JP2000310593A - Photometric apparatus and light changeover device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a photometric apparatus capable of measuring an article to be measured transferred by a plurality of conveyors on-line at as low an apparatus cost as possible and a light changeover device therefor. SOLUTION: The light passing hole 29 opened to a shading member 28 is opposed to an appropriate incident connector 24 by reversively rotating a stepping motor 26 and only light emitted from the incident connector 24 is allowed to incident on the shading member 28. A reflecting mirror 36 is arranged in opposed relation to the light passing hole 29 within the shading member 28 and the light passed through the light passing hole 29 to be incident on the reflecting mirror 36 is reflected into a third through-hole 33 by the reflecting mirror 36 and emitted to the outside of a housing 21 from an emitting connector 41. At this time, the light emitted from other three incident connectors 24, 24, 24 is shut off by the shading member 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for irradiating an object such as fruits and vegetables and eggs with light, and based on the transmitted light or reflected light, components such as sugar content and acidity of the object or an object to be measured. The present invention relates to a light measuring device for measuring the presence or absence of a foreign substance mixed in the inside, and a light switching device for a light measuring device used for the light measuring device and switching to an appropriate light beam among a plurality of light beams.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a sugar content measuring device described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-213804.
Reference numeral denotes a light source room for irradiating the object K such as a fruit with light. A light source 74 such as a halogen lamp is provided in the light source room 71, and a through hole is formed on the light path of the light source 74 on the wall surface of the light source room 71. At a predetermined distance from the light source chamber 71, a spectroscopic chamber 72 for dispersing the light emitted by the light source 74 is provided,
The spectroscopic chamber 72 and the light source chamber 71 are connected by a cylindrical sample chamber 73.

In the sample chamber 73, an object K to be measured is arranged on the optical path of the light source, and the transmitted light transmitted through the object K passes through a through-hole formed in the spectroscopic chamber 72. Condenser lens
It is incident on 77. A slit 78 having an appropriate opening width is arranged at the focal point of the condenser lens 77, and the light passing through the slit 78 is incident on a flat-field concave grating 90, where the light having a wavelength of 700 to 1000 nm is emitted. Is split into

[0004] A filter 79 such as an ND filter is provided between the slit 78 and the grating 90 to measure a reference.
It is arranged so that it can be inserted and extracted freely in the optical path. When measuring the reference, insert the filter 79 into the optical path and
By injecting the light source light that has passed through the sample chamber 73 into the filter 79 without disposing the measurement object K in the filter 73, the intensity of the light source light is reduced to an appropriate intensity, and the intensity of the light transmitted through the filter 79 is reduced. Determined as described below. On the other hand, when measuring the sugar content of the measurement object K, the filter 79 is not inserted in the optical path.

The spectrum reflected by the grating 90 is irradiated on a line sensor 91. The line sensor 91 converts the light having a wavelength of 700 to 1000 nm applied to the light into an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of light of each wavelength, and supplies the electric signal to a signal processor 95 that performs arithmetic processing of the sugar content. The signal processor 95 subtracts the light intensity of the reference of the corresponding wavelength from the light intensity of a plurality of predetermined wavelengths, and substitutes each obtained value into a predetermined arithmetic expression to calculate the sugar content.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
By the sugar content measuring device described in 6-213804 publication,
In order to measure the sugar content of a plurality of objects being transported by each conveyor on-line for a plurality of conveyors that transport the workpiece, a sugar content measuring device must be installed on each conveyor. However, there has been a problem that the apparatus cost increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to measure an object to be measured conveyed by a plurality of conveyors on-line at the lowest possible equipment cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light measuring device capable of performing the above and a light switch for the light measuring device used for the light measuring device.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light measuring apparatus, comprising: a plurality of light guides for guiding light obtained by separately projecting a plurality of objects to be measured; A spectroscope, and a light switch that switches light incident on the spectroscope from each light guide, and a light measurement device that measures the state of each device under test based on light obtained by spectroscopy with the spectroscope. The light switching device is provided with a rotating shaft rotatably in a light-shielding housing, and a light-emitting side end of each light guide intersects the rotation shaft around the rotation shaft in the housing. Are arranged to emit light in the direction in which light is emitted, and a light reflecting mirror that reflects light emitted from the light-emitting side end of any of the light guides in the axial direction of the rotation axis is supported by the rotation axis. It is characterized by having.

