JP2002168807A - Fruit vegetable inspecting instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a highly accurate non-destructive evaluation of an internal hollow of fruit and vegetables by measuring a value almost proportional to the volume of the internal hollow of the fruit and vegetables. SOLUTION: An X-ray source 1 is provided to radiate an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector 3 to detect the X-ray beam 2 from the X-ray source 1 with a spatial resolving power, a conveying means 5 to move the fruit and vegetables 4 traversing the X-ray beam toward the X-ray detector 3 from the X-ray source 1 and a data processing means 7 to process a transmission image data of the fruit and vegetables 4 obtained from the X-ray detector 1. The data processing means 7 calculates the volume of the hollow by the logarithmic transform of the transmission image data of the fruit and vegetables 4, the extraction of the hollow part and the integration of pixels of the hollow part and evaluates the hollow based on the volume of the hollow.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for inspecting fruits and vegetables such as watermelon, melon, pumpkin and radish, and more particularly to non-destructive and highly accurate non-destructive cavities or uneven distribution of water and sugar content in fruits and vegetables. The present invention relates to a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus capable of measuring and evaluating the quality of fruit and vegetables and sorting the fruits and vegetables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Watermelon, melon, pumpkin,
The presence or absence of cavities in vegetables and fruits such as radish and underwater content
As a method of determining using X-rays, for example, “
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-27387, "JP-A-8-242681"
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-174001, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-2111677, and the like are already known.

[0003] In these methods, X-ray transmission images of fruits and vegetables are made, some of which evaluate cavities by the amount of transmitted X-ray, and some of which evaluate the contrast of non-cavities adjacent to cavities. Is used to evaluate the cavity.

On the other hand, as a technique for nondestructively measuring the sugar content of fruits and vegetables, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-5234 discloses
Etc. are already known.

In this method, near-infrared light is applied to fruits and vegetables,
The light absorption is measured from the emitted light to measure the sugar content.

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned conventional method has the following problems to be solved.

[0007] Fruits and vegetables, such as watermelon, often have an internal cavity formed in an elongated flat shape (cracked shape), and the appearance of the cavity changes significantly depending on the direction of the transmission image.

In other words, according to the conventional evaluation method, when the transmission direction is along the cavity surface, the cavity is bright and clearly visible, is evaluated as large, and when inclined, the cavity is There is a problem that it is inconspicuous and is evaluated as a small cavity, and the evaluation significantly changes depending on the direction of the cavity surface.

In addition, in the measurement of sugar content, since near-infrared light is used, there is a problem that the shape, size, color, and the like of fruits and vegetables are affected and accuracy is not improved.

Furthermore, the conventional method has a problem that immature or overripeness of fruits and vegetables cannot be determined without destruction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus capable of measuring a quantity substantially proportional to the volume of a cavity inside a fruit and vegetable and accurately evaluating the cavity inside the fruit and vegetable without destruction. Is to do.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus capable of non-destructively evaluating the sugar content of a fruit and vegetable without being affected by the shape, size, color, and the like of the fruit and vegetable. It is in.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus capable of non-destructively evaluating immature or overripeness of fruits and vegetables without being affected by the shape, size, color, etc. of the fruits and vegetables. Is to provide.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises:
An X-ray source that emits a X-ray beam, an X-ray detector that detects the X-ray beam from the X-ray source with spatial resolution, and a vegetable that moves across the X-ray beam from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector And a data processing means for processing transmission image data of fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector, wherein the data processing means includes logarithmic conversion, cavity extraction, and cavity pixel integration of the transmission image data of fruits and vegetables. The calculation of the cavity volume based on the above and the evaluation of the cavity based on the cavity volume are performed.

Therefore, in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, calculation of the cavity volume by logarithmic conversion, extraction of the cavity part, integration of the cavity pixel, and calculation of the cavity volume are performed. By performing the evaluation of the cavity by volume, a logarithmic transformation is applied to the transmission image data, an image in an amount proportional to the transmission length is obtained, the cavity image is extracted from the image, and this is integrated by pixels, The integrated value is the volume of the cavity (an amount proportional to the volume). in this case,
Since the evaluation is performed based on the volume, it is possible to accurately evaluate the cavity.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting fruits and vegetables, comprising: an X-ray source for emitting an X-ray beam; an X-ray detector for detecting the X-ray beam from the X-ray source with a spatial resolution; Data processing means comprising: transport means for moving fruits and vegetables across an X-ray beam from a radiation source to an X-ray detector; and data processing means for processing transmitted image data of the fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector. Calculates the cavity area by logarithmic conversion, extraction of the cavity, and calculation of the number of pixels of the cavity, and evaluation of the cavity based on the cavity area.

