Image generating apparatus and image generating method

1. An image generating apparatus used for generating an image for inspecting an orientation of an electronic component mounted on a plurality of substrates of an identical type, the image generating apparatus comprising:

a lighting apparatus that emits illumination light to an imaging area where at least a part of the electronic component is located;

an imaging apparatus that images the imaging area irradiated with the illumination light; and

an image processing apparatus that generates a before-adjustment image based on a captured image obtained by the imaging, generates an adjusted image by adjusting luminance of the before-adjustment image, and generates an optimal image by setting a difference in average luminance between a designated area and a comparison area that is other than the designated area in the adjusted image largest,

wherein

the image processing apparatus combines a plurality of single-color images obtained by decomposing, according to color components, each of a plurality of the captured images obtained from a first one of the substrates to generate the before-adjustment image, generates the adjusted image by adjusting luminance of the before-adjustment image, and generates the optimal image by setting the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area that is other than the designated area in the adjusted image largest, and

the image processing apparatus generates the optimal image from another one of the captured images obtained from a second or subsequent one of the substrates, by using a condition (including an imaging condition of the captured image) obtained in the course of generating the optimal image from the captured image.

2. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the image processing apparatus generates a plurality of selection candidate images based on a plurality of single-color images obtained by decomposing the captured image according to color components, calculates the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area for each of the selection candidate images, and selects a selected image having the largest difference in average luminance from all the selection candidate images, and

the before-adjustment image is the selected image.

3. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

by using a condition obtained in the course of generating the optimal image from the captured image, the image processing apparatus generates the optimal image from another one of the captured images.

4. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the image processing apparatus generates the adjusted image by adjusting a gain value and an offset value of the before-adjustment image, and

the image processing apparatus generates the optimal image having the largest difference in average luminance, by varying each of the gain value and the offset value of the adjusted image in predetermined increments or decrements and calculating the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area for each combination of the gain value and the offset value.

5. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the lighting apparatus has a plurality of illumination units,

the plurality of illumination units have different incident angles of the illumination light on the imaging area from each other, and

a plurality of the captured images are obtained by the imaging apparatus for each of the plurality of illumination units.

6. The image generating apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein

the plurality of color components are three primary color components of red (R), green (G), and blue (B).

7. The image generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein

the electronic component has a mark by which an orientation of the electronic component can be determined, and

the mark is included in the imaging area and the designated area.

8. The image generating apparatus according to claim 7 , further comprising:

a display apparatus that displays the optimal image, wherein

the image processing apparatus compares the average luminance of the designated area with that of the comparison area of the optimal image before display on the display apparatus, and the image processing apparatus sets the mark of the optimal image to be displayed on the display apparatus to white if the average luminance of the designated area is higher than that of the comparison area, and sets the mark of the optimal image to be displayed on the display apparatus to black if the average luminance of the designated area is lower than that of the comparison area.

9. An image generating method used for generating an image for inspecting an orientation of an electronic component mounted on a plurality of substrates of an identical type, the image generating method comprising the steps of:

generating a before-adjustment image based on a captured image of an imaging area where at least a part of the electronic component is located;

adjusting luminance of the before-adjustment image so as to generate an adjusted image;

setting a difference in average luminance between a designated area and a comparison area that is other than the designated area in the adjusted image largest so as to generate an optimal image;

generating the before-adjustment image by combining a plurality of single-color images obtained by decomposing, according to color components, each of a plurality of the captured images of the imaging area where at least the part of the electronic component is located;

adjusting luminance of the before-adjustment image so as to generate the adjusted image;

setting the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area that is other than the designated area in the adjusted image largest so as to generate the optimal image; and

using a condition to generate the optimal image from another one of the captured images,

wherein the condition using step is performed on a second or subsequent one of the substrates using a condition (including an imaging condition of the captured image) obtained in performing the before-adjustment image generation step, the adjusted image generation step, and the optimal image generation step on a first one of the substrates.

10. The image generating method according to claim 9 , wherein

the before-adjustment image generation step includes the steps of:

decomposing the captured image according to color components to generate a plurality of single-color images, and generating a plurality of selection candidate images based on the plurality of single-color images; and

calculating the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area for each of the selection candidate images, and selecting a selected image having the largest difference in average luminance from the selection candidate images, and

the before-adjustment image is the selected image.

11. The image generating method according to claim 9 , further comprising the step of:

after the optimal image generation step, generating the optimal image from another one of the captured images by using a condition obtained in the course from the before-adjustment image generation step to the optimal image generation step.

12. The image generating method according to claim 9 , wherein

in the adjusted image generation step, the adjusted image is generated by adjusting a gain value and an offset value of the before-adjustment image, and

in the optimal image generation step, the optimal image having the largest difference in average luminance is generated by varying each of the gain value and the offset value of the adjusted image in predetermined increments or decrements and calculating the difference in average luminance between the designated area and the comparison area for each combination of the gain value and the offset value.

13. The image generating method according to claim 9 , wherein

the electronic component has a mark by which an orientation of the electronic component can be determined, and

the mark is included in the imaging area and the designated area.

14. The image generating method according to claim 13 , wherein

in the optimal image generation step, the average luminance of the designated area is compared with that of the comparison area in the optimal image, the mark of the optimal image is set to white if the average luminance of the designated area is higher than that of the comparison area, and the mark of the optimal image is set to black if the average luminance of the designated area is lower than that of the comparison area.