JP2002355021A - Apparatus for cutting and arranging field crop - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for cutting and arranging field crops, with which the operation for cutting and arranging field crops in a fixed size is accurately and surely carried out and treatment capacity and treatment speed can be improved. SOLUTION: The peripheral surfaces (both the face side and the back side) of root parts Aa of Welsh onions A placed on a placing stand 3 of a conveyor 2 are photographed by an upper and a lower cameras 19 constituting a cut position judgment apparatus 13 approximately at the same time. The cutting standard positions of the root parts Aa are calculated by an image treatment apparatus 20 and memorized in a controller 23 on the basis of the image information of both the upper and the lower sides. The root parts Aa of the Welsh onions A are cut and arranged in a fixed size by a root part cutter 14 on the basis of the cut standard information memorized in the controller 23.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a crop sorting apparatus used for trimming long crops such as leeks, burdock, and asparagus to predetermined dimensions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for trimming green onions in the above-described example, for example, a detection sensor detects a root peripheral surface of a green onion placed on a conveyor from a specific direction and outputs detection information output from the detection sensor. There is a device (Japanese Patent No. 3118414) for trimming a green onion root to a predetermined size using a rotary blade fixed at a fixed position.

[0003]

However, since the number of hair roots growing on the roots and the degree of elongation differ depending on the growth condition, the above-mentioned green onions have different information when detected from a specific direction and when detected from other directions. Does not match, the cutting position is likely to vary, and it is difficult to trim the root to a predetermined size. If the amount of root cut off is large, the internal solution oozes from the cut surface at the tip of the root, so that the speed of discoloration and decay is high, and the freshness and commercial value of leeks are impaired in a short period of time. In addition, if the cut amount is small, many short hair roots remain, so that the appearance is poor and the commercial value is impaired.

In view of the above problem, the present invention comprehensively determines the cutting position of a crop by the cutting position determining means based on detection information detected from different directions by a plurality of cutting position detecting means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a crop trimming device that can perform the aligning operation accurately and reliably and improve the trimming accuracy.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a crop sorting apparatus for trimming crops placed on a placing section to a predetermined size by cutting means, and detects the cut portions of the crops from different directions. A plurality of cutting position detection means, based on the detection information detected by each of the cutting position detection means,
A cutting position determining means for comprehensively determining the cutting position of the crop, and a placement section and a cutting means at a position where the cutting means is opposed to the cutting position of the crop based on the determination by the cutting position determining means. And a relative moving means for relatively moving the same.

[0006] The above-mentioned crops can be composed of long crops such as leek, burdock and asparagus. The cutting position detecting means can be composed of, for example, an imaging camera or an image element. The cutting means can be composed of, for example, a rotary blade or a fixed blade. The mounting section can be configured by, for example, a bucket conveyor, a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, a free tray, or the like. The relative movement means
For example, it can be constituted by a motor, a solenoid, an air cylinder, a cam mechanism, or the like.

[0007] As an embodiment, a cutting position detecting means includes:
It can be provided on one side (upper side) and the other side (lower side) facing the crop detection part. Further, for example, a transparent body made of a material such as glass or plastic can be disposed between the cut portion of the object to be detected and the cut position detecting means facing the cut portion. Further, a transmittance recovery means for recovering the transparent portion of the transparent body to a predetermined transmittance can be provided at a position facing the transparent portion of the transparent body.
Further, it is possible to provide a transparent portion supplying means for supplying a transparent portion of the transparent body to a position facing the cutting position detecting means.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the cutting position of the crop is comprehensively determined by the cutting position determining means based on the detection information detected from different directions by the plurality of cutting position detecting means. And the operation of setting a desired cutting position can be performed easily and easily. In addition, the operation of trimming the crop to a desired size can be performed accurately and reliably, and the trimming accuracy can be improved.

Further, a transparent body having a predetermined transmittance is
Since it is disposed between the cut portion of the object to be detected and the cut position detecting means, for example, it is possible to prevent foreign substances such as the epidermis and inner liquid of the crop, water droplets, dust and the like from adhering to the cut position detecting means, The detection work can be stably performed without impairing the detection ability and the detection accuracy.