In the light measuring device according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the reflecting mirror has a light transmitting hole through which light emitted from the light emitting side end of any of the light guides is opened. The light guide is covered by a cylindrical light-blocking member that blocks light emitted from the light-emitting side end of the other light guide, and the light-blocking member is supported by the rotating shaft.

A light switching device for a light measuring device according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of light guides for individually guiding light obtained by individually projecting a plurality of objects to be measured, and disperses incident light. A light measuring device that includes a spectroscope and that measures the state of each device under test based on light obtained by spectroscopy with the spectroscope, and that switches light incident on the spectroscope from each of the light guides. A light switching device for a measuring device, wherein a rotating shaft is rotatably provided in a light-shielding housing, and a light-emitting side end of each light guide is provided around the axis of the rotating shaft in the housing. Is arranged to emit light in the direction intersecting with, and a reflecting mirror that reflects light emitted from the light emitting side end of any of the light guides in the axial direction of the rotation axis is provided on the rotation axis. It is characterized by being supported.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the optical switch for an optical measuring device according to the third aspect, the reflecting mirror has a light transmitting hole through which light emitted from the light emitting side end of any of the light guides passes. It has been opened, it is covered by a cylindrical light blocking member that blocks light emitted from the light output side end of another light guide, characterized in that the light blocking member is supported by the rotating shaft I do.

A pair of light emitters and light receivers are provided on a plurality of conveyors, respectively. An object to be measured is conveyed to the projector and the receiver of each pair by a corresponding conveyor at different times, and transmitted light transmitted through the object, reflected light or scattered light of the object to be measured is transmitted. Are received by the corresponding light receiver. A light guide such as an optical fiber is connected to each light receiver, and the light received by each light receiver is guided to the switch by the light guide connected to each light receiver.

A rotary shaft is provided in a light-shielding housing of the switch, and the rotary shaft is driven to rotate. A reflecting mirror that reflects the incident light in the axial direction of the rotating shaft is attached to the rotating shaft that extends inside the housing, and faces the rotating area of the reflecting mirror, and the light exit side of each light guide is provided. The ends are each arranged. Then, by rotating the rotating shaft and the reflecting mirror, the light emitted from any one of the light emitting side ends is reflected to the spectroscope.

Thus, the light received by the plurality of light receivers can be processed by one spectroscope, and the object to be measured transferred by the plurality of conveyors can be processed online at the lowest possible equipment cost. Can be measured. Further, since the configuration of the switching device is relatively simple, the device cost is low.
On the other hand, since the distance between the light exit side end of each light guide and the reflecting mirror is short, it is not necessary to provide an optical system such as a collimator lens at the light exit side end. Therefore, the apparatus cost can be further reduced. Furthermore, by shortening the distance between the light exit side end and the reflecting mirror, the optical path in the optical switch can be made as short as possible, and the amount of light attenuation can be reduced. In addition, since the size of the driving device does not affect the distance between the light exit side end and the reflecting mirror, an inexpensive, relatively large driving device can be provided, and the device cost can be further reduced. it can.

