JPH0244240A - Water content measuring apparatus for grain particle - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable accurate discrimination between a noise signal and an effective measurement signal by comparing a measurement input voltage signal with respective reference values both in a peak level and an integrated value. CONSTITUTION:Grain particles are fed into a gap between roller electrodes 1a and 1b one at a time to be crushed. With a voltage applied between both the electrodes, current flows as crushed grain particles arrive and a voltage V0 is generated as output of a measuring circuit 2. The voltage V0 is inputted into a peak level computing circuit 5 and an integration circuit 6 as measurement signal to determine respective peak levels and integrated values. A control circuit 7 compares the peak levels and the integrated values with respective reference values stored and when both the values are larger than the reference values, a validation signal is outputted to a gate circuit 8. Since a measurement signal is also inputted into the circuit 8, with the opening of a gate by the validation signal, the measurement signal is allowed to be inputted into a water content conversion circuit 9. Thus, with the circuit 9, the measurement signal is converted into a water content and the results thereof are transferred to an output display device 10.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Field of Application J] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring grain moisture, and in particular to a method and apparatus for measuring grain moisture, and in particular a method for measuring grain moisture by measuring the electrical resistance of each grain. This invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring grain moisture.

[Description of Prior Art] Grain moisture measuring devices that measure the moisture content of grains by measuring the electrical resistance of the grains have been widely used. In other words, this device takes one sample from a grain, places it between a pair of opposing electrodes, passes a current through it, obtains the resistance of the grain from the resulting voltage, and converts it to determine the water content. It is something. In order to improve the accuracy of moisture measurement, the grains are preferably ground, and after being ground, they are placed between a pair of electrodes. For crushing, a crusher having a pair of opposing crushing rollers is used. The grinding rollers are arranged adjacent to each other in parallel with a slight gap between them, and rotate in directions facing each other at different circumferential speeds. The grains are crushed by friction between opposing rollers (because the peripheral speeds differ depending on the gear ratio). A roller electrode type moisture measuring device is also currently in use in which these grinding rollers are provided in a grain moisture measuring device and used as electrodes, and a current is passed through these grinding rollers to measure voltage. Such a roller is called an electrode roller.

A current is passed through each grain while crushing it with an electrode roller.
When the voltage is measured, an output Vo showing a peak voltage as shown in FIG. 2(a) is obtained.

Now, a cleaning action is performed on the pair of roller electrodes after crushing a grain of grain, but when the remaining particles that could not be removed by this cleaning action circulate again, current is applied again and an output voltage is generated. . Such a voltage is usually instantaneous and has a low peak level, as shown in FIG. Therefore, if the output voltage as shown in Figure 3 is obtained,
Since this signal does not indicate the moisture value of the grain, it must be removed as a noise signal. For this purpose, the voltage signal obtained during moisture measurement is compared with a noise signal to determine whether the signal is valid for measurement.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] When comparing,
When calculating the integral value of the noise signal for comparison and comparing this integral value with the integral value of the output voltage signal, and when comparing the peak level of the noise signal for comparison and the peak level of the output voltage signal. Two series are being performed.

The former comparison based on integral values is influenced by the size of each grain. That is, if the peak level is the same, the larger the grain, the larger the integral value, and the smaller the grain, the smaller the integral value.

Furthermore, when comparing peak levels, depending on the water content, even if the measurement is correct, the peak level may be low and show a value close to that of the comparison noise signal. That is, the fourth
There may be cases where a normal measurement voltage signal as shown in the figure is obtained.

Only by comparing the signals as described above, it is not possible to distinguish between a noise signal and a normal measurement signal with sufficient accuracy.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems in the conventional electrical measurement of grains. Specifically, the present invention:
It provides a means by which a normal measured voltage signal can be accurately distinguished from a noise signal.

Means for Solving Problem E 1 In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, after crushing one grain, a current is passed through it to measure the voltage, a step of determining the peak level of the obtained voltage, and a step of measuring the voltage. a step of integrating the voltage; a step of comparing the peak level with a predetermined value; comparing the integrated value with the predetermined value; and determining the measured voltage value as a normal measurement signal when it is larger than both predetermined values; A method for measuring the moisture content of grain is provided, the method comprising the step of converting a normal measurement signal to determine the moisture content of the grain.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, the grains are fed one by one between a pair of crushing electrode rollers to be crushed, and at the same time, a current is applied to take out a voltage signal between the electrode rollers, and the voltage signal is based on the voltage signal. In a grain moisture measuring device that has come to measure the moisture content of the grain, the device includes a means for calculating the peak level of the voltage signal, a means for integrating the voltage signal to obtain the integral value, and a means for calculating the peak level of the voltage signal. It is connected to the calculation means and the integration means, and compares the peak level of the voltage signal and the integrated value with a predetermined value, and when the voltage signal is greater than the predetermined value, the voltage signal is regarded as a valid signal, and an enable signal is output. a control means connected to the control means for manually inputting the enabling signal and passing the voltage signal; and a moisture content connected to the gate circuit for converting the voltage signal into the moisture content of the grain. There is provided a grain moisture measuring device characterized by having a conversion circuit.

