CN115090564A

CN115090564A - Color selector

Info

Publication number: CN115090564A
Application number: CN202210815185.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 汪睿; 吴明; 张昔峰
Original assignee: Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology Inc
Current assignee: Hefei Meyer Optoelectronic Technology Inc
Priority date: 2022-07-11
Filing date: 2022-07-11
Publication date: 2022-09-23
Anticipated expiration: 2042-07-11
Also published as: CN115090564B

Abstract

The invention discloses a color selector, which comprises: the conveying cylinder can rotate along the conveying direction around a central axis, the central axis extends along the horizontal direction or inclines for a certain angle relative to the horizontal direction, and the peripheral surface of the conveying cylinder is provided with a plurality of cells distributed in an array manner; the unit cells are used for containing materials to drive the materials to move along the conveying direction; the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are arranged along the conveying direction, the optical detection assembly is arranged on the radial outer side of the conveying barrel and used for detecting materials, and the sorting assembly is used for sorting the detected materials. According to the color sorter provided by the embodiment of the invention, regular conveying of materials can be realized, and the advantage of multi-grade sorting according to the grades of the materials can be realized. The working efficiency of the color sorter is improved, and the sorting cost is reduced. And the color sorter has a simple structure and small occupied space.

Description

Color selector

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of material sorting, in particular to a color sorter.

Background

The color sorter is used as material sorting equipment with excellent performance and is widely applied to industries of food processing, ore sorting and the like. In some correlation techniques, although the color sorter can detect and realize automatic grading effect to granular materials such as fruits, potatoes and nuts, the problems of large volume, low space utilization rate and the like exist, the color sorter is not beneficial to realizing small-scale operation, the sorting cost is often easily improved, and the resource waste is caused.

And, the look selection machine among the correlation technique is when selecting separately the material, and the material quantity of carrying at every turn is more and unordered, takes place to slide easily among the material transportation process, and this just leads to follow-up material to be discerned after, and the position of material has taken place to remove when rejecting again, can't accomplish accurately to reject the material, and the degree of difficulty greatly increased of the detection that processing relates to and letter sorting process is unfavorable for the material to select separately.

In addition, in the related art, the sorting equipment can only divide the materials into two stages (such as good materials, bad materials and the like), and cannot perform multi-stage sorting on the materials, so that the requirement of performing multi-stage sorting on the materials at present is increasingly not met.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to solving at least one of the problems of the prior art. Therefore, the invention aims to provide a color sorter which can improve the sorting efficiency and sorting precision of materials, has a simple structure and small occupied space, and can realize the classification of the materials.

The color sorter according to the embodiment of the invention comprises: the conveying cylinder can rotate along the conveying direction around a central axis, the central axis extends along the horizontal direction or inclines for a certain angle relative to the horizontal direction, and the peripheral surface of the conveying cylinder is provided with a plurality of cells distributed in an array manner; the unit grids are used for containing materials to drive the materials to move along the conveying direction; the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are arranged along the conveying direction, the optical detection assembly is arranged on the radial outer side of the conveying barrel and used for detecting materials, and the sorting assembly is used for sorting the detected materials.

According to the color sorter provided by the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of cells of the conveying cylinder are distributed in an array manner, so that the materials can be conveyed regularly, the tracking and positioning of the materials in the conveying process are facilitated, and the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are favorable for carrying out large-scale detection and sorting operation on the materials. And, rotate through the conveying cylinder and drive the material and pass through optical detection subassembly and sorting unit in proper order, the detection and the letter sorting operation that lie in the material of conveying cylinder upper segment difference region can be gone on simultaneously on the one hand, thereby the work efficiency that can effectively promote the look selection machine of mutual noninterference is favorable to reducing and selects separately the cost. On the other hand, the color sorter has the advantages of simple structure, high space utilization rate and small occupied space, and is favorable for realizing the miniaturization of the size of the color sorter. In addition, due to the limitation that the cells are distributed in an array mode, the corresponding number of the material receiving devices is arranged, and the advantage that multi-level sorting can be carried out according to the grade of the materials can be achieved.

In addition, the color selector according to the above embodiment of the present invention may further have the following additional technical features:

according to some embodiments of the invention, the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are disposed above a horizontal plane of the central axis.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the color sorter further comprises: the feeding hopper is arranged on the radial outer side of the conveying cylinder, the feeding hopper is arranged on one side, back to the sorting assembly, of the optical detection assembly along the conveying direction, the feeding hopper is provided with a storage cavity, and the storage cavity is provided with a feeding port facing the conveying cylinder.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the hopper is higher than a horizontal plane in which the central axis is located; or, the color sorter further comprises a paver, the paver is arranged on one side, close to the optical detection assembly, of the conveying cylinder along the conveying direction, and the paver and the conveying cylinder are in clearance fit so that the material array is placed in the plurality of unit cells.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the color sorter may further comprise: the baffle is followed direction of delivery, the baffle is located the feed inlet is kept away from one side of optical detection subassembly, the baffle is higher than axis place horizontal plane.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the transport cylinder comprises a plurality of rows of unit cells arranged in a circumferential direction, each row of the unit cell group comprising at least one unit cell arranged in an axial direction.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the sorting assembly comprises: the at least one material receiving hopper is distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder; the execution assembly is arranged corresponding to the plurality of receiving hoppers, each execution assembly comprises at least one execution unit which is arranged along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder, and the execution units are used for driving the materials in the cells to enter the receiving hoppers correspondingly.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the material receiving hoppers are arranged outside or inside the conveying cylinder in a staggered manner along the height direction, each material receiving hopper is inclined downwards and towards the direction far away from the conveying cylinder, and the execution unit is arranged in the conveying cylinder and extends along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the color selector further comprises a supporting member, the supporting member is arranged in the conveying cylinder and at least arranged between the execution unit and the conveying cylinder, and the supporting member is provided with an avoidance hole for avoiding the execution unit.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the cells are through holes penetrating inner and outer surfaces of the transport cylinder, and the color sorter further comprises: the bearing piece is arranged in the conveying cylinder and at least in clearance fit with the part, higher than the central axis, of the conveying cylinder.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the unit cells are through holes penetrating through the inner surface and the outer surface of the conveying cylinder, and the opening edge of one end of the through hole, which is positioned on the inner surface of the conveying cylinder, is provided with a retaining edge for retaining materials.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the rib is provided on at least one side edge of the opening, wherein at least a portion of the rib is elastically deformable to elastically deform when the rib is driven to separate the material from the unit cell; or the flanges are movably arranged at the opening and move when driven, so that the materials are separated from the unit grids.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the color sorter further comprises: the part that rolls, the part that rolls is located in the transport cylinder and with the optical detection subassembly sets up relatively, the bottom of cell is opened, so that the part that rolls contacts with the material.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the tumbling element comprises one of a plate structure, a drum, a belt, a track, or an idler.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the color sorter further comprises: the recovery hopper is arranged below the conveying cylinder; the vertical projection of the conveying cylinder falls into the vertical projection range of the recovery bucket.

Additional aspects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

Drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a color sorter according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 2 at circle D;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a delivery cartridge according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 4 at circle E;

FIG. 6 is a schematic structural view of a support according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic view of FIG. 6 at circle F;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural view of a plurality of receiving hoppers and actuating assemblies according to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an arcuate body according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a cell and cell-providing ribs according to an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of a delivery cartridge used with a tumbling element in an embodiment of the invention.

Reference numerals are as follows:

a color selector 100;

a delivery cylinder 10; a material 11; a cell group 12; a cell 121; a hopper 13; a material storage chamber 131; a supply port 132; a flange 15; a tumbling component 16; an arc-shaped body 17;

an optical detection assembly 20; a camera 21; a light source 22;

a sorting assembly 30; a receiving hopper 31; a collection port 311; a first side plate 312; a second side plate 313; an execution component 32; an execution unit 321; a support member 33; an avoidance hole group 331; relief holes 3311; a groove 332;

a recovery hopper 40; an output port 41; a baffle 42.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are illustrative only for the purpose of explaining the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that the terms "central," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," "counterclockwise," "axial," "radial," "circumferential," and the like are used in the orientations and positional relationships indicated in the drawings for convenience in describing the invention and to simplify the description, and are not intended to indicate or imply that the referenced device or element must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and are not to be considered limiting of the invention.

In the description of the present invention, "a first feature" or "a second feature" may include one or more of the features, and "a plurality" means two or more, and the first feature may be "on" or "under" the second feature, and may include the first and second features being in direct contact, or may include the first and second features being not in direct contact but being in contact with another feature therebetween, and the first feature being "on", "above" and "above" the second feature may include the first feature being directly above and obliquely above the second feature, or merely indicating that the first feature is higher in level than the second feature.

A color sorter 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to the drawings.

Referring to fig. 1 to 11, a color sorter 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include: a delivery cartridge 10, an optical detection assembly 20, and a sorting assembly 30.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the delivery cartridge 10 may be rotatable in a delivery direction (e.g., counterclockwise as viewed in fig. 2) about a central axis, and the central axis extends in a horizontal direction (left-right as viewed in fig. 1) or at an angle inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. For example, delivery cartridge 10 may be configured as a cylindrical cartridge. The circumferential surface of the delivery cartridge 10 may have a plurality of cells 121 distributed in an array. The unit cells 121 are used for containing the material 11 to drive the material 11 to move along the conveying direction. For example, the color sorter 100 may have functional zones distributed around the central axis, and the functional zones may be a feeding zone, a detection zone, and a sorting zone distributed in sequence. The rotation of the conveying cylinder 10 can make the materials 11 pass through each functional area in sequence, so as to realize the grading judgment and the sorting operation of the materials 11.

For example, the material 11 may be a substantially spherical or elliptical object such as date, pistachio, cherry tomato, etc., or a cylindrical material 11 such as a stud, a bar, etc. The color sorter 100 of the present invention can be utilized to implement hierarchical decisions.

In some embodiments, the delivery cylinder 10 may be a unitary structure or include a plurality of arc-shaped bodies 17 as shown in fig. 9, each arc-shaped body 17 is provided with one or more rows of unit cells 12 arranged along the circumferential direction, and each row of unit cells 12 includes one or more unit cells 121 arranged along the axial direction.

That is, the transport cylinder 10 may be formed of a cylinder as shown in fig. 4, and the transport cylinder 10 is provided with a plurality of rows of cell groups 12 arranged in the circumferential direction, and each row of cell groups 12 includes a plurality of cells 121 arranged in the axial direction. The conveying cylinder 10 can also be formed by sequentially splicing a plurality of arc-shaped bodies 17, each arc-shaped body 17 can be provided with a row of unit cell groups 12, and each row of unit cell group 12 comprises a plurality of unit cells 121. Alternatively, a plurality of rows of unit cell groups 12 are arranged on each arc-shaped body 17, and each row of unit cell group 12 comprises a plurality of unit cells 121.

The mode that adopts a plurality of arc bodies 17 to splice into a transport cylinder 10 can reduce the die sinking degree of difficulty to every arc body 17 preparation alone, makes things convenient for the transportation and the equipment in the assembly stage. Moreover, when part of the arc-shaped body 17 is damaged, only the damaged arc-shaped body 17 needs to be replaced, so that the cost can be reduced.

The specific structure of the unit cell 121 is not particularly limited in the embodiment of the present invention, and the unit cell 121 has a space with different outlines. For example, the inner walls of the cell 121 storage space may be provided with a slope or curvature or the like to better match differently shaped materials 11. Therefore, the outline of the unit cell 121 may be determined according to the size, shape, etc. of different materials 11, and is not limited herein. In some specific embodiments, the unit cells 121 may be configured as rectangular cells, which is beneficial to make the arrangement of the unit cells 121 more regular, and is beneficial to processing, which is beneficial to reducing the processing difficulty. Therefore, the outline of the unit cell 121 may be determined according to the size, shape, etc. of different materials 11, and is not limited herein.

It should be noted that, generally, one material 11 to be conveyed is placed in each cell 121, so that the image acquisition can be prevented from being influenced by mutual shielding of the materials 11, and the sorting/grading operation can be prevented from being influenced by mutual shielding of the materials 11. Of course, an appropriate amount of the material 11 can be placed in each cell 121 according to the size, shape and the like of the material 11.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 4, the unit cells 121 may be holes or grooves formed in the delivery cylinder 10 by providing the unit cells 121 distributed in an array on the delivery cylinder 10. The materials 11 are placed in the cells 121, which is beneficial to tracking and positioning each material 11. Meanwhile, the unit cells 121 limit the materials 11 entering the unit cells to roll randomly, and the phenomenon that the materials 11 slide in the conveying process is avoided. Further, the classification determination can be more accurately performed for each material 11. For example, after the material 11 is placed in the cell 121, the conveying position of the material 11 is determined by the rotation speed and time of the conveying cylinder 10, and then after the optical detection assembly 20 detects the material, the material 11 can accurately reach the sorting assembly 30, so that the problems that the material 11 is conveyed by a crawler belt in the prior art and the actual position of the material 11 when reaching the sorting assembly 30 is changed due to self sliding, rolling, bouncing and the like after the material 11 is detected by the optical detection assembly 20 are solved, and the material 11 is not beneficial to accurate sorting/removing of the sorting assembly 30 are avoided.

Therefore, on one hand, the materials 11 are uniformly distributed in the cells 121 for conveying, the positions of the materials 11 can be accurately positioned, the sorting accuracy and the sorting order can be improved, the materials 11 can be prevented from being blocked by each other due to accumulation, and the sorting precision of the color sorter 100 can be effectively improved; on the other hand, the materials 11 are distributed in an array, so that the number of the materials 11 which can be processed by the color sorter 100 in unit time can be increased, the area utilization rate of the conveying cylinder 10 is improved, and the sorting efficiency of the color sorter 100 is effectively improved.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of receiving hoppers 31 may be disposed in the sorting area, and the plurality of receiving hoppers 31 are perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying cylinder 10, so that the plurality of receiving hoppers 31 may respectively receive the materials 11 with different specifications (for example, three receiving hoppers 31 are disposed for classifying the materials 11 according to the size of the materials 11, and then the sorting module 30 is driven to discharge the materials 11 with corresponding specifications into the receiving hoppers 31 to be corresponding in the conveying direction according to the detection result of the optical detection module 20 and the classification determination result of the materials 11 according to the detection result), that is, the classification of the materials 11 is completed. Therefore, the embodiment of the invention can realize the beneficial effect of grading the material 11.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the optical detection assembly 20 and the sorting assembly 30 may be arranged in the conveying direction. Wherein the optical detection assembly 20 can be disposed radially outside the delivery cylinder 10 to avoid position interference with other structures of the color sorter 100. And optical inspection assembly 20 is used to inspect material 11 to effect a graded determination of material 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the optical detection assembly 20 may include one or more light sources 22 and a camera 21. Under the effect of light source 22, camera 21 can carry out image acquisition to material 11, and the treater can judge in grades material 11 according to the result of image acquisition to realize sorting in grades when follow-up material 11 passes through the sorting zone.

