CN118190803A

CN118190803A - Inspection device and inspection method for annular substrate

Info

Publication number: CN118190803A
Application number: CN202311713197.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 斋藤孝充; 鹤见敏彦; 仲主喜代志; 菊池彻
Original assignee: Spindle Technology Co ltd; Kobe Steel Ltd
Current assignee: Spindle Technology Co ltd; Kobe Steel Ltd
Priority date: 2022-12-12
Filing date: 2023-12-12
Publication date: 2024-06-14
Also published as: JP2024083981A

Abstract

The invention aims to provide an inspection device and an inspection method for a circular substrate, which can continuously perform inspection without a preparation process in advance or stopping a conveying mechanism during inspection, and accurately detect defects of the circular substrate punched from a rolled metal plate without a plurality of light sources and correction processing. The inspection device for an annular substrate is provided with: an adjustment unit that detects a rolling mark or a grinding mark of the transported annular substrate and adjusts the rolling mark or the grinding mark of the annular substrate so that the detected rolling mark or grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction; and a first defect inspection unit that includes an inspection conveyor for conveying the annular substrate in which the rolling mark or the grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction, a first illumination device for illuminating the annular substrate from above, and a first line camera for capturing an image of the light-illuminated surface of the annular substrate, and inspects a defect on the surface of the annular substrate using the image of the light-illuminated surface captured by the first line camera.

Description

Inspection device and inspection method for annular substrate

Technical Field

The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus and an inspection method for inspecting a circular substrate having defects such as flaws on a surface of a circular substrate punched from a rolled metal sheet.

Background

A disk substrate for an information storage device such as a hard disk drive is generally made of aluminum. In manufacturing a disk substrate, an aluminum alloy is rolled, a rolled aluminum plate is punched in a circular ring shape to form a disk blank, the disk blank is pressure annealed to be planarized, and mirror surface processing by grinding is performed to form a base substrate (hereinafter, also referred to as an aluminum substrate). Then, nickel-phosphorus plating is performed on the surface of the substrate, and after mirror finishing by polishing, a magnetic film is formed thereon by sputtering.

In this case, if defects such as flaws and rust are present on the surface of the aluminum substrate, the defects may not be removed even by the polishing operation in the subsequent step, and may be defective. In the past, recycling of various articles has been advanced from the viewpoint of resource exhaustion, and recycling of a metal consumed in a large amount has been conventionally performed, and therefore, in order to achieve efficient recycling from an aluminum substrate to an aluminum substrate, it is important to reliably screen and exclude defective aluminum substrates before shipment. Then, before the correction annealing is performed on the aluminum substrate, the presence or absence of defects including flaws and foreign matters on the surface of the aluminum substrate may be inspected.

In the inspection of the surface of the aluminum substrate, an optical inspection device is generally used, the surface of the disk substrate transported to the inspection device is illuminated by an illumination device, and an image of the surface of the aluminum substrate is captured by an imaging device to determine the presence or absence of a defect.

However, the surface of the aluminum substrate conveyed to the inspection apparatus is formed with fine irregularities in a stripe shape, which are called "rolling marks" when the aluminum alloy is rolled or "grinding marks" accompanying mirror surface processing by grinding, along one direction, and affects the reflection of the illumination light. When the rolling mark is conveyed by the inspection device, the rolling mark does not necessarily coincide with a certain direction, and therefore has the following problems: the illumination light is scattered and reflected according to the direction of the rolling mark, so that the contrast cannot be ensured, and the defect of the surface of the aluminum substrate cannot be accurately confirmed.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, patent document 1 proposes a method for leveling and annealing a laminated blank, which is characterized in that before leveling and annealing a blank for a magnetic disk obtained by punching a rolled metal strip, a blank mounting table is rotated to perform a rotation operation such that rolling marks on the surfaces of the respective blanks coincide with a predetermined direction, and the blanks are stacked one by one in a state where the rolling marks coincide.

Patent document 2 proposes a method for inspecting the position of a composite coating film of a can lid, which changes the illumination direction for illuminating the shoulder-side boundary portion of a composite applied to a curled portion of the can lid with a change in the rolling direction of the can lid due to rotation of a turntable, and photographs the can lid with the illumination direction being uniform in the brightness of a portion to be measured.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open No. 2001-148119

Patent document 2: japanese patent laid-open No. 63-151803

However, in patent document 1, although the correction annealing of the aluminum substrate can be performed in a state where the rolling marks are aligned by providing the step of stacking in a state where the rolling marks of the blank are aligned in advance, there is no description or suggestion that the defect of the inspection can be eliminated by the mechanism that is disposed immediately before the inspection of the aluminum substrate to align the rolling marks.

In addition, in patent document 2, in order to perform inspection with high accuracy, it is necessary to move the illumination devices or to increase the number of illumination devices to appropriately change the irradiation direction by the illumination devices, and it is difficult to perform inspection with high accuracy.

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inspection apparatus and an inspection method for an annular substrate, which can continuously perform inspection without providing a preliminary preparation step or stopping a conveying mechanism during inspection, and which can efficiently and accurately detect a defect of an annular substrate punched from a rolled metal plate without providing a plurality of light sources that irradiate from different angles or performing correction processing.

Means for solving the problems

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the structure of [1] of the inspection apparatus for an annular substrate.

[1] An inspection apparatus for inspecting a circular substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate comprises:

An adjustment unit that detects a rolling mark or a grinding mark of the transported annular substrate and adjusts the rolling mark or the grinding mark of the annular substrate so that the detected rolling mark or grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction; and

A first defect inspection unit that includes an inspection conveyor for conveying the annular substrate in which a rolling mark or a grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction, a first illumination device for illuminating the annular substrate from above, and a first line camera for capturing a light-illuminated surface of the annular substrate, and inspects a defect on the surface of the annular substrate using an image of the light-illuminated surface captured by the first line camera.

