1. A marking system, comprising:

a laser marker, comprising:

an excitation light generation section for generating excitation light,

a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light, an

A laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece;

an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece;

a pass or fail determination section for determining pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquisition section;

a history storage section that stores, as history information, a plurality of pieces of status information during acquisition of each determination result among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, the plurality of determination results including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of status information indicating the status of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other;

a display section for displaying at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying the captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order;

a receiving section that receives an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and

a control section that controls the display section such that, among the plurality of types of status information, at least status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image selected via the receiving section is displayed on the display section.

2. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

the display portion displays both the first display region and the second display region, an

The control portion controls the display portion so that the display content of one of the first display region and the second display region is changed in conjunction with a change in the display content of the other display region.

3. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

the history storage section stores, as history information, at least a plurality of OK determination results among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, a captured image used to acquire each OK determination result, and a plurality of pieces of status information during acquisition of each OK determination result among the plurality of types of status information in a time-series order in a state associated with each other.

4. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

the control portion controls the display portion such that state information associated with a determination result other than the NG determination result specified via the receiving portion or state information associated with a captured image other than the captured image specified via the receiving portion among the plurality of types of state information is displayed on the display portion.

5. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

in a case where the NG determination result or the captured image is specified via the receiving portion, the control portion displays, on the display portion, status information relating to at least one of the plurality of types of status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image in time series.

6. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

in a case where the NG determination result or the captured image is specified via the receiving portion, the control portion displays at least one of a line graph, a bar graph, and a scatter chart showing a change with time of the status information on at least one of the plurality of types of status information on the display portion.

7. The marking system of claim 1, further comprising:

a housing including at least the laser output unit and the laser scanning unit;

a power monitor for detecting an output of the laser light output from the laser light output unit;

a distance measuring mechanism that is provided inside or outside the housing and measures a distance from the housing to the workpiece;

an image processing section for recognizing a position of the workpiece when viewed along an area two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section on the captured image generated by the image acquisition section;

a light-transmissive window that is provided in the housing of the laser marker and through which the laser light two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section passes; and

a contamination detection section for detecting contamination in the light transmissive window,

wherein the history storage section stores, as the plurality of types of status information, at least one or more of an output of the laser light detected by the power monitor, a distance to the workpiece measured by the distance measuring mechanism, a position of the workpiece identified by the image processing section, and contamination detected by the contamination detecting section.

8. The marking system of claim 1, wherein,

the receiving section is configured to receive an operation to correct the determination result obtained by the pass or fail determining section, and

the control section controls the display section so that the correction using the receiving section is reflected.

9. A diagnosis support apparatus for supporting diagnosis of a print defect occurring on a workpiece during printing with a laser marker, the laser marker comprising: an excitation light generation unit for generating excitation light; a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light; a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece; an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; and a pass or fail judging section for judging pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquiring section,

the diagnosis support apparatus includes:

a history storage section that stores, as history information, a plurality of pieces of status information during acquisition of each determination result among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, the plurality of determination results including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of status information indicating the status of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other;

a display section for displaying at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying the captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order;

a receiving section that receives an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and

a control section that controls the display section such that, among the plurality of types of status information, status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image specified via the receiving section is displayed on the display section.

10. A diagnosis support method for supporting diagnosis of a print defect occurring on a workpiece during printing with a laser marker using a computer, the computer being provided with: a history storage section for storing history information; a display section for displaying information to a user; a receiving section for receiving an operation by a user; and a control section for controlling the display section;

the laser marker includes: an excitation light generation unit for generating excitation light; a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light; a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece; an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; and a pass or fail judging section for judging pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquiring section,

the diagnosis support method includes the steps of:

causing the history storage section to store, as history information, a plurality of pieces of state information during acquisition of each determination result, among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of state information indicating the state of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other;

causing the display section to display at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order;

causing the receiving section to receive an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and

causing the control portion to control the display portion so that, among the plurality of types of status information, status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image designated via the receiving portion is displayed on the display portion.

11. A computer-readable storage medium storing a program for executing the diagnosis support method according to claim 10.

Background

A laser marker including a camera for confirming a printing state is generally known.

For example, japanese patent laid-open No. 9-220686 discloses a laser marker (laser printing apparatus) including an image pickup optical system coaxial with a laser emission axis of a laser head and an image pickup camera that picks up an image of a print surface of a workpiece (object to be printed) by the image pickup optical system.

The laser marker disclosed in japanese patent laid-open No. 9-220686 photographs a print surface after printing, and image-processes its image pickup signal to determine pass/fail of laser printing.

The laser marker can capture an image of a print surface immediately after laser printing without moving a workpiece by making an imaging optical system coaxial with a laser emission axis.

However, even if a print defect is found using a captured image, for example, as described in japanese patent laid-open No. 9-220686, it is difficult to identify the cause of the print defect by only visually recognizing the captured image. If the cause cannot be identified, there is a problem in the settings and measures for improving symptoms.

Further, it is necessary to visually appropriately discriminate the captured image for the user to diagnose the print defect. However, in the case where there are a large number of workpieces on which printing has been performed, there are also a large number of captured images indicating pass/fail of laser printing, and therefore, it is difficult to extract a desired captured image.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, a technique is disclosed herein, and an object thereof is to improve usability in connection with diagnosis of a print defect by facilitating extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and identifying a cause of the print defect using the captured image.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a marking system includes a laser marker comprising: the laser scanning apparatus includes an excitation light generating section for generating excitation light, a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generating section and emitting the laser light, and a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with the laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a marking system includes: an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; a pass or fail determination section for determining pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquisition section; a history storage section that stores, as history information, a plurality of pieces of status information during acquisition of each determination result among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, the plurality of determination results including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of status information indicating the status of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other; a display section for displaying at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying the captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order; a receiving section that receives an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and a control section that controls the display section such that, among the plurality of types of status information, at least status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image selected via the receiving section is displayed on the display section.

Here, the "NG determination result" refers to a determination result indicating that the print failure is good among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section. For example, the NG determination result is obtained when a print defect occurs on the workpiece.

With this configuration, the history storage section stores the NG determination result and the captured image in association with each other, thereby facilitating extraction of the captured image in which the print defect occurs. According to this embodiment, the status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image can be displayed by specifying the NG determination result or the captured image corresponding to the NG determination result displayed on the display section. As a result, the user can visually recognize the status information when printing is not performed well, and facilitate diagnosis of print defects. That is, the above configuration helps identify the cause of a print defect.

In this way, according to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to facilitate extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and identification of the cause of a print defect using the captured image, and further improve usability in relation to diagnosis of a print defect.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, it may be configured such that the display portion displays both the first display region and the second display region, and the control portion controls the display portion such that the display content of one of the first display region and the second display region is changed in conjunction with the change of the display content of the other display region.

With this configuration, the marking system according to the present invention links the display mode of the first display area and the display mode of the second display area to each other. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the history storage section may store at least a plurality of OK determination results among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, the captured image used to obtain each OK determination result, and a plurality of pieces of status information during obtaining each OK determination result among the plurality of types of status information as the history information in a time-series order in a state of being associated with each other.

Here, the "OK judgment result" refers to a judgment result indicating that printing is good among the judgment results obtained by the pass/fail judgment section. For example, when no print defect occurs on the workpiece, the pass/fail determination section makes an OK determination.

With this configuration, the user can compare the captured image and the status information corresponding to the NG determination result with the captured image and the status information corresponding to the OK determination result by using the marking system according to the present invention. As a result, the captured image can be extracted more easily, and the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the control portion may control the display portion such that state information associated with a determination result other than the NG determination result designated via the receiving portion or state information associated with a captured image other than the captured image designated via the receiving portion among the plurality of types of state information is displayed on the display portion.

With this configuration, the user can compare the status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image specified via the receiving section with the status information associated with the determination result (for example, the OK determination result) or the captured image other than the specified determination result. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, in a case where the NG determination result or the captured image is specified via the receiving portion, the control portion may display, on the display portion, status information related to at least one of the plurality of types of status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image in time series.

With this configuration, the user can easily visually recognize the change in the state information with time. As a result, the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, in a case where the NG determination result or the captured image is specified via the receiving part, the control part may display at least one of a line graph, a bar graph, and a scatter chart showing a change with time of the status information on at least one of the plurality of types of status information on the display part.

With this configuration, the user can easily visually recognize the change in the state information with time. As a result, the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, it may be configured such that the marking system comprises: a housing including at least the laser output unit and the laser scanning unit; a power monitor for detecting an output of the laser light output from the laser light output unit; a distance measuring mechanism that is provided inside or outside the housing and measures a distance from the housing to the workpiece; an image processing section for recognizing a position of the workpiece when viewed along an area two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section on the captured image generated by the image acquisition section; a light-transmissive window that is provided in the housing of the laser marker and through which the laser light two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section passes; and a contamination detection section for detecting contamination in the light-transmissive window, and the history storage section stores at least one or more of an output of the laser light detected by the power monitor, a distance to the workpiece measured by the distance measurement mechanism, a position of the workpiece identified by the image processing section, and contamination detected by the contamination detection section as the plurality of types of status information.

With this configuration, the marking system according to the present invention can use a wide variety of information as the status information. As a result, the cause of the print defect can be identified more thoroughly.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, it may be configured such that the receiving section receives an operation for correcting the determination result obtained by the pass/fail determining section, and the control section controls the display section so that the correction using the receiving section is reflected.

With this configuration, when the user finds a print defect ignored by the pass/fail determining section, the determination result can be corrected, and the display content of the display section can be changed to reflect the correction. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a diagnosis support apparatus for supporting diagnosis of a print defect occurring on a workpiece during printing with a laser marker, the laser marker including: an excitation light generation unit for generating excitation light; a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light; a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece; an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; and a pass or fail determination section for determining pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquisition section.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the diagnosis support apparatus includes: a history storage section that stores, as history information, a plurality of pieces of status information during acquisition of each determination result among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, the plurality of determination results including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of status information indicating the status of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other; a display section for displaying at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying the captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order; a receiving section that receives an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and a control section that controls the display section such that, among the plurality of types of status information, status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image specified via the receiving section is displayed on the display section.

With this configuration, it is possible to facilitate extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and identification of the cause of a print defect using the captured image, and further improve usability in relation to diagnosis of a print defect.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a diagnosis support method for supporting diagnosis of a print defect occurring on a workpiece during printing with a laser marker using a computer provided with: a history storage section for storing history information; a display section for displaying information to a user; a receiving section for receiving an operation by a user; and a control section for controlling the display section; the laser marker includes: an excitation light generation unit for generating excitation light; a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light; a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece; an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; and a pass or fail determination section for determining pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquisition section.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the diagnosis support method includes the steps of: causing the history storage section to store, as history information, a plurality of pieces of state information during acquisition of each determination result, among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of state information indicating the state of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which they are associated with each other; causing the display section to display at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order; causing the receiving section to receive an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and causing the control portion to control the display portion so that, among the plurality of types of status information, status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image specified via the receiving portion is displayed on the display portion.

With this method, it is possible to facilitate extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and use the captured image to identify the cause of a print defect, and further improve usability in relation to diagnosis of a print defect.

One embodiment of the present invention relates to a diagnosis support program executed by a computer provided with: a history storage section for storing history information; a display section for displaying information to a user; a receiving section for receiving an operation by a user; and a control section for controlling the display section to support diagnosis of a print defect occurring on the workpiece during printing with the laser marker; the laser marker includes: an excitation light generation unit for generating excitation light; a laser output section for generating laser light based on the excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section and emitting the laser light; a laser scanning section for irradiating a workpiece with laser light emitted from the laser output section and two-dimensionally scanning a surface of the workpiece; an image acquisition section for capturing an image of the workpiece in a region two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section to generate a captured image including at least a part of the workpiece; and a pass or fail determination section for determining pass or fail of printing applied to the workpiece using the captured image acquired by the image acquisition section.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the diagnosis support program causes a computer to execute: a step of causing the history storage section to store, as history information, a plurality of pieces of state information during acquisition of each determination result, among the determination results obtained by the pass or fail determination section, including at least an NG determination result, a captured image used to acquire each determination result, and a plurality of types of state information indicating the state of the laser marker, in a time-series order in a state in which the plurality of pieces of state information during acquisition of each determination result are associated with each other; a step of causing the display section to display at least one of a first display area for displaying the plurality of determination results stored in the history storage section in time-series order and a second display area for displaying captured images respectively corresponding to the plurality of determination results in time-series order; a step of causing the receiving section to receive an operation to select any one or more of an NG determination result displayed in the first display area and a captured image displayed in the second display area and corresponding to the NG determination result; and a step of causing the control portion to control the display portion so that, among the plurality of types of status information, status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image designated via the receiving portion is displayed on the display portion.

With this program, it is possible to facilitate extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and use the captured image to identify the cause of a print defect, and further improve usability in relation to diagnosis of a print defect.