Furthermore, the transparent portion of the transparent body can be wiped,
By supplying a transparent portion of a transparent body having a predetermined transmittance, for example, to recover or maintain the transmittance necessary for detecting the cutting position of the crop, the transmittance at the time of detection is always constant,
The cutting position of the crop can be detected fairly and accurately, and the detection accuracy and the cutting accuracy are improved.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings show a crop sorting device used for trimming green onion, which is an example of crops, to a predetermined size. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the crop sorting device 1 is a long leek such as white leek. A are placed one by one on the mounting tables 3 of the feed conveyor 2, and are transported to the supply area a, the alignment area b, the measurement area c, and the cutting area d set on the transport path, and the trimming processing is performed. I do.

The above-mentioned feed conveyor 2 is formed in a substantially V-shape (or an arc shape, a concave shape, or the like) when viewed from the side, and has a shape that gradually increases from the central mounting surface toward the front and rear mounting surfaces. Inclined mounting table 3 (eg, bucket, cup, tray, etc.)
Are erected between the circling chains 4 stretched on both sides of the conveying path, and are also erected at predetermined intervals with respect to the entire length of the circulating chain 4. In addition, the orbiting chain 4 is rotated in the feed direction via the sprockets 6 and 7 and the drive chain 8 by the driving force of the motor 5 having a deceleration function disposed at the lower end on the end side to feed the mounting tables 3 at a constant speed. Orbit in the direction. Further, the distance between the front and rear and the circling speed (transport speed) of the mounting table 3 may be changed, or the trolley 3 may be intermittently circulated.

An aligning plate 10 for guiding the root Aa of the green onion A in a state of being aligned substantially straight in the feed direction,
The leek A, which is mounted on the mounting table 3, stands on the left side of the conveyance path in the alignment area b, facing the tip of the root Aa of the leek A. Further, as another example of the aligning means instead of the aligning plate 10, for example, the aligning may be performed by a belt rotating in the feeding direction.

The root holding device 11 disposed on the left side of the conveyance path extending from the supply area a to the cutting area b has a lower surface of the root Aa of the green onion A projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3 (a stem Aa near the root Aa). The receiving belt 11a is stretched on the lower left side of the conveyance path from the start end to the end, and faces the upper surface of the root Aa of the green onion A from the end of the alignment area b to the end of the cutting area d. Leek A, which is constituted by a holding belt 11b stretched on the upper left side of the conveyance path and protrudes from the left side of the mounting table 3.
Is held by the receiving belt 11a and the pressing belt 11b while being pressed and held, and is also horizontally conveyed while being held so as to protrude to the left side of the belts 11a and 11b.

The above-described feed conveyor 2 and root holding device 11
And a receiving belt 12a stretched on the lower left side of the conveying path from the start end to the end, facing the lower surface of the stem Ab of the green onion A projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3 between ,
Opposite to the upper surface of the stem Ab of the green onion A, the holding belt 12b is stretched on the upper left side of the conveyance path from the end of the alignment area b to the end of the cutting area d. The stalk Ab is transferred to the receiving belt 12a and the holding belt 12a.
b, and is horizontally conveyed while being held in a state of protruding to the left side of the belts 11a and 11b.

The aforementioned belts 11a, 11b, 12a, 1
2b is formed of a member having flexibility and contact resistance necessary for holding the leek A in a fixed posture, and is substantially synchronized with the feed speed of the feed conveyor 2 by the motor 5 or other driving means. And are rotated in conjunction with the feed direction or independently. Further, the above-mentioned belts 11a, 11b, 12a, 12
As another example of the holding means instead of b, for example, the root Aa or stem Ab of the green onion A may be held and transported by a chuck or an arm.

As shown in FIG. 3, the cutting position judging device 13 disposed on the left side of the conveyance path of the measurement area c is provided with a light shielding chamber 16a surrounding the upper left side of the conveyance path of the measurement area c, In the shading chamber 16b surrounding the lower left part of the road,
For example, a light source 17 composed of a halogen lamp, an ultraviolet lamp, a fluorescent lamp, an incandescent lamp, or the like is disposed so as to face the root Aa peripheral surface of the green onion A held by the stem holding device 12.

