Patent Publication Number: US-2019172190-A1

Title: Inspection Apparatus For Inspecting Electronic Components Of Circuit Board On Assembly Line, And Method Thereof

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201711274119.8, filed Dec. 6, 2017. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present disclosure generally relates to an inspection apparatus, more particularly to an inspection apparatus disposed on an assembly line, and the inspection apparatus comprises three image capture devices to capture inspection images of parts of a to-be-inspected circuit board, respectively, and inspect the electronic components of the circuit board according to the inspection images. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     The assembly line is an industrial production manner, and each production unit of the assembly line only focuses on a certain sectional process, so as to improve work efficiency and output of production; in general, the assembly line is the most efficient way of industrial production. In the production of circuit boards, a circuit board has a large number of electronic components and high complexity, so the assembly line can be used to maximize production efficiency for circuit boards. 
     In recent years, operators generally inspect the circuit boards produced through the assembly line visually during the process on the assembly line; or, the to-be-inspected circuit board must be moved out of the assembly line to be inspected by the dedicated inspection apparatus. However, the operator&#39;s visual inspection for electronic components of the circuit board may result in human misjudgment, and the manner of using the dedicated inspection device to inspect the electronic components must first move the circuit board out of the assembly line, and it causes reduction in production efficiency and extra labor costs. 
     Therefore, what is needed is to develop an improved technical solution to solve the conventional problem that it is inconvenient to inspect the electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In order to solve the problem that it is inconvenient to inspect electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line, the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line, and a method thereof. 
     According to an embodiment, the present invention provides an inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line. The inspection apparatus comprises a device chassis, a display device, an internal assembly line, a fixing frame, three fixing plates, three image capture devices and an inspection device. The inspection device comprises a processor and a storage device. 
     The device chassis includes an inlet of the internal assembly line and an outlet of the internal assembly line. The display device is disposed inside the device chassis, and configured to display an inspection result. The internal assembly line is disposed inside the device chassis, a to-be-inspected circuit board is moved into the device chassis from the inlet of the internal assembly line, and the to-be-inspected circuit board is driven by the internal assembly line, to leave the device chassis through the outlet of the internal assembly line. The fixing frame is disposed inside the device chassis and on the top of the device chassis. Each fixing plate has a first fix end and a second fix end, and is fixed on the fixing frame by its first fix end. The three image capture devices are fixed at the second fix ends of the three fixing plates, respectively, and configured to capture inspection images of parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to a movement rate of the internal assembly line. 
     The inspection device is disposed inside the device chassis, and the storage device is configured to store a plurality of instructions. The processor is configured to load and execute the plurality of instructions to execute following operations: receiving the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board from the three image capture devices respectively; performing an image correction on the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board; and inspecting electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to the corrected inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board, so as to generate the inspection result. 
     According to an embodiment, the present invention provides an inspection method for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line. The inspection method comprises steps of providing an inspection apparatus comprising a device chassis, a display device, an internal assembly line, a fixing frame, three fixing plates, three image capture devices and an inspection device; providing the device chassis with an inlet of the internal assembly line and an outlet of the internal assembly line; disposing the display device inside the device chassis, wherein the display device is configured to display an inspection result; disposing the internal assembly line disposed inside the device chassis, wherein a to-be-inspected circuit board is moved into the device chassis from the inlet of internal assembly line, and the to-be-inspected circuit board is driven by the internal assembly line to leave the device chassis through the outlet of internal assembly line; disposing the fixing frame inside the device chassis and on the top of the device chassis; fixing the three fixing plates each with a first fix end and a second fix end on the fixing frame by the first fix ends respectively; fixing the three image capture devices at the second fix ends of the three mounting plates respectively, wherein the three image capture devices are configured to capture inspection images of parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to a movement rate of the internal assembly line; disposing the inspection device inside the device chassis; receiving, by the inspection device, the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board from the three image capture devices respectively; performing an image correction, by the inspection device, on the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board; and inspecting, by the inspection device, the electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to the corrected inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board, so as to generate the inspection result. 
     According to above content, the difference between the technology of the present invention and conventional technology is that the inspection apparatus and method of the present invention can inspect the electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board, so as to solve the problem of inconvenience in inspection of the electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line. 