Furthermore, one embodiment of the invention relates to a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium stores a program for executing the above-described diagnosis support method.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to facilitate extraction of a captured image indicating pass/fail of laser printing and use the captured image to identify the cause of a print defect, and further improve usability in relation to diagnosis of a print defect.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall configuration of a marking system;

fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a laser marker;

fig. 3A is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a marker head;

fig. 3B is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the marker head;

fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the marker head;

fig. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the laser scanning section;

fig. 6 is a diagram showing a triangulation method;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method of using the tagging system;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process for creating print settings, search settings, and distance measurement settings;

fig. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between a processing region and a setting surface;

fig. 10 is a diagram showing display contents on the display section;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart illustrating a process of operating a laser marker;

fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a print log;

fig. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the diagnosis support apparatus;

fig. 14 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of the diagnosis support method;

fig. 15A is a diagram showing a selection screen of a symptom of a print defect;

fig. 15B is a diagram showing a designation screen of the date and time when the print defect occurred;

fig. 15C is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen of a print defect;

fig. 15D is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen of a print defect;

fig. 15E is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen of a print defect;

fig. 15F is a diagram showing a screen for a countermeasure for resolving a print defect;

fig. 16 is a table showing an example of a relationship between the cause of a print defect and the display priority order;

fig. 17 is a diagram showing a display priority order when a plurality of symptoms are selected;

fig. 18 is a diagram showing a diagnosis screen when a plurality of symptoms are selected;

fig. 19 is a diagram showing a modification of the diagnosis screen; and

fig. 20 is a diagram showing correction of the determination result.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following description is given as an example.

Although printing is described as a typical example of processing in this specification, the technique may be used for various marks using laser light, such as a mark including a figure of a QR code (registered trademark), or the like, without being limited to printing.

< Overall arrangement >

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the marking system S. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the laser marker L in the marking system S. The marking system S shown in fig. 1 includes a laser marker L, and an operation terminal 800, an external device 900, and an external terminal 700 connected thereto.

The laser marker L shown in fig. 1 and 2 irradiates a workpiece W as a printed object with laser light emitted from the marker head 1, and performs three-dimensional scanning on the surface of the workpiece W to perform printing. The "three-dimensional scanning" herein denotes a concept collectively referred to as a combination of a two-dimensional operation of scanning the irradiation position of the laser light on the surface of the workpiece W (so-called "two-dimensional scanning") and a one-dimensional operation of adjusting the focal position of the laser light.

In the following description, a laser used for printing on the workpiece W is sometimes referred to as a "printing laser" to distinguish it from other lasers.

The laser marker L according to this embodiment can measure the distance to the workpiece W (the height of the workpiece W) with the distance measuring unit 5 built in the marker head 1, and also adjust the focal position of the printing laser using the measurement result. The distance measuring unit 5 is an example of a "distance measuring mechanism" in the present embodiment.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the laser marker L includes a marker head 1 configured to emit laser light and a marker controller 100 configured to control the marker head 1.

In this embodiment, the marker head 1 and the marker controller 100 are separate members, and are electrically connected via an electrical harness and optically coupled via a fiber optic cable.

More typically, one of the marker head 1 and the marker controller 100 may be incorporated into the other to be integrated. In this case, an optical fiber cable or the like may be appropriately omitted.

The operation terminal 800 has, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and a memory, and is connected to the marker controller 100. The operation terminal 800 functions as a terminal configured to set various processing conditions (also referred to as printing conditions) such as print settings and the like and display information related to laser marking to a user. The operation terminal 800 includes a display portion 801 configured to display information to a user, an operation portion 802 that receives an operation input from the user, and a storage device 803 configured to store various types of information.

Specifically, the display portion 801 is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL panel. The display portion 801 displays the operating state and printing conditions of the laser marker L as information relating to laser marking. On the other hand, the operation portion 802 is configured using, for example, a keyboard and/or a pointing device. Here, the pointing device includes a mouse and/or a joystick. The operation section 802 is configured to receive an operation input from a user, and is used to operate the marker head 1 via the marker controller 100.

The operation terminal 800 configured as described above can set the print condition in the laser mark based on the operation input from the user. Examples of the printing conditions include at least one or more of a character string that needs to be printed on the workpiece W, graphic contents (marking patterns) such as a barcode and a QR code (registered trademark), an output required by the laser (target output), and a scanning speed of the laser on the workpiece W.

The printing conditions according to this embodiment also include conditions and parameters related to the distance measuring unit 5 (hereinafter, also referred to as "distance measuring conditions"). Examples of the distance measurement condition include data that correlates a signal indicating a detection result of the distance measurement unit 5 with a distance to the surface of the workpiece W.

The printing conditions set by the operation terminal 800 are output to the marker controller 100 and stored in the condition setting storage section 102. The storage device 803 in the operation terminal 800 can store print conditions as needed.

Note that the operation terminal 800 may be integrated into the marker controller 100, for example. In this case, a name such as a control unit is used instead of the "operation terminal", but at least in this embodiment, the operation terminal 800 and the marker controller 100 are separate members from each other.

The external device 900 is connected to the marker controller 100 of the laser marker L as necessary. In the example shown in fig. 1, an image recognition apparatus 901 and a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC)902 are provided as the external device 900.

Specifically, for example, the image discriminating apparatus 901 judges the type and position of the workpiece W conveyed on the production line. As the image discrimination apparatus 901, for example, an image sensor may be used. The PLC 902 is used to control the marking system S according to a predetermined sequence.

Further, the laser marker L according to this embodiment includes an external terminal 700 connected to the marker controller 100 in a wired or wireless manner. The external terminal 700 can execute a diagnosis support method for supporting diagnosis of a print defect occurring on the workpiece W, and function as a diagnosis support apparatus. The diagnosis support method may be executed by the operation terminal 800. In this case, one terminal serves as both the operation terminal 800 and the external terminal 700. Such a configuration can be realized, for example, by installing a program configured to operate the laser marker L and a program configured to execute a diagnosis support method (a diagnosis support program described later) in the common terminal.

Hereinafter, the hardware configuration of each of the marker controller 100 and the marker head 1 and the configuration related to the control of the marker head 1 by the marker controller 100 will be described in turn. Hereinafter, the configuration of the external terminal 700 as the diagnosis support apparatus will be described in detail.

< marker controller 100>

As shown in fig. 2, the marker controller 100 includes: a condition setting storage section 102 that stores print conditions; a control section 101 that controls the marker head 1 based on the printing conditions stored in the condition setting storage section 102; and an excitation light generation unit 110 that generates laser excitation light (excitation light).

Specifically, the condition setting storage section 102 is configured using a volatile memory, a nonvolatile memory, a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a Solid State Drive (SSD), or the like, and can temporarily or continuously store information indicating print conditions.

(control section 101)

The control section 101 controls at least the excitation light generation section 110 in the marker controller 100 and the laser output section 2, the laser guide section 3, the laser scanning section 4, the distance measuring unit 5, the on-axis camera 6, and the all-around camera (non-on-axis camera) 7 in the marker head 1 based on the printing conditions stored in the condition setting storage section 102 to perform printing on the workpiece W.

Specifically, the control section 101 has a CPU, a memory, and an input/output bus, and generates a control signal based on a signal indicating information input via the operation terminal 800 and a signal indicating a print condition read from the condition setting storage section 102. The control section 101 outputs the control signals thus generated to the respective sections of the laser marker L to control printing of the workpiece W and measurement of the distance to the workpiece W.

For example, when processing the workpiece W is started, the control section 101 reads the target output stored in the condition setting storage section 102, outputs a control signal generated based on the target output to the excitation light source driving section 112, and controls generation of laser excitation light.

When actually processing the workpiece W, the control section 101 reads, for example, print contents (mark patterns) stored in the condition setting storage section 102, outputs a control signal generated based on the print contents to the laser scanning section 4, and two-dimensionally scans the printing laser light.

In this way, the control section 101 can control the laser scanning section 4 to realize two-dimensional scanning of the printing laser.

(excitation light generating section 110)

The excitation light generation unit 110 includes: an excitation light source 111 that generates laser light from a drive current; an excitation light source driving unit 112 that supplies a driving current to the excitation light source 111; and an excitation light condensing portion 113 optically coupled to the excitation light source 111.

Hereinafter, the respective sections of the excitation light generation section 110 will be described in order.

The excitation light source driving section 112 supplies a driving current to the excitation light source 111 based on a control signal output from the control section 101. Although not described in detail, the excitation light source driving section 112 determines a driving current based on the target output determined by the control section 101, and supplies the driving current thus determined to the excitation light source 111.

The excitation light source 111 supplies a drive current from the excitation light source drive section 112, and oscillates laser light according to the drive current. For example, the excitation light source 111 is configured using a Laser Diode (LD) or the like, and an LD array or an LD bar in which a plurality of LD elements are linearly arranged may be used.

The excitation light converging portion 113 converges the laser light output from the excitation light source 111, and outputs the converged laser light as laser excitation light (excitation light). For example, the excitation light condensing section 113 is configured using a focusing lens or the like, and has an incident surface on which laser light is incident and an emitting surface from which laser excitation light is output. The excitation-light condensing section 113 is optically coupled to the marker head 1 via the above-described optical fiber cable. Therefore, the laser excitation light output from the excitation light condensing section 113 is guided to the marker head 1 via the optical fiber cable.

(other constituent elements)

The marker controller 100 also has a distance measuring section 103 that measures the distance to the workpiece W using the distance measuring unit 5. The distance measuring section 103 is electrically connected to the distance measuring unit 5, and can receive a signal (at least, a signal indicating a light receiving position of the distance measuring light in the distance measuring light receiving section 5B) related to a measurement result of the distance measuring unit 5.

As will be described later, the laser marker L according to this embodiment further includes an on-axis camera 6 and an all-around camera 7 as a non-on-axis camera. The laser marker L can capture an image of the surface of the workpiece W by operating at least one of the in-line camera 6 and the all-round camera 7.

The marker controller 100 includes a distance measuring section 103, an image processing section 104, and a pass/fail determining section 105 to perform processing relating to the captured image Pw generated by the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7.

The marker controller 100 further includes a setting section 107 that sets information about the marker pattern. The control section 101 and the like read and use the setting contents of the setting section 107.

On the other hand, the signal output from the distance measuring unit 5 substantially corresponds to the distance to the surface of the workpiece W. However, for example, when the light transmissive window 19 is contaminated, a signal corresponding to the distance to the surface of the light transmissive window 19 is sometimes detected in addition to a signal corresponding to the distance to the surface of the workpiece W. Note that the light-transmissive window 19 mentioned here denotes a window portion through which the printing laser light passes so that the printing laser light generated and amplified inside the marker head 1 is emitted to the outside.

Therefore, the marker controller 100 according to this embodiment further includes a contamination detection section 106 configured to detect contamination on the light-transmissive window 19. The detection result of the contamination detecting unit 106 may be output to the distance measuring unit 103, the operation terminal 800, and/or the external device 900.

The distance measuring section 103, the image processing section 104, the pass/fail determining section 105, and the contamination detecting section 106 may be configured using the control section 101. For example, the control unit 101 may also function as the distance measuring unit 103. Further, the image processing section 104 may also function as a pass/fail determination section 105 or the like. Details of the distance measuring section 103, the image processing section 104, the pass/fail judging section 105, and the contamination detecting section 106 will be described later.

< marker head 1>

As described above, the laser excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section 110 is guided to the marker head 1 via the optical fiber cable. The marker head 1 includes: a laser output unit 2 that generates laser light by amplifying the laser excitation light and outputs the laser light; a laser scanning unit 4 that irradiates the surface of the workpiece W with the laser light output from the laser output unit 2 to perform two-dimensional scanning; a laser guide section 3 that forms an optical path from the laser output section 2 to the laser scanning section 4; a distance measuring unit 5 configured to measure a distance to a surface of the workpiece W based on the distance measuring light projected and received via the laser scanning section 4; and a coaxial camera 6 and a whole camera 7 which take images of the surface of the workpiece W.

Here, the laser guide section 3 according to the embodiment not only forms the optical path, but also is combined with a plurality of members: such as a Z scanner (focus adjustment section) 33 that adjusts the focal position of the laser light, a guide light source 36 that emits guide light, and an in-line camera 6 that captures an image of the surface of the workpiece W.

The laser guide 3 further includes: an upstream combining mechanism 31 that combines the printing laser light output from the laser output section 2 with the guide light emitted from the guide light source 36; and a downstream combining mechanism 35 that combines the laser light guided to the laser scanning section 4 with the distance measuring light projected from the distance measuring unit 5.

Fig. 3A and 3B are block diagrams showing a schematic configuration of the marker head 1, and fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an appearance of the marker head 1. Between fig. 3A to 3B, fig. 3A shows a case where the workpiece W is processed using the printing laser, and fig. 3B shows a case where the distance to the surface of the workpiece W is measured using the distance measuring unit 5.

As shown in fig. 3A to 4, the marker head 1 includes a housing 10 in which at least a laser output section 2, a laser guide section 3, and a laser scanning section 4 are provided. As shown in fig. 4, the housing 10 has a substantially rectangular outer shape. The lower surface of the housing 10 is partitioned by a plate-shaped bottom plate 10 a. The base plate 10a is provided with a light-transmissive window 19, and the light-transmissive window 19 is configured to emit laser light from the marker head 1 to the outside of the marker head 1. The light-transmissive window 19 is configured by fitting a plate-shaped transparent member capable of transmitting the printing laser light, the guide light, and the distance measurement light into a through hole penetrating the bottom plate 10a in the plate thickness direction.