A black-and-white (monochrome) imaging camera 19 composed of, for example, a CCD camera or a digital camera.
(Or a plurality of color imaging cameras) are disposed one above and below (or a plurality of them) in opposition to the upper peripheral surface and the lower peripheral surface of the root Aa, and irradiation light emitted from the light source 17 is provided. Root A
The transparent plate 18 through which the reflected light reflected by a is allowed to pass,
It is disposed between the root portion Aa of the green onion A protruding to the left side of the mounting table 3 and the imaging camera 19 disposed at the lower left side of the transport path.

The aforementioned transparent plate 18 is formed of a transparent material such as glass or transparent plastics into a substantially disk shape when viewed from above, and is a motor with a rotation amount detecting function directly connected to the rotation center of the transparent plate body 18a. Reference numeral 18b intermittently or continuously rotates the transparent portion of the transparent plate 18, which has been restored or maintained at a predetermined transmittance, to a position facing the lower imaging camera 19 at a constant speed.

The wiping member 18c made of, for example, a brush, a synthetic rubber plate, a sponge, a non-woven fabric, etc.
The upper surface of the transparent plate 18 is radially opposed to or pressed against the upper surface of the transparent plate 18, and the rotational force of the transparent plate 18 itself (rotational force in one direction or in the forward and reverse directions) adheres to the upper surface of the transparent plate 18. A transmission suitable for wiping and removing foreign substances such as internal liquid, water droplets, and dust, and transmitting the light (irradiation light) emitted from the light source 17 and the light reflected by the root Aa (reflected light) substantially equally. At the same time, the foreign matter is prevented from adhering to the imaging surface of the lower imaging camera 19.

The transparent plate 18 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle by a manual operation, or the wiping member 18c is rotated.
Can be rotated in the circumferential direction around the center of rotation of the transparent plate 18.

The above-mentioned imaging camera 19 is disposed at the upper and lower portions of the transport path facing the root Aa and stem Ab of the green onion A projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3, and the root Aa held by the root holding device 11. And a root holding device 11 and a stem holding device 12
And the above-mentioned belts 11a, 1
1b, 12a, and 12b, and outputs the image information to an image processing device 20 described later. In addition, the imaging camera 1
As another example of the optical measuring means in place of 9, a video camera, an image sensor, an image element, or the like may be used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the image processing apparatus 20 connected to the above-mentioned imaging camera 19 is
The image information picked up in the above is binarized, and the above-mentioned belt 1
Root Aa excluding images of 1a, 11b, 12a, and 12b
And the image information (for example, information on color, shape, area, etc.) of the stem Ab and the hair root Ad are output to the control device 23.

On the other hand, the control device 23 calculates the stem diameter and root mass of the green onion A based on the image information captured by the upper and lower imaging cameras 19 and individually determines the boundary between the root Aa tip and the root of the hair root Ad. Is calculated. In addition, the above-described calculated information is compared with reference information stored in advance to comprehensively determine the cutting reference position of the root Aa, and arbitrarily set or select an average cutting position, a shallow cutting position, a deep cutting position, and the like. I do. Further, the area of the exposed portion of the root and the stem may be calculated. Furthermore, the control device 23 can also perform processing for calculating the stem diameter and root amount of the green onion A, and the cutting reference position.

The address reading device 21 disposed on the side of the transport path in the measurement area c and the address reader 22 disposed on the side of the transport path in the cutting area d correspond to imaging by the upper and lower imaging cameras 19. Then, the address information set for the mounting table 3 itself or the mounting table 3 is read, and the address information is output to the control device 23.

As another example of the identification means in place of the address information, for example, the unique information (for example, a bar code, an ID card, a magnetic card, etc.) of the mounting table 3 itself or a recording medium provided in association with the mounting table 3 (for example, a bar code, an ID card, a magnetic card, etc.) (Address or carrier number), cutting position information or other measurement information may be recorded on a recording medium.

The root cutting device 14 disposed on the left side of the transport path in the above-described cutting area d, for example, a rotary blade 14a that is inclined in two-dimensional directions of vertical and horizontal directions, and has a green onion projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3. Attached to a movable table 14c disposed on the lower left side of the conveyance path opposite to the root Aa of A, and rotated at a constant high speed by a motor 14b fixed to the movable table 14c.

