JP2002286647A - Conveyance and treatment apparatus for farm product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveyance and treatment apparatus by which a dam aged farm products and an undamaged farm product can be sorted efficiently from farm products as objects to be judged. SOLUTION: The conveyance and treatment apparatus is provided with a conveyor 2 which conveys the farm products as the objects to be judged, an ultraviolet-rays irradiation means 5 by which the exposed surface skin of each farm product placed on the conveyor 2 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, fluorescence detection means 6 which detect fluorescence emitted by the surface skin of each farm product irradiated with the ultraviolet rays by the means 5 and a judgment means 4 which judges the damage state of each farm product on the basis of the output of the means 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crop transport processing apparatus for determining the degree of damage to a crop while transporting the crop.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when judging the degree of damage to crops, for example, decay or lesion of citrus skin such as mandarin oranges, for example, a sorter picks up fruits while moving the fruits on a belt conveyor and visually checks the fruits. The degree of damage of the fruit was determined, and when the degree of damage of the fruit exceeded a predetermined standard, it was removed from the belt conveyor.

[0003]

However, in the above-described sorting method, since the selection and selection of a person depends on his or her experience and intuition, if the selection person changes, the selection criterion changes, and the variation of the selection result varies. Becomes larger. The greater the variability, the greater the likelihood that low value fruit will reach consumers.

[0004] In addition, if the amount of agricultural products to be judged is large, a large number of sorters are required, and the cost required for sorting cannot be ignored. Moreover, because of the experience and intuition involved in the selection, it is impossible for anyone to be employed without a selection.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, an essential oil is held in an oil envelope of a crop, especially a citrus skin. When the essential oil is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the essential oil fluoresces. The present invention is based on the fact that the fluorescent material emits fluorescence only when the essential oil oozing out of the oil packet is irradiated with ultraviolet light without emitting fluorescence even when ultraviolet light is radiated from the outside while inside.

[0006] In addition to the essential oils,
The components secreted by microorganisms attached to the crop (flavonoids) and the components emitted by the crops themselves (flavonoids) due to the infection of the microorganisms also fluoresce. The present invention is based on the fact that an object also emits fluorescence.

[0007] That is, the agricultural crop transport processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a conveyor for transporting agricultural crops, an ultraviolet irradiating means for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the epidermis of the agricultural crop placed on the conveyor, and the ultraviolet ray irradiating means. A fluorescence detecting means for detecting the fluorescence emitted from the epidermis, and a judging means for judging the damage of the crop based on the output of the fluorescence detecting means.

[0008] When the essential oil exuded from the oil capsule of the epidermis is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, it fluoresces. When ultraviolet rays are irradiated not only on essential oils but also on molds and the like that grow on rotting parts of the epidermis, flavonoids and phenol compounds emit fluorescence. Therefore, with the above configuration, it is possible to automatically sort the crops that have been damaged or decayed at the same time as sorting the crops by grade.

[0009] In the above, by providing a place for placing agricultural products made of wire on the conveyor, and disposing the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detecting means above and below the conveyor, it is possible to inspect almost the entire surface of the agricultural products.

Further, the conveyor is divided into an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and ultraviolet irradiation means and fluorescence detection means are arranged above and below a cut between these conveyors.
Using a chain conveyor as a conveyor, placing ultraviolet irradiation means and fluorescence detection means above and below the chain conveyor, or as a conveyor a rope ladder conveyor with horizontal bars arranged at predetermined intervals, or a rope ladder conveyor By arranging ultraviolet irradiation means and fluorescence detection means above and below, or as a line conveyor connected with a transparent tray as a conveyor, and arranging ultraviolet irradiation means and fluorescence detection means above and below this line conveyor, it is also possible to produce agricultural products. Almost all surfaces can be inspected.

[0011] Further, even if the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means are not arranged above and below, a mechanism for rotating the crop between the conveyors or a turntable provided between the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor can be provided almost over the whole of the crop. Can be inspected.