The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following configuration [2] of the inspection method of an annular substrate.

[2] A method for inspecting a circular ring-shaped substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular ring-shaped substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection method of the annular substrate comprises the following steps:

An adjustment step of detecting a rolling mark or a grinding mark of the transported annular substrate and adjusting the rolling mark or the grinding mark of the annular substrate so that the detected rolling mark or grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction; and

And a first defect inspection step of irradiating the annular substrate, which is conveyed in a state where the rolling mark or the grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction, with light from above by a first illumination device, and inspecting a defect on the surface of the annular substrate by using an image of the light irradiation surface of the annular substrate, which is captured by a first line camera.

Effects of the invention

According to the inspection method of the annular substrate of the present invention, even for an annular substrate having non-uniform rolling marks or grinding marks, the inspection can be continuously performed without stopping the conveying mechanism, and the defect of the annular substrate punched from the rolled metal plate can be efficiently and accurately detected without providing a plurality of light sources for irradiation from different angles or performing correction processing.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing the structure of an inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the peeling apparatus.

Fig. 3 (a) to (C) are model diagrams showing the action of the peeling claw portion.

Fig. 4 (a) is a schematic diagram showing an operation mode of the peeling and conveying device, and fig. 4 (B) is a bottom view showing the suction conveyor.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the phase adjustment device, the front surface inspection device, and the back surface inspection device.

Fig. 6 (a) is a schematic view showing an optical component that appears on the surface of the metal substrate, and fig. 6 (b) is a schematic view showing an angle α between the conveyance direction of the metal substrate and the optical component.

Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the phase alignment portion.

Fig. 8 is a side view showing the phase alignment portion.

Fig. 9 is a plan view showing the carry-out apparatus.

Description of the reference numerals

2. Laminate body

10. Carry-in device (carry-in mechanism)

15. Light beam

20. Stripping device (stripping mechanism)

22. Pressing part

23A stripping claw

27. Thickness detection sensor

28. Overlapped substrate discharge part

30. Adsorption conveyor (stripping and transporting device)

32. Adsorption conveying belt

33. Suction device

40. Phase adjusting device (adjusting part)

47. Annular lighting (Lighting device for detecting rolling mark or grinding mark)

48 CCD camera (regional camera)

51. First angle swing conveyor section

52. Second angle swing conveyor section

60. Surface inspection device (first defect inspection part)

63. Inspection conveyor

64. First lighting device

65. First shooting device (first line camera)

71. Adsorption conveyor (substrate holder)

72. Second lighting device

73. Second shooting device (second linear array camera)

75. Adsorption conveying belt

76. Suction device

80. Carrying-out device (carrying-out mechanism)

83. First carry-out conveyor (first carry-out part)

84. Second carry-out conveyor (second carry-out part)

85. Third carry-out conveyor (third carry-out section)

W metal substrate (circular ring substrate)

Wa rolling mark.

Detailed Description

An inspection apparatus for an annular substrate and an inspection method for an annular substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment is an embodiment showing an example of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment. Various changes and modifications can be made to the present embodiment, and modifications and improvements are also included in the present invention.

As shown in fig. 1, the inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to the present embodiment includes a carry-in apparatus 10, a peeling apparatus 20, a phase adjustment apparatus 40, a front surface inspection apparatus 60, a rear surface inspection apparatus 70, and a carry-out apparatus 80 in this order from the upstream side in the conveyance direction. In the inspection apparatus of the present invention, an annular rolled substrate punched from a rolled aluminum plate during the production of a disk substrate for HDD, and a base substrate (annular aluminum substrate) obtained by press annealing and grinding the rolled substrate are subjected to inspection. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the aluminum substrate is represented as a metal substrate W, and a member obtained by laminating the metal substrate W is represented as a laminate 2.

The laminate 2 is formed by laminating 20 to 40 metal substrates W between two flat annular spacers passing through a shaft support portion, not shown, in the up-down direction and performing leveling annealing. The laminated body 2 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a vertically-oriented through hole formed in the center thereof by pressing flat surfaces of the metal substrates W that are stacked in the vertical direction against each other.

The carry-in device 10, the peeling device 20, the phase adjustment device 40, the front surface inspection device 60, the back surface inspection device 70, and the carry-out device 80 are connected to the arithmetic processing device 100 in a wired or wireless manner, and control of the respective devices is performed. The respective devices 10, 20, 40, 60, 70, 80 may be provided with a control unit, not shown.

(Carry-in device 10)

The loading device 10 performs a loading process of conveying the laminate 2 loaded to a predetermined loading position by a conveying conveyor, not shown, to the vicinity of the peeling device 20, and transferring the laminate 2 to a laminate support 21 of the peeling device 20, which will be described later, by a transfer unit.

(Stripping device 20)

As shown in fig. 2, the peeling apparatus 20 includes a laminate support 21, a pressing portion 22, a peeling claw 23, a blower 24, a height detection device 25, a suction conveyor 30, a first conveying conveyor 26, a thickness detection sensor 27, and a stacked substrate discharge portion 28. In the peeling apparatus 20, a peeling step of peeling one metal substrate W from the upper surface of the laminate 2 supported by the laminate support section 21 by the carry-in step and carrying the metal substrate W to the phase adjustment apparatus 40 side, and a stacked substrate discharge step of discharging the metal substrate W from the carrying path when a stacked state in which two or more metal substrates W peeled from the laminate 2 by the peeling step are stacked is detected.

The peeling step first adjusts the support height of the laminate 2 so that the upper surface position of the laminate 2 carried into the laminate support 21 by the carrying-in step becomes a predetermined operation height. Next, the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2 is pressed by the pressing portion 22. Next, the first metal substrate W is peeled off from the upper side of the laminate 2 by the peeling claw 23A. At this time, air is supplied to the laminate 2 by the blower 24, and the peeling operation of the metal substrate W from the laminate 2 is assisted. Next, the upper surface of the metal substrate W peeled from the laminate 2 is suctioned by the suction conveyor 30 and conveyed toward the first conveying conveyor 26.

