Patent ID: 7006213

Claim:
A process for the inspection of the surface of a cylindrical body, in which at least one zone of said surface is observed by means of an inspection device having an optical axis oriented towards said zone in order to determine the condition of the surface, one image of said zone supplied by said inspection device is captured and analyzed, the analysis of said image captured being compared with the analysis of a reference image, the differences between the analysis of the image captured and the analysis of said reference image being detected, at least the orientation of said optical axis is adjusted so as to reduce or to eliminate said differences, wherein the orientation of the optical axis of the inspection device directed towards the zone of the surface to be inspected is progressively varied and adjusted, said zone is observed for each position of said optical axis by scanning parallel to the direction of the cylindrical body axis, an image of said zone, comprising lines parallel to the direction of the cylindrical body axis is formed, the average value of the grey level of each of said lines of the image is determined, a profile of said average grey levels is drawn, each of said profiles drawn is compared with a reference profile corresponding to a correct inclination of the optical axis, and the inclination of the optical axis is modified in order to correct any differences observed between said profiles drawn and said reference profile.