The movable table 14c is mounted on a support table 14d disposed at the lower left portion of the transport path, and the support table 14d
The motor 14e (or a motor such as a stepping motor or a linear motor) with a movement amount detection function fixed to the front side moves back and forth (for example, in millimeters) in a direction substantially orthogonal to the feed direction. The driving and stopping of the motor 14b and the motor 14e are controlled by a control device 23 described later.
As shown by the phantom line, the rotary blade 14a is moved at high speed stepwise in a direction facing the tip of the root Aa with reference to the cutting reference position calculated for each leek A (for example, approximately 0.3 mm).
Seconds). The side and upper part of the rotary blade 14a are surrounded by a cover 14f.

The leaf cutting device 15 disposed on the right side of the transport path in the cutting area d is displaced in the feed direction by one pitch (one mounting table 3) with respect to the root cutting device 14 described above. The rotating blade 15a is mounted on a movable table 15c disposed on the upper right side of the conveyance path opposite to the leaf Ac of the green onion A protruding to the right side of the mounting table 3, and the motor 15b fixed to the movable table 15c To rotate at high speed at a constant speed. Further, the rotary blade 15a may be moved back and forth in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feed direction in the same manner as the rotary blade 14a described above.

The movable table 15c is mounted on a support table 15d disposed at the lower left portion of the conveyance path, and the rotary blade 15a is moved back and forth in a direction substantially perpendicular to the feeding direction to variably adjust the cutting dimension of the leaf Ac. I do. The driving and stopping of the motor 15b are controlled by a control device 23 described later, and the side and upper part of the rotary blade 15a are surrounded by a cover 15f. A collecting unit (for example, a collecting box or a collecting bag) for introducing the cut unnecessary part is disposed below the cutting area d.

As another example of the cutting means in place of the above-mentioned rotary blades 14a and 15a, for example, a cutter, a wire cutter, a band saw, scissors or the like may be used. Further, as another example of the moving means instead of the motor 14e, for example, a solenoid, an air cylinder, a cam, a chain, or the like may be used.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the crop sorting apparatus 1. The control unit 23 includes a CPU, a ROM,
AM is built in, and the CPU operates according to a program stored in the ROM (or PROM), and the feed conveyor 2, the root cutting device 14, the leaf cutting device 15, the imaging camera 1
9, an image processing device 20, and address reading devices 21, 22
Drive and stop. Further, instead of the control device 23, for example, a personal computer or another processing device may be used.

The RAM stores the cutting reference position information output from the image processing device 20, the address information of the mounting table 3 read by the address reading devices 21 and 22, and the rotation blade 14a output from the root cutting device 14. The moving amount is stored in association with the moving amount.

The control unit 23 calculates the amount of movement of the rotary blade 14a based on the pulse signal output from the motor 14e, and calculates the cutting position information stored in the RAM and the cutting reference position information stored in advance. And compare
With the position along the alignment plate 10 as a reference point, the rotary blade 14a
Calculates the moving distance until the root reaches the cutting reference position of the root Aa, and stores the cutting distance information of the root Aa corresponding to the moving distance.

The address information of the mounting table 3 output from the address reading device 22 is compared with the address information stored in the RAM to determine whether the mounting table 3 has the same address information. If it is confirmed that the mounting table 3 corresponds to the determination, the motor 14e is intermittently rotated by a predetermined amount based on the cutting dimension information stored in the RAM, and the rotating blade 14a is rotated.
Is moved stepwise to a position reaching the reference cutting position or a position close to the reference cutting position, and the tip of the root Aa is cut to a predetermined size. Further, the disconnection information stored in the RAM is deleted or overwritten when returning from the end side to the start side.

As another method for determining the cutting dimension, for example, the root Aa of the green onion A cut by the root cutting device 14 is imaged by the imaging camera 19 and based on image information output from the imaging camera 19. And root A
The cutting dimension of a may be detected and determined by the image processing apparatus 20, and based on the determination, the rotary blade 14a may be brought into contact with the root Aa a plurality of times to cut the root Aa little by little.

The illustrated embodiment is constructed as described above, and the operation of trimming green onion A to a predetermined size by the crop trimming device 1 will be described below.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the leek A to be received is held by a worker (or mechanical work) waiting on the side of the conveyance path in the supply area a, and the feed conveyer 2 is held.
Are placed one by one on the mounting tables 3.
a side protrudes to the left side of the mounting table 3, and the leaf Ac side faces the mounting table 3.
It protrudes to the right and is horizontally positioned substantially perpendicular to the feed direction.