Therefore, in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the calculation of the cavity area by logarithmic conversion, extraction of the cavity, and calculation of the number of pixels of the cavity through the transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables traversing the X-ray beam, By performing the evaluation of the cavity based on the cavity area, a logarithmic transformation is applied to the transmission image, an image in an amount proportional to the transmission length is obtained, and a binarized image of the cavity is extracted from the image, and the number of pixels is calculated. By calculating (in proportion to) the area of the cavity, (according to the volume)
Accurate evaluation of the cavity can be performed. In this case, compared to the volume calculation of the invention corresponding to claim 1,
The processing calculation time can be further reduced.

Further, a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention provides an X-ray source for emitting an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector for detecting an X-ray beam from the X-ray source, and an X-ray source. X
A transport means for moving the fruits and vegetables across the X-ray beam toward the X-ray detector, and a scattered ray disposed outside the X-ray beams from the X-ray source and scattered when the X-ray beams from the X-ray source impinge on the fruits and vegetables. A scattered radiation detector to be detected, and data processing means for processing the transmission data of fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector and the scattered radiation data obtained by the scattered radiation detector to evaluate the sugar content of the fruits and vegetables. ing.

Therefore, in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention, scattered ray detection is performed by processing the transmission data and the scattered ray data of the fruit and vegetables traversing the X-ray beam and evaluating the sugar content of the fruit and vegetable. By calculating the ratio of the output of the X-ray detector to the output of the X-ray detector (at the same time), the X-ray intensity is corrected and the ratio of the scattering corrected for the absorption by the fruits and vegetables is obtained. The sugar content is evaluated. In this case, to measure the ratio of X-ray scattering,
It is possible to perform an evaluation that is hardly influenced by the shape, size, color, and the like of the fruits and vegetables.

Still further, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus which emits an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector which detects an X-ray beam from the X-ray source, and an X-ray source. Transport means for moving the fruits and vegetables across the X-ray beam from the X-ray detector to the X-ray detector, and scattering disposed outside the X-ray beams from the X-ray source and scattering the X-ray beams from the X-ray source against the fruits and vegetables A scattered radiation detector that detects X-rays, transmission data of fruits and vegetables obtained by an X-ray detector, and data that processes scattered radiation data obtained by a scattered radiation detector to evaluate immature or overripeness of fruits and vegetables Processing means.

Therefore, in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present invention, by processing transmission data and scattered ray data of the fruits and vegetables crossing the X-ray beam, the immature or overripeness of the fruits and vegetables is evaluated. Similar to the invention corresponding to the third aspect, the ratio of X-ray scattering is determined, and the immature and overripeness of the fruits and vegetables are evaluated based on whether the ratio is too small or too large. In this case, since the X-ray scattering ratio is measured, it is possible to perform an evaluation that is hardly affected by the shape, size, color, and the like of the fruits and vegetables.

[0022]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) FIGS. 1A and 1B are a front view and a side view showing a configuration example of a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, X-rays generated from an X-ray tube 1 as an X-ray source are shaped by a collimator 9 to become a fan-shaped X-ray beam 2.

The X-ray detector 3 is a one-dimensional multi-channel X-ray
It is a line detector and is arranged to detect the X-ray beam 2 with a spatial resolution.

The X-ray detector 3 detects the intensity of the X-ray and outputs digital data proportional to the intensity.

Fruits and vegetables (watermelon in this example) as the subject
The X-ray beam 4 is conveyed by a conveyor 5 as a conveying means so as to cross the X-ray beam 2 traveling from the X-ray tube 1 to the X-ray detector 3.

During this transportation, the output of the X-ray detector 3 is taken into the data processing section 7 as transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables 4.

The data processing unit 7 and the display unit 8 are formed by using a normal computer, and include a CPU, a memory, a disk, a keyboard, an interface, etc., and are software for processing and evaluating transmitted image data of the fruits and vegetables 4. Etc. are stored.