As another example, the optical detection assembly 20 may include one or more light sources 22 and photodetectors. The photoelectric detector can emit a detection waveband, the detection waveband can detect the outer surface and/or the inner part of the materials 11, and the size, the quality and the like of each material 11 are selected and judged. For example, the detection band may be laser, infrared, X-ray, multispectral, hyperspectral, etc., and may not only be a visible light band, but also be a multiband joint detection, etc. The light source 22 may be a reflection light source, a transmission light source, or the like. Meanwhile, the detection band of the optical detection component 20 may also be a combination of multiple bands, such as a detection and identification mode of visible light combined with infrared light, and a detection and identification mode of infrared combined laser, etc.

In some embodiments, color sorter 100 further includes a processor (not shown), wherein optical inspection assembly 20 and sorting assembly 30 are communicatively coupled to the processor, the processor is configured to perform a grading determination on material 11 based on the inspection result of optical inspection assembly 20, and sorting assembly 30 sorts material 11 based on the grading determination result of the processor.

Sorting assembly 30 is used to sort the inspected material 11. Specifically, in some embodiments, the sorting component 30 may initiate different sorting actions according to the determination result of the processor, so as to meet the requirement of sorting the materials 11 according to the set standard, so as to put the materials 11 of the same type together, and place the materials 11 of different types separately, thereby realizing the grading sorting of the materials 11.

During the rotation of the material 11 driven by the conveying cylinder 10, the sorting assembly 30 sorts or collects the material 11 according to the grading determination result of the material 11 in the cell 121. For example, when the material 11 is determined to be a non-defective product or a non-defective product, two receiving devices (for example, a receiving hopper 31 described below) are correspondingly provided, and when the defective product is rotated to the receiving device of the defective product, a corresponding executing device (for example, an executing assembly 32 described below) sends the defective product to the receiving device of the defective product; when the unqualified product rotates to the receiving device of the unqualified product, the corresponding executing device (such as the executing assembly 32 described below) sends the unqualified product to the receiving device of the unqualified product, so that the material 11 is divided into a qualified product and a non-qualified product.

For example, when the material 11 is judged to be a big fruit, a medium fruit or a small fruit, a big fruit receiving device, a medium fruit receiving device and a small fruit receiving device (such as a receiving hopper 31 described below) are correspondingly arranged, and when the big fruit rotates to the big fruit receiving device, a corresponding execution device (such as an execution assembly 32 described below) sends the big fruit into the big fruit receiving device; when the medium fruits rotate to the medium fruit receiving device, the corresponding executing device (such as the executing assembly 32 described below) sends the medium fruits into the medium fruit receiving device; when the small fruit is rotated to the small fruit receiving device, the corresponding executing device (such as the executing assembly 32 described below) sends the small fruit into the small fruit receiving device, so that the material 11 is divided into three types, namely big fruit, medium fruit or small fruit. Similarly, when the material 11 is judged to be fresh red fruit, light red fruit or Chinese olive, the material 11 can be taken out of the cell 121, so that the material 11 can be divided into three types of fresh red fruit, light red fruit and Chinese olive.

In some related art color sorters may employ conveyor rollers and belts to transport materials sequentially through a feed zone, a detection zone, and a sorting zone. Because conveying roller and the shared space of conveyer belt are great, lead to that the look selection machine has the great, space utilization low grade problem of volume, be unfavorable for realizing the operation of small-scale, often improve the cost of sorting easily, cause the wasting of resources.

In the application, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the material 11 can be driven to rotate by rotating the conveying cylinder 10 around the central axis to meet the grading judgment requirement of the material 11, so that the size of the color selector 100 is reduced, and the structural design of the color selector 100 is more concise and compact. The use of conveyor rolls and belts to transport the material 11 can be avoided. For example, the occupied space resource of the delivery cylinder 10 can be adjusted according to different use requirements. When the total volume of the materials 11 to be sorted is small, the size (such as the radius) of the conveying cylinder 10 can be correspondingly reduced, the space resource occupied by the color sorter 100 is small, the sorting cost is reduced, and the size miniaturization of the color sorter 100 is realized.

And, the rotation speed of the delivery cylinder 10 can be adjusted according to actual needs. For example, when the amount of the material 11 to be sorted is large or the volume of the material is large, the rotation speed of the conveying cylinder 10 can be reasonably reduced, so that the classification determination of the material 11 is more accurate. When the materials 11 to be sorted are small or the volume is small, the rotating speed of the conveying cylinder 10 can be reasonably increased so as to improve the sorting efficiency of the materials 11. Because the material 11 is driven by the rotation of the conveying cylinder 10, the rotation speed of the conveying cylinder 10 can be conveniently adjusted, and therefore the use flexibility of the color sorter 100 can be improved.

In addition, since the plurality of materials 11 are placed in the plurality of cells 121 distributed in the array, after the optical detection assembly 20 detects the materials 11, the processor of the subsequent color sorter 100 can perform classification judgment on the materials 11 according to the detection result. Sorting assembly 30 is thus capable of simultaneously sorting multiple materials 11. For example, the materials 11 in the multiple rows of unit cells 12 arranged along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder 10 can be sorted simultaneously, so that the sorting assembly 30 can sort multiple materials 11 simultaneously in a large scale, which is beneficial to improving the sorting efficiency of the color sorter 100. Moreover, the processes of detecting the materials 11 by the optical detection assembly 20 and sorting by the sorting assembly 30 can be performed simultaneously along with the rotation of the conveying cylinder 10 without mutual interference, so that the sorting efficiency can be greatly improved.

According to the color sorter 100 provided by the embodiment of the invention, the plurality of unit cells 121 of the conveying cylinder 10 are distributed in an array, so that the regular conveying of the materials 11 can be realized, the tracking and positioning of each material 11 in the conveying process are facilitated, and the large-scale detection and sorting operation of the optical detection assembly 20 and the sorting assembly 30 on the materials 11 is facilitated. And, rotate through the transport cylinder 10 and drive material 11 and pass through optical detection subassembly 20 and select separately subassembly 30 in proper order, the detection and the letter sorting operation that are located the material 11 of different regions on the transport cylinder 10 on the one hand can go on simultaneously, thereby mutual noninterference can effectively promote the work efficiency of look selection machine 100, is favorable to reducing and selects separately the cost. On the other hand, the color sorter 100 has a simple structure, a high space utilization rate and a small occupied space, and is beneficial to realizing the miniaturization of the size of the color sorter 100. In addition, due to the limitation that the unit grids 121 are distributed in an array, and the corresponding number of material receiving devices are arranged, the advantage of multi-level sorting according to the grade of the material 11 can be achieved.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 2, optical inspection assembly 20 and sorting assembly 30 may be positioned above the horizontal plane of the central axis. Specifically, in the rotation process of the conveying cylinder 10, if the material 11 in the unit cell 121 rotates to below the central axis, because the outer peripheral surface of the conveying cylinder 10 is an arc-shaped surface, the supporting acting force of the unit cell 121 on the material 11 is gradually reduced, and then the material 11 tends to move downward under the action of gravity. The material 11 rotates to a position above the central axis along with the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 can be stably placed in the cell 121 without moving. Thus, optical inspection assembly 20 is facilitated to inspect materials 11, and sorting assembly 30 is facilitated to sort materials 11. The material 11 is prevented from falling from the conveying cylinder 10 without being detected or sorted, and the waste of the material 11 is avoided, or the sorting accuracy of the color sorter 100 is prevented from being affected.

The color sorter 100 according to the embodiment of the invention may further include a hopper 13 as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the hopper 13 may have a stock cavity 131 and a feed opening 132 facing the transport cylinder 10, and the material 11 to be sorted may be placed in the stock cavity 131 and may fall from the feed opening 132 to the transport cylinder 10. For example, the supply opening 132 may extend along the radial direction of the conveying cylinder 10, and is formed as a long strip-shaped opening, and the supply opening 132 may play a role in guiding the falling material 11, so as to be beneficial to making the falling material 11 from the supply opening 132 more uniformly tile to the conveying cylinder 10, and further be beneficial to improving the conveying efficiency of the conveying cylinder 10 and the array conveying effect of the material 11.

Further, the hopper 13 may be provided radially outside the delivery cylinder 10. And, the hopper 13 may be provided on a side of the optical detection unit 20 facing away from the sorting unit 30 in the conveying direction. On the one hand, it is advantageous to let the material 11 fall under its own gravity to the feedwell 132; on the other hand, the materials 11 can enter the cells 121 of the conveying cylinder 10 from the hopper 13 in sequence, are subjected to grading detection by the optical detection assembly 20 and are subjected to grading sorting by the sorting assembly 30, so that disorder of the sequence of the materials 11 passing through each functional area is avoided.

In particular embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, hopper 13 may be configured generally as an inverted triangular funnel, i.e., with silo 131 collapsed straight down in a downwardly collapsible configuration in an up-down direction. The length of the hopper 13 extends in the radial direction of the transport cylinder 10, and the supply port 132 also extends in the radial direction of the transport cylinder 10. Thereby, it is advantageous to control the amount of material 11 that falls to the delivery cartridge 10 per unit time. The material conveying device is beneficial to enabling the material 11 to be flatly paved on the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 is prevented from being detained in the conveying cylinder 10, so that the conveying efficiency of the conveying cylinder 10 is prevented from being influenced.

It should be noted that the color sorter 100 may not be provided with the hopper 13, so that the structural design of the color sorter 100 is more concise and compact. Specifically, the feeding area may be directly located in a region where the material 11 naturally falls, and then the naturally falling material 11 falls into the cells 121 of the feeding area. During this process, the material 11 inserted into the cells 121 rotates with the feed cylinder 10 for sorting, and the material 11 not inserted into the cells 121 can fall back to the stack under gravity. In order to enable the material 11 in the hopper 13 to be spread on each cell 121, accumulation of the material 11 is less likely to occur. In some embodiments of the invention, the hopper 13 may be higher than the level of the central axis, as shown in fig. 2. Specifically, since the outer periphery of the conveying cylinder 10 higher than the horizontal plane where the central axis is located is a cambered surface and extends upward in an inclined manner relative to the horizontal direction, when the material 11 in the hopper 13 is thrown into the region where the conveying cylinder 10 is located, the material 11 embedded into the cells 121 moves along the conveying direction along with the rotation of the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 not embedded into the cells 121 rolls downward along the conveying cylinder 10 under the action of its own gravity. Therefore, even if the materials 11 are stacked, the stacked materials 11 can roll along the outer peripheral surface of the conveying cylinder 10, so that the self-leveling effect is realized, and the phenomenon that the conveying efficiency of the conveying cylinder 10 is influenced due to the fact that the materials 11 are stacked for too long time is avoided. Meanwhile, the structural design of the color selector 100 can be more concise,

alternatively, in some embodiments of the present invention, the color sorter 100 may also include a spreader. The paver is arranged on one side, close to the optical detection assembly 20, of the conveying cylinder 10 along the conveying direction, and the materials 11 thrown onto the conveying cylinder 10 firstly pass through the paver and then pass through the optical detection assembly 20. For example, in embodiments that include a hopper 13, a spreader is provided between the hopper 13 and the optical detection assembly 20. And the pavers are clearance fitted with the delivery cylinder 10 to allow the array of materials 11 to be placed in the plurality of cells 121. For example, the spreader extends in the axial direction of the delivery cartridge 10, and the spreader can cover more area on the delivery cartridge 10.

Thus, on the one hand, the material 11 can be filled into the cells 121 under the pressing action of the pavers; on the other hand, the material 11 that fails to fill in the cell 121 cannot move to the optical detection assembly 20 and the sorting assembly 30 with the conveying cylinder 10 under the blocking effect of the flatting device, so that the problem that the image acquisition of the optical detection assembly 20 is affected due to the accumulation of the material 11 on the conveying cylinder 10 is avoided, and the problem that the accurate imaging of the optical detection assembly 20 is affected is avoided. In addition, the spreader is in clearance fit with the delivery cartridge 10 to avoid affecting the rotation of the delivery cartridge 10.

It should be noted that the flatting device may be a rolling-type flatting device, a planar-type flatting device, and the like, and the embodiment of the present invention is not particularly limited. In some embodiments, the roll-type screed may be configured as a cylinder (e.g., a roller brush or rubber roller) mounted above the feed cylinder 10 in the feeding zone. The rolling type paver can be used under a rotating condition and also can be used under a non-rotating condition, and the effect of paving the material 11 can be realized. The flat-type paving machine may be constructed as a strip-shaped plate body (such as a strip-shaped brush or a rubber strip), and the width direction of the plate body may be perpendicular to the circumferential surface of the conveying cylinder 10 when in use, so as to realize the effect of paving the material 11. In addition, the rolling-type paver and the planar paver can be used independently or in a plurality of overlapping modes, and the embodiment of the invention is not particularly limited.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, a baffle 42 may be further included in some embodiments of the present invention, and the baffle 42 is used to stop the material 11 so that the material 11 can sufficiently fill the cells 121 to ensure the efficiency of transportation and sorting. Specifically, the baffle 42 may be disposed on a side of the feed opening 132 away from the optical detection assembly 20 along the conveying direction, that is, the baffle 42, the feed opening 132, and the optical detection assembly 20 are arranged in sequence. For example, the blocking plate 42 may be an elongated plate body, and the length direction of the blocking plate 42 extends along the axial direction of the transport cylinder 10. And, the baffle 42 may be higher than the horizontal plane of the central axis, and further the baffle 42 is disposed lower than the highest point of the conveying cylinder 10. Therefore, when the materials 11 cannot be timely filled into the cells 121 and roll along the periphery of the outer surface of the conveying cylinder 10, the baffle plate 42 can stop the materials 11, and the materials 11 can be stored at the baffle plate 42, so that the materials 11 can be quickly, timely and fully filled into the cells 121 distributed in an array manner in the continuous rotating process of the conveying cylinder 10.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the baffle plate 42 may include a first plate body, a second plate body and a third plate body connected in sequence to form a U-shaped plate. The opening of the U-shaped plate faces the optical detection assembly 20. The feedwell 132 is located in the area enclosed by the U-shaped plate, i.e. between the first plate and the third plate. The second plate body in the middle extends along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder 10 to prevent the materials 11 from sliding down along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder 10; the two ends of the second plate body are arranged on the first plate body and the third plate body, so that the material 11 can be prevented from sliding along the two axial sides of the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 can be more favorably filled into the cells 121 distributed in an array manner.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 4, 5 and 9, the delivery cylinder 10 may include a plurality of rows of cell groups 12 arranged in a circumferential direction, and each row of cell groups 12 may include at least one cell 121 arranged in an axial direction. Therefore, on one hand, the materials 11 can be regularly conveyed in an array manner, and the sorting precision of the color sorter 100 can be improved; on the other hand, by reasonably setting the number of the cell groups 12 and the number of the cells 121 in each cell group 12, the space on the conveying cylinder 10 can be utilized to a greater extent, the number of the materials 11 which can be conveyed by the conveying cylinder 10 in unit time is increased, and the sorting efficiency of the color sorter 100 is improved. In addition, the array type unit grids 121 are arranged compactly, and more materials 11 can be carried by the conveying cylinder 10. In addition, the arrangement of the plurality of rows of cell groups 12 facilitates the arrangement of the sorting assemblies 30 during the sorting process.

To effect the graded sorting and collection of material 11, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3 and 8, sorting assembly 30 may include at least one receiving hopper 31 and an actuating assembly 32. Wherein at least one receiving hopper 31 is used for collecting the sorted material 11. The number of the receiving hoppers 31 is related to the number of stages in which the materials 11 to be sorted need to be classified, for example, potatoes need to be classified into three stages according to the size, so that three receiving hoppers 31 can be arranged for receiving potatoes with different sizes respectively; for example, the apples need to be divided into four stages according to the freshness of the appearance color, so that four receiving hoppers 31 can be arranged; or the external color, the damage degree, the size and the like of the cherry tomatoes are comprehensively considered and divided into three stages, so that three receiving hoppers 31 are provided, and the cherry tomatoes are correspondingly divided into three stages according to the recognition result of the optical detection assembly 20. Furthermore, a plurality of receiving hoppers 31 can be distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder 10 so as to be matched with the track of the materials 11 rotating along with the conveying cylinder 10.

As shown in fig. 8, at least one of the actuating assemblies 32 may be disposed in correspondence with the receiving hopper 31 so that the sorted/classified material 11 can be collected by the corresponding receiving hopper 31. Each actuating assembly 32 may comprise at least one actuating unit 321 arranged along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder 10, wherein the actuating unit 321 is used for driving the materials 11 in the unit cells 121 into the corresponding receiving hopper 31. Therefore, the materials 11 in each unit cell 121 can be ensured to correspond to one execution unit 321, so that the classified sorting of the materials 11 can be realized.

Specifically, since the plurality of receiving hoppers 31 are spaced apart from each other in the circumferential direction of the transfer cylinder 10, the plurality of actuator units 32 are provided corresponding to the plurality of receiving hoppers 31. Thus, a plurality of actuating assemblies 32 may be spaced circumferentially about the feed cylinder 10 to match the rotational path of the material 11. Also, the number of the plurality of actuating units 32 may be set according to the number of levels of the required classification, and the actuating units 321 included in each actuating unit 32 may have the same number and spacing as the plurality of cells 121 included in the cell group 12 on the delivery cartridge 10. So that the material 11 in each cell 121 can be sorted by the execution unit 321.

Specifically, when only one receiving hopper 31 is arranged, one executing component 32 is correspondingly arranged, and the executing component 32 can act to collect the materials 11 (such as potatoes with different sizes) to be collected in the arranged receiving hopper 31 according to the grading judgment result of the materials 11, so that the grading/sorting of the materials 11 is realized.

In a specific working process, the materials 11 are driven by the conveying cylinder 10 to rotate, and when a certain type of materials 11 rotate to a certain receiving hopper 31, the execution unit 321 can initiate an execution action according to a grading judgment result of the materials 11 so as to drive the type of materials 11 to enter the corresponding receiving hopper 31, thereby realizing grading sorting of the materials 11.

Further, in accordance with the number of grades required for sorting the materials 11, a plurality of rows of the actuator assemblies 32 and the receiving hoppers 31 are provided in order in the circumferential direction of the transport cylinder 10 to collect the materials 11 of the grade at the collecting ports 311 of the receiving hoppers 31 of each stage. Therefore, the sorting assembly 30 can perform large-yield multi-level sorting work on the continuously conveyed array structured materials 11 at one time, namely, the sorting of each level can be performed with multi-line operation synchronously, the sorting of each level can also be performed in sequence, and meanwhile, the materials 11 sorted and collected at each level can be automatically collected in the material receiving hopper 31.

For example, as described in conjunction with fig. 1, when sorting cherries, the processor divides the cherries into a first level, a second level and a third level according to the size parameters of the cherries. Three material receiving hoppers 31 are respectively arranged, and the three material receiving hoppers 31 are sequentially arranged from top to bottom and used for collecting the classified first-level, second-level and third-level cherries. Wherein, the material 11 at the position A on the unit cell group 12 is a first-level cherry, the material 11 at the position B is a second-level cherry, and the material 11 at the position C is a third-level cherry. When the cherry at the position A moves to the uppermost receiving hopper 31, the execution component 32 acts according to the result determined by the processor, and the cherry at the position A enters the uppermost receiving hopper 31; when the cherry at the position B moves to the second receiving hopper 31 from the upper side, the execution component 32 acts according to the result judged by the processor, and the secondary cherry at the position B enters the second receiving hopper 31 from the upper side; when the cherries at the C position move to the third receiving hopper 31 from the upper side, the execution component 32 acts according to the result determined by the processor, and the three-level cherries at the C position enter the third receiving hopper 31 from the upper side; in this way, with the movement of the conveying cylinder 10, cherries at corresponding positions enter the corresponding receiving hoppers 31, and a grading function is realized.

Of course, in actual sorting, sorting may be performed according to conditions such as the quality of the fruit, the brightness of the color of the outer surface, and the degree of internal damage. Meanwhile, two material receiving hoppers 31 can be arranged to directly distinguish good and bad materials 11 and the like, which are not described herein.

Actuator assembly 32 may be mounted inside or outside of delivery cartridge 10, depending on the location of the mounting and the principle of operation. In order to accelerate the falling speed of the materials 11 from the conveying cylinder 10 and improve the sorting efficiency, the executing assemblies 32 can be arranged on the inner side and the outer side of the conveying cylinder 10 at the same time. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, the specific form of the execution unit 321 is not particularly limited. For example, the actuator 321 may be a lift gate type, or may be an air valve, a telescopic rod, a flip plate, or the like.

Depending on the installation location and the operation principle, the receiving hopper 31 may be disposed on the lower side or the upper side of the conveying cylinder 10 (the figure only shows the receiving hopper 31 on the upper side of the conveying cylinder 10). The actuator assembly 32 may now be mounted on the underside or the upper side of the delivery cartridge 10. When the receiving hopper 31 is arranged on the upper side of the conveying cylinder 10, the potential energy is small after the materials 11 enter the receiving hopper 31, and the appearance integrity of the materials 11 is convenient to maintain.

In some embodiments in which the color sorter 100 includes the material receiving hopper 31, as shown in fig. 2, 3, and 8, when there is more than one material receiving hopper 31, the material receiving hopper 31 may be arranged outside or inside the conveying cylinder 10 in a staggered manner in the height direction (up and down direction as shown in fig. 2). Moreover, when receiving hopper 31 arranges in the transport cylinder 10 outside, every receiving hopper 31 can be downward and to the direction slope of keeping away from transport cylinder 10, from this material 11 after getting into receiving hopper 31, can slide down under the action of gravity, avoids causing material 11 to pile up in receiving the import of hopper 31, avoids causing receiving hopper 31 import to block up and influence separation efficiency.

Furthermore, the execution unit 321 may be disposed in the conveying cylinder 10 and extend along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder 10, so as to match the arrangement direction of the cells 121 in the cell group 12, so that the material 11 in each cell 121 can be sorted by the execution unit 321.

For example, the actuator 321 may be provided outside or inside the transfer cylinder 10, and the receiving hopper 31 may be provided to face the actuator 321. The execution unit 321 may be a single row of nozzles, an electromagnet with an expansion link, an air cylinder, or a linear motor. When the execution unit 321 blows high-speed airflow towards the material 11 or the telescopic rod pushes the material 11, the material 11 can enter the receiving hopper 31 from the cell 121.

For another example, when the actuating assembly 32 is located on the upper side of the conveying cylinder 10, the receiving hopper 31 may be disposed on the outer side of the conveying cylinder 10. The execution unit 321 can select a single-row, double-row or multi-row roller type suction cup structure to suck the materials 11 to be sorted, and then move the materials to the upper side of the corresponding receiving hopper 31 and then put the materials into the receiving hopper 31.

In some embodiments, when actuator assembly 32 is mounted below delivery cartridge 10, receiving hopper 31 may be disposed below delivery cartridge 10. The actuator 321 may be an electromagnet, an air cylinder, or a linear motor with a telescopic rod, and a support plate is mounted on the telescopic rod to form the lifting gate type actuator 321. During the specific working process, when the execution unit 321 extends and retracts the push rod downwards, the material 11 will fall downwards into the receiving hopper 31. In addition, a swing electromagnet, a rotary cylinder, a motor, or the like may be used, and a support plate may be mounted on the rotary output shaft thereof so that the support plate is made into a rotary gate type actuator 321 that is rotatable in synchronization with the output shaft. When the actuator 321 extends the push rod downwards, the material 11 will fall from the delivery cartridge 10 downwards.

In some embodiments, taking the execution unit 321 as an air valve as an example, the air valve may be located inside the delivery cylinder 10, and the receiving hopper 31 may be located outside the delivery cylinder 10. When the materials 11 are required to be collected by the corresponding receiving hopper 31, the air injection valve works to inject air to the materials 11 in the direction of the receiving hopper 31, and the materials 11 enter the receiving hopper 31 from the unit grids 121 under the action of high-speed airflow so as to realize the grading sorting of the materials 11. When the material 11 rotates to a certain receiving hopper 31 and does not need to be collected, the air injection valve does not work, and the material 11 can continue to rotate along with the conveying cylinder 10 under the supporting effect of the unit cells 121.

Taking the execution unit 321 as an expansion link as an example, the expansion link may be located inside the conveying cylinder 10, and the receiving hopper 31 may be located outside the conveying cylinder 10. When the materials 11 are required to be collected by the corresponding material receiving hoppers 31, the telescopic rods can stretch and retract to apply acting force towards the material receiving hoppers 31 to the materials 11, and the materials 11 can enter the material receiving hoppers 31 to achieve grading sorting of the materials 11. When the material 11 rotates to a certain receiving hopper 31 and does not need to be collected, the telescopic rod does not work, and the material 11 can continue to rotate along with the conveying cylinder 10 under the supporting effect of the unit grids 121.

In some embodiments, the receiving hopper 31 may be located inside the conveying cylinder 10, and the executing unit 321 may be a turnover plate, in which case the receiving hopper 31 may be located inside the conveying cylinder 10. And the receiving hopper 31 is disposed opposite to the execution unit 321. Specifically, a flip plate that can be flipped may be provided at the bottom of the unit cell 121, and the flip plate may have a support state and a flipped state. When the turnover plate is in a supporting state, the materials 11 can continuously rotate along with the conveying cylinder 10 under the supporting action force. When the roll-over plate is in the upset state, the roll-over plate can remove the supporting role to material 11, and then material 11 can get into and correspond and connect hopper 31. The turnover plate can switch the supporting state and the turnover state according to the judgment result of the processor so as to realize the grading sorting of the materials 11.

Taking the execution unit 321 as an example of a suction valve, the suction valve may be located inside the conveying cylinder 10, when the material 11 is required to be collected by the corresponding receiving hopper 31, the suction valve works to suck air into the material 11 in the direction of the receiving hopper 31, and the material 11 falls into the receiving hopper 31 through the cells 121 under the action of the high-speed airflow, so as to implement the grading sorting of the material 11. When the material 11 rotates to a certain receiving hopper 31 and does not need to be collected, the suction valve does not work, and the material 11 can continue to rotate along with the conveying cylinder 10 under the supporting action of the unit cells 121. Furthermore, in some specific embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, 3 and 8, the receiving hopper 31 may be configured substantially in a triangular shape such that the horizontal cross-sectional area of the space in the receiving hopper 31 decreases downward, and the receiving hopper 31 may be provided with a collecting port 311, the collecting port 311 being provided at an upper end of the triangular receiving hopper 31, and the material 11 may enter the receiving hopper 31 through the collecting port 311.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 3, the material receiving hopper 31 is inclined downward and in a direction away from the conveying cylinder 10, and the material receiving hopper 31 includes a first side plate 312 and a second side plate 313, and the first side plate 312 and the second side plate 313 are arranged perpendicular to the inclined direction of the material receiving hopper 31. Wherein the second side plate 313 is located above the first side plate 312, and a collection opening 311 is defined between the upper end of the second side plate 313 and the upper end of the first side plate 312. And, the upper end of the second side plate 313 is arranged to be offset from the upper end of the first side plate 312 in an inclined direction, so that the upper end of the second side plate 313 exceeds the upper end of the first side plate 312, thereby causing the defined collection port 311 to face the execution unit 321.

Therefore, after the material 11 moves out of the cell 121 under the driving of the execution unit 321, the second side plate 313 can stop to prevent the material 11 from moving away from the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 can smoothly enter the receiving hopper 31 under the stopping action of the second side plate 313 and slide down along the first side plate 312 for collection, so as to avoid splashing of the material 11, and the material 11 can slide down to the collection port 311 along the surface of the first side plate 312, so as to avoid the material 11 such as cherries, cherry tomatoes and other softer fruits from deforming to affect the appearance after falling into the receiving hopper 31.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the color sorter 100 may further include a support member 33, and the support member 33 may be provided in the transport cylinder 10. The support member 33 is provided at least between the actuator 321 and the transport cylinder 10, and the support member 33 may be provided with an escape hole 3311 for escaping from the actuator 321. For example, the avoiding holes 3311 may constitute a set of avoiding holes 331 arranged axially along the delivery barrel 10 to correspond to the actuating assembly 32.

In some embodiments in which the performing unit 321 is a telescopic rod, as shown in fig. 3 and fig. 7, when the performing unit 321 needs to perform a sorting action, the telescopic rod may pass through the avoiding hole 3311 on the supporting member 33 to apply a force to the material 11 toward the receiving hopper 31, so as to implement a graded sorting of the material 11, and avoid position interference caused when the supporting member 33 initiates the performing action on the performing unit 321.

Meanwhile, when the material 11 passes through the position between the two execution units 321, the material is supported and supported by the supporting piece 33, and the material cannot fall off from the cell 121 without being sorted or classified by the execution units 321.

In some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the unit cells 121 may be through holes penetrating through the inner and outer surfaces of the conveying cylinder 10, and the unit cells 121 are formed in a bottomless structure, that is, the unit cells 121 cannot support the material 11 in the radial direction. The color sorter 100 may further include a support 33, and the support 33 may be disposed within the transport cylinder 10. The support 33 is at least partially clearance-fitted to the delivery cartridge 10 above the central axis. When the material 11 rotates to the area higher than the central axis along with the conveying cylinder 10, the side wall of the cell 121 ensures that the material 11 is stably limited to the cell 121. Therefore, the supporting effect of the supporting piece 33 on the materials 11 rotating to a position higher than the central axis of the conveying cylinder 10 can be realized, the materials 11 are prevented from falling downwards along the radial direction from the through holes when the sorting is not needed, and the supporting effect is stable.

In some embodiments where the optical inspection assembly 20 is disposed above the central axis, as shown in fig. 2 and 7, the surface roughness of the region of the susceptor 33 opposite the optical inspection assembly 20 may be increased. And then material 11 is when being judged in grades by optical detection subassembly 20, and material 11 can roll under the effect of frictional force, and then optical detection subassembly 20 can carry out diversified, multi-angle shooting to material 11, improves optical detection subassembly 20 and judges the precision in grades to material 11.

In order to make the structural design of the color sorter 100 more concise, in some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 10 (b) - (i), the unit cells 121 are through holes penetrating through the inner and outer surfaces of the transport cylinder 10. And, the opening border that is located the one end of transport section of thick bamboo 10 internal surface of through-hole is equipped with and is used for spacing flange 15 to material 11, and flange 15 can play the supporting effect to material 11 in cell 121, avoids material 11 to drop.

It can be understood that, as shown in fig. 11 (a), the opening of the through hole at one end of the inner surface of the conveying cylinder 10 may not be provided with the rib 15, and when the conveying cylinder 10 is conveying, the inner side needs to be used with a support structure such as a supporting member 33 (e.g., an inner cylinder) to support the material 11. As shown in fig. 10 (b), (c), (d), and (e), if the opening of the through hole at one end of the inner surface of the conveying cylinder 10 is provided with the rib 15, the through hole does not need to be used in cooperation with the support member 33, and the material 11 can be prevented from being separated from the cell 121 by the rib 15. Meanwhile, the rib 15 can play a role in supporting and limiting. Meanwhile, a part of the material 11 can also extend downwards out of the opening of the through hole at one end of the inner surface of the conveying cylinder 10, and the material 11 is not influenced to be rolled by the rolling component 16 and is separated from the unit cell 121 by the actuating component 32.

In some embodiments where the unit cells 121 are provided with ribs 15, as shown in fig. 10 (a) - (i), the material 11 in the unit cells 121 may partially protrude from an opening of the through hole at one end of the inner surface of the conveying cylinder 10, or a tumbling element 16 such as a support 33 may partially protrude into the through hole through an opening at one end of the inner surface of the conveying cylinder 10, so that a portion of the tumbling element 16 opposite to the optical detection assembly 20 can contact the material 11, thereby tumbling the material 11. The setting of part 16 that rolls makes material 11 rotate when the field of vision scope through optical detection subassembly 20 to optical detection subassembly 20 can both shoot the image that corresponds to the periphery wall of material 11, is favorable to optical detection subassembly 20 to carry out diversified shooting, only needs set up a set of optical detection subassembly 20 in one side of material 11 in addition and can acquire the image of whole periphery wall, effectively improves the look and selects machine 100 to select separately the precision of judging the operation.

Of course, after the rib 15 is provided, the supporting member 33 may be provided only at a position opposite to the optical detection assembly 20, on one hand, due to the rib 15, the material 11 does not fall out of the cell 121, and can be conveyed by the conveying cylinder 10 to pass through each functional area in sequence to realize judgment and sorting; on the other hand, the supporting member 33 is only disposed at a position opposite to the optical detection assembly 20, so that the structure of the color sorter 100 can be more simplified. And the surface roughness of the susceptor 33 can be increased, at which time the susceptor 33 plays a role of tumbling the materials 11. Therefore, the material 11 rolls under the action of friction force, and more comprehensive material information detected by the optical detection assembly 20 is facilitated.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10 (b) - (i), a rib 15 may be provided on at least one side edge of the opening (inside the transport cylinder 10) to support the material 11. It should be noted that the rib 15 may or may not be deformed, and these are all within the protection scope of the present invention.

In some specific embodiments, the rib 15 may not be deformed, the execution unit 321 may be disposed inside the conveying cylinder 10, and the receiving hopper 31 may be disposed outside the conveying cylinder 10. For example, the execution unit 321 may be a telescopic rod, an air injection valve, and the like. This allows the material 11 to enter the receiving hopper 31 without deforming the ribs 15.

In other specific embodiments, at least a portion of the rib 15 may be elastically deformable. When the rib 15 is driven, for example, when the rib receives the driving force of the executing unit 321, the rib can be elastically deformed so that the material 11 is separated from the unit cell 121, and the grading separation is realized.

For example, the rib 15 may be formed on the delivery cartridge 10, and the connection portion between the two may be made of an elastic material. When the actuating unit 321 acts on the material 11 downwards, the material 11 may press the rib 15, so that the rib 15 is elastically deformed, and finally the material 11 falls downwards. The rib 15 may also be made of an elastic material, for example, the rib 15 is an elastic member, and when the actuating unit 321 acts on the material 11 downward, the rib 15 is elastically deformed as a whole, so that the material 11 can be dropped downward.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, as shown in fig. 10 (d), (e), (h), and (i), the rib 15 may be movably disposed in an opening at one end of the inner surface of the delivery cartridge 10. For example, when the rib 15 is driven, for example, by the driving force of the actuator 321, the rib 15 may move to separate the material 11 from the cell 121, so as to realize the graded sorting of the material 11. For example, the rib 15 is rotatably connected to the conveying cylinder 10, as shown in fig. 10 (d), (e), (h) and (i), when the material 11 presses the rib 15, the rib 15 is turned downwards and opened, and the material 11 falls downwards. The rib 15 may also be slidably mounted on the conveying cylinder 10, and when the material 11 presses one end of the rib 15, the rib 15 is pushed to slide, so that the material 11 falls downward. All of which are within the scope of the present invention.

In some specific embodiments, as shown in fig. 7 and 11, the color sorter 100 may further include a tumbling component 16, and the tumbling component 16 may cause the materials 11 to tumble. Specifically, the tumbling part 16 is disposed in the conveying cylinder 10 and opposite to the optical detection assembly 20, and the bottom of the unit cell 121 is opened so that the tumbling part 16 is in contact with the material 11. For example, in some embodiments where the unit cell 121 is a through hole and the rib 15 is not provided, the opening of the through hole at one end of the inner surface of the transportation cylinder 10 is the open opening of the unit cell 121; in some embodiments in which the unit cells 121 are through holes and are provided with the ribs 15, the portion of the through hole at the end of the inner surface of the delivery cylinder 10, which is not covered by the ribs 15, is formed as an open opening of the unit cell 121.

In addition, the delivery cartridge 10 may be rotatable relative to the tumbling element 16 such that the tumbling element 16 applies friction to the material 11, which may cause the material 11 to rotate. From this, material 11 can roll under the effect of frictional force when rotating the region that is detected by optical detection subassembly 20, and then optical detection subassembly 20 can shoot the diversified picture of material 11 to obtain more comprehensive material 11 information. The accuracy of the optical detection assembly 20 in grading judgment can be effectively improved, and the accuracy of the color sorter 100 in grading sorting of the materials 11 is further improved.

It should be noted that the rolling component 16 may be a fixed plate, a roller, or a plate or a belt, a track, a roller, etc. with a moving direction or speed different from that of the conveying module, specifically, the rolling component 16 includes any one of a plate structure, a roller, a belt, a track, or a roller, etc., and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited in particular.

In some embodiments in which the color sorter 100 includes the supporting member 33, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the surface roughness of the supporting member 33 opposite to the optical detection assembly 20 is relatively large, and a portion of the supporting member 33 opposite to the optical detection assembly 20 may be used as the rolling component 16, so that an effect of causing the material 11 to roll can be achieved, and the structural design of the color sorter 100 is further simplified.