Further, the noise can be cut off by disposing the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means in the dark box.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is an external view of a crop transfer processing device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a determination device, and FIGS. 3 to 11 are main parts of a crop transfer processing device according to another embodiment. It is a block diagram.

As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus for transporting and processing agricultural products according to the present invention includes a judging device 1 for judging the degree of damage of agricultural products such as citrus fruits, a belt conveyor 2 disposed through the judging device 1, and the like. Consists of

[0015] As shown in FIG.
A determination device main body 4 placed on the dark box 3; an ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and a fluorescent light receiving section 6 disposed in the dark box 3;
Consists of The dark box 3 has a function of blocking external light and preventing noise from being included in the measurement result. Bel conveyor 2
Hanging door 3 for crops to enter and exit from above
a, 3b or openings are provided.

The ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 is arranged above the dark box 3, and irradiates an agricultural object to be determined placed on the belt conveyor 2 with ultraviolet light. Meanwhile, CCD
The fluorescent light receiving section 6 provided with a camera is installed near the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5. The fluorescent light receiving unit 6 has a predetermined field of view, detects fluorescence emitted from a rotten part or a damaged part of the epidermis of the crop irradiated with ultraviolet rays, and performs image processing on the fluorescence to select defective products.

In the above, as shown in FIG. 1, crops to be determined are successively placed on the left end of the belt conveyor 2 from a transfer device (not shown) one after another. As shown in FIG. 2, the loaded agricultural product enters the dark box 3 while pushing the hanging door 3 a upward while entering the dark box 3. When the agricultural products have entered, the hanging door 3a returns to its normal state by its own weight, and the inside of the dark box returns to a predetermined darkness.

The crop that has entered the dark box 3 moves in the dark box 3 in the direction of the arrow while being irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5. That is, it traverses the field of view of the fluorescent light receiving unit 6.

The fluorescent light receiving section 6 equipped with a CCD camera detects the fluorescence emitted from the upper right side and the right side of the crop immediately after entering the crop, as indicated by the dashed line. For the crop located at the center indicated by the solid line, the fluorescence emitted from the top of the crop is detected. With respect to the crop indicated by the one-dot chain line just before it goes out of the dark box 3, the fluorescence emitted from the upper left side and the left side of the crop is detected.

Thus, the crops on the belt conveyor 2 are:
The user moves inside the dark box 3 while exposing most of the epidermis except the bottom to the fluorescence detector 6. Therefore, when the epidermis is rotted, the fluorescence emitted from this portion is detected by the CCD camera of the fluorescence receiving unit 6.

As a result of the image processing, when the amount of the fluorescent light is large, the pusher 7 or the like removes the crops coming out while pushing up the hanging door 3b of the dark box 3 from the belt conveyor 2. When the amount of fluorescence is small, the agricultural product is not damaged, and thus is placed in a good product box as a good product.

FIG. 3 to FIG. 5 show another embodiment of the type in which the damage of the bottom of the crop can be determined.
The conveyor 2 is composed of a number of transport units 8, each transport unit 8 having a base 10 swinging up and down about a shaft 9 and a crop loading machine composed of two wires supported at one end by the base 10. And a roller 12 attached to an end of the base 10 on the opposite side of the crop placing section 11. Further, the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light are provided above and below the crop placing section 11 in the dark box 3. The light receiving unit 6 is arranged.

The crops placed on the crop placing section 11 are carried into the dark box 3 by moving the conveyor 2, and ultraviolet rays are irradiated from the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5 above and below.
If the crop has scratches or rot, and the essential oil has oozed onto the surface, the CCD camera of the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 senses it and retreats the rail 13 guiding the roller 12 in the direction of the arrow. Let it. Then, the mounting portion 11 swings about the shaft 9 in the direction of the arrow. The crop is dropped and sorted.