At this time, the metal substrate W is peeled from the upper surface of the laminate 2, and the height of the laminate 2 is reduced, so that the support position of the laminate 2 is adjusted by using the laminate support 21 and the height detecting device 25, and the upper surface of the laminate 2 is set to a predetermined working height. Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated until all the metal substrates W are peeled from the laminate 2.

In the stacked substrate discharge step, the thickness of the metal substrate W conveyed by the first conveying conveyor 26 is first detected by the thickness detection sensor 27, and it is detected whether or not the metal substrate W is in a stacked state in which two or more substrates are stacked. Next, when the overlapped state of the metal substrates W is detected, the overlapped metal substrates W are discharged from the conveyance path of the first conveyance conveyor 26 by the overlapped substrate discharge unit 28.

The laminate support section 21 has a support shaft, not shown, that passes through the center of the laminate 2, and a support table that can adjust the support position of the placed laminate 2 in the up-down direction. As shown in fig. 2, the stack support portion 21 is disposed in a pair so as to sandwich the conveyance start end side of the suction conveyor 30 in a plan view.

The pressing portions 22 are arranged in a pair so as to sandwich the laminate 2 in a plan view. Each pressing portion 22 includes a pressing piece 22A that extends in the up-down direction and presses the outer peripheral surface of the laminate except for the first annular substrate from above the laminate 2, and a pressing piece support portion 22B that supports the pressing piece 22A so as to be movable in the entry direction toward the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2 and in the exit direction away from the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2.

The pressing piece 22A has a pressing surface formed in an arc shape in a plan view along the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2, and is molded from a rubber or polymer material having high friction. The pressing piece support portion 22B can be switched between a pressing posture in which the pair of pressing pieces 22A simultaneously contact and press the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2, and a non-pressing posture in which the pair of pressing pieces 22A are separated from the laminate 2.

The pressing portion 22 may be configured to press the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2, so that the peeling operation of peeling the first metal substrate W from above from the laminate 2 can be performed by the peeling claw portion 23. That is, the pressing piece 22A is not limited to a structure that presses the outer peripheral surface of all the metal substrates W except the first sheet from above the laminate 2. For example, only the outer peripheral surface of the second annular substrate may be pressed from above the laminate 2.

The peeling claw portions 23 are arranged at three positions at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the laminate 2 in a plan view. Each of the peeling claw portions 23 has a peeling claw 23A that abuts on the outer peripheral surface side of the first metal substrate W from above the laminate 2, and a claw supporting portion 23B that supports the peeling claw 23A so as to be movable in a direction of entering toward the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2 and in a separating direction away from the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2.

The peeling claw 23A extends in the horizontal direction toward the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2, and the base end side thereof is supported on the claw supporting portion 23B side via a swinging shaft 29 in the horizontal direction that allows only upward swinging. As a result, when the peeling claw 23A contacts the outer peripheral surface of the first metal substrate W from above the laminate 2 as shown in fig. 3 (a) to (C), it swings upward due to the reaction force received from the laminate 2 side. That is, since the metal substrate W can be lifted up by the peeling claw portion 23, the first metal substrate W can be peeled off from the upper side of the laminate 2 efficiently and reliably.

The peeling claw 23A may be configured to simultaneously act on the outer peripheral surface side of the laminate 2 from three points, thereby peeling the first metal substrate W from above the laminate 2, and is not limited to the above configuration. For example, the peeling claw 23A may be configured to be provided with an unshown penetration portion for peeling the first metal substrate W from the top of the laminate 2 by entering between the first metal substrate W from the top and the second metal substrate W from the top.

A plurality of air blowing devices 24 are arranged around the laminate 2 in a plan view, and two air blowing devices are arranged in the illustrated example. The air blowing devices 24 supply air from different angles to the upper side of the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2 in a plan view. That is, the air blowing device 24 promotes the peeling of the metal substrate W from the upper surface of the laminate 2, and the metal substrate W peeled from the laminate 2 by the peeling claw 23 can be lifted up and smoothly and reliably adsorbed to the adsorption conveyor 30.

The height detection device 25 includes a height detection sensor 25A including a laser sensor, a photosensor, or the like, which irradiates the outer peripheral surface of the laminate, a sensor support portion 25B which supports the height detection sensor 25A so as to be height-adjustable, and a receiving plate 25C which is provided on the opposite side of the laminate 2 in a plan view in the irradiation direction of the height detection sensor 25A. The height detecting device 25 can detect that the laminate 2 supported by the laminate supporting section 21 is supported at a work height at which the peeling operation of the first metal substrate W from above can be performed by the peeling device 20.

Specifically, when the first metal substrate W is taken out from above the laminate 2 by the peeling device 20, the height of the laminate 2 is reduced by one metal substrate W1, and therefore the laser light or light of the height detection sensor passes above the upper surface of the laminate 2 and is irradiated to the receiving plate 25C. Therefore, the upper surface of the laminate 2 can be detected to be lower than the height position at which the peeling operation is performed. When this state is detected, the laser beam or light from the support position of the laminate support 21 on the laminate 2 up to the height detection sensor 25A is blocked by the outer peripheral surface of the laminate 2, and the laminate 2 can be adjusted to a predetermined working height.

The thickness detection sensor 27 is disposed above the conveyance path of the first conveyance conveyor 26 that receives the metal substrate W peeled from the suction conveyor 30. The thickness detection sensor 27 detects the distance from the upper side of the first conveying conveyor 26 to the metal substrate W, and thereby can determine whether the metal substrate W peeled from the laminate by the peeling apparatus 20 is in a peeled state or in a stacked state in which two or more metal substrates are stacked.

