Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus of inspecting a surface of an object article capable of precisely detecting stains or miniature defects present in the object surface. Specifically, the invention provides a method of inspecting surface irregularity of an object article having a surface of uniform or regular brightness, which comprises the steps of: gaining brightness informations for a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed pixels by taking a picture of the article surface; finding stains on the article surface in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to produce a first output; finding miniature defects smaller in size than a unit pixel in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to generate a second output; switching the first output and the second output into appropriate electrical signals in an controlled manner; and displaying the switched electrical signals on a display in a viewable condition.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus of inspecting a surface of an object article capable of precisely detecting strains or miniature defects present in the object surface. Specifically, the invention provides a method of inspecting surface irregularity of an object article having a surface of uniform or regular brightness, which comprises the steps of: gaining brightness information for a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed pixels by taking a picture of the article surface; finding stains on the article surface in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to produce a first output; finding miniature defects smaller in size than a unit pixel in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to generate a second output; switching the first output and the second output into appropriate electrical signals in an controlled manner; and displaying the switched electrical signals on a display in a viewable condition.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus of inspecting a surface of an object article capable of precisely detecting stains or miniature defects present in the object surface. Specifically, the invention provides a method of inspecting surface irregularity of an object article having a surface of uniform or regular brightness, which comprises the steps of: gaining brightness informations for a plurality of two-dimensionally distributed pixels by taking a picture of the article surface; finding stains on the article surface in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to produce a first output; finding miniature defects smaller in size than a unit pixel in response to each information obtained in the brightness information gaining step to generate a second output; switching the first output and the second output into appropriate electrical signals in an controlled manner; and displaying the switched electrical signals on a display in a viewable condition.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically inspecting abnormalities in the external surface of cylindrical objects. The apparatus inspects the appearance of a cylindrical object using image processing. The apparatus includes a transporter and a CCD camera. The transporter rotates the cylindrical object about an axis of the cylindrical object. The CCD camera picks up images showing the appearance of the inspected cylindrical object. The images include picture elements, and each picture element has a corresponding luminance. The apparatus further includes a controller. The controller generates at least one masking window to mask at least one predetermined portion of at least one image; generates at least one luminance sum for each image by adding, for each image, the luminance of a predetermined number of picture elements in unmasked portions of the image; compares each luminance sum to a predetermined threshold; and judges whether the cylindrical object includes a defect based on a result of each comparison.