Patent Application
20220203476
The present invention relates to a marking process of an object, in particular a marking and positioning process of an object to be marked and relevant apparatus to make this process.
Marking technologies are widely used and can comprise mechanical engraving or laser engraving solutions.
Mechanical engraving is the marking process that allows the surface of an object to be modified by, e.g., scratching or burring in order to obtain the shape or the inscription to be engraved. With such devices it is possible to engrave on metals, even of considerable hardness, or on materials whose surface may have been treated in different ways.
Laser engraving, on the other hand, allows, through the release of localized energy, altering the surface of an object so as to create desired shapes or inscriptions on the object itself.
The marking systems of known type are generally combined with control systems that manage the programming and execution of the shapes or inscriptions to be engraved. In particular, such systems generally comprise a marking apparatus provided with a movable head and arranged above a support/work top of the object to be marked.
The apparatus is connected to the control system (e.g. a PC) usually provided with a proprietary word processing software for the data entering (shape or inscription) to be engraved on the object.
In the case of laser solutions, the marking apparatus comprises an illuminator designed to generate a light beam projected towards the support surface to form a light guide which is adapted to indicate the space the data will occupy on the object to be marked. This way, the operator can position the object to be marked on the plane and manually orient it according to the light guide.
After the positioning of the object and once the data has been chosen/inserted in the word processing software, the marking process can be started.
A drawback in the known marking processes is that the object to be marked is positioned solely and exclusively on the base of the light guide visible on the support surface. The light guide usually consists of a closed polygonal line, e.g. a rectangle on the work top, which aids manual setting and orientation of the object to be marked.
As you can guess, the more the object is of a particular shape, the more difficult will be the positioning of the object to be marked.
For example, in the case of a nameplate, the operator will have to push it by hand with small movements until, on sight, he is satisfied with the outcome of the positioning. Furthermore, if the data is to be engraved according to predetermined references, for example precisely parallel or orthogonal to an edge of the object, its positioning will be even more difficult with obvious aesthetic effects on the final marking. Finally, it should be noted that, if the object to be marked is a code (barcode, QR, etc.), a non-compliant engraving could even affect the correct recognition of the object.
The Applicant realised that a visual analysis of the positioning of an object to be marked on the work top is affected by potential human errors due to multiple factors such as, e.g., the lack of consistency of the operator's performance and at the same time the lack of consistency of the analysis and judgement between different operators or even of the same operator at different times of their work shift.
The Applicant thus decided to divide the manual positioning activity, and therefore the arrangement of the object on the work top, from the visual analysis activity, and therefore the check of the correct positioning on the work top.
The Applicant has therefore thought to develop a solution that provides for a check of the final positioning of the object directly on the screen and before the actual marking in order to obtain a more effective, repeatable result which is not affected by human error.
The present invention therefore relates, in a first aspect thereof, to a marking process of an object having structural and functional characteristics such as to meet the above requirements and at the same time to overcome the above mentioned drawbacks with reference to the prior art.
This object is achieved by a marking process of an object according to claim 1.
According to a further aspect, the present invention relates to a marking apparatus of an object according to claim 11.
Further characteristics and advantages of the marking process and of the related apparatus made according to the present invention will result more evident from the description below of a preferred example of embodiment, given as an indication and not limited to, with reference to the annexed figures, in which:
With reference to the example in
In the remainder of the present description and in the subsequent claims, reference will be made to the apparatus 1 in relation to a preferably laser marking solution. The present invention, however, also applies to different marking solutions such as, e.g., mechanical engravings of the dot peen, impact, scribe, roll, with mechanical presses, hot, electrolytic type, etc. In this case the marking head will be provided with an appropriate marking tool for the mechanical engraving of the object to be marked.
In accordance with an embodiment, the apparatus 1 comprises a laser beam generating device 2 suitable for generating a beam of laser light along an optical emission path 5 which, suitably deflected by at least one or more deflection mirrors 3, is sent towards the marking head 4. The marking head 4 may be provided with one or more optical means to focus the laser beam along the optical emission path 5 towards the work top L on which the object P to be marked is positioned.
The generating device 2 and the deflection mirror 3 are preferably housed in an enclosure 6 which moves on the work top L. The marking head 4 is attached to the enclosure 6 to be oriented, in use, towards the work top L. In particular, the enclosure 6 is mounted on a motorised vertical carriage 7 attached to the work top L to allow the marking head 4 to be moved away from and/or approached to the work top L along a vertical direction z.
In addition, by means of appropriate means of movement, e.g. motorized linear guides (not illustrated), associated with the enclosure 6, it is also possible to move the marking head 4 horizontally so that it can be moved with respect to the work top L at will on a three-dimensional system x, y and z.
In accordance with one embodiment, the deflection mirror 3, or any other deflection mirrors, may also be moved by appropriate movement means, for example, according to the techniques described in the patent IT 1408796 under the name of the Applicant and incorporated herein as a reference.
As shown in the example in
Preferably, the word processing software also allows setting further parameters for the graphic processing of the data to be marked, such as, e.g., magnifying, rotation, font selection, etc., and more generally managing all the on-screen processing operations which are required before sending the trigger command to carry out the actual marking.
Conveniently, the laser beam can also be used to determine the height of the object P by means of techniques known to an expert in the field and not described in detail herein (e.g. by means of triangulation systems, flight time calculation, etc.).
Advantageously, the apparatus 1 according to the invention is also provided with one or more detecting means 10 adapted to acquire an image of the object to be marked P when the latter is positioned on the work top L. In this case, the detecting means 10 may comprise a camera vision system (e.g. a CCD or CMOS technology type camera) mounted in the enclosure 6 and positioned along an optical receiving path 11 so as to be able to frame the entire surface of the work top L and thus to acquire the image of the object P positioned in any part of the work top L.
