Device for inspecting ceramic sphere

摘要

Provided are a sintered ceramic and a ceramic sphere which are inhibited from suffering surface peeling due to fatigue resulting from repetitions of loading and can attain an improvement in dimensional accuracy when subjected to surface processing and which have excellent wear resistance and durability. A ceramic-sphere inspection device is also provided with which a ceramic sphere is inspected for a flaw present in the surface layer and for snow flakes without destroying the ceramic sphere. The device is a ceramic-sphere inspection device (100) in which a ceramic sphere (S) is rotatably supported in a given position and illuminating light emitted from a light projector (110) is detected with a light receiver (120) to evaluate the state of the inner part of the surface layer, and has been configured so that the light receiver (120) does not detect the light emitted from the light projector (110) and reflected at the surface of the ceramic sphere.

主权项

1. A ceramic-sphere inspection device comprising:
a rotation supporter which rotatably supports a ceramic sphere at a given position; a light projector which emits illuminating light toward a surface of the ceramic sphere; a light receiver which detects light reflected from the ceramic sphere as inspection light; and a processor which evaluates a state of an inner part of a surface layer of the ceramic sphere in response to a detection output from the light receiver, wherein the light projector includes: a light source; and a light projecting unit which guides light of the light source to the surface of the ceramic sphere as illuminating light, the light receiver includes: a light amount detecting unit; and a light receiving unit which guides the inspection light from the ceramic sphere to the light amount detecting unit, and at least one of the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit includes at a front end a contact surface which can contact the surface of the ceramic sphere, wherein the rotation supporter can be intermittently driven; at least one of the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit can proceed and retreat to and from a surface direction of the ceramic sphere, and a contact surface at a front end of at least one of the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit closely attaches to the surface of the ceramic sphere when driving of the rotation supporter is stopped, and is detached from the surface of the ceramic sphere when the rotation supporter is driven.