In some embodiments, the surface of tumbling element 16 opposite optical inspection assembly 20 may be roughened to increase friction with material 11 and improve the tumbling effect of material 11. For example, in the embodiment where a part of the support member 33 is formed as the rolling member 16, as shown in fig. 2 and 6, the surface of the region of the support member 33 opposite to the optical detection assembly 20 may be a rough surface, and the surface of the other region may be a smooth surface, where the roughness of the rough surface is greater than that of the smooth surface, so that the material 11 rotates when passing through the detection region where the optical detection assembly 20 is located, but does not rotate when passing through the feeding region, the sorting region, and the like, to avoid the breakage of the material 11.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to increasing the form of the friction coefficient of the surface of the tumbling element 16 opposite to the optical detection assembly 20. For example, the surface material of the tumbling element 16 may be changed, and the surface of the tumbling element 16 may be provided with projections, stripes, or the like.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 6 and 7, the surface of the tumbling element 16 opposite the optical detection assembly 20 may be provided with a plurality of circumferentially arranged grooves 332, and each groove 332 may extend axially. Thereby, the roughness of the surface of the tumbling element 16 opposite the optical detection assembly 20 can be effectively increased. Also, the extending direction of the grooves 332 may be the same as the extending direction of the cell groups 12 and perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveying cylinder 10. And then the cell wall of recess 332 can exert the effort along direction of delivery tangential to material 11, is favorable to realizing the rotation effect of material 11, more is favorable to the all-round information that obtains material 11 of optical detection subassembly 20, and the accuracy that the look selects machine 100 grading is judged is higher.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, as shown in fig. 1 and 2, the color sorter 100 may further include a recycling bin 40, the recycling bin 40 being used to recycle the material 11. For example, during the operation of the color sorter 100, some materials 11 are not determined to be sorted, or some materials 11 are rolled off from the conveying cylinder 10, and these materials 11 can be collected by the recycling hopper 40 and sorted again, so as to avoid wasting the materials 11.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 2, the recycling bin 40 may be disposed below the conveying cylinder 10, so as to facilitate the collection of the material 11 by the recycling bin 40 under the effect of its own weight. In some embodiments, the recycling bin 40 may be disposed at least partially on a side of the central axis adjacent to the sorting assembly 30 in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the central axis, such as a rear side as shown in fig. 2, i.e., a vertical projection of at least a rear half of the delivery cylinder 10 falls within a vertical projection of the recycling bin 40. From this, unsorted material 11 can fall to in recovery hopper 40 to sort once more, improve the accuracy of sorting, and avoid material 11 extravagant.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the vertical projection of the entire delivery cartridge 10 may fall within the vertical projection of the retrieval hopper 40. Specifically, the size of the recovery bucket 40 in the direction of the central axis is larger than the axial size of the delivery cylinder 10, and the size of the recovery bucket 40 in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the central axis is larger than or equal to the diameter of the delivery cylinder 10. Therefore, the coverage range of the recovery hopper 40 is enlarged, the recovery hopper 40 can recover the materials 11 rolling along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder 10, can also recover the materials 11 rolling along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder 10, and can also recover the materials 11 falling from the downstream of the separation area. The materials 11 falling from the feeding area and other areas can be recycled, and the effect of avoiding the waste of the materials 11 can be better.

For example, in some embodiments in which the color sorter 100 includes the hopper 13, if the amount of the material 11 falling from the hopper 13 onto the conveying cylinder 10 is large and the material is not filled into the cells 121 in time, the excess material 11 falls to the recycling hopper 40 along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder 10, and also falls to the recycling hopper 40 along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder 10 for recycling, so as to improve the recycling efficiency of the recycling hopper 40 and avoid wasting the material 11.

In some specific embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the recycling bin 40 may be configured in a funnel shape, and the recycling bin 40 is provided with an output port 41, the recycling bin 40 is in a downwardly contracted configuration in an up-down direction, and the output port 41 is located at the bottom of the recycling bin 40. Thereby forming a slide-like structure in the recovery bucket 40. The inner wall of the material 11 entering the recycling hopper 40 rolls smoothly towards the output port 41, so that the material 11 is prevented from being accumulated in the recycling hopper 40 to influence the recycling efficiency.

Other constructions and operations of the color selector 100 according to embodiments of the present invention are known to those of ordinary skill in the art and will not be described in detail herein.

In the description of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified or limited, the terms "mounted," "connected," and "connected" are to be construed broadly, e.g., as meaning either a fixed connection, a removable connection, or an integral connection; can be mechanically or electrically connected; they may be connected directly or indirectly through intervening media, or they may be interconnected between two elements. The specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention can be understood in specific cases to those skilled in the art.

In the description herein, references to the description of the terms "embodiment," "particular embodiment," "example," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the schematic representations of the terms used above do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples.

While embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that: various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A color sorter, comprising:

the conveying cylinder can rotate along the conveying direction around a central axis, the central axis extends along the horizontal direction or inclines for a certain angle relative to the horizontal direction, and the peripheral surface of the conveying cylinder is provided with a plurality of cells distributed in an array manner; the unit cells are used for containing materials to drive the materials to move along the conveying direction;

the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are arranged along the conveying direction, the optical detection assembly is arranged at the radial outer side of the conveying cylinder and is used for detecting materials,

the sorting assembly is used for sorting the detected materials.

2. The color sorter according to claim 1, wherein the optical detection assembly and the sorting assembly are disposed above a horizontal plane in which the central axis is located.

3. The color sorter of claim 1, further comprising:

the feeding hopper is arranged on the radial outer side of the conveying cylinder, the feeding hopper is arranged on one side, back to the sorting assembly, of the optical detection assembly along the conveying direction, the feeding hopper is provided with a storage cavity, and the storage cavity is provided with a feeding port facing the conveying cylinder.

4. The color sorter according to claim 3, wherein the hopper is higher than a horizontal plane in which the central axis is located; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the color sorter further comprises a paver, the paver is arranged on one side, close to the optical detection assembly, of the conveying cylinder in the conveying direction, and the paver and the conveying cylinder are in clearance fit so that the material array is placed in the plurality of unit cells.

5. The color sorter of claim 3, further comprising:

the baffle is arranged on one side, away from the optical detection assembly, of the feed port in the conveying direction, and the baffle is higher than the horizontal plane where the central axis is located.

6. The color sorter of claim 1 wherein the transport cylinder comprises a plurality of circumferential rows of cell groups, each row of the cell groups comprising at least one of the cells arranged in an axial direction.

7. The color sorter of claim 6, wherein the sorting assembly comprises:

the at least one material receiving hopper is distributed at intervals along the circumferential direction of the conveying cylinder;

the execution assemblies are arranged corresponding to the receiving hoppers, each execution assembly comprises at least one execution unit which is arranged along the axial direction of the conveying cylinder, and the execution units are used for driving the materials in the cells to enter the corresponding receiving hoppers.

8. The color sorter according to claim 7, wherein the receiving hoppers are arranged outside or inside the conveying cylinder in a staggered manner in the height direction, each receiving hopper is inclined downward and away from the conveying cylinder, and the execution unit is arranged in the conveying cylinder and extends in the axial direction of the conveying cylinder.

9. The color sorter according to claim 7, further comprising a support member, wherein the support member is disposed in the transport cylinder and at least between the execution unit and the transport cylinder, and the support member is provided with an avoidance hole for avoiding the execution unit.

10. The color sorter according to claim 1, wherein the cells are through holes that penetrate an inner surface and an outer surface of the transfer drum, the color sorter further comprising:

the bearing piece is arranged in the conveying cylinder and at least in clearance fit with the part, higher than the central axis, of the conveying cylinder.

11. The color sorter according to claim 1, wherein the cells are through holes penetrating through the inner surface and the outer surface of the conveying cylinder, and a flange for limiting the material is arranged on an opening edge of one end of the through hole, which is positioned on the inner surface of the conveying cylinder.

12. The color sorter according to claim 11, wherein the rib is provided on at least one side edge of the opening, wherein,

at least one part of the rib can be elastically deformed, and the rib is elastically deformed when being driven so as to separate the material from the unit cell;

or the flanges are movably arranged at the opening and move when driven, so that the materials are separated from the unit grids.

13. The color sorter of claim 1, further comprising:

the part that rolls, the part that rolls is located in the transport cylinder and with the optical detection subassembly sets up relatively, the bottom of cell is opened, so that the part that rolls contacts with the material.

14. The color selector of claim 13, wherein the tumbling member comprises one of a plate structure, a drum, a belt, a track, or an idler.

15. The color sorter of claim 1, further comprising:

the recovery hopper is arranged below the conveying cylinder; the vertical projection of the conveying cylinder falls into the vertical projection range of the recovery hopper.