It should be noted that the acquired images are analysed by the processing means 8 in order to determine at least one distinctive feature of the image itself that is representative of the object P. The determination of the distinctive feature of the acquired images is carried out by means of predetermined recognition algorithms known to an expert in the sector and not described herein in detail. These recognition algorithms detect, for example, the salient points (or otherwise called “feature points”) of the images themselves to determine the type of the object to be marked. According to some embodiments, the determination of the type of the object is carried out through an algorithm of the “SIFT” type (Scale-invariant feature transform).
The camera 10 is preferably arranged on the side of the marking head 4.
As shown in the example in
Preferably, the three-dimensional image of the acquired object P is transformed by the processing means 8 into a two-dimensional format so that it can be displayed on the display 9 while using the word processing software. In this case, once the object P has been positioned on the work top L, the camera 10 acquires the image of the object P which is processed by the PC 8 so that it can be displayed on the display 9 in a two-dimensional format.
With reference to the examples in
As shown in the example in
When the camera is switched on (
As still visible from
In an alternative version, the work top L is movable with respect to the marking head 4 and/or with respect to the camera 10. This way, in case of misalignment of the object, it is possible to center the object P automatically without an operator using their hands to move the object P. For this purpose, the apparatus 1 is provided with motorized movement means (not shown) which are linked to the work top L to move it horizontally and vertically.
In a further alternative version, it is possible to displace the data D directly on screen via software to center it on the object P. For example, in the case of misalignments, incorrect orientations, disproportions, etc., it will be possible to modify the data D on screen via software by means of a plurality of processing/settings which are needed to select the desired alignment between the data D and the object P before sending the trigger command and then make the actual marking.
After having selected the desired predefined alignment and/or orientation between the object P and the data D to be marked, the processing means 8 send a trigger signal to the marking head 4 to move it and align it over the object P to be marked.
After having reached the desired alignment between the object P and the data D to be engraved, it is possible to start the actual marking which allows the engraving of the data D on the object P in the desired position by means of the laser light beam directed towards the object P (
After the desired alignment or orientation has been reached between the object P and the data D to be engraved, it is possible to start the actual marking which allows the engraving of the data D on the object P in the desired position by means of the laser light beam directed towards the object P (
It must be specified that the acquisition and processing of the image of the object P allows generating a two-dimensional signal representative of the position of the object P with respect to the data D to be engraved. In particular, the image acquired by the camera 10 is analyzed by the processing means 8, by means of an appropriate dedicated software algorithm, which superimposes the data D on the acquired image of the object P.
In one embodiment, if the acquired image of the object P contains values that do not correspond to predetermined tolerance values (e.g., unsuitable contrast and/or brightness values), it is possible to have lighting means 12 mounted on the enclosure 6, next to or around the camera 10, to illuminate the object P to be acquired as shown in
Again with reference to the example shown in
In accordance with the embodiments shown in the examples in
In the first example of
In the second example in
The embodiments shown in the examples in
In a further embodiment, the detecting means 10 are configured for the optical recognition of the data D (so-called “OCR”). For this purpose, the processing means 8 are provided with appropriate conversion software associated with the detecting means 10 in order to acquire, e.g., the font of data D already marked in order to make them available for later marking with the same font.
In accordance with one embodiment, the processing means 8 are connected to a server, more specifically a server of the cloud type. Additionally, the apparatus 1 can comprise a machine learning subsystem configured to interact with the processing means 8 in order to model in real time the distinctive features of the acquired images according to the type of objects P identified. In particular, the images are saved in the database and can be analysed by the machine learning subsystem in a predictive way to facilitate the recognition and/or profile of the objects P to be marked.
In a further version, the apparatus 1 can be connected to an open network, e.g. the internet, or to a closed network, e.g. the intranet. This way, several apparatuses 1 placed on the same network can share the information stored in their databases and send it to the server and/or to the machine learning subsystem to improve the performance in determining the distinctive features of the acquired images.
The processing means 8 are conveniently designed to monitor and store all the acquisitions of the object's images in such a way as to process a plurality of statistical information. This information can also be shared in the network to generate a plurality of common performances regarding the image acquisitions or the quality of the markings made. In particular, the performances may comprise, in addition to the statistical data on the types of objects P marked or to be marked, also data on the distinctive features of the objects and on the data D. Substantially, the detecting means 10 and the processing means 8 interact with each other to determine which objects P, for example, have taken more time to be recognized or have generated errors or, again, for qualitative evaluations of the type of marking carried out.
It should be noted that, when marking a very small object P, it is possible to zoom in on the object itself via software in order to capture an enlarged image on screen. This way, the data D to be engraved will be superimposed on the enlarged image of the object P while maintaining unchanged the proportions between the data D and the object P in the subsequent marking.
As can be seen from the present description, it was found that the described invention achieves the intended objects and in particular the fact is underlined that through the marking process and the related apparatus it is possible to check the correct positioning of an object to be marked on the work top in a simple, safe and fast way directly on screen.
Moreover, thanks to the particular acquisition of the images of the objects and marked data, it is possible to process the distinctive features of the objects in order to recognize them, thus improving the determination of the type of product to be marked and also ensuring high performance and effective quality control on the marking of the data.
The type of structural combinations of the apparatus as well as of the marking process are potentially infinite and obviously a technician in the field, in order to meet contingent and specific needs, can make numerous modifications and variations to the examples of embodiment described above, all of them contained within the scope of protection of the invention, as defined by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102019000005174 | Apr 2019 | IT | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2020/053269 | 4/6/2020 | WO | 00 |