The display section 8 displays a transmission image and an evaluation result.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a shielding box.

Next, the operation of the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

Here, the processing performed by the data processing unit 7 will be mainly described.

In FIG. 1, when the fruits and vegetables 4 cross the X-ray beam 2, the X
When the data of all the channels of the line detector 3 is fetched and the data is arranged by taking the channel on the horizontal axis and the transport distance on the vertical axis, a transmission image can be obtained. This transmission image is an image proportional to the X-ray intensity.

Next, logarithmic conversion is applied to the transmission image I.

In this case, the equation of the logarithmic transformation is as follows: P = ln (IA / I) (1) where IA is the air data (data when there is no fruit or vegetable 4).

This image P is an image of a transmission length (along a value proportional to the transmission length) (along the transmission path) of the fruits and vegetables 4.

Next, the image P is subjected to image processing.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a data flow of the image processing.

In FIG. 2, the processing steps include steps S1 to S9 in numerical order.

Step S1: An original image P is binarized to obtain a binarized image 1.

Step S2: The size of the fruits and vegetables is determined from the horizontal width (or vertical width) of the binarized image 1. Further, the center coordinates are obtained from the vertical and horizontal edges.

Step S3: An original corrected image for shading correction is selected from the size of the fruits and vegetables.

That is, an original corrected image slightly larger than the size of the fruits and vegetables is selected from the original corrected images calculated and stored in advance.

Further, this image is shifted so as to match the center coordinates of the fruits and vegetables 4 to obtain a corrected image.

Step S4: The difference image is obtained by subtracting the original image P and the corrected image. This difference image is an image of the cavity length (along the transmission path).

Step S5: The difference image is binarized to obtain a binarized image 2. Thereby, cavities and edges are extracted.

Step S6: The logical sum of the binarized image 1 and the binarized image 2 is calculated. Thereby, a cavity binary image of only the cavities is extracted.

Step S7: The difference image is multiplied by the binary image of the cavity to obtain a cavity image (a multivalued image of only the cavity).

Step S8: Pixel integration of the cavity image is performed, and a cavity volume (an amount proportional to the cavity volume) is obtained.

Step S9: Evaluation (judgment of defective product or rank) is performed by comparing the cavity volume with the reference value.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the evaluation is performed by obtaining the cavity volume (an amount proportional to the cavity volume).
It is possible to evaluate the cavity of the fruits and vegetables 4 with extremely high accuracy.

That is, the volume of the cavity (proportional to) is obtained here by performing logarithmic transformation on the transmission image I to obtain an image P of the transmission length (amount proportional to), extracting the cavity, and extracting the cavity length. This is because a cavity image of (amount proportional to) is obtained and is integrated by pixels.

The reason why the image P is an image having a transmission length is that the output I of the X-ray detector 3 at the transmission length L is given by I = IA · EXPe (−μ · L) ... (2) When I is logarithmically converted by the above equation (1), P = μ · L ... (3), and the image P is shown to be proportional to the transmission length L.

As described above, the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment measures the amount substantially in proportion to the volume of the cavity inside the fruit and vegetable 4 and accurately evaluates the cavity inside the fruit and vegetable 4 in a non-destructive manner. It is possible to do with.

(Modification 1) In the above embodiment, the logarithmic conversion of the equation (1) is used. However, a non-linear gradation conversion close to the logarithmic conversion may be used instead of the exact logarithmic conversion. Thus, substantially the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the data flow of the image processing shown in FIG. 2, step S8 'may be used instead of step S8.

That is, in step S8 ', pixel integration of the cavity binary image is performed to determine the cavity area (an amount proportional to the cavity area).

When such a process is adopted, the determination is made based on an area which is an amount equivalent to the volume.

Substantially, in many cases, accurate judgment can be made, and the multiplication in step S7 can be omitted, and there is an advantage that the processing is simplified and the speed can be increased.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of the first modification.

That is, in the present modification, the X-ray tube 11 and the X-ray detector 13 which are opposed to each other in the horizontal direction are added.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an X-ray beam.

The X-ray tube 11 and X-ray detector 13 are equivalent to the original X-ray tube 1 and X-ray detector 3, respectively.