In the following description, the longitudinal direction of the casing 10 in fig. 4 is sometimes simply referred to as "longitudinal direction" or "front-rear direction", and the short-side direction of the casing 10 in the drawing is sometimes simply referred to as "short-side direction" or "left-right direction". Similarly, the height direction of the housing 10 in fig. 4 is sometimes simply referred to as "height direction" or "vertical direction".

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the laser scanning section 4.

As shown in fig. 5, the partition 11 is provided inside the housing 10. The internal space of the case 10 is partitioned into one side and the other side in the longitudinal direction by the partition 11.

Specifically, the partition portion 11 is formed in a flat plate shape extending in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the case 10. Hereinafter, a space partitioned at one side (rear side in fig. 4) in the long side direction within the case 10 is referred to as a first space S1, and a space partitioned at the other side (front side in fig. 4) in the long side direction is referred to as a second space S2.

In this embodiment, the laser output section 2, some components of the laser guide section 3, the laser scanning section 4, and the distance measuring unit 5 are arranged within the first space S1. On the other hand, the main components of the laser guide 3 are arranged within the second space S2.

Specifically, the first space S1 is partitioned by the substantially flat plate-shaped base plate 12 into a space on one side (left side in fig. 4) and a space on the other side (right side in fig. 4) in the short-side direction. In the former space, components constituting the laser output section 2 are mainly arranged. The heat sink 22 shown in fig. 5 and the like are arranged in the rear space.

The second space S2 accommodates most of the components constituting the laser guide 3. These components are accommodated in a space surrounded by the partition 11 and a cover member 17 that partitions the front surface of the housing 10.

Hereinafter, the configurations of the laser output section 2, the laser guide section 3, the laser scanning section 4, and the distance measuring unit 5 will be described in order.

(laser output unit 2)

The laser output section 2 is configured to generate printing laser light for printing based on the laser excitation light generated by the excitation light generation section 110 and output the printing laser light for printing to the laser guide section 3.

Specifically, the laser output section 2 includes: a laser oscillator 21a that generates laser light having a predetermined wavelength based on laser excitation light and amplifies the laser light and emits printing laser light; a beam sampler 21b configured to separate a part of the printing laser oscillated from the laser oscillator 21 a; and a power monitor 21c to which the printing laser separated by the beam sampler 21b is incident.

Although details are omitted, the laser oscillator 21a according to this embodiment includes a laser medium that performs stimulated emission corresponding to laser excitation light to emit laser light, a Q-switch configured to pulse-modulate the laser light emitted from the laser medium, and a mirror that resonates the laser light pulse-modulated by the Q-switch.

The power monitor 21c detects the output of the printing laser. The power monitor 21c is electrically connected to the marker controller 100, and can output a detection signal thereof to the control section 101 and the like.

(laser guide 3)

The laser guide section 3 forms at least a part of a laser path P that guides the printing laser light emitted from the laser output section 2 to the laser scanning section 4. The laser guide section 3 includes a Z scanner (focus adjustment section) 33, a guide light source (guide light emitting section) 36, and the like, in addition to a bending mirror 34 configured to form a laser path P. All these components are disposed inside the casing 10 (mainly in the second space S2).

The printing laser light incident from the laser output section 2 is reflected by the bending mirror 34 and passes through the laser guide section 3. A Z scanner 33 configured to adjust the focal position of the printing laser is arranged on the path to the curved mirror 34. The printing laser light that has passed through the Z scanner 33 and reflected by the curved mirror 34 is incident on the laser scanning section 4.

The laser path P formed by the laser guide 3 may be divided into two parts with the Z scanner 33 as a focus adjustment section as a boundary. Specifically, the laser path P formed by the laser guide section 3 may be divided into an upstream optical path Pu from the laser output section 2 to the Z scanner 33 and a downstream optical path Pd from the Z scanner 33 to the laser scanning section 4.

More specifically, the upstream optical path Pu is provided inside the housing 10, and extends from the laser output section 2 to the Z scanner 33 after passing through the upstream combining mechanism 31.

On the other hand, the downstream optical path Pd is provided inside the housing 10, and extends from the Z scanner 33 to the first scanner 41 in the laser scanning section 4 after passing through the bending mirror 34 and the downstream combining mechanism 35 in order.

In this way, inside the housing 10, the upstream combining mechanism 31 is disposed in the middle of the upstream optical path Pu, and the downstream combining mechanism 35 is disposed in the middle of the downstream optical path Pd.

-Z scanner 33-

The Z scanner 33 as a focus adjustment section is disposed in the middle of the optical path formed by the laser guide section 3, and can adjust the focus position of the printing laser light emitted from the laser output section 2.

Specifically, the Z scanner 33 is provided in the middle of the optical path from the upstream combining mechanism 31 (which is a guide light combining mechanism) to the laser scanning section 4 in the laser path P within the housing 10.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3A to 3B, the Z scanner 33 according to the embodiment includes: an input lens 33a that transmits the printing laser light emitted from the laser output section 2; a collimator lens 33b that transmits the printing laser light passing through the input lens 33 a; an output lens 33c that transmits the printing laser light passing through the input lens 33a and the collimator lens 33 b; a lens driving unit 33d that moves the input lens 33 a; and a housing 33e that houses the input lens 33a, the collimator lens 33b, and the output lens 33 c.

The Z scanner 33 as a focus adjustment section functions as a mechanism configured to scan the printing laser in the up-down direction. Hereinafter, the scanning direction of the Z scanner 33 is sometimes referred to as "Z direction".

The printing laser light passing through the Z scanner 33 is coaxial with the guide light emitted from the guide light source 36. Therefore, not only the printing laser light but also the focal position of the guided light can be adjusted together by operating the Z scanner 33.

Note that the Z scanner 33 according to this embodiment (particularly, the lens driving section 33d in the Z scanner 33) is configured to operate based on a control signal output from the control section 101.

Bending mirror 34-

The bending mirror 34 is disposed in the middle of the downstream optical path Pd, and is arranged to bend the optical path Pd to be directed to the rear side. Although not shown, the curved mirror 34 is arranged at substantially the same height as the optical member 35a in the downstream combining mechanism 35, and can reflect the printing laser light passing through the Z scanner 33 and guide the light.

The printing laser light and the guide light reflected by the curved mirror 34 travel rearward, pass through the downstream combining mechanism 35, and reach the laser scanning section 4 (specifically, the first scanner 41).

Downstream merging means 35

The downstream merging mechanism 35 merges the distance measurement light emitted from the distance measurement light emitting section 5A in the distance measurement unit 5 with the downstream optical path Pd to be guided toward the workpiece W via the laser scanning section 4. In addition, the downstream merging mechanism 35 guides the distance measurement light reflected by the workpiece W and returned to the laser scanning section 4 and the downstream optical path Pd in sequence to the distance measurement light receiving section 5B in the distance measurement unit 5.

The downstream merging mechanism 35 may be configured using, for example, a dichroic mirror. Specifically, the downstream combining mechanism 35 according to this embodiment has a dichroic mirror 35a that transmits one of the distance-measuring light and the guide light and reflects the other (see fig. 5). Therefore, the printing laser light and the guide light are incident on the mirror surface on one side of the dichroic mirror 35a, and the distance measuring light is incident on the mirror surface on the other side.

The dichroic mirror 35a according to this embodiment can reflect the distance measuring light and transmit the printing laser light and the guide light. Therefore, for example, when the distance-measuring light emitted from the distance-measuring unit 5 is incident on the dichroic mirror 35a, the distance-measuring light may be merged with the downstream optical path Pd so as to be coaxial with the printing laser light and the guide light. As shown in fig. 3A and 3B, the printing laser light, the guide light, and the distance measuring light coaxial in this manner reach the first scanner 41.

On the other hand, the distance measuring light reflected by the workpiece W returns to the laser scanning section 4 and reaches the downstream optical path Pd. The distance measurement light returned to the downstream optical path Pd is reflected by the dichroic mirror 35a in the downstream combining mechanism 35, and reaches the distance measurement unit 5.

(laser scanning section 4)

As shown in fig. 3A, the laser scanning section 4 is configured to irradiate the workpiece W with laser light (printing laser light) emitted from the laser output section 2 and guided by the laser guide section 3, and perform two-dimensional scanning on the surface of the workpiece W.

In the example shown in fig. 5, the laser scanning section 4 is configured as a so-called biaxial current scanner. That is, the laser scanning unit 4 includes: a first scanner 41 configured to scan the printing laser light incident from the laser guide 3 in a first direction; and a second scanner 42 configured to scan the printing laser scanned by the first scanner 41 in a second direction.

Here, the second direction means a direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. Accordingly, the second scanner 42 can scan the printing laser in a direction substantially perpendicular to the first scanner 41. In this embodiment, the first direction is equal to the front-rear direction (the long side direction of the case 10), and the second direction is equal to the left-right direction (the short side direction of the case 10). Hereinafter, the first direction is referred to as "X direction", and the second direction perpendicular thereto is referred to as "Y direction". Both the X-direction and the Y-direction are perpendicular to the Z-direction.

The first scanner 41 has a first reflecting mirror 41a at its distal end. The first mirror 41a is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown) built in the first scanner 41. The motor can rotate the first reflecting mirror 41a about a rotation axis extending in the up-down direction. The reflection angle of the first reflecting mirror 41a with respect to the printing laser light can be adjusted by adjusting the rotational posture of the first reflecting mirror 41 a.

Similarly, the second scanner 42 has a second mirror 42a at its distal end. The second mirror 42a is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown) built in the second scanner 42. The motor can rotate the second reflecting mirror 42a about a rotation axis extending in the front-rear direction. The reflection angle of the second mirror 42a with respect to the printing laser light can be adjusted by adjusting the rotational posture of the second mirror 42 a.

When the printing laser light is incident on the laser scanning section 4 from the downstream combining mechanism 35, the printing laser light is reflected by the first reflecting mirror 41a in the first scanner 41 and the second reflecting mirror 42a in the second scanner 42 in order, and emitted to the outside of the marker head 1 via the light-transmissive window 19.

At this time, by operating the motor of the first scanner 41 to adjust the rotational posture of the first reflecting mirror 41a, the printing laser light can be scanned in the first direction on the surface of the workpiece W. Meanwhile, by operating the motor of the second scanner 42 to adjust the rotational posture of the second mirror 42a, the printing laser light can be scanned in the second direction on the surface of the workpiece W.

As described above, not only the printing laser light but also the guide light passing through the optical member 35a of the downstream combining mechanism 35 or the distance measuring light reflected by the same member 35a is incident to the laser scanning section 4. The laser scanning section 4 according to this embodiment can two-dimensionally scan the guide light or the distance measuring light incident in this manner by operating the first scanner 41 and the second scanner 42, respectively.

In this way, the laser scanning section 4 according to the embodiment is electrically controlled by the control section 101 as a scanning control section, and can irradiate the print area R1 provided on the surface of the workpiece W with the printing laser light to form a predetermined print pattern (mark pattern) in the print area R1.

(coaxial camera 6)

The coaxial camera 6 has an imaging optical axis a1 (see fig. 3A and 3B) branched by a laser light path P from the laser output section 2 to the laser scanning section 4. The coaxial camera 6 captures an image of the workpiece W by the laser scanner 4. The coaxial camera 6 captures an image of the workpiece W arranged in an area (printing area R1) two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section 4 to generate a captured image Pw including at least a part of the workpiece W. The on-axis camera 6 is an example of an "image acquisition section" in the present embodiment.

The coaxial camera 6 is configured as an image pickup mechanism coaxial with a printing laser for printing. The coaxial camera 6 has a narrower field of view than the entire camera 7, but an image in which the print area R1 is enlarged at a relatively high magnification may be generated as the captured image Pw, and the image capturing area may be two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section 4. The coaxial camera 6 is used, for example, to generate an image in which a part of the printing region R1 is enlarged locally.

The captured image Pw generated by the on-axis camera 6 can be displayed on the display portion 801 with at least a part thereof being enlarged or reduced.

The coaxial camera 6 according to this embodiment is built in the housing 10. Specifically, the coaxial camera 6 is arranged at substantially the same height as the bending mirror 34 in the laser guide 3. The coaxial camera 6 receives the reflected light incident on the laser guide 3 from the laser scanner 4. The coaxial camera 6 is configured such that reflected light reflected at a print point of the workpiece W enters via the curved mirror 34. The coaxial camera 6 can form an image of the reflected light thus entered to capture an image of the surface of the workpiece W. Note that the layout of the coaxial cameras 6 may be changed as appropriate. For example, the heights of the coaxial camera 6 and the bending mirror 34 may be different from each other.

The reflected light used for image formation by the coaxial camera 6 is branched from the downstream optical path Pd and propagated. Therefore, by appropriately operating the laser scanning section 4, the printing region R1 shown in fig. 9 can be two-dimensionally scanned.

The coaxial camera 6 according to the embodiment is configured to operate based on a control signal output from the control section 101, as with the guiding light source 36 and the like.

(Whole body camera 7)

The overall camera 7 has an imaging optical axis a2 (see fig. 9) independent of the laser light path P. The overall camera 7 captures an image of the workpiece W without the laser scanner 4. As with the coaxial camera 6, the overall camera 7 captures an image of the workpiece W arranged in a region (printing region R1) two-dimensionally scanned by the laser scanning section 4 to generate a captured image Pw including at least a part of the workpiece W. The overall camera 7 is an example of an "image acquisition section" in the present embodiment.

