JP2000028791A - Device for detecting content in container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to exactly detect the size and shape of non-combustible materials of every type by determining the actual size of a content directly from the size obtained as a fluorescent image irradiated with X rays after X rays pass through all kinds of contents such as metal and concrete. SOLUTION: An X-ray generator 9 is actuated to allow X rays 10 to go out radiately from an output opening 9a. The X rays 10 pass through a housing case 4 and is incident on an X-ray detector 11. If non-combustible materials 27 such as metal and concrete whose quality is substantially different from combustible materials exist in the case 4, the transmissivity of the X rays 10 is different from other parts and the fluorescent image of the non-combustible materials 27 appears on a fluorescent surface in the concentration in accordance with the quantity of the incident X rays. The fluorescent image of the non-combustible materials 27 is shot by a camera 13 and then is displayed on an information processor. When the size of the fluorescent image of the non-combustible materials 27 is the maximum by rotating a support base 23 of a transportation device 3, subsequently, the actual size of the non-combustible materials 27 is calculated. If the actual size is larger than a standard, an alarm sounds.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a container contents detecting device for detecting the actual size of contents in a storage case.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Solid waste discharged from nuclear facilities is classified into combustibles, flame retardants and non-combustibles. These solid wastes are usually packed in plastic bags or the like for each type, and then collectively stored in a cylindrical storage case having shape retention properties to facilitate handling such as transportation ( (See FIG. 1). When these solid wastes are discharged in the storage case, the combustible and flame-retardant materials are taken out of the storage case and put into an incinerator, where the volume is reduced by incineration. You. After that, the reduced volume of solid waste is stored in the storage case again, so that the storage case, which is smaller in number than the number of emissions from nuclear facilities, is stored in the storage warehouse until it is reprocessed or finally disposed of. Will be kept.

[0003] By the way, the incinerator used for volume reduction treatment incinerates radioactive solid waste which is difficult to handle, so that the inside of the furnace and the outlet are not clogged with the solid waste. Therefore, it is necessary to control the size of the solid waste to be input. In particular, incombustibles are not reduced in volume in the furnace, so it is necessary to surely remove those of a predetermined size or more before putting them into the incinerator.

Therefore, conventionally, FIG.
As shown in (b), after taking out the bagging material 53 from the storage case, the bagging material 53 is placed on the conveyor 51. Then, it is conveyed below the metal detector 52 by the conveyor 51, and when the metal detector 52 detects a predetermined amount or more of metal and issues an alarm, it is determined that there is an incombustible material having a predetermined size or more in the bag filling 53. If the metal detector 52 does not generate an alarm while not excluding it from the incineration target, it is determined that there is no incombustible material having a predetermined size or more in the bag filling 53, and the incineration target is adopted.

[0005]

However, in the method of detecting non-combustible materials having a predetermined size or more using the metal detector 52 as in the prior art, the metal detector 52 uses the amount of change in the magnetic field caused by the metal. However, there is a problem that incombustible substances such as concrete that do not change the magnetic field cannot be detected. Further, in the conventional method, since the amount of change in the magnetic field does not directly indicate the size or shape of the incombustible, there is a problem that the detection accuracy is low.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional method, before the detection by the metal detector 52, the bagged material 53 is removed from the storage case.
It is necessary to remove the baggage 5 from the incineration object after the detection by the metal detector 52.
3 needs to be stored in the storage case again,
There is a problem that the burden on the worker required to detect the incombustibles is large.

Accordingly, the present invention is to provide a container contents detecting device capable of accurately detecting the size and shape of various incombustibles without performing an operation of taking out the bagged material 53 from the storage case. Things.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an invention according to claim 1 is a container content detection device for detecting the actual size of the content stored in a storage case, wherein the device detects the actual size of the content. X-ray generating means for radially emitting X-rays, X-ray detecting means arranged to receive the X-rays, and displaying a fluorescent image corresponding to the amount of X-rays incident thereon, and X-ray generating means And a case rotation means provided between the X-ray detecting means and capable of rotating the storage case at a position where the X-rays are transmitted, and a point of a rotation center when the storage case is rotated. The size for obtaining the actual size of the storage case based on the image size of the fluorescent image of the content present at the symmetric position and the positional relationship between the X-ray generation unit, the X-ray detection unit, and the rotation center of the storage case And a detecting means.