In the fruit / vegetables inspection apparatus having the above-described configuration, the same processing is applied to the transmitted image by the X-ray detector 13 and the final judgment is made by integrating the two judgments, thereby providing a more accurate evaluation. It is possible to do.

(Modification 2) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of Modification 2.

That is, in this modified example, the recess 15 is provided at the lower part of the fruit and vegetable 4, but the size differs depending on the place of production and the variety.

When the concave portion 15 is large, if the original corrected image is saturated like the profile 16, the shading correction can be performed accurately.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a main part showing a configuration example of a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment. The same parts as those in FIG. Are omitted, and only different portions will be described here.

That is, the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a scattered radiation detector 21 is added to FIG. 1, as shown in FIG.

The scattered radiation detector 21 is an X-ray detector similar to the X-ray detector 3, but the number of channels may be small.

The scattered radiation detector 21 is positioned adjacent to and substantially parallel to the X-ray detector 3 so that the X-ray beam 2 does not impinge.
The scattered radiation 20 which is arranged outside the line beam 2 and scatters on the fruits and vegetables 4 is detected.

The output of the scattered ray detector 21 is similarly taken into the data processing section 7 as scattered image data.

Next, the operation of the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

The description of the operation of the same parts as in FIG. 1 is omitted, and only the operation of the different parts will be described here.

In FIG. 5, a part of the X-ray beam 2 strikes the fruits and vegetables 4 and is scattered in the entire circumferential direction to become scattered rays 20. Among them, the scattered radiation is detected by the scattered radiation detector 21.

The data processing section 7 has a function of one of the scattered radiation detectors 21.
Assuming that the output of one channel is Is and the output of the adjacent channel of the X-ray detector 3 (at the same time) is I, the following intensity correction is applied to Is to obtain the scattering ratio Is' (for each channel) Ask).

Is' = Is / I (4) By the way, the energy per one scattered ray 20 becomes larger as the scattering angle is smaller, and the forward scatter is smaller than the X-ray beam 2.
It is almost the same energy. Further, since the forward scattering passes through almost the same path as that of the X-ray beam 2, Is and I have almost the same attenuation, that is, the attenuation, EXPe (−μ · L), where the X-ray absorption coefficient of the fruit and vegetable 4 is μ and the transmission length is L. )Is receiving.

Thus, it is understood that not only the strength but also the attenuation caused by the fruits and vegetables 4 itself can be corrected by the above equation (4).

Next, Is ′ is averaged over each channel and the transport distance to determine the scattering ratio Rs of the fruits and vegetables 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining evaluation in the embodiment.

When Rs is Rs1 or Rs2, it is a non-defective product, and the sugar content is determined by a graph shown in the figure.

When Rs is less than Rs1, immature, Rs
In the case of two or more, it is judged as overmaturity, respectively.

This utilizes the fact that when the sugar content is high, scattering increases, and when the sugar content is low, scattering decreases.

In the case of overripeness, the proportion of moisture becomes excessively large, and the scattering becomes excessively. In the case of unripeness, the reverse is true.

As described above, in the present embodiment, X
By using the scattering of rays, the shape, size,
It is possible to evaluate the sugar content of the fruits and vegetables 4 that are hardly affected by the color and the like.

Further, since the X-ray has a high transmission ability, it is possible to easily inspect the fruits and vegetables 4 through which the laser beam is hardly transmitted.

Further, with one device, the immature
Testing for overmaturation and cavities can also be performed.

As described above, in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, the evaluation of the sugar content of the fruit and vegetable 4 and the immature or overripeness of the fruit and vegetable 4 are not affected by the shape, size, color, etc. of the fruit and vegetable 4. Can be evaluated nondestructively.

(Modification) In the above embodiment, Rs
When calculating, weights can be added instead of simple averages.

That is, for example, when weighting is performed with the transmission length L, the average is calculated by the following equation: Rs = Σ (Is ′ · L) / Σ (L) (5)

Here, L is obtained by the following equation: L = ln (IA / I) / μ (6)

In this case, the scattering ratio Rs is
Since the volume average of the substantially fruits and vegetables 4 is obtained, the sugar content can be accurately obtained.

On the other hand, in order to measure the cavities at the same time, the averaging may be performed excluding the cavities. As a result, the sugar content can be accurately determined for the fruit and vegetable 4 having a cavity.