The collective camera 7 is configured as an image pickup mechanism that is not coaxial with the printing laser used for printing. The overall camera 7 cannot perform two-dimensional scanning using the laser scanning section 4, but has a wider field of view than the on-axis camera 6, and is capable of generating an image obtained by capturing an image of the print area R1 in a relatively wide field of view as a captured image Pw. For example, the overall camera 7 is used to capture an image of the entire printing region R1 at once.

The captured image Pw generated by the entire camera 7 can be displayed on the display portion 801 in a state in which at least a part thereof is enlarged or reduced. The display unit 801 may display the captured image Pw generated by the entire camera 7 and the captured image Pw generated by the coaxial camera 6 side by side, or may selectively display one of the two captured images Pw.

The whole camera 7 according to the embodiment is arranged right above the light-transmissive window 19 and fixed in a posture in which its imaging lens faces downward. As described above, the image pickup optical axis a2 of the overall camera 7 is not coaxial with the optical axis Az of the above-described printing laser light (see fig. 3A, 3B, and 9).

Note that the "image acquisition section" according to this embodiment includes at least one of the on-axis camera 6 and the all-cameras 7. That is, the captured image Pw may be generated using the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7, or both of them may be used in combination to generate the captured image Pw. A configuration including both the coaxial camera 6 and the all-in-one camera 7 is not necessary. Either of which may be provided.

(distance measuring unit 5)

As shown in fig. 3B, the distance measuring unit 5 projects distance measuring light via the laser scanning section 4, and irradiates the surface of the workpiece W with the distance measuring light. The distance measuring unit 5 also receives distance measuring light reflected by the surface of the workpiece W via the laser scanning section 4.

The distance measuring unit 5 is mainly divided into a module for projecting distance measuring light and a module for receiving distance measuring light. Specifically, the distance measuring unit 5 includes: a distance measurement light emitting section 5A configured as a module for projecting distance measurement light; and a distance measurement light receiving section 5B configured as a means for receiving distance measurement light.

The distance measurement light emitting section 5A is provided inside the housing 10, and emits distance measurement light for measuring the distance from the marker head 1 to the surface of the workpiece W in the laser marker L toward the laser scanning section 4.

On the other hand, the distance measurement light receiving section 5B is provided inside the housing 10 as with the distance measurement light emitting section 5A, and receives distance measurement light reflected on the surface of the workpiece W and returned via the laser scanning section 4 and the downstream merging mechanism 35.

Hereinafter, the configuration of each section of the distance measuring unit 5 will be described in order.

Distance measurement light emitting section 5A-

The distance measurement light emitting section 5A is provided inside the housing 10 and is configured to emit distance measurement light for measuring the distance from the marker head 1 to the surface of the workpiece W in the laser marker L.

Specifically, the distance measurement light emitting section 5A includes the above-described distance measurement light source 51 and the light projection lens 52.

The distance measuring light source 51 emits distance measuring light to the front side of the housing 10 according to a control signal input from the control section 101. Specifically, the distance measuring light source 51 according to this embodiment may emit laser light in the visible light range as distance measuring light.

The light projecting lens 52 may be, for example, a plano-convex lens. The light projection lens 52 collects the distance measuring light emitted from the distance measuring light source 51 and emits the distance measuring light to the outside of the housing.

The distance measuring light emitted from the distance measuring light source 51 passes through the central portion of the light projecting lens 52 and is output to the outside of the distance measuring unit 5. The distance measuring light thus output is reflected by the bending mirror 59 and the optical member 35a in the downstream combining mechanism 35, and is incident on the laser scanning section 4.

The distance measuring light incident to the laser scanning section 4 is reflected by the first mirror 41a of the first scanner 41 and the second mirror 42a of the second scanner 42 in this order, and emitted from the light transmissive window 19 to the outside of the marker head 1.

As described in the description of the laser scanning section 4, the distance measuring light can be scanned in the first direction on the surface of the workpiece W by adjusting the rotational posture of the first mirror 41a of the first scanner 41. Meanwhile, by operating the motor of the second scanner 42 to adjust the rotational posture of the second mirror 42a, the distance measuring light can be scanned in the second direction on the surface of the workpiece W.

The distance measurement light thus scanned is reflected on the surface of the workpiece W. A part of the distance measurement light thus reflected (hereinafter also referred to as "reflected light") is incident to the inside of the marker head 1 through the light-transmissive window 19. The reflected light entering the marker head 1 returns to the laser guide unit 3 via the laser scanner unit 4. The reflected light is reflected by the optical member 35a of the downstream combining mechanism 35 in the laser guide 3, and is incident to the distance measuring unit 5 via the bending mirror 59.

A distance measurement light receiving section 5B-

The distance measurement light receiving section 5B is provided inside the housing 10, and is configured to receive distance measurement light (equivalent to the above-described "reflected light") emitted from the distance measurement light emitting section 5A and reflected by the workpiece W.

Specifically, the distance measurement light receiving section 5B has a pair of light receiving elements 56L and 56R and a light receiving lens 57.

The pair of light-receiving elements 56L and 56R respectively have light-receiving surfaces oriented obliquely forward, and detect the light-receiving positions of the reflected light on the respective light-receiving surfaces, and output a signal (detection signal) indicating the detection result. The detection signals output from the respective light receiving elements 56L and 56R are input to the marker controller 100, and reach the distance measuring section 103.

The light receiving lens 57 is disposed inside the housing 10 to allow the respective optical axes of the pair of light receiving elements 56L and 56R to pass through. The light receiving lens 57 is also provided in the middle of the optical path connecting the downstream combining mechanism 35 and the pair of light receiving elements 56L and 56R, and can collect the reflected light passing through the downstream combining mechanism 35 on the respective light receiving faces of the pair of light receiving elements 56L and 56R.

The light receiving lens 57 collects the reflected light returned to the laser scanning section 4, and forms a spot of the reflected light on the light receiving surface of each of the light receiving elements 56L and 56R. Each of the light receiving elements 56L and 56R outputs a signal indicating the peak position and the light receiving amount of the thus formed light spot to the distance measuring section 103.

Basically, the laser marker L can measure the distance to the surface of the workpiece W based on the light receiving position of the reflected light on the light receiving surface of each of the light receiving elements 56L and 56R (in this embodiment, the position of the peak of the light spot). So-called triangulation is used as the distance measuring method.

With respect to the distance measuring method

Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating a triangulation method. Although fig. 6 shows only the distance measuring unit 5, the following description is common to the case where the distance measuring light is emitted via the laser scanning section 4 as described above.

As shown in fig. 6, when the distance-measuring light source 51 in the distance-measuring light emitting section 5A emits distance-measuring light, the surface of the workpiece W is irradiated with the distance-measuring light. When the distance measuring light is reflected by the work W, if the influence of the specular reflection has been eliminated, the reflected light (especially, diffused and reflected light) propagates isotropically.

Although the reflected light propagating in this way contains a component incident to the light receiving element 56L via the light receiving lens 57, the incident angle of the incident light to the light receiving element 56L increases or decreases depending on the distance between the marker head 1 and the workpiece W. When the incident angle with respect to the light receiving element 56L increases or decreases, the light receiving position on the light receiving surface 56a is displaced.

In this way, the distance between the marker head 1 and the work W and the light receiving position on the light receiving surface 56a are associated with each other in a predetermined relationship. Therefore, for example, when such a relationship is grasped in advance and stored in the marker controller 100, the distance between the marker head 1 and the workpiece W can be calculated from the light receiving position on the light receiving surface 56 a. This calculation method is only one using the so-called triangulation method.

That is, the distance measuring section 103 measures the distance from the laser marker L to the surface of the workpiece W by triangulation based on the light receiving position of the distance measuring light in the distance measuring light receiving section 5B.

Specifically, the condition setting storage section 102 stores in advance the relationship between the light receiving position on the light receiving surface 56a and the distance from the marker head 1 to the surface of the workpiece W. On the other hand, a signal indicating the light receiving position of the distance measuring light in the distance measuring light receiving section 5B (specifically, the position of the peak of the light spot formed on the light receiving surface 56a by the reflected light of the distance measuring light) is input to the distance measuring section 103.

The distance measuring section 103 measures the distance to the surface of the workpiece W based on the signal thus input and the relationship stored in the condition setting storage section 102. The measurement value thus obtained is input to, for example, the control section 101, and is used by the control section 101 to control the Z scanner 33 and the like.

For example, the laser marker L automatically or manually determines a portion (print dot) to be processed by the marker head 1 on the surface of the workpiece W. Subsequently, the laser marker L measures the distance to each printed dot (more precisely, the distance measurement dot disposed around the printed dot) before performing printing, and determines the control parameters of the Z scanner 33 so that the focal position is equivalent to the measured distance. The laser marker L operates the Z scanner 33 based on the control parameters thus determined, and then prints on the workpiece W with the printing laser.

Hereinafter, a specific method of using the marking system S will be described.

< method for Using labeling System S >

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating a method of using the marking system S. Fig. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure of creating print settings, search settings, and distance measurement settings, fig. 9 is a diagram showing a relationship between the print area R1 and the setting surface R4, and fig. 10 is a diagram showing display contents on the display section 801.

Further, fig. 11 is a flowchart showing a process of operating the laser marker L. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing the contents of the print log Lg generated when the laser marker L is operated.

The marking system S provided with the laser marker L may be operated in a state of being installed on a production line of a factory, for example. In operation, first, condition settings such as the mounting position of the workpiece W to flow through the production line and the respective outputs of the printing laser and the distance measuring light that irradiate the workpiece W are created before the production line operation (step S1).

The setting contents created in step S1 are transferred and stored in the marker controller 100 and/or the operation terminal 800, or read by the marker controller 100 immediately after the creation (step S2).

Then, when operating the production line, the marker controller 100 refers to the setting contents stored in advance or read immediately after creation. The laser marker L operates based on the set contents of the reference, and performs printing on the respective workpieces W flowing through the line (step S3). Specifically, the PLC 903 inputs a trigger to the marker controller 100 every time each workpiece W is conveyed to the vicinity of the marker head 1. The marker controller 100 executes a print sequence for each workpiece W each time a trigger is input. The print sequence referred to here indicates an operation for printing each workpiece W (see fig. 11 for details). The marker controller 100 executes a print sequence for each workpiece W to be printed.

When the printing on all the workpieces W is completed, the marker controller 100 outputs a print log Lg in which the print results are arranged in a time-series manner (step S4). The print log Lg may be configured using a general text file and stored in various storage media including the condition setting storage section 102. The print log Lg may be generated in real time in parallel with the processing of step S3. The marker controller 100 outputs the print log Lg thus generated to the external terminal 700 as a diagnosis support apparatus.

(concrete procedure for creating respective settings)

Fig. 8 shows a specific process of step S1 in fig. 7.

First, in step S11, the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7 built in the laser marker L generates a captured image Pw including at least a part of the print region R1. The captured image Pw generated by the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7 is output to the operation terminal 800.

The display section 801 of the operation terminal 800 displays the setting surface R4 associated with the print region R1, and also displays the captured image Pw on the setting surface R4 (see fig. 9 and 10).

As a result, the coordinate system (print coordinate system) defined on the setting surface R4 in the display section 801 and the coordinate system (camera coordinate system) defined on the captured image Pw can be associated with each other. For example, the user can perform printing on the print area R1 through the setting surface R4 by designating a print dot while viewing the captured image Pw. The captured image Pw is used as a background image when various settings are performed through the setting surface R4.

In the subsequent step S12, the setting section 107 sets the print condition. The setting section 107 sets the print conditions by reading the stored contents in the condition setting storage section 102 or the like, or by reading the operation input or the like via the operation terminal 800.

As an example of the printing condition, the setting section 107 sets a printing pattern (mark pattern) Pm indicating printing contents to be formed in the printing region R1 on the surface of the workpiece W. The setting of the print pattern Pm is performed via the setting surface R4.

The printing condition includes not only the print pattern Pm as a mark pattern but also a print block B indicating the position of the print pattern Pm. The print block B can be used to adjust the layout, size, rotational posture, or the like of the print pattern Pm. Further, the print block B is used in association with a distance measurement position I described later.

The display section 801 may display the print pattern Pm and the print patch B so as to overlap the captured image Pw. For example, in fig. 10, on the surface of the workpiece W, a print pattern Pm including the character string "123" and a rectangular print block B surrounding the print pattern Pm are arranged on the setting face R4. The display section 801 displays the print pattern Pm and the print patch B arranged in this manner so as to overlap the captured image Pw.

Although not shown, a plurality of workpieces W may be displayed on the setting surface R4, and also only one workpiece W may be displayed as shown in fig. 10. Further, a plurality of print blocks B may be arranged on one workpiece W. As for the print pattern Pm, patterns other than character strings, such as a barcode, a QR code, and the like, may also be used.

Returning to step S12 in fig. 8, for example, the user manually creates a print block B and arranges the print block B on the setting surface R4 in the same step. Since the setting surface R4 and the captured image Pw are associated with each other as described above, the user can arrange the print block B while visually recognizing the captured image Pw.