     The aforementioned technical solution can achieve the technical effect of inspecting the electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The structure, operating principle and effects of the present disclosure will be described in detail by way of various embodiments which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1A  is a first-view-angle perspective view of an inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1B  is a second-view-angle perspective view of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 1C  is a third-view-angle perspective view of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing usage status of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a to-be-inspected circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 4A to 4C  are schematic views of operations of capturing inspection images of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to the embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A  is a schematic view of an inspection image according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a schematic view of corrected inspection image according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective plane view of a light-shielding cover according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIGS. 7A and 7B  are flow charts of an inspection method for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The following embodiments of the present disclosure are herein described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These drawings show specific examples of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be understood that these embodiments are exemplary implementations and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the present disclosure in any way. Further modifications to the disclosed embodiments, as well as other embodiments, are also included within the scope of the appended claims. These embodiments are provided so that this disclosure is thorough and complete, and fully conveys the inventive concept to those skilled in the art. Regarding the drawings, the relative proportions and ratios of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated or diminished in size for the sake of clarity and convenience. Such arbitrary proportions are only illustrative and not limiting in any way. The same reference numbers are used in the drawings and description to refer to the same or like parts. 
     It is to be understood that, although the terms ‘first’, ‘second’, ‘third’, and so on, may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component. Thus, a first element discussed herein could be termed a second element without altering the description of the present disclosure. As used herein, the term “or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. 
     It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it can be directly on, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layers present. 
     In addition, unless explicitly described to the contrary, the word “comprise” and variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of stated elements but not the exclusion of any other elements. 
     The following illustrate an operation of an inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to  FIGS. 1A to 1C  and  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 1A  is a first-view-angle perspective view of an inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1B  is a second-view-angle perspective view of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line, according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1C  is a third-view-angle perspective view of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 2  is a schematic view showing usage status of the inspection apparatus for inspecting electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In the embodiment, the inspection apparatus  10  comprises a device chassis  11 , a display device  12 , an internal assembly line  13 , a fixing frame  14 , three fixing plates  15 , three image capture devices  16  and an inspection device  17 . 
     The inspection apparatus  10  is disposed between a first assembly line  20  and a second assembly line  30 . A to-be-inspected circuit board can be driven by the first assembly line  20  to enter the inspection apparatus  10  for inspection. After the inspection apparatus  10  completes the inspection for the to-be-inspected circuit board, the to-be-inspected circuit board is driven by the second assembly line  30  to be distant from the inspection apparatus  10 . 
     The device chassis  11  is provided with an inlet of the internal assembly line  111  and an outlet of the internal assembly line  112 . The inlet of the internal assembly line  111  and the outlet of the internal assembly line  112  are disposed opposite to each other. Preferably, the entire device chassis  11  is made by metal material, for example, the metal material can be iron, iron alloy, aluminum alloy, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto. It should be noted that a repair door  113  can be disposed on the device chassis  11 . Preferably, the repair door  113  can be a sliding door, or a general door which can be opened or closed at left and right sides; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, the application field of the present disclosure is not limited thereto. 
     The display device  12  is disposed on the device chassis  11 , for example, the display device  12  can be hung on the device chassis  11 , or, the display device  12  can also be embedded in the device chassis  11 ; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto. The display device  12  is configured to display an inspection result generated by the inspection device  17  according to the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board. 
     The display device  12  can be disposed on the repair door  113 , for example, the display device  12  can be hung on the repair door  113  or embedded in the repair door  113 ; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto. The display device  12  is configured to display the inspection result generated by the inspection device  17  according to the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board. 
     When the inspection result displayed on the display device  12  indicates that the to-be-inspected circuit board does not pass the inspection, inspection personnel can open the repair door  113  of the device chassis  11  to take the circuit board, which is being inspected, out of the device chassis  11 , and then review this circuit board. 