[Operation 1] According to the above-described configuration of the present invention, grains are successively introduced between the roller electrodes of the moisture measuring device and pulverized to measure the moisture content. Even if crushed debris is stuck to the roller electrode and this generates a noise signal, this noise signal is nullified and only the normal measurement signal is converted into moisture content.

[Example 1] The present invention will be described in detail in the form of an example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a grain moisture measuring device which is an embodiment of the present invention. Reference number 1a.

Reference numeral 1b denotes roller electrodes arranged in parallel with a slight gap left, and grains are introduced one by one into the gap and crushed. A potential is applied between the electrodes by a power supply, so that when the ground grains come into the gap, a current flows and a voltage Vo is generated as the output of the measuring circuit 2. This voltage Vo is
The measurement signal is input manually to the peak level calculation circuit 5 and the integration circuit 6, and the peak level and integral value of the measurement signal are determined respectively.

The control circuit 7 compares the obtained peak level and integral value with respective stored reference values, and if both are larger than the reference value, outputs an enabling signal to the gate circuit 8. The measurement signal is also input manually to the gate circuit 8, so that when the gate is opened by the activation signal, it is input to the moisture content conversion circuit 9. Therefore, the moisture content conversion circuit 9 converts the measurement signal into a moisture content and transfers the result to the output display device 10.

With reference to FIG. 4, the processing after the time when the measured voltage value is obtained will be explained.

First, when a voltage Vo is generated, this is used as a voltage signal and is input manually to the peak level calculation circuit 5 and the integration circuit 6 in step 1, and the peak level vomaX and integral value Sv are determined in step 2. Input these values to the control circuit 7,
In step 3, comparison is made with reference values VR and SVR. If both are larger than the reference value, in step 4, the control circuit 6
An enabling signal is output to the gate circuit 8. For this purpose, the gate is opened, and therefore, in step 5, the water content conversion circuit 9 converts the water content into a water content based on the voltage signal, and displays it on the output display device 10 in step 6. If the determination condition in step 3 is not satisfied, the control circuit 6 does not generate a signal and returns to step 1 to wait for the next voltage signal from the human input.

[Effects] In the configuration of the present application, since both the peak level and the integral value of the input voltage signal are compared with respective reference values, it is possible to accurately distinguish whether the input voltage signal is a noise signal or a valid measurement signal. Can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a grain moisture measuring device that is an embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrams showing various measurement signal voltages. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a flowchart of the operation of the grain moisture measuring device of FIG. 1. la 1b...Roller electrode, 2...Moisture measurement circuit, 3...Power source, 4...Grain, 5...Peak level calculation circuit, 6...Integrator circuit, 7...Control circuit, 8・
...Gate circuit, 9...Moisture content conversion circuit, 10...
Display device.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) The steps of: measuring the voltage by passing a current through it after crushing one grain; determining the peak level of the obtained voltage; integrating the obtained voltage; and setting the peak level to a predetermined value. and comparing the integrated value with a predetermined value, and determining the measured voltage value when it is larger than both predetermined values as a normal measurement signal, and converting the normal measurement signal to determine the moisture content of the grain. and a method for measuring the moisture content of grains. (2) The grains are fed one by one between a pair of crushing electrode drums, the grains are crushed, the sample current generated by the applied voltage is converted into a voltage signal, and the grains are processed based on the voltage signal. A grain moisture measuring device that measures the moisture content of grains includes means for calculating the peak level of the voltage signal, means for integrating the voltage signal to obtain the integral value, the peak level calculating means, and connected to the integrating means;
A control means that compares the peak level of the voltage signal and the integral value with a predetermined value, and when the voltage signal is larger than the predetermined value, considers the voltage signal to be a valid signal and outputs a valid signal; , comprising a gate means for inputting the enabling signal and passing the voltage signal; and a moisture content conversion circuit connected to the gate signal and converting the voltage signal into a moisture content of the grain. Grain moisture measuring device.