Patent ID: 7342655

Claim:
An inspecting apparatus for detecting foreign matter in a liquid within a container having a shape with recesses and protrusions, wherein the liquid is an object of inspection wherein said container is being sequentially set upright in each mounting part provided on an annular carrier line of a star wheel that is rotationally driven in synchronization with carrier speed on a production line, any foreign matter in the liquid in said container being inspected while said container is carried at a high speed along the annular carrier line in the form of coaxial and equal-speed rotation with the star wheel, the apparatus comprising: a plurality of illumination units that are arranged annularly on inner and outer sides of the annular carrier line having the mounting part provided on its circumference, to surround the lateral side of said container the inspection subject, and that cast a luminous flux substantially perpendicular to a vertical cross section of said container and including parallel rays, as illumination light, onto the lateral side of said container from a plurality of directions around said container; first and second image pickup units that are arranged on the outer side of the annular carrier line and that simultaneously receive transmitted light and reflected light from said container illuminated by the illumination units, from two directions around said container, and respectively pick up images of the lateral side of said container; and an inspection unit that inspects the existence of a foreign matter in the liquid sealed in said container on the basis of image signals of the first and second image pickup units; wherein the first and second image pickup units respectively pick up images of the inspection subject in a state where an angle θ 1 formed by light-receiving axes of the first and second image pickup units is 30 to 90 degrees and an angle θ 2 formed by the light-receiving axis of each image pickup unit and the luminous flux of the illumination unit next to each image pickup unit is 30 to 60 degrees.