INSPECTION SYSTEM FOR A PLURALITY OF SEPARABLE INSPECTION OBJECTS

Abstract

An inspection system for a plurality of separable inspection objects, including a feed device for the plurality of inspection objects, a conveying device for the plurality of inspection objects, an inspection unit and an ejecting device. The feed device is configured and disposed such that the plurality of inspection objects can be fed by the feed device to a feed position of the conveying device. The conveying device includes a plurality of receptacles, each receptacle is configured and disposed such that exactly one inspection object of the plurality of inspection objects can be conveyed along a conveying path in said receptacle and that two respective inspection objects from the plurality of inspection objects have a spacing along the conveying path that is defined by the plurality of receptacles. The inspection unit is disposed at an inspection position on the conveying path.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. An inspection system or a plurality of separable inspection objects, comprising: a feed device for the plurality of inspection objects, a conveying device for the plurality of inspection objects, an inspection unit and an ejecting device, wherein the feed device is configured and disposed such that the plurality of inspection objects can be fed by means of the feed device to a feed position of the conveying device, wherein the conveying device comprises a plurality of receptacles, wherein each receptacle of the plurality of receptacles is configured and disposed such that exactly one inspection object of the plurality of inspection objects can be conveyed along a conveying path in said receptacle and that two respective inspection objects of the plurality of inspection objects have a spacing along the conveying path that is defined by the plurality of receptacles, wherein the inspection unit is disposed at an inspection position on the conveying path and wherein the ejecting device is disposed behind the inspection unit on the conveying path and is configured such that the plurality of inspection objects can be ejected from the plurality of receptacles of the conveying device by means of the ejecting device, wherein the conveying device is configured such that the conveying path has at least one straight section and the inspection position is disposed on the at least one straight section.

17. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the conveying device is configured such that the plurality of receptacles are guided on a closed movement path, wherein the conveying path takes up a part of the movement path.

18. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the inspection system comprises two inspection units, wherein the inspection units are disposed at two inspection positions along the conveying path, wherein the conveying path comprises two straight sections and wherein a first of the two inspection positions is disposed on a first of the two straight sections and wherein a second of the two inspection positions is disposed on a second of the two straight sections.

19. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein each one of the plurality of receptacles comprises a support surface lying in a plane and a perforation in said support surface, wherein the perforation in the plane comprises an opening on one side, such that an inspection object of the plurality of inspection objects can be inserted through the opening into the perforation and wherein the support surface can be moved from a first position into a second position.

20. The inspection system according to claim 19, wherein the support surface can be pivoted about a pivot axis from the first position into the second position and wherein the pivot axis is parallel to a direction of movement of the receptacle.

21. The inspection system according to claim 19, wherein the feed device comprises a feed bevel, wherein the feed bevel is configured and disposed such that, when the inspection system is in operation, the plurality of inspection objects slide over the feed bevel in the direction of one of the plurality of receptacles at the feed position, wherein, in the second position, the support surface is parallel to a transfer section of the feed bevel.

22. The inspection system according to claim 19, wherein, in the first position, the support surface is disposed substantially horizontally.

23. The inspection system according to claim 19, wherein the conveying device comprises a stationary actuating cam at the feed position, wherein the receptacle and the actuating cam are configured and disposed such that that the actuating cam moves the support surface from the first position into the second position when the receptacle reaches the feed position.

24. The inspection system according to claim 19, wherein the inspection unit comprises a housing having a defined installation space, wherein the housing can be releasably connected to the conveying device so that the inspection unit can be replaced with another inspection unit.

25. The inspection system according to claim 24, wherein the housing has a defined width and wherein the straight section of the conveying path is an integer multiple of the width, so that a plurality of inspection units having the same width can be connected to the conveying device.

26. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the inspection unit comprises at least one sensor, wherein the sensor is disposed such that it senses a property of the plurality of inspection objects at the inspection position, wherein the sensor is preferably selected from a group consisting of an eddy current sensor, a probe, a conductivity sensor and a camera or a combination thereof.

27. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the conveying device comprises a guide rail and a plurality of carriages guided on said guide rail, wherein each one of the plurality of carriages carries at least one of the plurality of receptacles.

28. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the conveying device comprises a plurality of segments and wherein the straight section of the conveying path comprises an integer multiple of segments.

29. The inspection system according to claim 16, wherein the inspection system further comprises an inspection station at the inspection position of the inspection system, a data transmission device, a first data interface and an identifier, wherein the inspection unit comprises an inspection controller comprising a read-out device and a second data interface connected to the inspection controller, wherein the inspection station is configured such that the inspection unit is interchangeably connected to the inspection station, wherein the second data interface is separably connected to the first data interface of the inspection system for exchanging data, wherein the data transmission device is operatively connected at least to the ejecting device and via the first data interface and the second data interface to the inspection unit for transmitting information, wherein the identifier biuniquely identifies the inspection position, wherein the identifier is encoded in such a way that the identifier can be read by the inspection unit when the inspection unit is inserted into the inspection station, wherein the read-out device is configured such that the identifier can be read with the read-out device when the inspection system is in operation and wherein the inspection controller is configured such that the inspection controller reads the identifier by means of the read-out device when the inspection unit is inserted into the inspection station.

30. The inspection system according to claim 29, wherein the identifier is encoded in an identification device which is disposed at the inspection station and can be read by the inspection unit.

31. The inspection system according to claim 17, wherein the inspection system comprises two inspection units, wherein the inspection units are disposed at two inspection positions along the conveying path, wherein the conveying path comprises two straight sections and wherein a first of the two inspection positions is disposed on a first of the two straight sections and wherein a second of the two inspection positions is disposed on a second of the two straight sections.

32. The inspection system according to claim 17, wherein each one of the plurality of receptacles comprises a support surface lying in a plane and a perforation in said support surface, wherein the perforation in the plane comprises an opening on one side, such that an inspection object of the plurality of inspection objects can be inserted through the opening into the perforation and wherein the support surface can be moved from a first position into a second position.

33. The inspection system according to claim 18, wherein each one of the plurality of receptacles comprises a support surface lying in a plane and a perforation in said support surface, wherein the perforation in the plane comprises an opening on one side, such that an inspection object of the plurality of inspection objects can be inserted through the opening into the perforation and wherein the support surface can be moved from a first position into a second position.

34. The inspection system according to claim 20, wherein the feed device comprises a feed bevel, wherein the feed bevel is configured and disposed such that, when the inspection system is in operation, the plurality of inspection objects slide over the feed bevel in the direction of one of the plurality of receptacles at the feed position, wherein, in the second position, the support surface is parallel to a transfer section of the feed bevel.

35. The inspection system according to claim 20, wherein, in the first position, the support surface is disposed substantially horizontally.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0113] Further advantages, features, and possible applications of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment and the associated figures. In the figures, the same elements are identified with the same reference signs.

[0114] FIG. 1 is a partially broken-away isometric view of an inspection system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0115] FIG. 2 is an isometric view of the conveying device from the inspection system of FIG. 1.

[0116] FIG. 3 is an enlarged, broken-away view of the conveying device of FIG. 2.

[0117] FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a roller carriage of the conveying device of FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0118] FIG. 5 is a side view of the roller carriage of FIG. 4 with the feed device.

[0119] FIG. 6 is an isometric view of an inspection system according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0120] FIG. 7 is an isometric view of an inspection system according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

[0121] FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view onto a block diagram describing the inspection system of FIGS. 1 to 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0122] An implementation of the inspection system according to the invention will now be described using an example. FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of the whole inspection system. This figure will be used repeatedly to describe the operation of the system.