The stacked substrate discharge unit 28 includes a discharge chute 28A disposed on one of the left and right sides of the first conveying conveyor 26, and a push-out device 28B disposed on the other of the left and right sides of the first conveying conveyor 26 and configured to advance and retract toward the discharge chute 28A. When the thickness detection sensor 27 detects that the metal substrates W on the first transport conveyor 26 are in the stacked state, the stacked substrate discharge unit 28 pushes out the metal substrates W in the stacked state on the first transport conveyor 26 to the discharge chute 28A by the push-out device 28B.

Here, the adsorption conveyor 30 will be specifically described with reference to fig. 4. Fig. 4 (a) is a model diagram showing the operation of the suction conveyor, and fig. 4 (B) is a main part bottom view of the suction conveyor.

The suction conveyor 30 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 31 having an open bottom, a pair of left and right suction conveying belts 32A and 32B extending in the longitudinal direction on the lower surface side of the housing 31, a suction device 33 disposed on the upstream side of the upper portion of the housing 31, and a vertical shaft support portion 34 disposed on the downstream side of the upper portion of the housing 31.

As shown in fig. 4 (a), the suction conveying belts 32A and 32B are wound around a plurality of driven pulleys 35 arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing 31 and a driving pulley 36 driven by a motor or the like, not shown. The suction conveying belts 32A and 32B are disposed in a pair on both sides of the lower surface of the housing 31 in the width direction of the conveying path, so that both outer edge sides of the upper surface of the metal substrate W can be supported. Thus, an opening is formed between the pair of suction conveying belts 32A, 32B, that is, on the central side in the longitudinal direction of the lower surface of the housing 31.

As shown in fig. 4 (B), the suction and transport belts 32A and 32B are formed in a circular cross section to reduce the contact area with the metal substrate W, and the load of the metal substrate W can be dispersed by using two suction and transport belts 32A and 32B. Accordingly, even when the suction and transport belts 32A, 32B are in sliding contact with the metal substrate W when the metal substrate W peeled from the laminate 2 is transported, the metal substrate W can be transported at high speed without being damaged.

The suction device 33 is disposed between the pair of right and left suction conveying belts. The suction device 33 is provided on the transport upstream side of the suction conveyor 30 and is positioned so as to overlap the laminate 2 of the laminate support 21 in a plan view.

According to the suction conveyor 30 having the above-described structure, first, the metal substrate W peeled from the laminate 2 is sucked up by the suction device 33 disposed on the right upper side of the laminate 2, and both end sides of the upper surface of the metal substrate W are supported by the suction conveying belts 32A and 32B. Next, the metal substrates W supported by the suction devices 33 on the suction conveying belts 32A and 32B are conveyed toward the first conveying conveyor 26 on the downstream side of conveyance by the suction conveying belts 32A and 32B. Next, the attraction force received from the attraction device 33 becomes weak due to the distance from the attraction device 33 to the metal substrate W conveyed to the start end side of the first conveyance conveyor 26 by the attraction conveyance belts 32A and 32B, and therefore, the metal substrate W freely falls down to the first conveyance conveyor 26 due to its own weight. As described above, the metal substrate W peeled from the upper surface of the laminate 2 by the peeling device 20 can be efficiently conveyed to the first conveying conveyor 26.

The suction conveyor 30 is supported so as to be swingable about a swing axis passing through the shaft support portion 34. Thus, the suction device 33 is disposed directly above the stack support 21 on one of the left and right sides in a plan view when the suction conveyor 30 swings to operate on the other of the left and right sides, and the suction device 33 is disposed directly above the stack support 21 on the other of the left and right sides in a plan view when the suction conveyor swings to operate on the other of the left and right sides.

As a result, when the suction conveyor 30 swings about the swing axis, the peeling device 20 performs the peeling operation of the metal substrate W on the laminate 2 supported by the laminate support 21 on the swinging side. At this time, the laminate support 21 on the other of the left and right sides of the loading device 10 carries in the laminate 2. Next, when the peeling operation of all the metal substrates W is completed from the laminate 2 disposed on one of the left and right sides, the suction conveyor 30 is automatically swung from one of the left and right sides to the other of the left and right sides, and the peeling device 20 performs the peeling operation of the metal substrates W from the laminate 2 supported by the laminate support 21 on the other of the left and right sides. At this time, the loading operation of the laminate 2 into the laminate support 21 on one of the right and left sides is performed by the loading device 10.

According to the loading device 10 and the peeling device 20 described above, the loading operation of the laminate 2 by the loading device 10 and the peeling operation of the metal substrate W from the laminate 2 by the peeling device 20 can be continuously performed without interruption, and thus the operation efficiency is improved.

(Phase adjustment device 40)

The phase adjustment device 40 includes a phase detection unit 41 and a phase alignment unit (phase adjustment conveyor) 42. In the phase adjustment apparatus 40, as a step subsequent to the step of peeling the metal substrate by the peeling apparatus 20, a phase adjustment step (adjustment step) of detecting the phase of the conveyed metal substrate W, which is composed of the rolling mark Wa or the grinding mark, by the phase detection unit 41 and aligning the phase of the metal substrate W with a predetermined direction by the phase alignment unit 42 is performed.

The phase detection unit 41 first receives the metal substrate W conveyed from the peeling apparatus 20 by the first conveying conveyor 26 by the second conveying conveyor 46, and irradiates light from the ring-shaped illumination 47, which is an illumination device for phase detection, disposed above the metal substrate W. When light is irradiated onto the surface of the metal substrate W, as shown in fig. 6 (a), a light beam 15 orthogonal to the rolling mark Wa appears, and the light beam 15 is imaged by an imaging device for phase detection using an area camera, that is, a CCD camera 48, in the case of forming a rolling mark (or a grinding mark accompanying mirror finishing by grinding) Wa which is a striped minute unevenness from rolling on the surface of the metal substrate W.

As shown in fig. 6 (b), the arithmetic processing device 100 obtains an angle α between the axis Cl of the light beam 15 and the axis C2 of the metal substrate W in the conveyance direction.