When one or more print blocks B are arranged in this manner, the user determines the print pattern Pm of each print block B. For example, when the user operates the operation section 802 and the operation section 802 inputs the print pattern Pm to the marker controller 100 based on the operation input at that time, the print pattern Pm is determined.

The setting section 107 reads the print patch B thus arranged and the print pattern Pm determined for each print patch B to set as a print condition. The setting section 107 according to this embodiment temporarily or continuously stores the coordinates (coordinates in the print coordinate system) of the print block B on the setting surface R4 and the like in the condition setting storage section 102 and the like.

The printing conditions also include conditions related to the printing laser (hereinafter referred to as "laser conditions"). These laser conditions include at least one of the emission position of the printing laser, the target output (laser power) of the printing laser, the scanning speed of the printing laser by the laser scanning section 4, the repetition frequency (pulse frequency) of the printing laser, whether or not the laser spot printed is a variable laser (spot variability), and the number of times the printing laser traces the print pattern Pm (number of printing times). Such printing conditions may be set for each print block B as shown in the menu D1 displayed in the lower right corner of fig. 10.

In general, in each workpiece W to be sequentially processed when the production line is operated, misalignment occurs in the X direction and the Y direction (XY direction). The laser marker L according to this embodiment can correct such misalignment using various methods.

Therefore, in step S13 subsequent to step S12, the setting section 107 creates condition settings (search settings) to correct misalignment in the XY direction. The laser marker L according to this embodiment may use, for example, pattern search as a method for correcting misalignment in the XY directions.

In the case of using the pattern search, the setting section 107 sets a pattern region (not shown) for identifying the position of the workpiece W and a search region (not shown) defined as a movement range of the pattern region (not shown) on the captured image Pw as conditions (search conditions) related to the pattern search.

The search condition set by the marker controller 100 is stored in the condition setting storage section 102 or the like as a search setting. When the creation of the search setting is completed, the control process advances from step S13 to step S14.

In general, in each workpiece W to be sequentially processed while operating the production line, misalignment occurs in the Z direction. Such misalignment causes a shift in the focal position of the printing laser, which is undesirable. The laser marker L according to this embodiment includes the distance measuring unit 5, and thus can detect misalignment in the Z direction based on the distance to the surface of the workpiece W. As a result, it is possible to correct misalignment in the Z direction, and further correct the shift of the focus position. Therefore, in step S14 after step S13, condition settings (distance measurement settings) for correcting misalignment in the Z direction are created.

Specifically, in step S14, a condition (distance measurement condition) related to the distance measuring unit 5 is determined. The setting section 107 according to this embodiment sets at least a distance measurement position I for measuring a distance from the marker head 1, particularly from the housing 10, to the surface of the workpiece W as a distance measurement condition (see the star mark in fig. 10) on the captured image Pw. The distance measurement position I is substantially set to overlap with the surface of the workpiece W and indicates the coordinates to which the distance measurement light needs to be emitted.

When a plurality of print blocks B are set, the setting section 107 can set the distance measurement condition for each print block B. In this case, the setting section 107 may set the distance measurement position I (see the star mark in fig. 10) in each print block B. Alternatively, the setting section 107 may set the distance measurement position I outside each print block B.

The distance measurement conditions set by the setting section 107 are stored in the condition setting storage section 102 or the like as distance measurement settings. When the creation of the distance measurement setting is completed, the control process advances from step S14 to step S15 and returns.

(execution of printing)

Fig. 11 shows a specific process in step S3 of fig. 7. That is, the processing shown in fig. 11 is sequentially executed for each workpiece W that passes while the production line is operated.

First, before the respective steps shown in fig. 11, the marker controller 100 creates settings (print settings) such as the print pattern Pm and the print patch B, settings (search settings) such as the pattern image, and the like, and settings (distance measurement settings) such as the distance measurement position I, and the like, for a predetermined workpiece W in advance, as described with reference to step S1 in fig. 7 and steps S11 to S15 in fig. 8.

When the creation of the respective settings is completed, the marker controller 100 is in a state capable of executing the control processing shown in fig. 11. The control processing includes, as main processing, control processing configured to perform XY tracking (detect misalignment in the XY direction) and Z tracking (measure height in the Z direction) (steps S31 to S33) and control processing configured to perform printing reflecting the XY tracking and Z tracking and store the printing result thereof (steps S34 to S39).

First, in step S31 of fig. 11, a trigger is input from the PLC 902 or the like to the marker controller 100. At this time, the same type of workpiece W as that for various settings including the distance measurement setting is conveyed. When a trigger is input to the marker controller 100, the marker controller 100 writes the fact that the print sequence has started in the print log Lg. When writing the print log Lg, a serial number for distinguishing the print sequence may be added, for example, as shown by reference numerals N1 and N2 in fig. 12.

In step S31, the marker controller 100 captures an image of the same type of workpiece W via the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7 to generate a captured image (camera image) Pw. The marker controller 100 displays the generated photographed image Pw so as to overlap the setting surface R4. At this time, the marker controller 100 sets a file path configured to associate the workpiece W before printing with the captured image Pw generated by capturing an image of the workpiece W as a "pre-print camera image file path". The marker controller 100 writes the file path set in this way in the print log Lg for each print sequence (see fig. 12).

In the subsequent step S32, the marker controller 100 reads the search settings (search conditions) of the respective print blocks B to be searched, and performs XY tracking using pattern search based on the search settings. This process is executed by the image processing section 104.

Specifically, in step S32, the image processing section 104 performs a pattern search on the captured image Pw. As a result, the image processing section 104 can recognize the position of the workpiece W on the captured image Pw when viewed along the print region R1 (i.e., when viewed along the XY plane). Note that the position of the work W referred to here is a relative position of the work W as an object of performing XY tracking with respect to the work W used to create the search setting. The relative position is simply the misalignment of the workpiece W in the XY direction.

When the image processing section 104 performs XY tracking in this manner, misalignment in the XY direction between the workpiece W used to create the print setting, the search setting, and the distance measurement setting and the workpiece W' newly conveyed during operation is detected. At this time, the marker controller 100 writes the misalignment amount of the workpiece W in the XY direction in the text log Lg for each print sequence as an "XY tracking result" (see fig. 12).

In step S32, the marker controller 100 reads the distance measurement setting (distance measurement condition) of each print block B set as a distance measurement object, and also performs Z tracking using the distance measuring unit 5 based on the distance measurement setting. Specifically, in step S32, the distance measuring section 103 operates the distance measuring unit 5 to measure the distance from the marker head 1 to the distance measuring position I, and further measure the height of the workpiece W at the distance measuring position I. At this time, the marker controller 100 writes the measured height of the workpiece W in the text log Lg as a "Z-trace result" for each print sequence (see fig. 12).

In step S32, the marker controller 100 corrects the misalignment of the workpiece W in the XY directions based on the detection result of the misalignment in the XY directions. Specifically, the marker controller 100 corrects the position of the print block B on the setting surface R4 to reduce misalignment of the workpiece W in the XY direction.

In step S32, the marker controller 100 corrects misalignment of the workpiece W in the Z direction based on the measurement result of the height of the workpiece W. Specifically, the marker controller 100 corrects the focal position of the printing laser based on the misalignment of the workpiece W in the Z direction.

In this way, in step S32, the misalignment of the print block B in the XYZ direction is corrected for each workpiece W conveyed along with the operation of the production line.

In the subsequent step S33, the marker controller 100 determines the details of the print pattern Pm. The information determined in step S33 includes the production date, expiration date, lot number, count value, and information fixed during actual operation (particularly, timing after the trigger input).

Further, the laser marker L according to the embodiment has a function of allowing the user to confirm the print pattern Pm formed by the marker head 1 and a function of judging pass/fail of the print pattern Pm.

In order to realize these functions, it is necessary to capture an image of the print pattern Pm actually formed by the coaxial camera 6 or the entire camera 7. In particular, it is necessary to generate a captured image Pw including at least the entire print pattern Pm to judge pass/fail of the print pattern Pm. In order to capture an image of the entire print pattern Pm, at least an index indicating an area that needs to be captured is required.

Therefore, in step S34 subsequent to step S33, the marker controller 100 sets an image pickup area indicating an area that needs to be picked up. Specifically, the marker controller 100 defines an image pickup area including the print pattern Pm on the surface of the workpiece W. The marker controller 100 also sets the position and size of the thus defined image sensing area, and temporarily or continuously stores it in the condition setting storage section 102.

In step S35 after step S34, the marker controller 100 performs printing with the marker head 1. When the printing is performed, the print pattern Pm determined in detail in step S33 is formed on the surface of the workpiece W to be marked.

Then, in step S36 following step S35, the marker controller 100 selects one of the on-axis camera 6 and the all-around camera 7, and uses the thus selected camera to photograph the above-described image pickup area. As a result, the captured image Pw including the entire print pattern Pm is acquired. At this time, the marker controller 100 sets a file path as a "post-printing camera image file path" configured to associate the post-printing workpiece W with a captured image Pw generated by capturing an image of the workpiece W. The marker controller 100 writes the file path set in this manner in the print log Lg (see fig. 12) for each print sequence.

Next, in step S37 subsequent to step S36, the marker controller 100 determines pass/fail of printing applied to the workpiece W using the captured image Pw acquired in step S36.

Specifically, in step S37, the pass/fail determining section 105 determines that the print quality is good (OK determination) or that the print quality is poor (NG determination) based on the print pattern Pm formed on the surface of the workpiece W. These determinations may be performed using various methods according to the type of the print pattern Pm.

For example, in the case where a two-dimensional code such as a QR code or the like is marked as the print pattern Pm, the pass/fail determining section 105 evaluates the quality using a print quality evaluation standard (AIM DPM) established by an Automatic Identification Manufacturer (AIM). In this evaluation criterion, the overall grade is defined as six stages from "a" to "F" in order from the high evaluation side, and the print quality is evaluated higher as the overall grade increases. The condition setting storage section 102 assigns one of the overall ranks "a" to "F" to each of the print patterns Pm.

Further, the condition setting storage section 102 stores in advance a threshold value (threshold level) of the overall level, which defines a boundary between the OK judgment and the NG judgment. The pass/fail determination section 105 compares the threshold value ranking with the overall rank assigned to each of the print patterns Pm to make an OK determination or an NG determination for each of the print patterns Pm. For example, when the threshold ranking is set to "C", the pass/fail determining section 105 makes an OK determination on the print patterns Pm to which the overall rank "a" or "B" is assigned, and makes an NG determination on the print patterns Pm to which the overall rank "C", "D", "E", or "F" is assigned.

On the other hand, in the case where the character string is marked as the print pattern Pm, the pass/fail determination section 105 evaluates the pass/fail of each print pattern Pm based on the difference between the captured images Pw. Specifically, for example, the pass/fail determination section 105 generates a difference image between the captured image Pw generated immediately before printing and the captured image Pw generated immediately after printing for each print sequence. Next, the pass/fail determination section 105 calculates a score (hereinafter, referred to as "print score") by calculating a difference between the difference image and a print image (a set image of the print pattern Pm) generated by the print setting. In the case where the difference between the difference image and the print image is large, the print score is smaller than that in the case where the difference is small (lower evaluation). In this embodiment, the print score is calculated to be between 0 and 100.

Further, in the condition setting storage section 102, a print score threshold value (threshold score) for defining a boundary between the OK determination and the NG determination is defined in advance. The pass/fail determination section 105 makes an OK determination or an NG determination for each of the print patterns Pm by comparing the threshold score with the print scores for the respective print patterns Pm. For example, when the threshold score is set to "50", the pass/fail determination section 105 makes an OK determination for the print pattern Pm for which the print score exceeding 50 is calculated, and makes an NG determination for the print pattern Pm for which the print score of 50 or less is calculated.

Note that the condition setting storage section 102 may also be executed by combining a plurality of types of determination methods. For example, in the case of marking the two-dimensional code as the print pattern Pm, the pass/fail determination section 105 performs both determination using the overall grade and determination using the print score. In this case, the pass/fail determination section 105 makes an NG determination when the overall grade is "C", "D", "E", or "F", or when the print score is 50 or less.

In step S37, the marker controller 100 writes the pass/fail determination results of the respective workpieces in the print log Lg as "print confirmation results" for each print sequence (see fig. 12). Here, the marker controller 100 may write the above-described overall rank and/or print score in the print log Lg, or write only information indicating the OK determination or the NG determination in the print log Lg as the pass/fail determination result.

Next, in step S38 after step S37, the marker controller 100 emits distance measuring light from the distance measuring unit 5 to detect contamination on the light transmissive window 19. This process is executed by the contamination detection unit 106.

Specifically, the contamination detecting section 106 identifies the distance measurement light caused by the reflected light from the light-transmissive window 19 from the distance measurement light received by the distance measurement light receiving section 5B to detect contamination on the light-transmissive window 19.

As described above, the light transmissive window 19 is fixed to the housing 10. Therefore, the optical path length between the light-transmissive window 19 and the distance-measuring light-emitting section 5A is known. Since the optical path length is known, it is possible to estimate in advance the position at which the distance measurement light reflected by the surface of the light transmission window 19 has a peak on the light receiving surface of the pair of light receiving elements 56L and 56R. The contamination detecting section 106 detects the degree of contamination on the light transmissive window 19 by monitoring the light receiving state (e.g., the light receiving amount) at the light receiving position estimated to have a peak. This detection result (contamination level) is written in the print log Lg as a "post-printing window monitoring result" for each print sequence.