[0123] The inspection system 1 is used to inspect a plurality of screws as inspection objects in the sense of the present application. The screws are delivered as loose material and fed into the inspection via a feed device 2. In addition to the feed device 2, the inspection system 1 comprises a conveying device 3, an ejecting device (not shown in the figure) and two inspection units 4, 5.

[0124] In the shown embodiment, the feed device 2 is driven by gravity; i.e., the individual screws slide over a feed bevel 6 in the direction of the conveying device 3 due to their mass. This is shown in the side view of FIG. 5. The screws are already lined up in the feed device 2, but are still in direct contact with one another so that they are not yet separated. The screws hang on the feed bevel 6 with their heads or the surface on the underside of the screw heads. The conveying device 3 always picks up exactly one screw from the feed device 2 and conveys it along a conveying path with a spacing to the preceding screw and to the following screw. The conveying path is described in detail below.

[0125] In the sense of the present application, the path along which the screws travel between the feed position 7, at which the feed device 2 is disposed, and the ejecting device is referred to as the conveying path. The path along which the receptacles for the individual screws move in the conveying device 3 as a whole is referred to as the movement path.

[0126] The conveying device 3 comprises a rail element 8 and a plurality of carriages 9 guided on this rail element 8. The movement path of the receptacles for the screws is substantially O-shaped, with two straight, oppositely disposed sections 10, 11 and two curved sections 12, 13 which each deflect the movement path of the carriages by 180°. The two inspection units 4, 5 are disposed on the straight section 10 of the movement path and thus of the conveying path of the screws. The arrangement of the inspection units along the straight section of the conveying path has two advantages, which are explained in more detail in the following.

[0127] Each of the two inspection units 4, 5 comprises a sensor 14, 15. The sensor 14 of the first inspection unit 4 is a CCD camera for visual inspection of the individual screws. The sensor 15 of the second inspection unit 5, on the other hand, is an eddy current measuring head for detecting cracks in the individual screws. Since the two inspection units 4, 5 are disposed along the straight section 10 of the conveying path, the spacing between the individual inspection specimens and the respective sensor 14, 15 along the measuring section that lies on the straight section of the conveying path does not change. There is consequently no need to factor out artifacts that occur because the spacing between the inspection object and the sensor changes as a result of a curved measuring section.

[0128] The conveying device 3 is constructed in a modular manner from a plurality of segments which are connected to one another in a releasable and interchangeable manner. The shown conveying device 3 consists of two head-side segments 16, which carry the curved sections of the rail element 8. The curved sections of the rail element 8 each bring about a deflection of 180°. Provided between said two head-side segments 16 are two straight segments 17, each of which carries two oppositely disposed straight rail sections. The straight segments 17 of the conveying device can be removed from or inserted into the inspection system 1 with a few simple steps. The overall length of the inspection system, in particular the length of the straight sections of the conveying path, can thus be adapted on site to the respective inspection task. Depending on the length of the straight section of the conveying path, more or fewer inspection units 4, 5 can be held on the straight conveying path, making it possible to carry out a wide variety of inspection tasks.

[0129] Since the two segments 17 both comprise two oppositely disposed straight rail sections, when a straight segment 17 is added, inspection units can respectively be held on the opposite sides.

[0130] One of the curved segments 16 also carries a drive motor 18 for the carriages 9 of the conveying device 1. The individual carriages 9 are driven via a toothed belt guided over two timing pulleys 19, 20. Each of the carriages 9 is hooked into the toothed belt.

[0131] Each of the carriages 9 is guided on the rail element 8 by means of a roller 26. The rail element 8 extends through two of the four rollers 26.