The phase alignment section 42 includes a first angled conveyor section 51 and a second angled conveyor section 52 that are provided on the downstream side of the second conveying conveyor 46 on both sides in the width direction of the conveying path and that are driven independently of each other so as to convey at different conveying speeds. Fig. 7 is a plan view showing the phase alignment portion 42, and fig. 8 is a side view thereof.

The first and second angle-swing conveyor units 51 and 52 include servo motors (drive motors) 51a and 52a mounted on the housing 50, a power transmission unit 58 such as a belt pulley disposed in the housing 50 and transmitting power from the servo motors 51a and 52a to the drive pulley 53a, and a plurality of (in the present embodiment, two) conveyor belts 54 and 55 wound around the drive pulley 53a and the plurality of driven pulleys 53b and having circular cross sections.

In the first and second angled conveyor sections 51 and 52, a resin guide member 56 having a guide surface extending in the conveying direction is provided at a portion of the housing 50 facing the outer peripheral surface of the conveyed metal substrate W so as to guide the outer peripheral surface of the metal substrate W.

Thereby, the conveying speed of the first angled conveyor section 51 is adjusted by the rotational speed of the servo motor 51a, and the conveying speed of the second angled conveyor section 52 is adjusted by the rotational speed of the servo motor 52 a. Further, by making the conveyance speeds of the first and second swing conveyor units 51 and 52 different from each other, the metal substrate W is rotated in a horizontal state while being conveyed at a high speed for about 0.5 seconds by the phase alignment unit 42 while being guided by the guide surface of the guide member 56.

That is, when the conveyance speed of the first angled conveyor section 51 is made faster than the conveyance speed of the second angled conveyor section 52, the metal substrate W rotates clockwise in fig. 7, whereas when the conveyance speed of the second angled conveyor section 52 is made faster than the conveyance speed of the first angled conveyor section 51, the metal substrate W rotates counterclockwise in fig. 7. Therefore, the angle α of the metal substrate W can be set within a predetermined range by adjusting the difference in conveying speed between the first and second swinging conveyor sections 51, 52 based on the angle α between the axis C1 of the light beam 15 detected by the phase detection section 41 and the axis C2 of the conveying direction of the metal substrate W.

The first and second angle-swinging conveyor units 51 and 52 reduce the contact area with the metal substrate W by the conveyor belts 54 and 55 having circular cross sections, and the load of the metal substrate W can be dispersed by using the two conveyor belts 54 and 55. Accordingly, even when the conveyor belts 54, 55 are in sliding contact with the metal substrate W during the phase adjustment, the metal substrate W can be conveyed at high speed without being damaged.

The angle α is also various in various directions for each of the rolling marks Wa of the metal substrates W carried from the peeling apparatus 20, but the rolling marks Wa of all the metal substrates W substantially coincide with the carrying direction by the phase alignment portion 42. In the present embodiment, the resolution of the angle α based on the phase alignment portion 42 is ±2°, and the correction accuracy is set to be within ±5°.

The phase alignment section 42 includes an upstream transmission sensor 57A and a downstream transmission sensor 57B on the upstream side and the downstream side of the first angular swinging conveyor section 51 and the second angular swinging conveyor section 52, respectively.

When the upstream transmission sensor 57A detects the loading of the metal substrate W before the discharge of the metal substrate W is detected by the downstream transmission sensor 57B, the surface inspection apparatus 60 performs no inspection or no processing of the inspection result into a correct inspection result on the metal substrate W detected by the upstream transmission sensor 57A, and then sends the inspection result to the subsequent step.

In the present embodiment, the detection of the angle α by the phase detection unit 41 is performed when the metal substrate W is positioned on the second transport conveyor 46, but may be performed when the metal substrate W is positioned on the first and second swing conveyor units 51 and 52 of the phase alignment unit 42. In this case, after the detection of the angle α by the phase detection unit 41 is performed on the upstream side of the first and second swing conveyor units 51 and 52, the adjustment of the conveyance speeds of the first and second swing conveyor units 51 and 52 is started.

(Surface inspection device 60)

The surface inspection apparatus 60 performs a first defect inspection step of inspecting defects on the surface of the metal substrate W in the next step of the phase alignment section 42. As an inspection method, as shown in fig. 5, for a metal substrate W conveyed by an inspection conveyor 63, light is irradiated onto the surface of the metal substrate by a first illumination device 64 disposed above the inspection conveyor 63, and the surface of the metal substrate W is imaged by a CCD line camera, which is a first imaging device 65 disposed above the first illumination device 64, and then image analysis is performed to investigate the presence or absence of defects.

The first illumination device 64 uses line illumination to be able to illuminate the entire area in the width direction of the metal substrate W imaged by the first imaging device 65. Since the first imaging device 65 uses a CCD line camera, it can observe if there is a gap in the amount of one line of the CCD array, and can perform stable inspection by scanning and synthesizing imaging results.

Further, since the direction of the rolling mark Wa of the metal substrate W is aligned by the phase alignment portion 42, the metal substrate W imaged by the first imaging device 65 is not diffusely reflected and dark-field in the image of the camera, and thus a high-precision line inspection can be performed.

(Back surface inspection device 70)

The back surface inspection device 70 performs a second defect inspection process of inspecting defects on the back surface of the metal substrate W in a process subsequent to the first defect inspection process. As an inspection method, as shown in fig. 5, in a state in which the upper surface of the metal substrate W is sucked up by the suction conveyor 71, light is irradiated to the rear surface of the metal substrate W by the second illumination device 72 disposed below the suction conveyor 71, and the rear surface of the metal substrate W is photographed by the second photographing device 73, that is, a CCD line camera, and then image analysis is performed to investigate the presence or absence of defects.

The second illumination device 72 uses line illumination to be able to illuminate the entire area in the width direction of the metal substrate W imaged by the second imaging device 73. Since the second imaging device 73 uses a CCD line camera, it can observe if there is a gap in the amount of one line of the CCD array, and can perform stable inspection by scanning and synthesizing imaging results.

