The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 21, 1995
Filed:
Dec. 23, 1992
Tsuyoshi Futamura, Tokyo, JP;
Hiroyoshi Suda, Kanagawa, JP;
Minoru Fujita, Kanagawa, JP;
Kouzou Ichiba, Kanagawa, JP;
Japan Tobacco, Inc., Tokyo, JP;
Toshiba Engineering Corporation, Kanagawa, JP;
Abstract
An apparatus for automatically inspecting abnormalities in the external surface of cylindrical objects. The apparatus inspects the appearance of a cylindrical object using image processing. The apparatus includes a transporter and a CCD camera. The transporter rotates the cylindrical object about an axis of the cylindrical object. The CCD camera picks up images showing the appearance of the inspected cylindrical object. The images include picture elements, and each picture element has a corresponding luminance. The apparatus further includes a controller. The controller generates at least one masking window to mask at least one predetermined portion of at least one image; generates at least one luminance sum for each image by adding, for each image, the luminance of a predetermined number of picture elements in unmasked portions of the image; compares each luminance sum to a predetermined threshold; and judges whether the cylindrical object includes a defect based on a result of each comparison.