In addition, a light-passing hole for transmitting light emitted from one of the light-emitting side ends is provided, and the light-shielding member is a cylindrical light-blocking member that blocks light emitted from the other light-emitting side end. Cover the area around the reflector. The light blocking member is supported by a rotating shaft, and when the rotating shaft is driven, the light blocking member is rotated together with the rotating shaft and the reflecting mirror. The light emitted from the required light emitting side end passes through the light transmitting hole of the light shielding member, enters the reflecting mirror,
The light is reflected by the reflecting mirror to the spectroscope. On the other hand, since the light emitted from the other light-emitting side end is blocked by the light blocking member, only the light from the required light-emitting side end can be made to enter the spectroscope. In this way, with a relatively simple configuration,
Light switching with high reliability can be performed.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of an optical measurement device according to the present invention.
Is a conveyor in which a plurality of holders for holding the object to be measured H are provided in a line at predetermined intervals. A plurality of (two in FIG. 1) conveyors 80, 80 are arranged substantially horizontally,
Each of the conveyors 80, 80 has a plurality of DUTs H, H,
Are held in the respective holders provided on the conveyors 80, 80, respectively. At an appropriate position in the longitudinal direction of each conveyor 80, 80,
Box-shaped housings 5 and 5 having openings on the front and back sides are arranged, and the conveyors 80 and 80 are inserted through the openings of the corresponding housings 5 and 5.

The housing 5 includes a halogen lamp, a reflector, etc., and the light projecting unit 1 for projecting light on the object to be measured H is arranged on one side of the conveyor 80.
On the other side of 80, a light receiving unit 2 that includes a lens 3 and a connector 4 and receives the transmitted light from the device under test H is disposed facing the light projecting unit 1.

FIG. 2 shows a light emitting unit 1 and a light receiving unit 2
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining an example of arrangement. 2-conveyor 80,
80 are arranged parallel to each other. A plurality of objects to be measured H, H,... Are held in a row at the same pitch on both conveyors 80, 80, and both conveyors 80, 80 transport the objects to be measured H, H,. It is made to do.

A pair of light emitting units 1 and 1 and a pair of light receiving units 2 and 2 are provided on both conveyors 80 and 80, respectively.
0 and 80 are arranged opposite to each other, and both pairs of the light emitting units 1 and 1 and the light receiving units 2 and 2
The positions of the conveyors 80, 80 in the longitudinal direction are varied so as not to coincide with the distance between the objects to be measured H, H,.

On the upstream side of the light projecting units 1, 1, sensors 7, 7 for detecting objects H, H,... Conveyed by the conveyors 80, 80 are provided. The signal is sent to the control unit 15 of the computer 11 (to be described later) (see FIG. 1).
Given to. As described above, both light emitting units 1, 1
Are located at different positions in the longitudinal direction of the conveyors 80, 80 so that they do not coincide with the distance between the objects to be measured H, H, ... conveyed by the conveyors 80, 80. The detection signals are output alternately at different times.

In this embodiment, two conveyors are used.
A plurality of DUTs H, H,... Are held in a row at the same pitch on 80, 80, and both conveyors 80, 80 convey DUTs H, H,. When it is done, two pairs of light emitting units 1 and 1 and light receiving unit 2
2 is shown in the case where the conveyors 80, 80 are arranged at different positions in the longitudinal direction so as not to coincide with the distance between the objects to be measured H, H, ... conveyed by the conveyors 80, 80. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the holding pitches of the measured objects H, H,... Are set so that the transmitted light of the measured objects H, H,. Conveyors 80, 80 may be different, and both conveyors
The transfer speeds of 80 and 80 may be different.

One end of each of optical fibers 6, 6 for guiding incident light is connected to the connectors 4, 4 provided in each of the light receiving units 2, 2, and the other end of each of the optical fibers 6, 6 is connected to each of the optical fibers 6, 6. The light guided by the fibers 6 and 6 is split into predetermined wavelengths,
It is inserted into an incident light switching unit 20 provided in a measuring device 10 for measuring the light intensity of each wavelength.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side sectional view of the incident light switching unit 20 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a rear sectional view of the incident light switching unit 20 shown in FIG. The incident light switching unit 20 includes a rectangular parallelepiped shell-shaped housing 21 having a light-shielding property and an inner surface made black. Front panel of the housing 21
In the 22, four first through holes 31, 31, 31, 31 are equally arranged on the concentric circle with the center of the front panel 22. Each first through hole
31, 31, 31, 31 include a cylindrical packing 3 having a light shielding property.
5, 35, 35, 35 are fitted, and optical fibers 6, 6,
Reference numerals 6, 6 penetrate the insides of the packings 35, 35, 35, 35.

In the center of the front panel 22, a second through hole is provided.
32 are open. An output shaft 27 of a stepping motor 26 fixed to the front panel 22 is rotatably penetrated through the second through hole 32. The output shaft 27 has a predetermined length in the axial direction of the output shaft 27. The inclined part 38 that intersects at an angle is cylindrical base end
A fixture 37 protruding from 39 is attached. Fixture 37
Is covered with a cylindrical light-shielding member 28 having a bottom, and a hole having an inner diameter substantially equal to the outer diameter of the base end portion 39 is formed in the center of the bottom of the light-shielding member 28. A flange 39a having a slightly larger outer diameter is provided at the base end 39, and the light shielding member 28 is fixed to the flange 39a by inserting the base end 39 into a hole at the bottom. The fixture 37 and the light blocking member 28 are rotated in the forward and reverse directions by the stepping motor 26.

On the peripheral surface of the light shielding member 28, a light passing hole 29 for entering light into the inside is opened, and a reflecting mirror 36 disposed opposite to the light passing hole 29 is provided with an inclined portion of a fixture 37. Fixed to 38. The reflecting mirror 36 reflects the light incident from the light passage hole 29 in the axial direction of the output shaft 27 described above. Light shielding member
Around 28, four incident side connectors 24, 24, 24, 24
Are arranged in four equal positions facing the rotation area of the light passage hole 29,
Optical fibers 6, 6, 6 are connected to each of the incident side connectors 24, 24, 24, 24.
Connect 6,6.

A lens 42 is provided on the rear panel 23 of the housing 21 so that the light reflected by the reflecting mirror 36 is emitted out of the housing 21.
A third through hole 33 in which the
The emission side connector 41 is attached around the third through hole 33 of the 23.

Note that, as shown in FIG.
When the number of optical fibers 6, 6 smaller than the number of 24, 24, 24, 24 is used, the first
A cap (not shown) is attached to the through holes 31 to shield light.

In such an incident light switching unit 20, by rotating the stepping motor 26 in the forward and reverse directions, the light passage hole 29 formed in the light shielding member 28 is opposed to an appropriate incident side connector 24, Only the light emitted from the side connector 24 enters the light shielding member 28. Light shielding member
As described above, the reflecting mirror 36 is disposed inside the light-receiving hole 29 so as to face the light-passing hole 29, and the light passing through the light-passing hole 29 and entering the reflecting mirror 36 passes through the third through the reflecting mirror 36. The light is reflected into the hole 33 and emitted from the emission-side connector 41 to the outside of the housing 21. At this time, the light emitted from the other three incident side connectors 24, 24, 24 is blocked by the light blocking member 28.

The light emitted from the incident light switching unit 20 enters the filter switching unit 40. In the filter switching unit 40, a filter group such as an ND filter or an opal glass and a V10 filter is provided so as to be inserted into and extracted from an optical path. When measuring a reference, the filter group is inserted into the optical path and When measuring transmitted light, the filter group is taken out of the optical path.

The light passing through the filter switching unit 40 is
The light is incident on a spectroscope 50 having a built-in slit and a grating, and the spectroscope 50 splits the incident light into a plurality of wavelengths and emits the split light to a detector 60. The detector 60 converts the incident light of each wavelength into an electric signal corresponding to its intensity, and supplies the electric signal to the arithmetic unit 12 of the computer 11.

The calculation unit 12 detects the result of measuring the reference of the optical fibers 6 and 6 and the corresponding optical path in the incident light switching unit 20 and the state where no light enters the incident light switching unit 20 as described later. The calculation unit 12 also gives the results measured at 60. The calculation unit 12 calculates the sugar content, acidity, presence or absence of foreign matter, and the like of the measured objects H, H,. Is given to the memory 13 and stored there.