[0009] According to the above arrangement, the X-ray fluorescence image after the X-ray has passed through all kinds of contents such as metal and concrete is caused to appear on the X-ray detecting means. Thus, the actual sizes of all types of contents can be detected. Further, since the actual size of the content is directly obtained from the image size of the fluorescent image, the actual size can be detected with high accuracy. Further, since the actual size of the contents can be detected in a state of being stored in the storage case, it is possible to omit the operation of opening the storage case and taking out the contents before the detection of the actual size as in the related art, As a result, the burden on the worker can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the container content detecting device according to the first aspect further includes a transmission position changing unit that can change a transmission position of the X-ray with respect to the storage case. And

According to the above configuration, even if the contents of the entire area in the housing case cannot be detected by a single transmission of X-rays due to restrictions of the X-ray generation means and the X-ray detection means. By changing the X-ray transmission position with respect to the storage case and performing the detection several times, the contents of the entire region of the storage case can be detected.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 1, the container content detection device according to the present embodiment includes an inspection partition 1 made of a material that blocks radiation such as X-rays, and a cylindrical storage case 4 provided in the inspection partition 1. The main body 2 includes a detection device main body 2 for detecting the contents, a conveyance device 3 for conveying the storage case 4, and an information processing device (not shown) for controlling the detection device and detecting the actual size of the contents.

The detection device main body 2 includes a vertical frame 5.5 fixed to the floor surface in a pair on the left and right, and a vertical frame 5.5
5 and a horizontal frame 6 connected to the upper end. A guide rail 7 is provided on each vertical frame 5 from the lower end to the upper end, and a guide block 8 is movably engaged with the guide rail 7. An X-ray generator 9 is provided on one of the guide blocks 8 (right side in the figure), and the X-ray generator 9 moves the X-rays 1 from the point-like emission port 9 a in the direction of the other guide block 8.
0 is emitted radially.

An X-ray detector 11 is provided on the other (left side in the figure) guide block 8. The X-ray detection device 11 is arranged to face the X-ray generation device 9 and
A fluorescent screen 12a that causes a fluorescent image to appear upon incidence of light, and an imaging device 13 that captures an image of the fluorescent screen 12a. Then, the X-ray detection device 11 captures a fluorescent image of the X-rays 10 appearing on the fluorescent screen 12a by the imaging device 13, and outputs an imaging signal to an information processing device (not shown).

A drive chain 14 is connected to each guide block 8 provided with each of the devices 9 and 11. The drive chain 14 is stretched from the lower end to the upper end of the vertical frame 5. Both drive chains 14 at the upper end are engaged with drive gears 15 respectively. A shaft member 16 provided along the horizontal frame 6 is connected to the center of these drive gears 15. One end of the shaft member 16 is provided with a drive motor, a speed reducer, and the like. The drive mechanism 17 is connected. Then, the drive mechanism 17 drives the drive gears 15 via the shaft member 16 to rotate the drive gears 15 via the drive chain 14, thereby causing the X-ray generator 9 and the X-ray detector 11 to move in the height direction. It can be moved up and down without changing the positional relationship.

The above-described transport device 3 is provided between the vertical frames 5,5. The transport device 3 includes a pair of rails 18 provided in a direction perpendicular to a surface formed by the vertical frame 5 and the horizontal frame 6, and a transport vehicle 19 traveling on the rails 18. have. The transport trolley 19 has a trolley body 20 mounted on the rail 18 via wheels 20a, and a case rotation mechanism 21 rotatably provided on the trolley body 20. Inside the carriage main body 20, a rotation motor for rotating the case rotation mechanism 21, a rotation angle detection sensor such as a rotary encoder for detecting the rotation angle of the case rotation mechanism 21, and a rail And a traveling motor that travels along the line 18. These motors and sensors are controlled and monitored by the information processing device described above, and the bogie main body 20 moves the case rotation mechanism 21 at an arbitrary traveling position at an arbitrary rotation angle in accordance with a command from the information processing device. Is rotated.

On the other hand, the case rotating mechanism 21 is
have. The center of the lower surface of the support base 23 is connected to the rotation shaft 22 of the rotation motor. ing. A plurality of roller members 25 are rotatably arranged in parallel on the upper surface side of the support base 23, and these roller members 25
Is movably supported. Further, on the upper surface of the support base 23, positioning members 26 are arranged at three places.
The center axis of the housing case 4 and the rotation center O of the support base 23 are made to coincide with each other by abutting and positioning at three places on the side peripheral surface of the support case 23.

The information processing device used for controlling the detection device main body 2 configured as described above includes an input / output unit connected to each device, a display unit for displaying a fluorescent image on a screen, and various types of processing. It has an input unit such as a keyboard used for inputting data, a storage unit for storing various processing routines and processing data, and an arithmetic unit for executing the processing routine. Then, when executing the analysis routine, the information processing apparatus obtains the actual size of the non-combustible material 27 stored in the storage case 4 by the operation described below and displays the screen on the screen, and the size of the non-combustible material 27 is equal to or larger than the allowable size. Sometimes an alarm is issued by voice or screen display.

The operation of the container contents detecting device in the above configuration will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, the carrier 19 is moved to a standby position indicated by a solid line in FIG. Then, after the stopped state of the X-ray generator 9 is confirmed, a door (not shown) of the inspection partition 1 is opened. After that, the storage case 4 discharged from the nuclear facility or taken out of the storage facility is carried into the inspection partition 1 and placed on the transport trolley 19 at the standby position. And
The housing case 4 is moved by the rotation of the roller member 25 of the transport trolley 19, and the positioning member 26 is brought into contact with each of the three positions on the side peripheral surface of the housing case 4. Are positioned so as to coincide with the rotation center O of

Next, after the door of the inspection bulkhead 1 is closed, the carrier 19 is moved to the inspection position indicated by a two-dot chain line in the main body 2 of the detection device. Then, when the housing case 4 is positioned between the X-ray generator 9 and the X-ray detector 11 by traveling of the transport trolley 19, these devices 9.1 and 11 are activated after being raised and lowered to a predetermined height position. Accordingly, the detection of the non-combustible material 27 in the storage case 4 is started.

That is, when the X-ray generator 9 is operated, as shown in FIG. 1, X-rays 10 are emitted radially from the emission port 9a, pass through the housing case 4, and enter the X-ray detector 11. I do. At this time, the X-rays 10 transmitted through the storage case 4 are
It has a property of being absorbed at an absorption rate according to the contents in the storage case 4. Therefore, if there is an incombustible material 27 such as metal or concrete of a material that is significantly different from the material of the combustible material or the incombustible material, the incombustible material 2
7, the amount of transmission of the X-rays 10 is significantly different from other portions. As a result, when the X-rays 10 transmitted through the housing case 4 enter the fluorescent screen 12a of the X-ray detection device 11, a fluorescent image of the non-combustible material 27 appears on the fluorescent screen 12a at a density corresponding to the incident amount of the X-rays 10. Will be. In addition, the fluorescent screen 1
When no fluorescent image of the noncombustible material 27 appears in 2a,
It is determined that the non-combustible material 27 does not exist in the transmission area of the X-ray 10 at the current height position of the apparatus 9/11, and the apparatus 9/11 is positioned so that the transmission area of the X-ray 10 is located at the next height position.
Is raised and lowered.

The fluorescent image of the non-combustible material 27 appearing on the fluorescent screen 12a is picked up by the image pickup device 13. Then, when the imaging signal is output from the imaging device 13 to the information processing device, the fluorescent image of the noncombustible 27 is displayed on the screen of the information processing device as a detection result. The fluorescent image displayed on the screen is visually recognized by the operator. Thereafter, the transport device 3 is operated by the operator via the information processing device, and the support table 23 of the transport device 3 is rotated, whereby the storage case 4 placed on the support table 23 is rotated. As a result, the non-combustible material 27 in the storage case 4 rotates around the rotation center O, and the non-combustible material 27 and the emission port 9 of the X-ray generator 9 are rotated.
a of the fluorescent screen 12a.
Will be sequentially changed in image size and shape.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, when the changing fluorescent image of the noncombustible material 27 reaches the maximum image size, the rotation of the support base 23 is stopped (position). Then, the first image size M1 of the noncombustible material 27 at this time is read and input to the information processing device. Thereafter, the non-combustible material 27 is moved to a point symmetrical position about the rotation center O with respect to the position of the non-combustible material 27 before the rotation by rotating the storage case 4 by 180 degrees. As a result, the incombustible material 27 is positioned at a position (position) where the distance R in the perpendicular direction S from the emission port 9a of the X-ray generator 9 to the fluorescent screen 12a is equidistant across the rotation center O.

Thereafter, the incombustible substance 2 is removed from the transmission region of the X-ray
If the fluorescent image of the non-combustible material 27 disappears from the display screen due to the detachment of the housing 7, the housing case 4 is moved forward or backward so that the fluorescent image of the non-combustible material 27 reappears on the display screen (position). If the fluorescent image of the non-combustible material 27 does not disappear from the display screen when the housing case 4 is rotated by 180 degrees, it is unnecessary to move the housing case 4 forward or backward. Thereafter, the second image size M2 of the fluorescent image of the noncombustible 27 is read and input to the information processing device.