Next, in step S39 following step S38, the marker controller 100 detects the output of the printing laser using the power monitor 21 c. This detection result is written in the print log Lg as "laser power" for each print sequence.

When the printing on all the workpieces W is completed, the marker controller 100 ends the process of step S3, and starts the process of step S4.

(output of print Log)

In step S4, the marker controller 100 inputs the print log Lg to the external terminal 700. The print log Lg is grouped every time a trigger is input. Since the print sequence starts each time the trigger is input as described above, it is possible to divide the status information for each workpiece W and arrange the status information in time-series order with such a grouping. In the example shown in fig. 12, the print log Lg includes a group G1 corresponding to the first print sequence and a group G2 corresponding to the second print sequence.

In addition, the print log Lg may associate the pass/fail determination results regarding the respective prints, the captured images Pw used to acquire the respective determination results, and a plurality of types of status information at the time of acquiring the respective determination results with one another through the above-described "print confirmation result", "post-print camera image file path", and status information such as "XY tracking result".

Here, "state information" refers to information indicating the state of the laser marker L. The plurality of types of status information may include at least one or more of the position of the workpiece W recognized by the image processing section 104 (XY tracking result), the distance to the workpiece W measured by the distance measuring unit 5 (Z tracking result), contamination detected by the contamination detecting section 106 after printing is performed (post-printing window monitoring result), and the output of printing laser light detected by the power monitor 21c (laser power result). In the example shown in fig. 12, the plurality of pieces of status information include all of these pieces of information.

In this way, the print log Lg is configured to be in the following state: the pass/fail determination results for each printing when performing printing on a plurality of workpieces W, the captured images Pw for acquiring each determination result, and a plurality of types of status information when acquiring each determination result are associated with each other and arranged in time-series order. The print log Lg is an example of "history information" in the present embodiment.

The external terminal 700 supports diagnosis of the laser marker L based on the print log Lg input from the marker controller 100. Hereinafter, the configuration of the external terminal 700 as the diagnosis support apparatus will be described in detail.

< diagnosis support apparatus >

Fig. 13 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an external terminal (diagnosis support apparatus) 700. Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of the diagnosis support method. Further, fig. 15A is a diagram showing a selection screen Sc1 of a symptom of a print defect. Fig. 15B is a diagram of a designation screen Sc2 showing the date and time when the print defect occurred. Fig. 15C is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen Sc3 of a print defect. Fig. 15D is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen Sc4 of a print defect. Fig. 15E is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen Sc5 of a print defect. Fig. 15F is a diagram showing a countermeasure screen Sc6 for solving a print defect. Fig. 16 is a table showing an example of the relationship between the cause of a print defect and the display priority order.

(external terminal 700)

The external terminal 700 is configured using, for example, a personal computer, and is connected to the marker controller 100 in a wired or wireless manner. The external terminal 700 functions as a diagnosis support apparatus configured to support diagnosis of a print defect occurring on the workpiece W by executing a diagnosis support method described later.

Specifically, the external terminal 700 receives an operation to select a specific symptom of a print defect, and displays the cause of the print defect to the user according to the selected symptom to support diagnosis of the print defect occurring on the workpiece W during printing by the laser marker l.

Specifically, the external terminal 700 includes: a display unit 701 for displaying information to a user; a receiving unit 702 that receives an operation from a user; a storage section 703 for storing various types of information; and a control unit 704 for controlling at least the display unit 701.

The display portion 701 is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL panel. The display section 701 displays a selection screen Sc1 configured to select a symptom of a print defect, or a diagnosis screen Sc5 configured to diagnose a print defect.

The receiving section 702 is configured using, for example, a keyboard and/or a pointing device. Here, the pointing device includes a mouse and/or a joystick. The receiving section 702 is configured to receive an operation input from a user, and is used to select a defect symptom or the like on the selection screen Sc 1.

The storage section 703 is configured using, for example, a hard disk drive or a solid-state drive as a secondary storage device. The storage unit 703 includes, as functional elements, a history storage unit 703a and a correspondence storage unit 703b, which will be described later.

The control section 704 has a CPU, a memory, and an input/output bus. The control section 704 executes various programs to control the respective sections (such as the display section 701 and the like) constituting the external terminal 700.

Further, the external terminal 700 may read the storage medium 705 storing the program. In particular, the storage medium 705 according to this embodiment stores a diagnosis support program obtained by programming a diagnosis support method. The diagnosis support program is read and executed by the control unit 704. When the control section 704 executes the diagnosis support program, the external terminal 700 functions as a diagnosis support apparatus.

History storage 703a-

The history storage section 703a stores the print log Lg transmitted from the laser marker L as history information. The history storage unit 703a stores the print log Lg at a timing earlier than at least the diagnosis of the print defect.

Further, the history storage section 703a stores the determination results obtained by the pass/fail determining section 105 as many as the number of workpieces W on which printing has been performed. Specifically, when actually diagnosing a print defect, the history storage section 703a stores a plurality of determination results including at least NG determination results. The history information stored in the history storage unit 703a may be displayed on the display unit 701.

In particular, the history storage section 703a according to this embodiment is configured to store not only the NG determination result but also the OK determination result. Specifically, the history storage section 703a according to this embodiment stores, as history information, at least a plurality of OK determination results among the determination results obtained by the pass/fail determination section 105, the captured image Pw for acquiring each OK determination result, and a plurality of pieces of state information during acquisition of each OK determination result among the plurality of pieces of state information in time series order in a state of being associated with each other. This processing can be regarded as one of the steps constituting the diagnosis support method according to this embodiment.

Correspondence relation storage section 703b-

The correspondence relation storage section 703b stores a correspondence relation between a status item indicating a status of a print defect occurring on the workpiece W and a plurality of cause parameters as cause candidates of the print defect corresponding to the status item and a display priority order of the plurality of cause parameters.

Here, the "status item" indicates an item in which the symptom of the print defect is classified, for example, as shown in fig. 15A. The "status item" may be a user-perceptible item or an item not perceptible by the user.

Examples of the status items corresponding to the former include symptoms such as "unprinted", "insufficient printed", "dark printed, bright printed, uneven printed", "disturbed printed", "incorrect printed content", and "misaligned printed position", and the like. The status items corresponding to the latter include items indicating symptoms such as "overall grade and print score are low", and the like.

Further, the "cause parameter" represents a parameter indicating the possibility of causing a print defect for each status item. As the cause parameter, for example, state information of the laser marker L may be used. At least two or more cause parameters are set.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 16, the causal parameters according to this embodiment include the output of laser light (laser power) detected by the power monitor 21c, contamination of the light transmissive window 19 detected by the contamination detection section 106 (window inspection), the distance to the workpiece W measured by the distance measurement unit 5 (Z tracking result), and the position of the workpiece W recognized by the image processing section 104 (XY tracking result). The values of these parameters may be read from the print log Lg stored in the history storage section 703 a. For example, the value of the laser power corresponds to the value of "laser power result" in fig. 12, and the value of the window inspection corresponds to the value of "window inspection result after printing" in fig. 12.

It can be said that these four cause parameters are parameters that characterize the cause of the print defect, not the indication cause itself. In this sense, these cause parameters may be considered as parameters indicating "surface cause". In addition, among the four cause parameters, the laser power and the window inspection are judged so that the laser marker L itself is the cause of the print defect, and the Z-trace result and the XY-trace result are judged so that the print defect is caused by causes other than the laser marker L (such as the conveying device of the workpiece W, the jig of the workpiece W, the shape of the workpiece W itself, and the like).

Further, the cause parameter according to this embodiment includes not only a parameter that changes with time (such as laser power or the like) but also a parameter indicating whether a specific event occurs, for example, "whether print setting is changed" and "whether foreign matter is reflected in the captured image Pw" or the like.

For example, as shown in fig. 16, the latter type of parameters includes "whether a specific event (event log) occurs", "whether a job number is wrong (wrong job number)", "whether print settings are changed (setting content change)", "whether a captured image Pw is misaligned during printing (camera image: misalignment during printing)", "whether the use state of a camera or illumination or the like fluctuates (such as fluctuation in brightness of the captured image Pw or the like) (camera image: illumination/camera fluctuation)", "whether foreign matter or mask or the like is reflected in the captured image Pw (camera image: foreign matter/mask)" and "whether another event (such as power-off of printing laser light or the like) occurs (other)" and the like.

It can be said that these seven cause parameters are parameters indicating the cause of the print defect itself, or parameters closely related to the cause. In this sense, these cause parameters may be considered as parameters representing "root causes". Further, among the seven cause parameters, it is judged that the event log, the error job number, and the setting content are changed so that the cause of the print defect is an operation error of the user or an operation of the PLC 902 or the like, and the other four cause parameters are judged so that the print defect is caused by other environmental causes.

Each status item is associated with a plurality of cause parameters. As will be described later, when the user designates the symptom of the print defect as the status item, the external terminal 700 as the diagnosis support apparatus displays the cause parameter corresponding to the symptom.

Therefore, the correspondence relation storage section 703b stores at least whether or not each of the plurality of cause parameters is displayed on the display section 701 as the correspondence relation between each status item and the plurality of cause parameters.

That is, a cause parameter that is considered to have a strong correlation with a symptom is displayed on the display section 701 to indicate the user. On the other hand, the cause parameter that is considered to have a weak correlation with the symptom is not displayed on the display section 701 so as not to instruct the user. As a result, unnecessary cause parameters can be excluded from the diagnosis object, and therefore, usability can be improved in diagnosing a print defect.

Specifically, as an example of the status item, a case where "printing position misalignment" is focused on is considered. Intuitively, it is believed that this symptom is strongly correlated with XY tracking, and weakly correlated with laser power. Therefore, the correspondence relation storage section 703b sets the relation of XY tracking to be displayed on the display section 701 and the relation of laser power not to be displayed on the display section 701 (see also fig. 16) as the correspondence relation between the symptom "printing position misalignment" and the plurality of cause parameters.

The correspondence relation storage unit 703b also stores the priority order (display priority order) and the correspondence relation when each of the plurality of cause parameters is displayed on the display unit 701.

For example, among the cause parameters that need to be displayed on the display section 701, a cause parameter that is considered to have a relatively strong correlation with a symptom is displayed on the display section 701 in preference to a cause parameter that is considered to have a relatively weak correlation. As a result, more important cause parameters can be preferentially displayed, so that usability can be improved in diagnosing a print defect.

Further, at least two or more status items are provided. Thus, at least two or more sets of a plurality of cause parameters corresponding to the status items are prepared.

In other words, the correspondence relation storage section 703b according to this embodiment may store the correspondence relation between the first status item and a plurality of first cause parameters that are candidates for the cause of the print defect corresponding to the first status item, and the display priority order of the plurality of first cause parameters; meanwhile, a correspondence relationship between a second status item indicating a status different from the first status item and a plurality of second cause parameters that are candidates for a cause of a print defect corresponding to the second status item and display priorities of the plurality of second cause parameters are stored.

Hereinafter, details of the diagnosis support method will be described using a specific example.

(diagnosis support method)

The diagnosis support method is configured as a method for causing the external terminal 700 to execute the diagnosis support program described above. When the diagnosis support method is started, the respective steps shown in fig. 14 are sequentially executed.

First, in step S101 of fig. 14, the display section 701 displays two or more status items indicating the status of a print defect on the workpiece W. Specifically, in step S101, the display section 701 displays at least a first status item and a second status item indicating a status different from the first status item. As a result, a list of symptoms (status items) of the print defect is displayed on the display section 701.

Fig. 15A shows a selection screen Sc1 displayed on the display section 701. On this selection screen Sc1, a status item B1 indicating a symptom of "no printing", a status item B2 indicating a symptom of "insufficient printing", a status item B3 indicating a symptom of "dark printing, bright printing, or uneven printing", a status item B4 indicating a symptom of "printing disturbed", a status item B5 indicating a symptom of "wrong print content", a status item B6 indicating a symptom of "printing position misalignment", and a status item B7 indicating a symptom of "low print evaluation value (low overall grade or print score, etc.)" are displayed as status items.

In the subsequent step S102, the user selects the symptom of the print defect occurring in the workpiece W using the receiving section 702. Specifically, in step S102, the receiving section 702 receives an operation for selecting at least one of two or more status items displayed on the display section 701. Specifically, in step S102, the receiving section 702 receives an operation for selecting at least one of two or more status items including a first status item and a second status item. More specifically, in step S102, the user operation receiving section 702 selects a status item corresponding to a symptom occurring in the work W from among the status items B1 to B7.

In the example shown in fig. 15A, a desired state item may be selected by clicking any one of the state items B1 to B7 listed on the selection screen Sc 1. When the button B8 described as "next" is clicked in the state where the status item has been selected, the display content is switched on the display section 701. Here, the description is continued assuming that the symptom "print insufficient" is selected.