In the crop processing apparatus shown in FIG.
The outputs of the two fluorescent light receiving units 6 were determined by the determination unit 4a. However, the apparatus shown in FIGS.
It has. In this case, the outputs of the plurality of fluorescent light receiving units 6 are input to the adder, and the output of the adder is determined by the determining unit.
Here, the adder adds the voltages output from the plurality of fluorescent light receiving units 6 and outputs the result to the determining unit. A crop transport processing device including a plurality of fluorescent light receiving units 6 described later also includes a similar adder.

In another embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the belt conveyor 2 is divided into an upstream belt conveyor 2a and a downstream belt conveyor 2b.
The ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 are arranged above and below the cut of the belt conveyor 2b on the downstream side. In this embodiment, the entire surface of the crop is inspected by irradiating ultraviolet rays from above and below when the crop passes through the cut.

As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of endless annular chains 14a, 14a are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and the pair of endless annular chains 14a, 14a are arranged in parallel.
A chain conveyor 14 having a configuration in which 14a is rotated in synchronization may be used. Also in this case, the ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5 are provided above and below the chain conveyor 14, respectively.
And the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 are arranged to inspect the entire surface of the crop. The ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 may be arranged not only up and down but also up and down.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a conveyor 15 having a rope-ladder-like conveyor belt having horizontal bars 15a arranged at predetermined intervals may be used. In this case, in order to transport the crop to be determined without dropping, a plurality of horizontal bars 15a are spanned over each other with a gap slightly smaller than the diameter of the crop.

In the transporting device shown in FIG. 8, as in the transporting devices shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, agricultural products move while exposing most of the epidermis to the outside. Therefore, similarly to the transport device shown in FIG. 3, the crop is irradiated from the periphery of the crop with a plurality of ultraviolet irradiation lamps, and the plurality of fluorescent light receiving units 6 arranged near these ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5 cause the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 to emit light. If the fluorescence emitted from the epidermis of the crop is detected, it is possible to determine the degree of damage on almost the entire epidermis of the crop.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The crops may be transported by a line conveyor 16 in which a number of 6a are connected. In this case, the crop is irradiated by the two ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5 from above and below the tray 16a, and the fluorescence emitted from the epidermis of the crop is detected by the fluorescent light receiving units 6 arranged near these ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5, respectively.

Compared with the transfer processing apparatus shown in FIG. 9 and the transfer processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the transfer processing apparatus shown in FIG. Therefore, cost performance is high.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), a number of free rollers 17 having a constriction 17a at an intermediate portion are connected by a chain 18, and a drive belt 19 is disposed below a conveyor which moves in the direction of the arrow as a whole. May be arranged, and the free roller 17 that has moved to a predetermined position may be rotated by the drive belt 19, so that the crops placed between the free rollers 17, 17 may be rotated.

As shown in FIG. 11, a rotating turntable 20 is arranged between two belt conveyors 2a and 2b arranged in series. Ultraviolet rays may be irradiated from the side of the crop to detect the fluorescence emitted from the crop epidermis. According to this transport processing apparatus, as with the transport processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, only one ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and one fluorescent light receiving unit 6 are sufficient, so that cost performance is high.

In the illustrated example, the arrangement of the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light receiving section 6 has been described in various forms such as upward, vertical, vertical and horizontal, but the arrangement is not limited thereto. For example, in the transport processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the positions of both the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 may be moved in a direction crossing the belt. Further, the ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 and the fluorescent light receiving unit 6 may both be swung in the longitudinal direction of the belt. According to these configurations, it is possible to irradiate the ultraviolet rays to the epidermis of more crops, and to receive the fluorescence from the epidermis irradiated with the ultraviolet rays. Then, the determination accuracy can be improved accordingly.

In order to reduce the number of ultraviolet irradiation lamps 5, it is conceivable to use a reflecting mirror effectively.
For example, in the transport processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of reflecting mirrors are arranged at appropriate places on the inner wall of the dark box 3, and ultraviolet rays emitted from one ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 are reflected by the plurality of reflecting mirrors, as if a plurality of reflecting mirrors were provided. The ultraviolet irradiation lamp 5 may be configured to irradiate the crop from a plurality of directions. In this case, the fluorescence reflected by the reflecting mirror is also detected using the plurality of fluorescence receiving units 6.