On the other hand, the computer 11 is provided with a control unit 15 for controlling the switching operation of the incident light switching unit 20, the switching operation of the filter switching unit 40, the photoelectric conversion operation of the detector 60, and the like. As mentioned above,
The control unit 15 is provided with detection signals of the objects to be measured H, H,... From sensors 7, 7 (both shown in FIG. 2) provided on the upstream side of the light emitting units 1, 1. Part 15 is
The operation of the device is controlled as follows.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining the operation timing of the sensors 7, 7, the filter switching unit 40, and the detector 60. .. (Both refer to FIG. 1) are not placed on both conveyors 80, 80, and light is emitted from the light emitting units 1, 1 and the light receiving units 2,
2 and an initial measurement is performed as follows. FIG.
As shown in (d), the switching command output unit of the control unit 15 gives a command to the incident light switching unit 20 to insert the filter group into the optical path.

Further, as shown in FIG.
A switching command output unit (not shown) of the light-shielding member 25 is located at a dark position where the incident light switching unit 20 blocks light emitted from all the incident-side connectors 24, 24, 24, 24 (see FIG. 3). After outputting the command to rotate the light shielding member 28 to the first position where the light passage hole 29 faces the incident side connector 24 to which one optical fiber 6 is connected.

Thereafter, the switching command output unit of the control unit 15 outputs a command to rotate the light shielding member 28 to the dark position to the incident light switching unit 20, and then outputs the command to the incident side connector 24 to which the other optical fiber 6 is connected. It outputs a command to rotate the light blocking member 28 to the second position where the light passage hole 29 faces.

Then, as shown in FIG.
15 is a detector that rises at the timing when the operation of the incident light switching unit 20 falls and falls at the timing when the operation of the incident light switching unit 20 rises.
Activate 60.

Thus, the operation unit 12 of the computer 11
, A dark signal of the detector 60, a reference value for light from one light receiving unit 2, and a reference value for light from the other light receiving unit 2 are given. Then, the calculation unit 12 subtracts the dark signal from the former reference value to obtain a first reference value, and subtracts the dark signal from the latter reference value to obtain a second reference value.

Before measuring the objects to be measured H, H,...
In step 15, as shown in FIG. 5D, the filter switching unit 40 causes the filter group to be taken out of the optical path. As shown in FIG. 5A, when the detection signal of the object to be measured H is given from one of the sensors 7 (see FIG. 2), as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 5C and 5E, a command to rotate the light shielding member 28 to the first position is output, and one of the light receiving units 2 is output.
The detector 60 detects the transmitted light of the device under test H received by the detector 60.

As shown in FIG. 5B, when the detection signal of the object to be measured H is given from the other sensor 7 (see FIG. 2) as shown in FIG. As shown in e), a command to rotate the light shielding member 28 to the second position is output, and the detector 60 detects the transmitted light of the object H received by the other light receiving unit 2.

Thus, the arithmetic unit 12 supplies the dark signal of the detector 60, the first measured value based on the transmitted light of the object H conveyed by the one conveyor 80, the dark signal of the detector 60, and the other The second measurement values based on the transmitted light of the object H conveyed by the conveyor 80 are continuously given in this order. And
The calculation unit 12 subtracts the dark signal and the first reference value from the first measurement value, and calculates the sugar content or the acidity of the test object H conveyed by the one conveyor 80 based on the values. The arithmetic unit 12 also subtracts the dark signal and the second reference value from the second measurement value, and, based on the values, subtracts the other conveyor.
The sugar content or the acid content of the measured object H conveyed at 80 is calculated.

In the present embodiment, light transmitted through the object is received, but the present invention is not limited to this, and light reflected or scattered from the object is received. It goes without saying that this may be done.

In the claims, reference numerals are provided for convenience of comparison with the drawings, but the description does not limit the present invention to the structure of the accompanying drawings.

[0043]

As described above, according to the first and third aspects of the present invention, the light received by the plurality of light receivers can be processed by one spectroscope, and the apparatus cost is as low as possible. Thus, an object to be measured transferred by a plurality of conveyors can be measured online. Further, since the configuration of the switching device is relatively simple, the device cost is low. On the other hand, since the distance between the light exit side end of the light guide that guides the light received by the plurality of light receivers and the reflecting mirror is short, it is not necessary to provide an optical system such as a collimator lens at the light exit side end. Therefore, the apparatus cost can be further reduced.