In the subsequent step S103, the control section 704 determines the necessity of displaying the respective cause parameters and/or the priority order during display based on the symptom (status item) selected in step S102. Specifically, in step S103, the control section 704 makes the display priority order of the plurality of cause parameters different between the case where the first state item is selected by the receiving section 702 and the case where the second state item different from the first state item is selected, based on the state item selected in step S102 and the content stored in the correspondence relation storage section 703 b. More specifically, the control unit 704 causes the display priority order of each of the cause parameters constituting the plurality of first cause parameters to be different from the display priority order of each of the cause parameters constituting the plurality of second cause parameters. In other words, the control section 704 may change the display order in displaying the respective cause parameters on the display section 701 for the respective status items.

In step S103, in addition to or instead of the control of changing the display priority order as described above, the control section 704 makes a combination of a plurality of cause parameters that need to be displayed on the display section 701 different between the case of selecting the first status item and the case of selecting the second status item through the receiving section 702. More specifically, the control section 704 makes the combination of the cause parameters that need to be displayed on the display section 701 at least partially different among all the cause parameters constituting the plurality of first cause parameters and the plurality of second cause parameters. In other words, the control section 704 may change, for example, the above-described correspondence relationship for each status item.

In particular, the control section 704 according to the embodiment is configured to perform both control for changing the display priority order and control for changing the configuration of the cause parameter that needs to be displayed on the display section 701.

In this way, the control section 704 according to this embodiment can change the display priority order of the cause parameter corresponding to the status item for each status item, and change whether or not the respective cause parameters (e.g., the correspondence) are displayed on the display section 701 for each status item.

Fig. 16 shows respective reason parameters, their correspondence relationships, and display priority orders corresponding thereto. Here, letters "a", "B", and "C" indicate the cause parameters to be displayed on the display section 701, and a symbol "x" indicates the cause parameters not to be displayed on the display section 701. Further, the letters "a", "B", and "C" indicate a higher display priority order in alphabetical order.

For example, when "printing is disturbed" is selected as the status item, the control section 704 does not display the laser power and the window inspection on the display section 701, but preferentially displays the Z-tracking and the XY-tracking. In particular, the control section 704 according to this embodiment preferentially displays the status item classified as "surface cause" between the status item classified as "surface cause" and the status item classified as "root cause" on the display section 701. Specific display contents will be explained in the description of step S106.

In the subsequent step S104, the display section 701 displays the pass/fail determination results of printing, and the captured image Pw and the print score in time-series order. Specifically, in step S104, the display section 701 displays at least one of a first display region Rc1 that displays the plurality of determination results (pass/fail determination results) stored in the history storage section 703a in time-series order and a second display region Rc2 that displays the captured images Pw corresponding to the plurality of determination results displayed in the first display region Rc1, respectively, in time-series order.

Fig. 15B shows an example of a designation screen Sc2 of the date and time when the print defect occurred. As shown in the drawing, the display part 701 according to this embodiment can simultaneously display both the first display region Rc1 and the second display region Rc 2. In the example shown in fig. 15B, the first display area Rc1 displays a plurality of vertical bars indicating that the print sequence is performed in time-series order. Among the vertical bars displayed in the first display area Rc1, the vertical bar displayed by the alternate long and short dashed lines indicates a determination result of good printing (OK determination result), and the vertical bar displayed by the solid line with the mark Mn indicates a determination result of occurrence of a print defect (NG determination result). In this example, for a signal at 12: the NG determination is made as a result of the determination of the penultimate print sequence performed around 00.

In the example shown in fig. 15B, the second display region Rc2 displays the captured images Pw corresponding to the respective determination results in time-series order from the left side. Here, the captured images Pw generated in the last five print sequences in the print sequences performed a plurality of times are displayed. Each captured image Pw exemplifies a case where the character string "ABC" is adopted as the print pattern Pm. Further, the print score calculated when the print pass/fail is judged is displayed in the vicinity of the upper right corner of the display area (square area) of each captured image Pw.

Here, of the five captured images Pw, the determination result corresponding to the second last captured image Pw is the NG determination as described above. To support this determination result, a print score "46" smaller than 50 and a character string "NG" indicating NG determination are displayed in the second to last captured image Pw. In this way, the captured image Pw to which the character string "NG" is attached is associated with the NG determination result. On the other hand, the captured image Pw to which the character string "NG" is not assigned is associated with the OK determination result.

Here, when any determination result in the first display region Rc1 is selected via the receiving section 702, the captured image Pw associated with the selected determination result is also selected in the second display region Rc 2. In contrast, when any captured image Pw in the second display region Rc2 is selected, the determination result associated with the selected captured image Pw is also selected in the first display region Rc 1.

In this way, the diagnosis support apparatus according to the embodiment is configured such that the operation input in the first display region Rc1 and the operation input in the second display region Rc2 are linked to each other.

In the example shown in fig. 15B, the first display region Rc1 is disposed above the second display region Rc 2. Further, a third display region Rc3 configured to set the extraction period of the determination result in the first display region Rc1 is displayed above the first display region Rc 1. When desired numerical values are input in the date and time designation field C1 and the time designation field C2 in the third display area Rc3, the extraction period of the determination result may be set.

The display content in the first display area Rc1 is changed by changing the extraction period of the determination result. The control portion 704 may change the display content in the second display area Rc2 to link with the change. Specifically, the control section 704 changes the display content in the second display region Rc2 to display the captured image Pw corresponding to the changed determination result in the first display region Rc 1.

On the other hand, buttons Bb1 and Bb2 configured to change the captured image Pw to be displayed are displayed in the second display region Rc 2. For example, when the button Bb1 is clicked, the image capturing timing of the captured image Pw to be displayed can be traced back to the past to change the display content in the second display region Rc 2. Further, when the button Bb2 is clicked, the image capturing timing of the captured image Pw to be displayed can be changed in the opposite direction to the case where the button Bb1 is clicked. The control portion 704 may change the display contents in the first display region Rc1 to link with these changes. Specifically, the control section 704 changes the display content in the first display region Rc1 to display the determination result corresponding to the captured image Pw in the second display region Rc 2.

In this way, the control section 704 according to this embodiment can control the display section 701 so that the display content of one of the first display region Rc1 and the second display region Rc2 is changed in conjunction with a change in the display content. Note that the display contents referred to here include display changes accompanying the determination result or selection of the captured image Pw.

On the other hand, as described above, the determination results obtained by the pass/fail determination section 105 are shown using the display mode of the vertical bar in the first display region Rc1 of the first display region Rc1 and the second display region Rc 2. However, even if the pass/fail determination section 105 determines "print good", when the user visually discriminates the captured image Pw, a print defect (a print defect that does not occur in the overall grade and print score) may be found.

Therefore, the receiving section 702 according to this embodiment is configured to receive an operation for correcting the determination result obtained by the pass/fail determining section 105. When the determination result is corrected via the receiving section 702, the control section 704 controls the display section 701 so that the correction via the receiving section 702 is reflected.

Specifically, the reception section 702 may change the OK determination to the NG determination or the NG determination to the OK determination by a click operation on the captured image Pw in the second display area Rc2 (see fig. 20). Such changed content is appropriately reflected in the display modes in the first display region Rc1 and the second display region Rc 2.

In the subsequent step S105, the user selects the pass/fail determination result of printing or the captured image Pw associated with each printing using the receiving section 702. As described above, the respective determination results and the captured images Pw are grouped in units of print sequences. Therefore, the date and time at which the print defect occurs are specified by selecting the determination result or the captured image Pw (see the thick frame Fn). Specifically, in step S105, the receiving section 702 receives an operation for selecting one or more of the NG determination result displayed in the first display region Rc1 or the captured image Pw corresponding to the NG determination result and displayed in the second display region Rc 2.

In other words, the receiving section 702 according to this embodiment receives an operation for selecting a plurality of NG determination results or selecting a plurality of captured images Pw. In this case, the date and time when the print defect occurs is designated as a "print defect occurrence period" which includes the judgment result of the multiple selection or the captured image Pw.

In the subsequent step S106, the display section 701 displays the status information of the laser marker L centering on the occurrence date and time specified by the selection of the NG determination result or the captured image Pw in step S105. Specifically, in step S106, the control section 704 controls the display section 701 so that, among a plurality of types of status information (in this embodiment, the above-described plurality of cause parameters), at least the status information associated with the NG determination result or the captured image Pw selected via the receiving section 702 is displayed on the display section 701. The processing related to step S106 may be started by, for example, clicking a button describing the sentence "start diagnosis", or may be automatically started without such an operation.

When the NG determination result or the captured image Pw is designated by the control unit 704 via the receiving unit 702, the plurality of types of status information are displayed on the display unit 701 in time-series order for at least one of the plurality of types of status information. Specifically, when the NG determination result or the captured image Pw is selected a plurality of times, the control section 704 may display a plurality of pieces of status information associated with the respective NG determination results or captured images Pw in time-series order. However, this method has difficulty coping with a case where only one NG determination result or one captured image Pw is selected.

Therefore, the display section 801 according to this embodiment can display the status information associated with the determination result or the captured image Pw other than the selected NG determination result or the captured image Pw side by side and the status information associated with the selected NG determination result or the captured image Pw. Specifically, in step S106, the control section 704 controls the display section 701 so that, among the plurality of types of state information, state information associated with a determination result other than the NG determination result designated via the reception section 702 or state information associated with a captured image Pw other than the captured image Pw designated via the reception section 702 is displayed on the display section 701.

In particular, in this embodiment, the display section 701 displays a plurality of cause parameters as a plurality of types of status information. In this case, the external terminal 700 as the diagnosis support apparatus is configured to change the display order and the necessity of display of the cause parameters in accordance with the symptoms of the print defect as described above.

Specifically, in step S106, the control section 704 may display the cause parameters on the display section 701 in the display priority order determined in step S103, or display the cause parameters on the display section 701 based on the combination determined in step S103.

Fig. 15C shows a diagnostic screen Sc3 of a print defect. This diagnosis screen Sc3 is displayed immediately after switching from the designation screen Sc2, and is a screen configured to diagnose the first cause parameter. On the left side of the diagnostic screen Sc3, a cause list Lt is displayed in which a plurality of cause parameters are arranged from the top in accordance with the display priority order.

As described above, the display priority order of four cause parameters classified as "root cause", such as window inspection, is higher than the display priority order of a plurality of cause parameters classified as "surface cause", such as event logs. Further, the display priority order of the cause parameters classified as "root cause" is determined based on the table shown in fig. 16. As shown in fig. 16, when "insufficient printing" is selected as the status item, the window check is displayed with the highest priority, followed by the laser power and XY tracking, and then the Z tracking.

Specifically, the control unit 704 causes the display unit 701 to display the cause parameter as the status information based on the storage content in the history storage unit 703 a. In the example shown in fig. 15C, the change over time of the window check as the cause parameter that needs to be displayed at the highest priority is displayed in the graphic display area Rc4 arranged in the center of the screen (see the white portion in the cause list Lt).

Specifically, in the graphic display area Rc4 shown in fig. 15C, a line graph connecting the values of the respective window checks is displayed to show the change over time of the window check as the cause parameter. When the window inspection value is small, it can be determined that the light-transmissive window 19 is more contaminated than in the case where the window inspection value is large. Further, the mark Mn in the graphic display area Rc4 indicates that the printing sequence of NG determination results is made as described above. As indicated by the mark Mn, the window check value fluctuates greatly in the print sequence in which the NG determination result is made, compared with other timings.

In the subsequent step S107, the user diagnoses the print defect based on the change over time of the cause parameter. At this time, the diagnosis support method according to the embodiment can support the diagnosis of the print defect in a form of interaction with the user.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 15C, an interaction region Rc5 configured to interact with a user is displayed above the graphical display region Rc 4. The interaction region Rc5 displays a question asking whether or not a change over time in the cause parameter displayed in the graphic display region Rc4 exhibits a specific behavior (specifically, a behavior when the displayed cause parameter is abnormal), the item By clicked when it is determined to have a specific behavior "yes", the item Bn clicked when it is determined not to have such a behavior "no", and the item Bi clicked when it is difficult to determine whether or not such a behavior is exhibited "i'm agnostic".

In other words, when it is determined that the cause parameter displayed in the graphic display area Rc4 triggers a symptom characterizing a print defect, the selection item By "yes". When it is determined that the cause parameter displayed in the graphic display area Rc4 does not trigger a symptom characterizing a print defect, the selection item Bn is "no". When it is determined that the cause parameter displayed in the graphic display area Rc4 may be related to a symptom characterizing a print defect, the selection item Bi "i don't know".

In the example in the figure, the result of the window check greatly fluctuates at the timing at which the NG determination result is made (the timing at which the flag Mn is attached). In this case, the user clicks on the item By "yes".

The control section 704 repeats step S106 and step S107 for all the cause parameters determined to be displayed on the display section 701. For example, fig. 15D shows a diagnosis screen Sc4 configured to diagnose a third cause parameter. The diagnostic screen Sc4 shows the change over time of the Z-trace as a cause parameter whose display priority is lower than that of the window examination.

Specifically, a line graph formed by connecting the values of the Z-tracking (the measurement values of the distance measuring unit 5) is displayed in the graphic display area Rc4 shown in fig. 15D. In the example shown in the figure, it can be determined that the result of Z-tracking greatly fluctuates in the print sequence in which the NG determination result is made. Thus, the user clicks on the item By "yes".