When the first image size M1 and the second image size M2 are input to the information processing apparatus as described above, the information processing apparatus calculates the first image size M1 and the second image size M2 by the following calculation. The actual size of the non-combustible material 27 is calculated by substituting into the equation (1). L = 2L1M1M2 / L2 (M1 + M2) (1) where L is the actual size of the non-combustible material 27, L1 is the first distance from the outlet 9a to the center O of rotation of the storage case 4, and L2 is the outlet 9a. , And the second distance from the fluorescent screen 12a, and these L1 and L2 are registered in the information processing apparatus in advance.

Here, a method of deriving the calculation formula (1) will be described below. When the incombustible 27 is present at the position, the first image size M1 of the fluorescent image of the incombustible 27 and the incombustible 2
7 is expressed using the first distance L1 and the second distance L2 described above and the third distance R from the rotation center O in the perpendicular direction S to the non-combustible 27. Equation (2) is obtained. L / M1 = (L1-R) / L2 (2)

On the other hand, when the non-combustible 27 is present at the position, the relationship between the second image size M2 of the fluorescent image of the non-combustible 27 and the actual size L of the non-combustible 27 is determined by the above-described first distance L1.
And the second distance L2 and the rotation center O in the perpendicular direction S.
When expressed using the third distance R from the to the non-combustible 27, the following formula (3) is obtained. L / M2 = (L1 + R) / L2 (3)

Then, if the third distance R is eliminated and rearranged using the equations (2) and (3), the above equation (1) can be derived.

The reason why the common third distance R is used in the equations (2) and (3) is that when the housing case 4 is rotated by 180 degrees about the rotation center O, The non-combustible material 27 after the rotation is present at a point symmetrical position with respect to the rotation center O, and the non-combustible material 27 is
This is because the distance R before the rotation becomes equal (third distance R) before and after the rotation.

Next, when the actual size L of the non-combustible material 27 is calculated by a calculation process in the information processing apparatus, the actual size L of the non-combustible material 27 is displayed on the screen, and the operating specifications of the incinerator in the subsequent process are displayed. It is compared with a reference size set to satisfy. When the actual size L is equal to or larger than the reference size, a warning that the incombustible material 27 having the actual size L larger than the reference is present in the storage case 4 is notified to the operator. Then, the storage case 4 subject to the alarm is carried out to the storage facility without being opened. On the other hand, when the actual size L of the non-combustible material 27 is smaller than the reference size, or when the non-combustible material 27 is not detected, the storage case 4 is opened and the contents are taken out and put into the incinerator.

In this embodiment, the housing case 4
Is described in a plan view, the incombustible material 2
The actual size L in the width direction of 7 is to be obtained,
It is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, if the storage case 4 is viewed from the front, the non-combustible
7, the actual size L in the height direction can be obtained. Further, since the fluorescent image appearing on the fluorescent screen 12a of the fluorescent multiplier 12 shows the shadow of the non-combustible material 27, the actual size L in the oblique direction can be obtained.

As described above, the container contents detecting device of the present embodiment detects the actual size of the contents stored in the storage case 4 as shown in FIG.
X-ray generating means (X-ray generating device 9) for radially emitting X-rays 10 from a, and X that is arranged so that the X-rays 10 are incident thereon and causes a fluorescent image corresponding to the incident amount of the X-rays 10 to appear. X-ray detecting means (X-ray detecting device 11), and a case rotating means (case) provided between the X-ray generating means and the X-ray detecting means and capable of rotating the housing case 4 at a position where the X-rays 10 are transmitted. The rotation mechanism 21), the image size of the fluorescent image of the contents existing at the point symmetric position of the rotation center O when the storage case 4 is rotated, the X-ray generation means, the X-ray detection means, and the storage case The configuration includes a size detection unit (information processing device) that determines the actual size of the storage case 4 based on the positional relationship of the rotation center O of the rotation case 4.

In this embodiment, the emission port 9a of the X-ray generator 9 is used as a reference position, and the distance from this reference position to the center of rotation O and the fluorescent screen 12a (first distance L1 ·
Although the actual size of the noncombustible 27 is calculated by the calculation formula (1) using the second distance L2) as a parameter, the present invention is not limited to this. Further, in the present embodiment, the recognition, measurement, and input of the image size of the noncombustible material 27 are performed on the operator side, but all such operations may be performed on the information processing device side.