[0132] In the shown embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 4, each of the carriages 9 carries four receptacles 21 for exactly one respective screw. Each of the receptacles 21 comprises an elongated hole 23 as a perforation in the sense of the present application in a support surface 22. In the shown embodiment, all of the elongated holes 23 are provided in the same support surface 22. Each of the elongated holes 23 comprises an opening toward the edge of the support surface 22, so that the screws can be inserted with their cylindrical portions through this opening into the elongated hole 23. The undersides of the screw heads then rest on the support surface 22. During the inspection, i.e., when the screws are moved past the sensors 14, 15 of the inspection units 4, 5, the support surface 22 is aligned substantially horizontally, as can be seen in particular in the illustration of FIG. 4. The horizontal position of the support surface 22 is referred to in the sense of the present application as the first position of the support surface 22.

[0133] As stated above and illustrated in the figure, the screws are fed to the receptacles 21 driven by gravity on the feed bevel 6 of the feed device 2. The undercarriage 24 of the carriage comprising the receptacles and in particular the support surface 22 is configured such that it can pivot about a pivot axis relative to the upper carriage 25 comprising the rollers 26. The undercarriage 24 is pivoted in such a way that the support surface 22 moves from the first position into a second position. The second position of the support surface 22 can be seen in one of the carriages 8 in FIGS. 3 and 5. In this second position, the support surface 22 extends inclined relative to the horizontal, whereby the slope of the support surface 22 in the second position is adapted to the slope of the feed bevel 6 of the feed device. The screws from the feed bevel 6 can thus slide off the screw heads onto the support surface 22 without there being a discontinuity on which the screws can get stuck.

[0134] The feed is less prone to error. The undercarriage 24 and thus the support surface 22 are pivoted at the feed position 7 with the aid of an actuating cam 27, which is fixedly disposed at the feed position 7. When a carriage 9 reaches the feed position 7, the actuating cam 27 pushes the undercarriage 24 from the first position into the second position and, when it leaves the feed position, the undercarriage and thus the support surface 22 pivot driven by gravity from the second position back into the first position. In the first, horizontal position, the inspection objects are inspected at the inspection units 4, 5.

[0135] FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate the modularity of the inspection system 1 according to the invention. The inspection system 1 shown in both FIGS. 6 and 7 is the same system in two configurations. The system in the configuration of FIG. 7 has been expanded by an additional inspection unit 28 compared to the configuration shown in FIG. 6. In the configuration of FIG. 6, the inspection system comprises the two head-side segments 16 of the conveying device and exactly two straight segments 17. The two inspection units 4, 5 already shown in FIG. 1 are held on the two straight segments 17. The reconfigured system of FIG. 7, on the other hand, comprises three straight segments 17 of the conveying device, so that the further inspection unit 28 is held on the third segment. Due to the modularity of the conveying device 3, the inspection system can be adapted to a wide variety of different inspection requirements.

[0136] FIG. 8 shows a plan view onto the inspection system of FIGS. 1-3 in a block diagram. In addition to the mechanical components, the block diagram schematically shows the elements for controlling the inspection system 1.

[0137] The feed of the separated inspection objects, here screws, takes place as described above at a feed position 7. The inspection system 1 comprises two inspection units 4, 5, which are disposed at a first inspection station 50 and a second inspection station 51 on the conveying path of the conveying device 3. The respective inspection positions 52, 53 are defined by the stations 50, 51 and the configuration of the inspection units 4, 5. The actual inspection, i.e., the sensing of the inspection objects, is carried out at these inspection positions. Viewed in the conveying direction 54, the inspection positions are behind the feed position 7.

[0138] As stated above, the inspection system 1 comprises two ejecting device 55, 56, which are respectively disposed at an ejection position 57, 58.

[0139] The two inspection units 4, 5 both comprise an inspection controller 59 and a data interface 60 in the form of a plug connector. This data interface 60 is referred to in the sense of the present application as a second data interface. When the inspection units 4, 5 are held at the respective inspection station 50, 51, the plug connectors, are plugged into complementary plug connectors 61 on the remaining part of the inspection system. In the sense of the present application, these complementary plug connectors 61 constitute the first data interfaces.

