the dimension measuring device 1 receives the trigger signal indicating that a tail-end portion of one of the material 2 that first enters the first range finder passes through the first range finder, and controls the imaging device 300 to take images of the material 2 as the front-end portion of the material 2 that first enters the nth range finder installed at an nth location based on the entry side of the material 2 is detected.

(50) Images at a tail-end portion of the other one of the material 2 are taken using the imaging device as a front-end portion of the other one of the material 2 is detected by the nth range finder so that the dimension measuring device can measure a length of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b.

(51) That is, the dimension measuring device 1 may measure a length of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b using the range finders 200 and the imaging device 300. Thus, the dimension measuring device 1 may measure a length of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b simultaneously without a stoppage of the material 2 so that productivity can be improved.

(52) Also, as the front-end portion of the material 2 is detected by each range finder since the first range finder based on the trigger signal, the imaging device 300 of the dimension measuring device 1 may take images of the material 2 and may analyze the continuously-taken images to measure and verify a length of the measured material 2.

(53) A method of measuring a width and a camber of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b using the dimension measuring device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4, 6, and 7.

(54) A range finder 200 at a work side range finder part WS and a range finder 200 at a drive side range finder part DS that faces the range finder 200 at the work side range finder part WS may be installed at a preset installation interval C. Thus, the installation interval C may have a preset value, and the range finder 200 at the work side range finder part WS and the range finder 200 at the drive side range finder part DS that faces the range finder 200 at the work side range finder part WS may measure the distance from side surfaces of the material 2 to acquire distance information.

(55) Also, the imaging device 300 of the dimension measuring device 1 may take images of the material 2 as the front-end portion of the material 2 is detected by each range finder since the first range finder based on the trigger signal indicating that the front-end portion of the material 2 passes through the first range finder.

(56) The controller 400 of the dimension measuring device 1 may analyze a plurality of images taken to acquire information about a gap (G) between the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b and position information (position information of a central cutting portion) of the gap (G).

(57) Thus, the dimension measuring device 1 may obtain a width of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b using the distance information of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b measured using the range finders 200, the position information about the gap (G), and the gap (G) information.

(58) For example, a width of the fixing unit material 2a may be obtained using the position information of a gap (G) at the installation interval C between the range finders 200 that face each other, gap (G) information, and distance information from the range finder 200 at the work side range finder part WS to side surfaces of the fixing unit material 2a.

(59) Also, referring to FIGS. 7 through 9, a camber of the material 2 may be calculated from measured values of the both-side range finders 200, the central cutting portion position acquired by image analysis, and the gap (G) information. Here, the camber of the material 2 may be defined as a degree of bending of a width based on the movement direction of the material 2, as illustrated in FIG. 7.

(60) One of the range finders 200 may detect front- and tail-end portions of the material 2 which is being moved and simultaneously may continuously measure the position of both side surfaces of the material 2, as illustrated in FIG. 8.

(61) When distance data about both side surfaces of the material 2 measured by the range finder 200 in a longitudinal direction with respect to the material 2 is used, the entire camber amount of the material 2 may be calculated, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

(62) Also, images of the material 2 may be continuously taken using the imaging device 300 while the material 2 is moved, and the gap (G) position information and the gap (G) information (gap change amount) may be measured in the longitudinal direction of the material 2 through image analysis, as described above. Thus, when the distance data about both side surfaces of the material 2 is used together, a camber amount of each of the fixing unit material 2a and the moving unit material 2b may also be measured.

(63) Also, even when precise measurement of the camber amount is not necessary in the dimension measuring device 1, the camber amount may also be directly and simply measured using distance data Dn, Wn, . . . , D2, and W2 measured simultaneously at the same instance as that of FIGS. 3D and 4D and images taken at the tail-end portion of the material 2.

(64) FIG. 10 is a view of an operation of measuring perpendicularity of the thick-plate wide-width material using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 11 is a front-end image of the thick-plate wide-width material taken using the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 12 is a front-end image of the thick-plate wide-width material converted by the dimension measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

(65) In more detail, FIG. 10A is a view of a case where a front-end portion of a fixing unit material is detected by a second range finder, and FIG. 10B is a view of a case where a front-end portion of a moving unit material is detected by the second range finder.

(66) Hereinafter, a method of measuring perpendicularity of the front-end portion of the material 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 through 12. Here, FIGS. 11 and 12 illustrate images indicating perpendicularity of the fixing unit material 2a and converted images (edge portion thinning).

(67) Referring to FIG. 10A, when the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a is detected by a first range finder, the first range finder transmits a trigger signal indicating that the front-end portion of the material 2 passes through the first range finder, to the controller 400. The controller 400 controls the second range finder to detect the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a based on the trigger signal of the first range finder.

(68) When the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a is detected by the second range finder, the controller 400 controls the imaging device 300 to take images at the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a.

(69) Thus, the dimension measuring device 1 may acquire and convert images at the front-end portion of the fixing unit material 2a to calculate perpendicularity of the fixing unit material 2a, as illustrated in FIGS. 11 and 12.

(70) Also, as illustrated in FIG. 10B, when the second range finder at the drive side range finder part DS detects the front-end portion of the moving unit material 2b, the controller 400 controls the imaging device 300 to take images at the front-end portion of the moving unit material 2b. The dimension measuring device 1 may acquire and convert images at the front-end portion of the moving unit material 2b to calculate perpendicularity of the moving unit material 2b.

(71) Hereinafter, a dimension measuring method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 13. In this case, same reference numerals are used for the same elements as those of the dimension measuring device 1. Thus, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

(72) A dimension measuring method S1 may include: moving two sheets of material (S10); measuring a distance from side surfaces of the material using a plurality of range finders arranged along a movement direction of the material at a preset interval (S20); taking images of the material using an imaging device (S30); and measuring a length, a width, a camber and perpendicularity of each of the two sheets of the material using distance information measured by the plurality of range finders and the images of the material taken by the imaging device (S40).

(73) In Operation S40 of measuring the length, the width, the camber and the perpendicularity of each of the two sheets of the material, the length, the width, the camber and the perpendicularity of each of the two sheets of the material may be measured using distance information continuously measured by one among the range finders 200 and the images continuously taken by the imaging device 300.

(74) Here, the imaging device 300 may be installed to take images between the first range finder and the second range finder installed at a first location and a second location based on the entry side of the material 2, respectively.

(75) In this case, the images may be taken as the front-end portion of the material 2 is detected by each of the range finders 200 arranged since the first range finder based on a signal obtained by detecting the front-end portion of the material 2 using the first range finder.

(76) While the present invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

EXPLANATIONS OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

(77) 1: dimension measuring device, 2: material, 100: moving unit, 200: range finder, 300: imaging device, 400: controller, WS: work side range finder part, DS: drive side range finder part