The suction conveyor 71 includes a rectangular parallelepiped housing 74 having an open bottom, a pair of left and right suction conveying belts 75, 75 extending in the longitudinal direction on the lower surface side of the housing 74, and a suction device 76 disposed on the upstream side of conveyance in the upper portion of the housing 74.

The suction conveyor 71 can convey the metal substrate W sucked by the suction device 76 to the suction conveyor 75, similarly to the suction conveyor 30 shown in fig. 4 (a). At this time, the metal substrate W is supported on the upper surface side by the suction conveying belt 75 and is opened on the lower side. Therefore, as shown in fig. 5, the lower surface side of the metal substrate W can be imaged by the second imaging device 73 disposed below the suction device 76.

The rolling marks Wa formed on the front and rear surfaces of the metal substrate W are formed in substantially the same direction on the front and rear surfaces of the metal substrate W. Therefore, the suction conveyor 71 of the back surface inspection apparatus 70 maintains the metal substrate W received from the inspection conveyor 63 of the front surface inspection apparatus 60 in a state where the phases are aligned by the phase alignment portion 42. That is, the suction conveyor 71 can convey the metal substrate W in a state where the rolling marks Wa on the back surface are aligned.

Since the directions of the rolling marks Wa of the metal substrate W are aligned by the phase alignment portion 42, the metal substrate W imaged by the first imaging device 65 and the second imaging device 73 does not cause diffuse reflection or dark field in the camera image in all the metal substrates W, and thus a high-precision line inspection can be performed.

By the above, the defect inspection of the front and rear surfaces of the metal substrate W is completed. The front surface inspection device 60 and the back surface inspection device 70 may be arranged in reverse order after the phase adjustment process performed by the phase adjustment device 40 on the metal substrate W to be inspected.

(Carrying-out device 80)

As shown in fig. 5 and 9, the carry-out apparatus 80 includes a third conveyance conveyor 81 that receives the metal substrate W that is suctioned and conveyed on the conveyance terminal side of the suction conveyor 71, a distribution conveyor 82 that distributes the metal substrate W received from the third conveyance conveyor 81 to three positions according to the inspection result, and three carry-out conveyors 83, 84, 85 that carry out the inspected metal substrate W from the distribution conveyor 82.

The distribution conveyor 82 is disposed downstream of the third conveying conveyor 81, and is pivotally supported so as to be swingable in the left-right direction about the conveying base end side.

On the downstream side of the dispensing conveyor 82, a first carry-out conveyor 83 for carrying out the metal substrate W1 in which no defect is found, a second carry-out conveyor 84 for carrying out the metal substrate W2 in which a defect is found, and a third carry-out conveyor 85 for carrying out the metal substrate W3 in which a defect occurs in the inspection step are radially arranged as delivery destinations of the inspected metal substrates W.

As described above, the front surface inspection device 60 and the back surface inspection device 70 determine not only the non-defective product W1 and the defective product W2, but also the re-inspected product W3 that cannot be inspected normally or requires visual inspection. Therefore, the dispensing conveyor 82 performs the horizontal swing operation based on the inspection results of the non-defective product W1, the defective product W2, and the re-inspected product W3, thereby dispensing the carry-out destinations of the metal substrates W1, W2, and W3.

A non-defective product recovery device 86 that recovers the metal substrate W1 without defects is provided on the conveyance terminal side of the first carry-out conveyor 83. The acceptable product recovery device 86 includes a disk-shaped turntable having a support shaft in the vertical direction through which the center hole of the metal substrate W1 passes, a motor (not shown) for rotating the turntable about a center axis, and a sensor (not shown) for detecting the height of the metal substrates W stacked on the support shaft. In the illustrated example, in the turntable, the support shafts are arranged every 90 ° with the rotation axis at the center, and the motor is operated every 90 ° with each rotation.

A defective product recovery device 87 for recovering the metal substrate W2 in which the defect is found is provided on the conveyance terminal side of the second carry-out conveyor 84, and a recheck product recovery device 88 for recovering the metal substrate W3 to be rechecked is provided on the conveyance terminal side of the third carry-out conveyor 85. The defective product recovery device 87 and the recheck product recovery device 88 include a turntable made of an elongated plate-like member having support shafts disposed on both end sides in the vertical direction through which the center holes of the metal substrates W2 and W3 pass, a motor not shown for rotationally driving the turntable about the center axis, and a sensor not shown for detecting the height of the metal substrates W2 and W3 stacked on the support shafts. In the example shown, in the turntable, each rotation is operated by 180 ° by means of a motor.

As described above, the recovery devices 86, 87, and 88 each have a support shaft disposed on the conveyance terminal side of the carry-out conveyors 83, 84, and 85, and are stacked while passing through the center of the metal substrate W. When it is detected that the metal substrates W stacked on the turntable reach a predetermined height, the turntable is rotated so that the adjacent support shafts are disposed on the conveyance terminal side of each carry-out conveyor. That is, the worker can efficiently carry out the metal substrates W1, W2, W3 carried out from the carry-out conveyors 83, 84, 85 by the respective recovery devices 86, 87, 88 in a state where a predetermined number of substrates are stacked.

According to the inspection apparatus of the present embodiment, the presence or absence of defects in a substrate obtained by grinding a blank obtained by rolling a metal plate and punching the metal plate with a PVA grindstone can be inspected with high accuracy. The disk substrates that were inspected by the front surface inspection apparatus 60 and the back surface inspection apparatus 70 were subjected to zincate treatment, electroless nickel-phosphorus plating, and polishing by a conventional method, and a magnetic film was formed thereon by sputtering.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified and improved as appropriate.

For example, the phase adjustment conveyor of the present embodiment is not limited to application to a surface inspection system, and may be applied to any system that requires a mechanism that rotates while conveying an annular metal substrate.