In addition, when the symptom of "insufficient printing" is selected, the control section 704 displays all the four cause parameters classified as "surface causes" on the display section 701 (see fig. 16). When the diagnosis of the cause parameter classified as "surface cause" is completed, the control section 704 starts to display the cause parameter classified as "root cause" on the display section 701.

For example, fig. 15E shows a diagnosis screen Sc5 configured to diagnose a sixth cause parameter. The diagnostic screen Sc5 shows the change over time of the event log (whether the occurrence of a specific event is written to the print log Lg).

In the example shown in the figure, a graph indicating NG is displayed in the print sequence in which the NG determination result is made. Thus, the user clicks on the item By "yes".

Although line graphs connecting the values of the respective causal parameters are displayed to explain the temporal changes of the causal parameters as the status information in the diagnostic screens Sc3 to Sc5 shown so far, the display method explaining the temporal changes is not limited to the line graphs. The change over time of the cause parameter as the state information may be displayed on the display section 701 using at least one of a line graph, a bar graph, and a scatter diagram. Further, the display method may be different for each type of status information.

When the user's diagnosis of all the cause parameters displayed in the cause list Lt is completed, the control section 704 identifies the cause of the print defect. In the example in the figure, as shown in fig. 15C, the value of the window inspection greatly fluctuates, and therefore it is determined that the light transmissive window 19 is contaminated. As shown in fig. 15D, the value of Z-tracking also fluctuates greatly, and hence misalignment of the workpiece W is considered to be a cause. The details of the misalignment can be judged by diagnostics related to other cause parameters, such as whether the misalignment occurred during printing, etc. Such identification is performed based on the selection of the cause parameter of the item By "yes" or the item Bi "i don't know" in the interaction region Rc 5.

Thereafter, the user clicks the button Bb3 displaying the sentence "display countermeasure". When this button Bb3 is operated, the control process advances from step S107 to step S108. Note that the operation of clicking the button Bb3 is not essential. After the user completes the diagnosis, step S108 may be automatically entered.

In step S108, the display section 701 displays the cause identified in step S107 and a countermeasure for solving the cause. For example, fig. 15F shows a countermeasure screen Sc6 to display the cause identified by the cause parameter shown so far (such as the diagnosis screen Sc3 shown in fig. 15C) and the countermeasure against the cause parameter. As shown in fig. 15F, the countermeasure screen Sc6 shows each of window contamination identified as the first cause (cause 1), countermeasures for solving contamination, misalignment during printing of a workpiece identified as the second cause (cause 2), and countermeasures for solving misalignment.

Thereafter, the user clicks the button Bb4 displaying the sentence "output report" or the button Bb5 displaying the sentence "end diagnosis". When the previous button Bb4 is operated, the control process advances from step S108 to step S109. In this step S109, a report indicating the result of the print defect diagnosis, such as the date and time when the print defect occurred, the cause of the print defect, and a countermeasure to solve the cause, is output.

On the other hand, when the button Bb5 displaying the sentence "end diagnosis" is operated in step S108, the control process skips step S109 and ends.

Note that in step S108, the operation of clicking the button Bb4 or Bb5 is not essential. The report may be automatically output at the same time as the process of the countermeasure screen Sc6 is displayed, or may be automatically output at a timing before or after the process is executed.

(treatment when multiple symptoms are selected)

Fig. 17 is a diagram showing a display priority order when a plurality of symptoms are selected. Fig. 18 is a diagram showing a diagnostic screen Sc7 when a plurality of symptoms are selected.

Although the processing when the symptom "print insufficient" is selected, that is, the processing when one status item is selected has been shown so far, the diagnosis support method according to the present invention is configured to allow two or more status items to be selected. That is, a plurality of state items may be selected from the state items B1 to B7 on the selection screen Sc1 shown in fig. 15A. Specifically, the receiving section 702 according to this embodiment is configured to be able to select both the first status item and the second status item.

However, when both the first status item and the second status item are selected, a problem arises as to how to configure the display priority order. To solve this problem, the control section 704 according to the embodiment is configured to reset the display priority order to respect both the display priority order corresponding to the first status item and the display priority order corresponding to the second status item.

Specifically, when both the first status item and the second status item are selected by the receiving section 702, the control section 704 refers to one having a higher order between the display priority orders of the plurality of first cause parameters and the display priority orders of the plurality of second cause parameters based on the contents stored in the correspondence relation storage section 703b, thereby displaying both the plurality of first cause parameters and the second cause parameters on the display section 701.

That is, when both the first status item and the second status item are selected, both a plurality of first cause parameters as cause candidates corresponding to the first status item and a plurality of second cause parameters as cause candidates corresponding to the second status item are displayed on the display section 701.

At this time, even if the display priority order of the predetermined parameter (for example, "Z-trail") is low among the cause parameters constituting the plurality of first cause parameters, the display priority order of the predetermined parameter is set to be high if the display priority order of the predetermined parameter is high in the group of the plurality of second cause parameters.

Fig. 17 shows a process when the status item B2 showing the symptom "print insufficient" is selected as the first status item and the status item B4 showing the symptom "print disturbed" is selected as the second status item.

As shown in the upper part of fig. 17, of the plurality of first cause parameters corresponding to the first status item (insufficient printing), the display priority order of the Z trace is set to be as low as "C"; of the plurality of second cause parameters corresponding to the second status items (printing disturbed), the display priority order of the Z-trace is set to be as high as "a". In this case, as shown in the middle part of fig. 17, the final display priority order is set to "a" having a higher order.

As shown in the upper part of fig. 17, among the plurality of first reason parameters, the display priority order of the window inspection is set to be as high as "a"; and among the plurality of second cause parameters, the window check is set to "x" so as not to be displayed on the display section 701. In this case, the window check is set as the reason parameter requiring display, and the display priority order thereof is set to "a" as shown in the middle part of fig. 17.

When such processing is performed for all of the respective cause parameters constituting the plurality of first cause parameters and the respective cause parameters constituting the plurality of second cause parameters, as shown in the lower part of fig. 17, the necessity of final display and the display priority order during display are determined.

Fig. 18 shows a diagnostic screen Sc7 displayed based on the above determination. As shown in the figure, in the cause list Lt' in the case where "insufficient printing" and "printing disturbed" are selected, the cause parameters are displayed side by side in substantially the same order as in the lower part of fig. 17.

(modification of diagnostic Picture)

The diagnosis screens Sc3 to Sc6 in the above-described embodiments are provided with the second display region Rc2 that displays the captured image Pw specifying the date and time at which the print defect occurs and the graphic display region Rc4 that displays the change over time of the cause parameter as the status information, as information for print defect diagnosis, but the configuration of the diagnosis screen is not limited to this.

Fig. 19 is a diagram showing a modification of the diagnosis screen. The diagnostic screen Sc7 according to this modification is provided with a conditional display region Rc6 in addition to a region such as the graphic display region Rc 4. The condition display region Rc6 is a region configured to display the above-described variations in laser conditions such as laser power, scanning speed, and pulse frequency. It is advantageous to identify the cause of the print defect by referring to the condition display area Rc 6.

(improvement in usability)

On the other hand, even if a print defect is found using the captured image Pw, it is difficult to identify the cause of the print defect only by visually discriminating the captured image Pw. If the cause cannot be identified, there is a problem in the settings and measures for improving symptoms.

Further, in order for the user to diagnose the print defect, it is necessary to visually appropriately discriminate the captured image Pw. However, in the case where there are a large number of workpieces W subjected to printing, there are also a large number of captured images Pw indicating pass/fail of laser printing, and therefore, it is difficult to extract a desired captured image Pw.

On the other hand, according to the above-described embodiment, the history storage section 703a stores the NG determination result and the captured image Pw in association with each other, thereby facilitating extraction of the captured image Pw where the print defect occurs. According to this embodiment, by specifying the NG determination result displayed on the display section 701 or the captured image Pw corresponding to the NG determination result, it is possible to display the NG determination result or the status information associated with the captured image Pw (see step S106 in fig. 14). As a result, when printing is not performed well, the user can visually recognize the status information and facilitate diagnosis of a print defect. That is, the above-described embodiments help identify the cause of a print defect.

In this way, according to the embodiment, it is possible to facilitate extraction of the captured image Pw indicating pass/fail of laser printing and identification of the cause of a print defect using the captured image Pw, and further improve usability relating to diagnosis of a print defect.

Further, as described with reference to fig. 15B, the display mode of the first display region Rc1 and the display mode of the second display region Rc2 are configured in conjunction with each other. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

Further, as described with reference to fig. 15B to 15E and the like, the captured image Pw and the status information on the NG determination result may be compared with the captured image Pw and the status information on the OK determination result. As a result, the captured image Pw can be extracted more easily, and the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

Further, as described with reference to fig. 15B to 15E and the like, the user can compare the NG determination result or the status information associated with the captured image Pw specified via the receiving section 702 with the determination result (for example, OK determination result) other than the specified determination result or the status information associated with the captured image Pw. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

Further, as described with reference to fig. 15C to 15E, the user can visually recognize the change over time of the cause parameter as the state information. As a result, the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

Further, as described with reference to fig. 15C to 15E, by displaying the change over time of the cause parameter as a line graph, the user can easily visually recognize the change over time. As a result, the cause of the print defect can be identified more easily.

Further, as shown in fig. 16, the marking system S according to this embodiment can use the output of the printing laser (laser power), the distance to the workpiece W (Z tracking), the position of the workpiece W (XY tracking), and contamination on the light-transmissive window 19 (window inspection) as causal parameters. In this way, the cause of the print defect can be identified more thoroughly using a wide range of information as the cause parameter (status information).

Further, as shown in fig. 20, when the user finds a print defect which is ignored by the pass/fail determining section 105, the determination result may be corrected, and the display content of the display section 701 may be changed to reflect the correction. As a result, the usability in diagnosing a print defect can be further improved.

< other embodiments >

In the above-described embodiment, the diagnosis support apparatus is configured using the external terminal 700 separate from or integrated with the operation terminal 800, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the marker controller 100 may be used to configure the diagnostic support device. In this case, the marker controller 100 may implement all the elements constituting the diagnosis support apparatus, or the marker controller 100 may implement only some of the elements. For example, among the constituent elements of the diagnosis support apparatus, the storage section 703 may be configured using the condition setting storage section 102 of the marker controller 100, and the other constituent elements may be configured using the external terminal 700.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, there is a cause parameter not displayed on the display section 701 according to the selected symptom (status item), but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, after setting the display priority order for all the cause parameters, all the cause parameters may be displayed on the display section 701 regardless of the selected symptom (status item). Alternatively, in the case where the display priority order of the respective cause parameters is not set, only display or non-display on the display section 701 may be set.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the distance measuring unit 5 as the distance measuring mechanism is provided inside the housing 10, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The distance measuring means may also be arranged outside the housing 10.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, both the coaxial camera 6 and the all-around camera 7 as the image pickup section are provided inside the housing 10, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the entire camera 7 as an image acquisition section may be provided outside the housing 10.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the diagnosis support method is described using the flow shown in fig. 14, but the configuration of the diagnosis support method is not limited to the flow shown in fig. 14. For example, the order of the various steps may be changed.

Specifically, in the above-described embodiment, after the symptom is selected in step S102, the display priority order is determined in step S103, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the processing of step S104 and step S105 and the like may be performed first after the processing of step S102 is performed and before the processing of step S103 is performed.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the process proceeds to step S105 via step S103 and step S104 after the symptom is selected in step S102, and the date and time at which the print defect occurs is specified in step S105, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, the process may proceed to steps S101 and S102 after steps S104 and S105 are performed. With this configuration, the user can select a symptom while referring to the captured image Pw and the determination result.

Further, the configuration of the status information used as the cause parameter is not limited to the example of fig. 12. A part described in fig. 12 may be used, and information not described in fig. 12 may be added. Examples of information that can be added include contamination on the light-transmissive window 19 detected immediately before printing (pre-printing window monitoring result). When this information is used, the same processing as step S38 in fig. 11 is performed at any timing of steps S31 to S34 in fig. 11. When the pre-print window monitoring result and the post-print window monitoring result are combined, contamination on the light-transmissive window 19 can be diagnosed in more detail.

Also, with respect to Z tracking as the state information, as described in step S32, the measurement value before the misalignment in the Z direction is corrected may be used, the measurement value after the misalignment is corrected may be used, or both the measurement values before and after the misalignment may be used.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the history information is transmitted and received between the marker controller 100 and the external terminal 700 using the print log Lg, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. The history information can be transmitted and received in real time without using the print log Lg.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the display section 701 is configured to sequentially display the cause parameters one by one in the graphic display region Rc4, but the present invention is not limited to such a configuration. For example, multiple cause parameters may be displayed simultaneously. In this case, for example, the reason parameters may be displayed in order from the top according to the display priority order.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the display section 701 is configured to simultaneously display the first display area Rc1 and the second display area Rc2 when the date and time at which the print defect occurred are specified, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, the display part 701 may display one of the first display region Rc1 and the second display region Rc 2.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the display part 701 is configured to display both the NG determination result and the OK determination result in the first display area Rc1, but the present invention is not limited to this configuration. The display unit 701 may display at least the NG determination result.