     The internal assembly line  13  is disposed inside the device chassis  11 . When the to-be-inspected circuit board is driven by the first assembly line  20  to enter the device chassis  11  through the inlet of the internal assembly line  111  of the inspection apparatus  10 , the internal assembly line  13  can move the to-be-inspected circuit board inside the device chassis  11 . The to-be-inspected circuit board can be driven by the internal assembly line  13  to leave the device chassis  11  through the outlet of the internal assembly line  112  of the inspection apparatus  10 , and to-be-inspected circuit board can be then driven by the second assembly line  30  to be distant from the device chassis  11 . 
     It should be noted that movement rates of the to-be-inspected circuit board on the internal assembly line  13 , the first assembly line  20  and the second assembly line  30  can be the same, or the movement rate of the to-be-inspected circuit board on the first assembly line  20  is lower than that of the to-be-inspected circuit board on the internal assembly line  13  and the second assembly line  30 ; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     The fixing frame  14  is disposed inside the device chassis  11  and on the top of the device chassis  11 , and configured to fix the three fixing plates  15 . Each fixing plate  15  has a first fix end and a second fix end, and can be fixed on the fixing frame  14  by its first fix end. Preferably, the first fix end of each fixing plate  15  can be fixed on the fixing frame  14  by a screwing manner. Preferably, the three fixing plates  15  are disposed on the fixing frame  14  uniformly. The fixing frame  14  can be made by metal material, for example, the metal material can be iron, iron alloy, aluminum alloy, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto. 
     The three image capture devices  16  are fixed at the second fix ends of the three mounting plates  15  respectively. Preferably, each image capture device  16  can be fixed on the fixing plate  15  by the screwing manner. The three fixing plates  15  are fixed on the fixing frame  14 , so that the three image capture devices  16  can be fixed on the fixing frame  14  by the three fixing plates  15  respectively. The three fixing plates  15  are fixed on the fixing frame  14  uniformly, so the three image capture devices  16  can also be fixed on the fixing frame  14  uniformly respectively. The three image capture devices  16  are configured to capture inspection images of parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to a movement rate of the internal assembly line  13 . 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 3, and 4A to 4C .  FIG. 3  is a schematic view of a to-be-inspected circuit board.  FIGS. 4A to 4C  are schematic views of operations of capturing inspection images of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     The moving speed of the internal assembly line  13  is fixed, so the time point at which the image capture devices  16  captures the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  can be computed in advance. As shown in  FIG. 4A , the image of a first part  41  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the first image capture device  161  is a first inspection image, the image of a second part  42  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the second image capture device  162  is a second inspection image, and the image of a third part  43  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the third image capture device  163  is a third inspection image. The first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  capture the first inspection image, the second inspection image and the third inspection image at the same time. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4B , after a certain movement time (such as, one second, two seconds, or five seconds; and, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto), the image of a fourth part  44  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the first image capture device  161  is a fourth inspection image, the image of a fifth part  45  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the second image capture device  162  is a fifth inspection image, and the image of a sixth part  46  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the third image capture device  163  is a sixth inspection image. The first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  capture the fourth inspection image, the fifth inspection image and the sixth inspection image at the same time. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4C , after a certain movement time again, the image of a seventh part  47  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the first image capture device  161  is a seventh inspection image, the image of an eighth part  48  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the second image capture device  162  is an eighth inspection image, and the image of a ninth part  49  of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  captured by the third image capture device  163  is a ninth inspection image. The first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  capture the seventh inspection image, the eighth inspection image and the ninth inspection image at the same time. 
     Because of large size of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40 , in this embodiment, the first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  are used to capture the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  respectively. In other embodiment, for the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  with different size, only two of the first image capture device  161 , second image capture device  162  and third image capture device  163  can be used to capture the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40 ; or, in other embodiment, for the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  with different size, only one of the first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  is used to capture the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40 . Preferably, the number of the image capture device  16  meets the request that the inspection images, captured at the same time, cover one of dimensions of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40 . 
     In the embodiment, the first to ninth inspection images captured by the first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and the third image capture device  163  are not overlapped with each other respectively, and the first to ninth inspection images can be combined to display the complete to-be-inspected circuit board  40 . 
     In other embodiment, the first to ninth inspection images captured by the first image capture device  161 , the second image capture device  162  and third image capture device  163  can be partially overlapped with each other respectively; and, the overlapping parts between the first inspection image to ninth inspection image can be kept or removed respectively, so as to combine the first to ninth inspection images to display the complete to-be-inspected circuit board  40 . 
