Patent ID: 6501544
Filing Date: 2002-12-31
Classification: G01N

Abstract:
An inspection apparatus for inspecting surfaces of spheres which comprises a combination of: a supply device for supplying the spheres to be inspected; a cleaning device for the spheres so supplied; an inspection and screening mechanism for inspecting the spheres thus cleaned and delivered through a tubing; and a removal device for removing the spheres thus inspected separately according to the screening class and housing them in separate containers, wherein the inspection and screening mechanism includes a driving roller; alignment fingers, provided upstream of the driving roller, for putting the spheres one by one in a line onto the driving roller under rotation; a feeding roller for thrusting each sphere carried on the driving roller toward the rotational direction of the driving roller along an outer periphery thereof; a set of conical control rollers disposed to tangentially contact with the surface of the sphere thus thrusted with the outer periphery of the driving roller; a support roller, disposed adjacent to and downstream of the control rollers, for supporting the sphere; a sensor for inspecting the surface of the sphere supported on the driving roller, the set of control rollers and the support roller, while imparting a twist toward the sensor to the sphere by rotations of the driving roller and control rollers; a discriminating gate disposed at the output side of the support roller; and an oil tank holding therein the driving roller, the feeding roller, the set of control rollers, the support roller, the sensor and the discriminating gate so that the spheres can be inspected at their surfaces in the oil thereby to discriminate and screen them between non-defective and defective spheres.