Further, by shortening the distance between the light exit side end and the reflecting mirror, the optical path in the optical switch can be made as short as possible, and the amount of light attenuation can be reduced. . In addition, since the size of the driving device does not affect the distance between the light exit side end and the reflecting mirror, an inexpensive, relatively large driving device can be provided, and the device cost can be further reduced. it can.

According to the second and fourth aspects of the present invention, the present invention has excellent effects, such as highly reliable light switching with a relatively simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an optical measurement device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of arrangement of a light projecting unit and a light receiving unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side sectional view of the incident light switching unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a rear sectional view of the incident light switching unit shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating operation timings of a sensor, a filter switching unit, and a detector.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a sugar content measuring device described in JP-A-6-213804.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 light emitting unit 2 light receiving unit 6 optical fiber 11 computer 12 arithmetic unit 15 control unit 20 incident light switching unit 24 incident side connector 26 stepping motor 27 output shaft 28 light shielding member 29 light passage hole 31 first through hole 32 second through hole 33 Third through-hole 36 Reflector 40 Filter switching unit 50 Spectrometer 60 Detector 80 Conveyor H DUT

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Noriko Nomura 2-35 Jinbucho, Yao-shi, Osaka Inside Kubota Electronic Technology Center Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazushige Ikeda 2-35 Jinmucho, Yao-shi, Osaka K F-term in Bota Electronics Technology Center (reference) 2G059 AA01 BB11 CC20 DD12 EE01 EE02 EE12 JJ17 JJ30 KK01 MM01 PP01 PP10

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of light guides (6) for guiding light obtained by separately projecting light to a plurality of DUTs, a spectroscope (50) for separating incident light, and each light guide A light switching device (20) for switching light incident on the spectroscope from the light source;
A light measuring device for measuring the state of each device under test based on the light obtained by spectral separation in (0), wherein the light switch (20) includes a rotating shaft (27) in a light-shielding housing (21). ) Is provided rotatably, and the light-emitting side end of each light guide (6) is configured to transmit light in a direction crossing the rotation axis (27) in the housing (21) around the rotation axis (27). A reflecting mirror (36), which is arranged to emit light, reflects light emitted from the light-emitting side end of any of the light guides (6) in the axial direction of the rotation axis (27). An optical measurement device supported on a shaft (27). 2. The reflecting mirror (36) has a light transmitting hole (29) through which light emitted from the light emitting side end of one of the light guides (6) passes. The light body (6) is covered by a cylindrical light blocking member (28) for blocking light emitted from the light exit side end of the light body (6), and the light blocking member (28) is supported by the rotating shaft (27). The light measuring device according to claim 1. 3. A plurality of light guides (6) for individually guiding light obtained by individually projecting a plurality of objects to be measured, and a spectroscope (50) for dispersing incident light. A light measuring device is provided for measuring the state of each device under test based on the light obtained by spectroscopy with the spectroscope (50).
A light switch (20) for a light measuring device for switching light incident on the light guide (0), wherein a rotation shaft (27) is rotatably provided in a light-shielding housing (21), and each light guide ( The light exit side end of 6) is the housing (2)
It is arranged around the axis of the rotation axis (27) in 1) so as to emit light in a direction crossing the axis, and one of the light guides (6)
An optical measuring device characterized in that a reflecting mirror (36) for reflecting light emitted from the light emitting side end of the rotating shaft in the axial direction of the rotating shaft (27) is supported by the rotating shaft (27). Light switcher. 4. The reflecting mirror (36) has a light transmitting hole (29) through which light emitted from the light emitting side end of one of the light guides (6) is opened, and another light guide is provided. The light body (6) is covered by a cylindrical light blocking member (28) for blocking light emitted from the light exit side end of the light body (6), and the light blocking member (28) is supported by the rotating shaft (27). An optical switch for an optical measurement device according to claim 3.