In addition, scattered radiation correction can be applied to the output I of the X-ray detector 3 using the output Is of the scattered radiation detector 21.

Here, the scattered radiation correction is performed by the equation I '= I-Is (7) before the logarithmic conversion.

Here, Is is the output of an adjacent channel.

As a result, the quality of the transmitted image becomes high, and the evaluation of the cavity of the fruit or vegetable 4 can be performed with higher accuracy.

[0099]

As described above, according to the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus of the present invention, an amount that is substantially proportional to the volume of the cavity inside the fruit and vegetable is measured, and the evaluation of the cavity inside the fruit and vegetable with high accuracy is performed. It can be done by destruction.

Further, according to the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus of the present invention,
Without being affected by the shape, size, color, etc. of fruits and vegetables,
It is possible to evaluate the sugar content of fruits and vegetables in a non-destructive manner.

Furthermore, according to the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to evaluate the immature or overripeness of fruits and vegetables in a nondestructive manner without being affected by the shape, size, color, etc. of the fruits and vegetables. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view and a side view showing a first embodiment of a fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a data flow of image processing in the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a first modification of the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram showing a configuration example of a modification 2 of the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a second embodiment of the fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining evaluation in the vegetable inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 X-ray tube 2 X-ray beam 3 X-ray detector 4 Fruits and vegetables (watermelon) 5 Conveyor 6 Shielding box 7 Data processing unit 8 Display unit 9 Collimator 11 X-ray tube 12 X-ray Beam 13: X-ray detector 15: recess 16: Profile 20: scattered radiation 21: scattered radiation detector.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kiichiro Uyama 2-24-24 Harumi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Toshiba IT Control System Co., Ltd. (72) Masaya Yoshida 2 Harumi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo In-house, Toshiba IT Control System Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masashi Motoyama 2-24-1, Harumi-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Toshiba IT Control System Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2G001 AA01 BA11 BA14 CA01 DA02 DA06 DA08 DA10 FA01 FA06 FA08 HA13 JA09 JA16 KA04 KA20 LA01 PA11

Claims (4)

[Claims] An X-ray source that emits an X-ray beam; an X-ray detector that detects the X-ray beam from the X-ray source with a spatial resolution; and an X-ray that travels from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector. Transport means for moving the fruits and vegetables across the line beam; and data processing means for processing transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector, wherein the data processing means comprises transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables A fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus characterized in that a cavity volume is calculated by logarithmic conversion, cavity extraction, cavity pixel integration, and a cavity is evaluated based on the cavity volume. 2. An X-ray source that emits an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector that detects the X-ray beam from the X-ray source with a spatial resolution, and an X-ray that travels from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector. Transport means for moving the fruits and vegetables across the line beam; and data processing means for processing transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector, wherein the data processing means comprises transmission image data of the fruits and vegetables A fruit and vegetable inspection apparatus characterized in that the calculation of the cavity area by the logarithmic conversion, the extraction of the cavity, and the calculation of the number of pixels of the cavity, and the evaluation of the cavity based on the cavity area are performed. 3. An X-ray source that emits an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector that detects an X-ray beam from the X-ray source, and an X-ray beam traveling from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector. Conveying means for moving the fruits and vegetables so as to traverse the varieties, and a scattered ray detector arranged outside the X-ray beam from the X-ray source and detecting scattered rays scattered by the X-ray beams from the X-ray source impinging on the fruits and vegetables And a data processing means for processing the transmission data of the fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector and the scattered radiation data obtained by the scattered radiation detector to evaluate the sugar content of the fruits and vegetables. A fruit and vegetable inspection device, characterized in that: 4. An X-ray source that emits an X-ray beam, an X-ray detector that detects an X-ray beam from the X-ray source, and an X-ray beam that travels from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector. Conveying means for moving the fruits and vegetables so as to traverse the varieties, and a scattered ray detector arranged outside the X-ray beam from the X-ray source and detecting scattered rays scattered by the X-ray beams from the X-ray source impinging on the fruits and vegetables And data processing means for processing the transmission data of fruits and vegetables obtained by the X-ray detector and the scattered radiation data obtained by the scattered radiation detector to evaluate immature or overripeness of the fruits and vegetables. A fruit and vegetable inspection device, comprising: