METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR OPTICALLY INSPECTING A MANUFACTURED PART AT A SINGLE INSPECTION STATION HAVING A MEASUREMENT AXIS

摘要

A method and system for optically inspecting a manufactured part at a single inspection station having a measurement axis are provided. The system comprises a fixture assembly which includes a rotatable first fixturing component to support a part in a generally vertical orientation and a rotatable second fixturing component mating with and removably connected to the first fixturing component to transmit torque from the first fixturing component to the second fixturing component. The second fixturing component includes a device for holding the part in a generally horizontal orientation and to permit rotation of the horizontally held part about the measurement axis between first and second predetermined angular positions about the axis. The system also comprises an actuator assembly, a backside illumination assembly, a frontside illumination device, a lens and detector assembly and at least one processor to process electrical signals generated by the lens and detector assembly.

主权项

1. A method of optically inspecting a manufactured part at a single inspection station having a measurement axis, the method comprising the steps of:
supporting the part in a generally vertical orientation, the part having opposite top and bottom ends with top and bottom end surfaces, respectively, a length between the ends, a width and a part axis wherein the part has backside and frontside surfaces when vertically supported: rotating the vertically supported part about the measurement axis so that the part moves at predetermined angular increments during at least one rotational scan; directing a backside beam of collimated radiation at substantially the entire backside surface of the vertically supported part at each of a first plurality of consecutive angular increments of movement, wherein the backside beam is occluded by the supported part at each of the first plurality of consecutive increments of movement to create a stream of unobstructed portions of the backside beam in rapid succession passing by and not blocked by the vertically supported part; directing a frontside beam of radiation at at least a portion of the entire frontside surface of the vertically supported part at each of a second plurality of consecutive angular increments of movement, wherein the frontside beam is reflected by the vertically supported part at each of the second plurality of consecutive increments of movement to create a stream of reflected portions of the frontside beam in rapid succession; holding the part in a generally horizontal orientation; rotating the horizontally held part about the measurement axis so that the part moves between first and second angular positions; directing a frontside beam of radiation at the top end surface of the horizontally held part at the first angular position and at the bottom end surface of the horizontally held part at the second angular position to obtain first and second reflected beams, respectively; detecting the first and second reflected beams and the streams of reflected and unobstructed portions at the inspection station to obtain electrical signals; and processing the electrical signals to determine at least one geometric dimension or any visual defects of the part.