[0035]

As described above, according to the crop transfer processing apparatus of the present invention, the crops to be judged are damaged and those which are not, without depending on the experience and intuition of the sorter. Can be sorted efficiently.

Further, according to the present invention, spectral analysis of a spectrum excited by irradiation with ultraviolet rays can be used for predicting the name of rot or rot.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of an apparatus for transporting and processing crops of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a determination device in the crop transfer processing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an overall plan view of an apparatus for transporting and processing crops according to another embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a transfer jig used in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the transfer jig.

FIG. 6 is a main part configuration diagram of a crop transfer processing device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a main part configuration diagram of a crop transfer processing device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a main part configuration diagram of a crop transport processing apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a main part configuration diagram of a crop transport processing apparatus according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10A is a configuration diagram of a main part of a crop transport processing apparatus according to another embodiment, and FIG.

FIG. 11 is a main part configuration diagram of a crop transfer processing apparatus according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Judgment apparatus, 2, 2a, 2b ... Belt conveyor, 3 ...
Dark box, 4 ... Judging device body, 5 ... Ultraviolet irradiation lamp, 6 ...
Fluorescent light receiving section, 7: pusher, 11: mounting section, 14: chain conveyor, 15: rope ladder conveyor, 16: line conveyor, 16a: tray, 17: roller, 20 ...
Turntable.

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 20, 2001 (2001.2.2)
0)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0006] In addition to the essential oils,
The components secreted by the microorganisms attached to the crops and the components (flavonoids) emitted by the crops themselves as a result of the infection of the microorganisms also fluoresce, and even the crops produce phenolic compounds due to low temperature damage, decay, etc. The present invention has been made by paying attention to the emission of

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2G043 AA03 BA14 BA16 CA05 DA05 EA01 FA01 FA05 KA03 LA03 2G051 AA05 AB02 AB07 BA01 BA02 BA05 BA20 CA04 CB01 CB05 DA06 DA08 DA13 EA09 EA12 3F079 AC06 AC21 CA42 CB26 CB29 CC04 DA07

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A conveyor for transporting agricultural products, an ultraviolet irradiating means for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the epidermis of the agricultural products placed on the conveyor, and a fluorescent light for detecting fluorescence emitted from the epidermis when the ultraviolet rays are irradiated. An apparatus for transporting and processing crops, comprising: detection means; and determination means for determining the degree of damage to the crop based on the output of the fluorescence detection means. 2. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fluorescence is derived from essential oil leached from the oil sac of the epidermis, microorganisms, or flavonoids emitted from the crops due to infection with the microorganisms. Transport processing equipment. 3. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor includes a placing portion for placing the crop, and the placing portion is formed of a wire to enable inspection from below. The said ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means are arrange | positioned above and below a conveyor, The crop conveyance processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. 4. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means are arranged above and below a cut between the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor. Crop processing equipment. 5. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor is a chain conveyor, and the ultraviolet irradiation unit and the fluorescence detection unit are arranged above and below the chain conveyor. Crop processing equipment. 6. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor is a rope ladder conveyor, and the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means are arranged above and below the rope ladder conveyor. A device for transporting and processing crops. 7. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor is a line conveyor connecting transparent trays, and the ultraviolet irradiation means and the fluorescence detection means are arranged above and below the transparent tray. An apparatus for transporting and processing crops, comprising: 8. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor includes a number of free rollers having a depression in the middle, and a drive belt for rotating the free rollers that have traveled to a predetermined position. Crop processing equipment. 9. The crop transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the conveyor comprises an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and a turntable for rotating the crop is arranged between the conveyors. Transport processing equipment. 10. The crop processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ultraviolet irradiation means and said fluorescence detecting means are arranged in a dark box.