JP2001124761A - Egg testing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an egg testing apparatus which can highly accurately test eggs of even different sizes and different eggshell colors. SOLUTION: An arithmetic device 42 takes amplification signals related to a first gain with an amplification signal sent from amplifier circuits 35, 35 and 35, and sends gain switch signals to gain switch circuits 37, 37 and 37, thereby switching gains of gain set circuits 36, 36 and 36 from the first gain to a second gain. Thereafter, the arithmetic device takes amplification signals related to a second gain fed from the amplification circuits 35, 35 and 35. The arithmetic circuit 42 selects amplification signals in a preset upper and lower limit range respectively from amplification signals related to the first gain and amplification signals related to the second gain taken from the amplification circuits 35, 35 and 35.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for irradiating an egg with light to obtain transmitted light and detecting the presence or absence of an internal abnormality in the egg based on the intensity of the transmitted light.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Eggs produced in a poultry farm include abnormal eggs such as bloody eggs with small clots mixed in the eggshell, and eggs with meat spots floating in egg white or entangled with caraza. In order to ship normal eggs to be eaten, non-destructive inspection is performed to determine whether or not a plurality of collected eggs are abnormal eggs.

In order to non-destructively inspect an egg, an inspector holds the egg over light emitted from a light source such as a fluorescent lamp and visually judges whether or not the egg is abnormal. However, while such an inspection requires a skilled inspector, there is a problem that even an experienced inspector cannot perform inspection work for a long time. Therefore, the following egg testing device is disclosed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side sectional view showing a main part of the egg testing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-735. In the figure, reference numeral 50 denotes a projector. The light projector 50 has a built-in halogen lamp 51 and a reflector 52, and the light emitted from the halogen lamp 51 is incident on the light projecting lens 53 directly or reflected by the reflector 52. The light incident on the light projecting lens 53 is made into parallel light there, and is emitted from the light projecting lens 53. The parallel light emitted by the projection lens 53 is slit
The egg E is radiated through the egg 54, and the transmitted light transmitted through the egg E is incident on the condenser lens 65 of the light receiver 60.

On the light exit side of the condenser lens 65, two half mirrors 66 and 67 are separated from each other by a predetermined distance in the optical axis direction at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the optical axis of the condenser lens 65. The light emitted from the condenser lens 65 is disposed at a first position reflected by one half mirror 66, and at a second position reflected by one half mirror 66 after passing through one half mirror 66. At the third position after passing through both half mirrors 66 and 67. Phototransistors 71, 72, and 73 are provided at the first to third positions, respectively.

The phototransistor 71 arranged at the first position
An optical filter 61 for transmitting light having a wavelength of 620 nm is disposed on the light incident side of the optical transistor 61. An optical filter for transmitting light having a wavelength of 575 nm is transmitted on the light incident side of the phototransistor 72 disposed at the second position. A filter 62 is provided, and 590n is provided on the light incident side of the phototransistor 73 arranged at the third position.
An optical filter 63 for transmitting light having a wavelength of m is provided. The phototransistors 71 to 73 disposed at the first to third positions photoelectrically convert the transmitted light of the corresponding optical filters 61 to 63, and convert the first to third signals into analog / digital devices (A / D converters). Output to the arithmetic unit 80 via 75, 75, 75.

The arithmetic unit 80 normalizes the second signal by dividing the given second signal by the third signal. If the level of the normalized signal is equal to or less than a predetermined level, it is a bloody egg. Is determined. If the given first signal is lower than a predetermined level, the computing unit 80 determines that the egg is a spoiled egg. Thus, by the intensity of the transmitted light of 590 nm, which changes depending on the color of the eggshell, such as white or brown,
Since the intensity of the transmitted light at 575 nm absorbed by the clot is normalized, the influence of the color of the eggshell can be reduced.

[0008]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the egg inspection apparatus disclosed in JP-A-56-735, when inspecting eggs of different sizes, the transmittance of light emitted from the projector to each egg is different, and thus the detection accuracy of eggs having a small transmittance is detected. Was low. Also, by normalizing the intensity of transmitted light absorbed by the clot with the intensity of transmitted light that changes with the color of the eggshell, the effect of the color of the eggshell is reduced. Because the intensity of transmitted light of eggs with colored shells such as red or cherry-colored is lower than the intensity of transmitted light, the inspection accuracy of eggs with colored shells is lower than the inspection accuracy of eggs with white shells. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and the object thereof is to receive transmitted light of eggs even when inspecting eggs of different sizes and eggs of different shell colors. A plurality of amplified signals separately amplified with a plurality of gains, a amplified signal having a value within a predetermined range is selected, and based on the selected amplified signal, the presence or absence of an internal egg abnormality is detected. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an egg testing apparatus capable of inspecting eggs with high accuracy.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an egg detecting apparatus for irradiating an egg with light, and a photoelectric converter for receiving light transmitted through the egg and converting the light into an electric signal corresponding to the intensity of the transmitted light. And an amplifying circuit for amplifying the electric signal, and an abnormality detecting means for detecting the presence or absence of an internal abnormality of the egg based on a value of the amplified signal amplified by the amplifying circuit, wherein the amplifying circuit A gain setting circuit for setting a plurality of gains; a gain switching circuit for switching the gain of the gain setting circuit; and a gain switching signal for amplifying at each of the gains while receiving the transmitted light of the egg. Means for providing to the switching circuit, and means for selecting an amplified signal having a value within a predetermined range from a plurality of amplified signals respectively amplified by the respective gains, and providing the selected amplified signal to the abnormality detecting means Characterized in that it comprises a.

A switching signal is given to a gain switching circuit,
A plurality of gains set in the amplifier circuit are sequentially switched to obtain a plurality of amplified signals amplified by each gain. The arithmetic unit is
A signal whose value is within a predetermined range is selected from the obtained amplified signals. Then, the presence or absence of an internal abnormality of the egg is detected based on the value of the selected amplified signal. This makes it possible to obtain a predetermined level of an amplified signal regardless of the intensity of the transmitted light through the egg, thereby reducing the effects of the size of the egg and the color of the eggshell and inspecting the egg with high accuracy. it can.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the egg inspection apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a plurality of the photoelectric converters are provided, and each of the photoelectric converters is provided with an optical filter for passing light in a different wavelength band. An amplification circuit, a gain setting circuit, and a gain switching circuit are provided for each photoelectric converter, and a gain is set for each gain setting circuit according to the wavelength band of the corresponding optical filter. It is characterized by the following.

Light passing through a plurality of optical filters that pass light in a wavelength band according to the purpose of inspection, such as inspection of blood spot eggs or putrefactive eggs, or inspection of eggshell color, corresponds to each optical filter. The light enters the photoelectric converters provided respectively, and is converted into electric signals there. An amplifying circuit, a gain setting circuit, and a gain switching circuit are provided for each photoelectric converter, and each amplifying circuit amplifies an amplified signal amplified by a plurality of gains set according to the wavelength band of the corresponding optical filter. Output each. Then, as before, the arithmetic unit determines whether or not the value of each amplified signal is within a predetermined range, and based on the value of the amplified signal determined to be within the predetermined range, whether there is an internal abnormality of the egg. Is detected. Thereby, the eggs can be inspected with higher accuracy.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing a main part configuration of an egg test apparatus according to the present invention.
1 is a light projector, and 2 is a light receiver for receiving the light emitted from the light projector 1. The projector 1 has a light source 11 in which a halogen lamp 12, a reflector 13 and a heat ray cut filter 15 for cutting off heat rays (infrared rays) are provided inside a housing 14, and a first optical fiber 10 is connected to the housing 14. It is. The light emitted from the halogen lamp 12 is incident on the heat ray cut filter 15, and the light whose heat ray is cut by the heat ray cut filter 15 is incident on the first optical fiber 10. The incident light is guided to the light projecting position by the first optical fiber 10, and is radiated to the egg E from the light emitting end of the first optical fiber 10.

A light-receiving end of the second optical fiber 20 on which light emitted from the first optical fiber 10 is incident is disposed opposite to the light-emitting end of the first optical fiber 10. The egg E is irradiated from the first optical fiber 10 and the transmitted light transmitted through the egg E is incident on the light receiving end of the second optical fiber 20. First and second half mirrors 21 and 22 are disposed on the optical path on the light emitting end side of the second optical fiber 20 at an appropriate distance from each other and at a predetermined angle with respect to the optical path. The light emitted from the optical fiber 20 and reflected by the first half mirror 21 passes through a first band-pass filter 31a, which passes light having a wavelength near 575 nm, which is largely absorbed by the blood clot, through a first photoelectric converter.
It is incident on 31.

The light passing through the first half mirror 21 and reflected by the second half mirror 22 passes through, for example, a second band-pass filter 32a that passes light having a wavelength near 645 nm, whose absorption varies depending on the color of the eggshell. The light that has entered the second photoelectric converter 32 and passed through the first half mirror 21 and the second half mirror 22 is, for example, a third bandpass filter that passes light having a wavelength near 545 nm, which is largely absorbed by the blood clot. The light enters the third photoelectric converter 33 via 33a.

The first to third photoelectric converters 31 to 33 convert the incident light into electric signals corresponding to the intensities thereof and supply the obtained electric signals to the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35. For example, the first or second gain is applied to the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35.
Gain setting circuits 36, 36, which can be set to 35, 35
36, and gain switching circuits 37, 37, 37 for switching the gains of the gain setting circuits 36, 36, 36, respectively.
Each of the gain switching circuits 37, 37, and 37 is provided with a gain switching signal from a computing unit 42, which will be described later. The gain of the circuits 36, 36, 36 is the first
The gain is switched from the gain to the second gain. When the gain switching signal is no longer provided, the gain is switched from the second gain to the first gain.

As described above, each gain setting circuit 36, 36, 36
For example, the first gain and the second gain are set respectively, and the first gain related to the first signal output from the first photoelectric converter 31: the second gain output from the second photoelectric converter 32 The first gain: The first gain of the third signal output by the third photoelectric converter 33 is, for example, 100 times: 100 times: 5
The second gain related to the first signal: the second gain related to the second signal: the second gain related to the third signal is, for example, 0 times.
The double of the first gain is 200 times: 200 times: 100 times.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the amplifier circuit 35, the gain setting circuit 36, and the gain switching circuit 37 shown in FIG. 1, and shows a case where two kinds of gains are switched.
Amplifier circuit 35 becomes to interposed the first resistance element R ₁ in the negative feedback circuit of the operational amplifier 35a, to the positive terminal of the operational amplifier 35a, an output signal corresponding to the photoelectric converter has output is input. One end of a second resistance element R ₂ and one end of a third resistance element R ₃ of a gain setting circuit 36 are connected in parallel to the negative terminal of the operational amplifier 35a, and the other end of the second resistance element R ₂ is electrically grounded. It is. The other end of the third resistance element R _3, a gain switching circuit 37 FET37a and wheeling diode 37b is Yes in parallel connection, is adapted to be supplied with switching signal described above to the gate of FET37a.

[0020] If the signal is switched to the gate of FET37a is not given, gain determined on the basis of the second resistance element R ₂ of the first resistor element R ₁ and the gain setting circuit 36 of the amplifier circuit 35 is set to the operational amplifier 35a, When a switching signal is given to the gate of the FET 37a, the first
Resistive element R _1, and gain determined on the basis of the second resistance element R ₂ and the third resistance element R ₃ of the gain setting circuit 36 is set to the operational amplifier 35a.

The amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35 amplify the input electric signals with the respective gains set by the gain setting circuits 36, 36, 36, and convert the amplified signals into analog / digital (A / D) signals. It is given to the converter 41. The A / D converter 41 converts an analog signal given from each of the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35 into a digital signal, and supplies each signal to the arithmetic unit 42.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart sequentially showing the operation of the arithmetic unit 42 shown in FIG. The arithmetic unit 42 waits until it determines that the egg E exists in the optical path from the light projector 1 to the light receiver 2 (step S1), and when it determines that the egg E exists, the amplified signals are outputted from the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35. The first given
Each of the amplified signals related to the gain is captured (step S
2). The arithmetic unit 42 gives a gain switching signal to the gain switching circuits 37, 37, 37 (step S3), switches the gain of the gain setting circuits 36, 36, 36 from the first gain to the second gain, and then switches the amplification circuit. The amplified signal relating to the second gain given from 35, 35, 35 is fetched (step S4).

The arithmetic unit 42 compares the value of each amplified signal relating to the first gain and the value of each amplified signal relating to the second gain taken from the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35 with predetermined upper and lower limits. Then, the values of the amplified signals within the upper and lower limits are selected (step S6). The first to third signals are set so that one of the value of each amplified signal related to the first gain and the value of each amplified signal related to the second gain is within a predetermined range.
The first gain and the second gain are set to the respective gain setting circuits 36 and 36 according to the wavelength band of light passing through the band-pass filters 31a to 33a.
36, 36.

The arithmetic unit 42 divides the amplified signal related to the first signal by the amplified signal related to the second signal for each selected amplified signal, and converts the amplified signal related to the third signal into the second signal. By dividing by the amplified signal, a normalization process for removing the influence of the color of the eggshell from the amplified signal of the first signal and the amplified signal of the third signal is performed, and the first normalized signal and the third normalized signal are obtained. A signal is obtained (step S7).
A first threshold value and a second threshold value for determining the quality of the egg are set in advance in the arithmetic unit 42, and the arithmetic unit 42 determines whether the value of the first normalized signal is smaller than the first threshold value, It is determined whether or not the value of the normalized signal is smaller than the second threshold (step S8). If any of the signal values is smaller than the threshold, it is determined that the egg is a normal egg and the signal is output (step S8). S9),
If any of the signal values is larger than the threshold value, it is determined that the egg is abnormal and the signal is output (step S10).

In this embodiment, the gain setting circuit
Although the first gain and the second gain are set in the amplifier circuits 35, 35, 35 by 36, 36, 36, the present invention is not limited to this, and three or more types of multiple gains can be set. It goes without saying that it is possible to do this.

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.

[0027]

As described in detail above, in the egg testing apparatus according to the first invention, regardless of the intensity of the transmitted light of the egg,
Since an amplified signal of a predetermined level can be obtained, the effects of egg size and eggshell color can be reduced, and eggs can be inspected with high accuracy.

In the egg testing apparatus according to the second invention, each amplifier circuit outputs an amplified signal amplified with a plurality of gains set according to the wavelength band of the corresponding optical filter. Therefore, the present invention has an excellent effect such that eggs can be inspected with higher accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view showing a main configuration of an egg test apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of an amplifier circuit, a gain setting circuit, and a gain switching circuit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart sequentially showing the operation of the arithmetic unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic side sectional view showing a configuration of a main part of an egg inspection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-735.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Projector 2 Light receiver 10 1st optical fiber 11 Light source 12 Halogen lamp 20 2nd optical fiber 31a 1st bandpass filter 32a 2nd bandpass filter 33a 3rd bandpass filter 31 1st photoelectric converter 32 2nd photoelectric converter 33 third photoelectric converter 35 amplifying circuit 36 gain setting circuit 37 gain switching circuit 42 arithmetic unit E egg

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Keiichi Nariyama, 2-35 Jinmucho, Yao-shi, Osaka Inside Kubota Electronic Technology Center Co., Ltd. (72) Kazushige Ikeda 2-35, Jinmucho, Yao-shi, Osaka No. F-term in Kubota Electronic Technology Center Co., Ltd. (reference) 2G051 AA90 AB06 BA08 BB15 BB17 CA02 CA03 CB02 CC11 CC15 CC17 EA11 EA24 EC03 2G059 AA05 BB11 CC16 EE01 EE11 HH02 HH06 JJ02 JJ17 KK01 MM05 MM09 MM20 NN01

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A light projector (1) for irradiating light to an egg, a photoelectric converter (31) for receiving transmitted light transmitted through the egg and converting the light into an electric signal corresponding to the intensity thereof, and amplifying the electric signal. An egg inspection apparatus comprising: an amplification circuit (35); and an abnormality detecting unit configured to detect presence or absence of an internal abnormality of the egg based on a value of the amplified signal amplified by the amplification circuit (35). ), A gain setting circuit (36) for setting a plurality of gains, a gain switching circuit (37) for switching the gain of the gain setting circuit (36), and each of the gains while receiving the transmitted light of the egg. Means for providing a gain switching signal to the gain switching circuit (37) for amplification, and selecting an amplified signal having a value within a predetermined range from a plurality of amplified signals respectively amplified by each gain, and selecting the selected amplified signal. To the abnormality detecting means. Candling apparatus characterized by comprising a means that. 2. A plurality of said photoelectric converters (31, 32, 33) are provided, and each of said photoelectric converters (31, 32, 33) is provided with an optical filter (31a, 32a) for passing light of a different wavelength band. , 33a
) Are arranged respectively, and each photoelectric converter (31, 32, 3)
3) Depending on the amplification circuit (35), gain setting circuit (36)
And a gain switching circuit (37). Each gain setting circuit (36) has a corresponding optical filter (31a
2. The egg inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gain is set in accordance with the wavelength band of each of (a), (32a) and (33a).