Textiles: spinning – twisting – and twining – Apparatus and processes – Monitor and control
Reexamination Certificate
1998-11-19
2001-04-17
Stryjewski, William (Department: 3741)
Textiles: spinning, twisting, and twining
Apparatus and processes
Monitor and control
C057S265000, C250S559070, C250S559400, C250S559460
Reexamination Certificate
active
06216432
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for inspecting spinning bobbins and system for implementing such methods.
The method and system according to the invention are applied to scanning yarn bobbins after their winding process on a core which gives rise to one or more stations embedded in a conveyor line for said recently formed bobbins carriage towards a point of use or storage. The method and system proposed are adapted for processing bobbins having different sizes, colours and materials, comprising a step for acquiring (capturing and lighting) images on the bobbin surface, a second step of processing said images through digitizing and an end process by means of an analysis computer program applied to withdraw and assess the defects.
The system according to the invention allows to detect a great number of defects which can appear on the spinning bobbins and namely, broken filaments, loops, webbing, scratching or defibered parts and blows, stains on the bobbin end faces and on its sides, scratching, blows and unevenness, deformations, cavings and bobbin density, tube colour and yarn butt end as well as circles or stains on the bobbin end faces. The system is based on a generally sequential and matched action of a plurality of image acquiring sensors, several of which are moveable in order to be able to locate them at predetermined points before starting each cycle of image capture of a related detection or scanning step, generally specific for each of the defects and in which a while bobbin area is scanned, sector by sector, and the images acquired are also processed one by one or integrated with other images corresponding to a scanning step. At each of said detection steps a lighting has been provided specially adapted to each case whose arrangement, matched with a suitable optics, provides a sufficient field depth effect in order that the defects present in the sector are perfectly focused in resulting image.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Several embodiments are known in the state of the art which are applied to detect defects in yarn bobbins.
Japanese patent application 62-62938 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,151 disclose methods for detecting based on sensors for acquiring image by line by line reading, provided to give rise to a station embedded in a line to transfer bobbins toward a storage or service area.
This prior art methods have the main drawback that for localizing a defect it requires two or three acquisitions of the image sensor, its use meaning in addition limitations as for the bobbin colour and/or material, which make the general use of this method difficult which is mainly useful for direct reflection bobbins. In addition, as this kind of sensors only read one line, the encompassed field is then very restricted and the shots have to be performed at points very near to achieve effective results.
On the other hand, Japanese patent application 134105 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,408 disclose devices for inspecting spinning bobbins comprising a matrix type camera image acquisition means, the later of these background disclosing arrangements applied for detecting different defects with the use of several types of lighting sources such as ultraviolet rays, fluorescent or other.
However in said prior art patents the possibility is not contemplated to perform a complete scanning of all the bobbin surfaces, carrying out an inspection of multiple and different defects, which occurs in some cases twice or more times and by means of one or two stations embedded in a conveyor line of recently produced bobbins with the peculiarity that it is adaptable to different bobbin sizes and regardless the bobbin colour and material characteristics be.
There are not either disclosed in the state of the art the series of arrangements relative to image acquisition sensors and lighting sources this invention proposes and which namely provides with an effect of field depth such it allows to accurately focus the defects at each scanned sector which significantly facilitates their identification.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Essentially the method according to the invention is based on several bobbin scanning steps, shooting at each step a plurality of images from different areas of a bobbin to be inspected, in general sequentially and at each step under particular lighting conditions and with a definite position of several specific, i.e. distinct image acquisition sensors provide to facilitate for each of said lighting conditions and definite positions of said specific sensor and identification-withdrawal of some special defects to be detected, moving accordingly either said bobbin or said image acquisition sensors or both to scan, sector by sector, a whole surface of interest. According to said method, it is in addition operated in every case under field depth conditions so that they make possible to correctly focus the defects present in a related sector, and each of the focused images associated to a particular defect or group of defects is likewise processed in a single way or integrated with other images corresponding to a scanning step obtained through the same image acquisition sensor, by an assessing program, depending on an specific defect to determine and regardless of the size, colour or material of said bobbin.
According to this method, inspecting bobbin end faces is achieved by image acquisition by means of at least three different arrangements of the image acquisition sensors and lighting sources to be used, two of the sensors on the sides and a third one located above the bobbin end faces, with the peculiarity that the side sensors are moveable, moving in parallels to the bobbin shaft to cover end faces defects and on its side wall by automatically governed driving means operation.
As for the system, it comprises one or several working stations which include a plurality of image acquisition sensor such as a matrix camera, with at least one image sensor above each end face, with it optical axis approximately parallel to the bobbin shaft, but moved sideways with respect thereof and other image sensors installed associated to columns parallel to the bobbin winding shaft with their optical axis oriented perpendicular to said bobbin and moveable along said columns in order to be poisoned level or slightly above each of the end faces or covering the bobbins side area. In addition this system includes means to rotate the bobbin at constant speed in order to make workable a sequential shot of a plurality of images thereof and comprising in addition a plurality of lighting sources associated one by one to related image sensors and if fit moveable with same, or fixed, operating individually jointly with one determined of the image sensors and with specific spatial orientations.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4866289 (1989-09-01), Kawamura et al.
patent: 5138151 (1992-08-01), Inada et al.
patent: 5315366 (1994-05-01), Inada et al.
patent: 5337138 (1994-08-01), Inada et al.
patent: 5359408 (1994-10-01), Inada et al.
patent: 5636803 (1997-06-01), Aschmann et al.
patent: 5815198 (1998-09-01), Vachtsevanos et al.
Castello Antoni Llorens
Cortes Albert Sanfeliu
Cognivision Research, S.L.
Graybeal Jackson Haley LLP
Stryjewski William
LandOfFree
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