As described above, the following matters are disclosed in the present specification.

(1) An inspection device for inspecting a circular substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate comprises:

According to this configuration, even for the annular substrates having non-uniform rolling marks or grinding marks, the inspection can be continuously performed without stopping the conveying mechanism, and the defects of the annular substrates punched from the rolled metal sheet can be accurately detected without requiring a plurality of light sources or correction processing.

(2) The inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to (1), wherein,

The inspection device for a circular substrate further includes a second defect inspection unit that includes a substrate holding device that sucks and conveys the upper surface side of the circular substrate having a rolling mark or a grinding mark aligned with a predetermined direction, a second illumination device that irradiates the circular substrate held by the substrate holding device on the upper surface side with light from below, and a second line camera that captures a light-irradiated surface of the circular substrate, and inspects a defect on the back surface of the circular substrate using an image of the light-irradiated surface captured by the second line camera.

According to this configuration, the defect inspection of the front surface and the back surface of the annular substrate can be performed consecutively, and the back surface of the annular substrate can be inspected without turning over the annular substrate, so that the work efficiency is improved.

(3) The inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to (2), wherein,

The substrate holding device includes a suction device that is disposed at a position overlapping the second line camera in a plan view and sucks the center side of the upper surface of the annular substrate, and a pair of right and left suction conveying belts that are disposed so as to extend in the conveying direction and are disposed so as to support both ends of the outer periphery of the upper surface of the annular substrate.

According to this configuration, the rear surface of the annular substrate can be imaged while the upper surface of the annular substrate is held and conveyed by the substrate holding device. In addition, the substrate holding device and the second line camera are arranged so as to overlap each other in a plan view, and the structure for turning over the annular substrate can be omitted, so that the second defect inspection unit can be simplified.

(4) The apparatus for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (1) to (3), wherein,

The adjusting part comprises an illuminating device for detecting rolling marks or grinding marks of the circular ring-shaped substrate, a region camera for shooting the light irradiation surface of the circular ring-shaped substrate irradiated with the light, and a first angle swinging conveyor part and a second angle swinging conveyor part which are arranged in a left-right arrangement along the conveying direction and are driven independently in a mode of conveying the circular ring-shaped substrate at different conveying speeds,

The adjustment unit detects an angle of an axis of the optical component with respect to a conveyance direction by capturing an optical component with the area camera, the optical component occurring in a direction perpendicular to a rolling mark or a grinding mark of the annular substrate, and adjusts conveyance speeds of the first and second angular swinging conveyor units based on the angle, thereby horizontally rotating the annular substrate while conveying the annular substrate, and thereby aligning the angle with respect to the conveyance direction of the annular substrate within a predetermined range.

According to this configuration, the annular substrate in a state where the rolling mark or the grinding mark is aligned can be sent to the first defect inspection unit, and therefore the defect inspection of the annular substrate can be accurately performed.

(5) The apparatus for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate comprises:

a carry-in mechanism provided upstream of the adjustment section and carrying in a cylindrical laminate formed by laminating a plurality of the annular substrates; and

And a peeling mechanism configured to peel the first annular substrate from above the laminate body carried in by the carrying-in mechanism.

According to this configuration, the operation of loading the laminate into the inspection apparatus and the operation of peeling the annular substrate from the laminate can be integrally automated, and therefore the annular substrate can be efficiently inspected.

(6) The inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to (5), wherein,

The peeling mechanism includes a pressing portion that presses an outer peripheral surface of the laminate except for the first annular substrate from above, a peeling claw that peels the first annular substrate from the laminate from above, and a peeling and conveying device that conveys the annular substrate peeled by the peeling claw.

According to this configuration, the annular substrates are peeled one by one from the laminate, and the peeled annular substrates can be efficiently conveyed to the adjustment section.

(7) The inspection apparatus for an annular substrate according to (6), wherein,

The peeling and conveying device is provided with a suction device which is arranged at a position overlapping the laminated body in a plan view and sucks the central side of the upper surface of the annular substrate, and a pair of left and right suction conveying belts which are arranged along the conveying direction in an extending manner and are used for supporting the two ends of the outer periphery of the upper surface of the annular substrate.

According to this configuration, the suction device is disposed between the pair of right and left suction conveying belts, so that the suction force by the suction device can be efficiently applied to the upper surface of the annular substrate. Therefore, the peeling and conveying device can smoothly and reliably suction and hold the annular substrate peeled from the upper surface of the laminate, and convey the annular substrate.

(8) The apparatus for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (5) to (7), wherein,

The peeling mechanism further includes a thickness detection sensor that detects that the annular substrates peeled from the laminate are in a stacked state in which two or more substrates are stacked, and a stacked substrate discharge unit that discharges the stacked annular substrates from the conveyance path.

According to this configuration, when the annular substrates peeled from the laminate by the peeling mechanism are in the stacked state, the annular substrates in the stacked state can be discharged from the conveyance path before being conveyed to the adjustment unit, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the annular substrates in the stacked state from being inspected directly to cause inspection failure and to convey the annular substrates in the stacked state to the adjustment unit and the first defect inspection unit to cause failure.

(9) The apparatus for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate is provided with a carrying-out mechanism for carrying out the annular substrate after the inspection is completed,

The carry-out mechanism distributes the inspected annular substrate to a first carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which no defect is found, a second carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which a defect is found, and a third carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which a defect is present in the inspection by the first defect inspection section.

According to this configuration, the carry-out mechanism automatically distributes the annular substrates having no defects, the annular substrates having defects, and the annular substrates having defects in the inspection step, based on the inspection result, and therefore, the annular substrates having good inspection results can be efficiently taken out. Further, by checking the annular substrate again, which has a defect in the inspection step, it is possible to efficiently prevent the annular substrate from being discarded although it has no defect.

