Optical inspection of products in a bulk goods stream

摘要

A process and an arrangement are described for the automatic optical inspection of grain-shaped products which occur in a bulk goods stream. The products are individualised in one layer but may contact one another. The detection of the edges is carried out using a separate, image-transmitting triangulation system which continuously determines a height image of the product stream. The edge contours of the products are determined from this height image and are communicated to the image computer for the actual surface inspection. Various processes for obtaining the height image rapidly and overlaying it with the inspection image are described.