Further, in addition to the above-described structure, the container contents detecting device of the present embodiment
The transmission position changing means is capable of changing the transmission position of 0. That is, the transmission position changing unit of the present embodiment includes a drive mechanism 17 that moves the X-ray generator 9 and the X-ray detector 11 up and down, and a transport device 3 that moves the storage case 4 forward and backward. 17 allows the contents existing in the vertical direction of the storage case 4 to be detected, and the transport device 3 allows the contents existing in the horizontal direction (forward / backward movement direction) of the storage case 4 to be detected. According to this configuration, even if the contents of the entire area in the housing case 4 cannot be detected by one transmission of the X-rays 10 due to the restrictions of the X-ray generation unit, the X-ray detection unit, and the like. By changing the transmission position of the X-rays 10 with respect to the storage case 4 and performing detection several times, the contents of the entire region of the storage case 4 can be detected.

The transmission position changing means moves the storage case 4 forward and backward and moves up and down in the transfer device 3 by providing a case lift mechanism for raising and lowering the storage case 4 via the support 23 in the transfer carriage 19. It may be.

[0036]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a container contents detecting device for detecting the actual size of contents stored in a storage case, comprising: an X-ray generating means for emitting X-rays radially from an output port; X-ray detecting means arranged so that the X-rays are incident thereon, and a fluorescent image corresponding to the incident amount of the X-rays, and provided between the X-ray generating means and the X-ray detecting means. ,
Case rotating means capable of rotating the storage case at a position where the X-rays pass therethrough; and an image size of a fluorescent image of the contents present at a point symmetrical position about a rotation center when the storage case is rotated. And a size detection means for obtaining the actual size of the storage case based on the positional relationship between the X-ray generation means, the X-ray detection means, and the center of rotation of the storage case.

According to the above configuration, the X-ray fluorescence image after the X-ray has passed through all kinds of contents, such as metal and concrete, appears on the X-ray detection means. Thus, the actual sizes of all types of contents can be detected. Further, since the actual size of the content is directly obtained from the image size of the fluorescent image, the actual size can be detected with high accuracy. Further, since the actual size of the contents can be detected in a state of being stored in the storage case, it is possible to omit the operation of opening the storage case and taking out the contents before the detection of the actual size as in the related art, As a result, there is an effect that the burden on the worker can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the container contents detecting device according to the first aspect, further comprising a transmission position changing means for changing a transmission position of the X-ray with respect to the storage case. It is.

According to the above configuration, even if the contents of the entire area in the housing case cannot be detected by a single transmission of X-rays due to restrictions of the X-ray generation means and the X-ray detection means. By changing the transmission position of the X-rays to the storage case and detecting the X-rays several times, it is possible to detect the contents of the entire region of the storage case.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a container contents detection device detects contents of a storage case.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a state in which a storage case is carried into a detection device main body.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of detecting an actual size of a content in a width direction.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a method of detecting the actual size of a content in the height direction.

5A and 5B are schematic configuration diagrams of a metal detection device, wherein FIG. 5A is a plan view and FIG. 5B is a front view.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Inspection partition 2 Detecting device main body 3 Transport device 4 Housing case 5 Vertical frame 6 Horizontal frame 7 Guide rail 8 Guide block 9 X-ray generator 10 X-ray 11 X-ray detector 12 Fluorescence intensifier tube 13 Imaging device 14 Drive chain DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Drive gear 16 Shaft member 17 Drive mechanism 18 Rail 19 Conveying trolley 20 Bogie main body 21 Case rotation mechanism 22 Rotation shaft 23 Support stand 24 Bearing member 25 Roller member 26 Positioning member 27 Noncombustible

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A container content detection device for detecting the actual size of a content stored in a storage case, comprising: an X-ray generating unit that radially emits X-rays from an emission port; X-ray detecting means arranged so that a fluorescent image according to the amount of incident X-rays is provided, and the X-ray transmitting means is provided between the X-ray generating means and the X-ray detecting means. A case rotating means capable of rotating the storage case at a position; an image size of a fluorescent image of a content present at a point symmetric position about a rotation center when the storage case is rotated; And a size detecting means for obtaining an actual size of the storage case based on the positional relationship between the X-ray detection means and the center of rotation of the storage case. 2. The container contents according to claim 1, wherein said container contents detecting device further comprises a transmission position changing means capable of changing a transmission position of said X-ray with respect to said storage case. Object detection device.