(10) A method for inspecting a circular ring-shaped substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular ring-shaped substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection method of the annular substrate comprises the following steps:

According to this configuration, the first defect inspection process can be performed on the annular substrate in a state where the rolling mark or the grinding mark is aligned, and therefore the defect inspection of the annular substrate can be efficiently and accurately performed.

(11) The inspection method of an annular substrate according to (10), wherein,

The inspection method of a circular substrate further includes a second defect inspection step of inspecting a defect on a back surface of the circular substrate by irradiating light from below by a second illumination device on the circular substrate held on an upper surface side by a substrate holding device that conveys the circular substrate with suction or grinding marks aligned with a predetermined direction, and using an image of the light irradiation surface imaged by a second line camera that images the light irradiation surface of the circular substrate.

(12) The inspection method of an annular substrate according to (11), wherein,

The second defect inspection step sucks the center side of the upper surface of the annular substrate by a suction device arranged at a position overlapping the second line camera in a plan view, and conveys the annular substrate by supporting both peripheral ends of the upper surface of the annular substrate by a pair of left and right suction conveying belts extending in the conveying direction, thereby maintaining the upper surface side of the annular substrate where the rolling mark or grinding mark coincides with a predetermined direction.

According to this configuration, since the back surface of the annular substrate can be imaged while the substrate holding device holds the upper surface of the annular substrate and is being transported, the annular substrate can be efficiently inspected without turning over.

(13) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (10) to (12), wherein,

The adjustment step irradiates the annular substrate with light using an illumination device for detecting a rolling mark or a grinding mark, detects an angle of an axis of an optical beam appearing in a direction perpendicular to the rolling mark or the grinding mark of the annular substrate with respect to a conveyance direction using an image of a light irradiation surface of the annular substrate captured by a region camera, adjusts respective conveyance speeds of a first angle swinging conveyor unit and a second angle swinging conveyor unit, which are arranged in a left-right direction along the conveyance direction and are driven independently of each other so as to convey the annular substrate at different conveyance speeds, based on the angle, and horizontally rotates the annular substrate while conveying the annular substrate, thereby making the angle coincide with the conveyance direction of the annular substrate within a predetermined range.

According to this configuration, the annular substrate in a state where the rolling mark or the grinding mark is aligned can be inspected, and therefore, the defect inspection of the annular substrate can be accurately performed.

(14) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (10) to (13), wherein,

The method for inspecting the annular substrate further includes, before the adjustment step, a loading step of loading a cylindrical laminate formed by stacking a plurality of annular substrates, and a peeling step of peeling the annular substrate from above the laminate loaded in the loading step.

According to this configuration, the operation of loading the laminate into the inspection apparatus and the operation of peeling the annular substrate from the laminate can be integrally automated, and therefore the annular substrate can be inspected more efficiently.

(15) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to (14), wherein,

The peeling step presses the outer peripheral surface of the laminate except for the first annular substrate from above by a pressing portion, peels the first annular substrate from above the laminate from the laminate by a peeling claw, and conveys the annular substrate peeled from the laminate by a peeling and conveying device.

(16) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to (15), wherein,

The peeling step sucks the center side of the upper surface of the annular substrate by a suction device arranged at a position overlapping the laminate in a plan view, and conveys the annular substrate while holding the upper surface side of the annular substrate peeled from the laminate by supporting both peripheral ends of the upper surface of the annular substrate by a pair of left and right suction conveying belts extending in the conveying direction.

According to this configuration, since the suction force by the suction device can be efficiently applied to the upper surface of the annular substrate, the annular substrate peeled from the upper surface of the laminate can be smoothly and reliably sucked and held and conveyed.

(17) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (14) to (16), wherein,

The method for inspecting the annular substrates further includes a superimposed substrate discharging step of detecting, by a thickness detection sensor, that the annular substrates peeled from the laminate are in a superimposed state of two or more superimposed sheets, and discharging the annular substrates in the superimposed state from the conveyance path.

According to this configuration, it is possible to prevent the annular substrates in the overlapped state from being subjected to the adjustment operation of the rolling mark or the grinding mark in the adjustment step or from being directly inspected in the first defect inspection step.

(18) The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to any one of (10) to (17), wherein,

The method for inspecting a circular substrate further includes a carry-out step of carrying out the inspected circular substrate,

The carry-out step is configured to distribute the inspected annular substrate to a first carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which no defect is found, a second carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which a defect is found, and a third carry-out section for carrying out the annular substrate in which a defect is present in the inspection step.

According to this configuration, the carry-out mechanism automatically distributes the annular substrates having no defects, the annular substrates having defects, and the annular substrates having defects in the inspection step, based on the inspection result, and therefore, the annular substrates having good inspection results can be efficiently taken out. Further, by checking the annular substrate having a defect in the inspection step again, it is possible to efficiently prevent the annular substrate from being discarded although the annular substrate has no defect.

Claims

1. An inspection device for inspecting a circular substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate comprises:

2. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 1, wherein,

3. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 2, wherein,

4. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 1, wherein,

5. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 1, wherein,

The inspection device for the annular substrate comprises:

6. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring shaped substrate according to claim 5, wherein,

7. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring shaped substrate according to claim 6, wherein,

8. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to any one of claims 5 to 7, wherein,

9. The inspection apparatus for a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 1, wherein,

10. A method for inspecting a circular ring-shaped substrate, which inspects defects existing on the surface of the circular ring-shaped substrate punched from a rolled metal plate, wherein,

The inspection method of the annular substrate comprises the following steps:

11. The inspection method of a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 10, wherein,

12. The method for inspecting an annular substrate according to claim 11, wherein,

13. The inspection method of a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 10, wherein,

14. The inspection method of a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 10, wherein,

15. The method for inspecting a circular substrate according to claim 14, wherein,

16. The method for inspecting annular substrate according to claim 15, wherein,

17. The inspection method of a circular ring-shaped substrate according to any one of claims 14 to 16, wherein,

18. The inspection method of a circular ring-shaped substrate according to claim 10, wherein,