     The inspection device  17  is disposed inside the device chassis  11 , and can comprise a processor and a storage device. The storage device is configured to store a plurality of instructions, and the processor is configured to load and execute the plurality of instructions to execute following operations. 
     The processor of the inspection device  17  can receive the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  from the three image capture devices  16  respectively by a wired transmission manner (such as a transmission line, a coaxial cable, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present invention is not limited thereto) or a wireless transmission manner (such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and so on; however, these examples are merely for exemplary illustration, and the application field of the present disclosure is not limited thereto). 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 5A and 5B .  FIG. 5A  is a schematic view of an inspection image according to an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 5B  is a schematic view of a corrected inspection image according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     After the processor of the inspection device  17  receives the inspection image  51  (as shown in  FIG. 5A ) of one part of the to-be-inspected circuit board  40  from the image capture device  16 , the processor of the inspection device  17  can perform an image correction on the inspection image  51  of the part of the to-be-inspected circuit board. The processor of the inspection device  17  can recognize a first correction point  511  and a second correction point  512  shown in the inspection image  51 , and then compare the first correction point and the second correction point of the corrected image with the first correction point  511  and the second correction point  512  of the inspection image  51 , so as to compute a correction formula, and then perform image translation and image rotation on the inspection image  51  according to the correction formula.  FIG. 5B  shows the corrected inspection image  51 . 
     Please refer to  FIG. 6 , which is a perspective plane view of a light-shielding cover according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     In the embodiment, the inspection apparatus  10  can comprise a light-shielding cover  18  hung inside the device chassis  11  and on the top the device chassis  11 . Preferably, at least one lighting module can be disposed inside the light-shielding cover  18 , and configured to light the to-be-inspected circuit board, for increasing illuminance of the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board captured by the three image capture devices  16 , for providing clear inspection images, so that the inspection device  17  can inspect the electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to the clear inspection images, thereby providing more accurate inspection result. 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 7A and 7B .  FIGS. 7A and 7B  are flow charts of an inspection method for inspecting electronic components of a circuit board on an assembly line according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     First, in the step  101 , an inspection apparatus comprising a device chassis, a display device, an internal assembly line, a fixing frame, three fixing plates, three image capture devices, and an inspection device, is provided. Next, in the step  102 , the device chassis is provided with an inlet of the internal assembly line and an outlet of the internal assembly line. Next, in the step  103 , the display device is disposed on the device chassis, wherein the display device is configured to display an inspection result. In the step  104 , the internal assembly line is disposed inside the device chassis, wherein a to-be-inspected circuit board can be moved into the device chassis from the inlet of the internal assembly line, and the to-be-inspected circuit board can be driven by the internal assembly line to leave the device chassis through the outlet of the internal assembly line. In the step  105 , the fixing frame is disposed inside the device chassis and on the top of the device chassis. In the step  106 , the three fixing plates each with a first fix end and a second fix end are fixed on the fixing frame by the fir fix ends respectively. In the step  107 , the three image capture devices are fixed at the second fix ends of the three fixing plates respectively, and configured to capture the inspection images of parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to a movement rate of the internal assembly line. In the step  108 , the inspection device is disposed inside the device chassis. Next, in the step  109 , the inspection device receives the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board from the three image capture devices respectively. In the step  110 , the inspection device performs an image correction on the inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board. In the step  111 , the inspection device inspects electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board according to the corrected inspection images of the parts of the to-be-inspected circuit board, so as to generate the inspection result. 
     In summary, the difference between the technology of the present invention and the conventional technology is that the apparatus and the method of the present invention is able to inspect the electronic components of the to-be-inspected circuit board, so as to solve the problem of inconvenience in inspection of the electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line. 
     The technical solution of the present invention can solve the conventional problem that it is inconvenient to inspect the electronic components of the circuit board on the assembly line, so as to achieve the technical effect of inspecting the electronic component of the circuit board on the assembly line. 
     The present invention disclosed herein has been described by means of specific embodiments. However, numerous modifications, variations and enhancements can be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure set forth in the claims.