[0140] The first data interfaces 61 are connected to other elements of the inspection system via a bus line 62. A system controller 63, the ejecting devices 55, 56 and the drive 18 of the conveying device 3 are connected to the bus 62 as well.

[0141] In the shown embodiment, the system controller 61 takes on only the error management and the administration of the system 1. The system controller 61 in particular takes on the control of the drive motor 18, i.e., the specification of the conveying speed.

[0142] In the shown embodiment, the system parameters, such as the speed of the inspection objects along the inspection path and the occupancy of the receptacles of the conveying device 3, are stored in advance in the inspection controller 59 of each inspection unit 4, 5. When an inspection unit 4, 5 is inserted for the first time at the respective inspection station 50, 51, the inspection controller 59 detects at which inspection station 50, 51 and thus at which inspection position 52, 53 it is disposed.

[0143] For this purpose, the shown embodiment uses an identifier of the respective inspection station 50, 51, which is encoded in the form of the pin configuration of the sockets of the plug connectors 61 of the first data interfaces.

[0144] From the inspection position 52, 53, the respective inspection controller 59 calculates how long it takes for an inspection object inspected by it to be conveyed from the inspection position 52, 53 to the ejection position 57 or 58. The respective inspection controller 59 thus has all the information that enables it not only to carry out the actual inspection, but also to implement the result of the inspection by ejecting the respective inspection object at the correct ejection position 57, 58.

[0145] In the shown embodiment, items that have successfully passed the inspection with the two inspection units 4, 5 are ejected by the ejecting device 56 which is second in the conveying direction 54. Conversely, items that have failed the quality inspection are ejected from the first ejecting device 55.

[0146] Assuming the first inspection unit 5 detects an item that has failed the inspection, the inspection controller 59 issues an ejection command directly to the first ejecting device 55 via the plug connectors 60, 61 of the first and second data interfaces and the bus 60. The ejection command is generated at a point in time at which the inspection object has reached this first ejecting device 55.

[0147] For the purpose of the original disclosure, it should be noted that all of the features as they become apparent to a person skilled in the art from the present description, the drawings and the claims, even if they have been specifically described only in connection with specific other features, can be combined both individually and in any combination with other features or groups of features disclosed here, insofar as this has not been expressly excluded or technical circumstances make such combinations impossible or pointless. A comprehensive, explicit presentation of all conceivable combinations of features is omitted here solely for the sake of brevity and legibility of the description.

[0148] Although the invention has been presented and described in detail in the drawings and the foregoing description, this representation and description is merely an example and is not intended to limit the scope of protection as defined by the claims. The invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments.

[0149] Modifications of the disclosed embodiments will be obvious to those skilled in the art from the drawings, the description and the appended claims. In the claims, the word “comprise” does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article “a” does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain features are claimed in different claims does not preclude their combination. Reference signs in the claims are not intended to limit the scope of protection.

REFERENCE SIGNS

[0150] 1 Inspection system [0151] 2 Feed device [0152] 3 Conveying device [0153] 4, 5, 28 Inspection unit [0154] 6 Feed bevel [0155] 7 Feed position [0156] 8 Rail element [0157] 9 Carriage [0158] 10, 11 Straight section [0159] 12, 13 Curved section [0160] 14, 15 Sensor [0161] 16 Head-side segments of the conveying device [0162] 17 Straight segments of the conveying device [0163] 18 Drive motor [0164] 19, 20 Timing pulley [0165] 21 Receptacle [0166] 22 Support surface [0167] 23 Elongated hole [0168] 24 Undercarriage [0169] 25 Upper carriage [0170] 26 Roller [0171] 27 Actuating cam [0172] 50, 51 Inspection station [0173] 52, 53 Inspection position [0174] 54 Conveying direction [0175] 55, 56 Ejecting device [0176] 57, 58 Ejection position [0177] 59 Inspection controller [0178] 60 Plug connector of the second data interface [0179] 61 Plug connector of the first data interface [0180] 62 Bus [0181] 63 System controller