At the time of transportation or mounting, the tip of the root Aa of the green onion A is brought into contact with or pressed against the alignment plate 10 in the alignment region b.
Align in a state that it is almost straight in the feed direction.
Subsequently, the root Aa and the stem Ab of the green onion A projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3 are connected to the belts 11 a and 11 of the root holding device 11.
b and the belts 12a and 12b of the stem holding device 12 are pressed and held in a substantially horizontal state and conveyed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3, in the measurement area c, the irradiation light emitted from the upper and lower light sources 17 of the cutting position determination device 13 is irradiated with the green onion A projecting to the left side of the mounting table 3. Irradiation is performed on the upper and lower surfaces of the root Aa, and the reflected light reflected by the root Aa is imaged or received by the upper and lower imaging cameras 19.

At the same time, as shown in FIG. 4, the image information captured by the upper and lower imaging cameras 19 is binarized by the image processing device 20, and based on the upper and lower image information, the root Aa of the green onion A is obtained. The controller 23 individually calculates the boundary between the tip and the root of the hair root Ad, and compares the calculated information with reference information stored in advance to calculate the root Aa.
Is determined comprehensively. In addition, the control unit 23 stores the above-described cutting reference position information and the address information of the mounting table 3 read by the address reading device 21 in association with each other.

Next, in the cutting area d, the controller 23
Reads the cutting reference position information corresponding to the address information of the mounting table 3 read by the address reading device 22, and drives the motor 14e of the root cutting device 14 by a predetermined amount based on the cutting dimension information stored in advance. That is, the rotary blade 14a of the root cutting device 14 instantaneously moves at a high speed to a position facing the root Aa of the green onion A projecting to the left side of the root holding device 11. As shown in FIG. 6, the rotating blade 14 a is abutted against the tip of the root Aa several times in a stepwise manner, and the work of cutting the root Aa little by little by the size indicated by the imaginary line is instantaneously performed. Cutting is performed to a position where the position is reached or a position close to the reference cutting position.

Further, the cutting area at the tip of the root Aa is small,
Since the amount of leaching of the internal solution is small, the green onion A can be kept fresh for a long period of time, and the commercial value can be prevented from being impaired in a short period of time.

Subsequently, a green onion A protruding from the right side of the mounting table 3
Is cut by the rotary blade 15a of the leaf cutting device 15 to trim the entire length of the green onion A to a predetermined size, and then remove the trimmed green onion A from the mounting table 3 or remove the green onion A from the mounting table 3. After being released, it is supplied to the next step (for example, an unnecessary leaf separation step or a sorting step). Hereinafter, in the same manner as described above, the onion A trimming operation is continuously performed.

As described above, the cutting position of the root Aa of the green onion A captured by the upper and lower imaging cameras 19 is comprehensively determined by the control device 23 based on the image information of the upper and lower surfaces of the root Aa. And the operation of setting a desired cutting position can be performed easily and easily. In addition, the operation of trimming the root portion Aa of the green onion A to a desired size can be performed accurately and reliably, and the accuracy of trimming can be improved.

Further, the transparent plate 18 having a predetermined transmittance
Is disposed between the root Aa of the green onion A protruding to the left side of the mounting table 3 and the lower imaging camera 19 disposed on the lower left side of the transport path. And the like can be prevented from adhering to the objective side lens (not shown) of the lower imaging camera 19, the detection ability and the detection accuracy are not impaired, and the detection operation can be performed stably.

Further, the transparent portion of the transparent plate 18 is
8c, and wiping body 18c for wiping off foreign substances such as skin, internal liquid, water droplets, and dust of leek A adhered to the transparent portion of transparent plate 18.
The transmittance required for detecting the cutting position of the root Aa is recovered or maintained by wiping and removing, etc., so that the transmittance at the time of detection is always constant, and the cutting position of the root Aa is fairly and accurately determined. , And the detection accuracy and the cutting accuracy are improved.

FIG. 6 shows another example of the transparent plate 18, in which a rotating body 18e, which is horizontally opposed to the lower imaging camera 19 and is rotatably supported, is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle.
Since the plurality of transparent portions 18f attached at a predetermined interval to the peripheral portion of e are moved and supplied to a position facing the lower imaging camera 19, substantially the same operations and effects as those of the above-described embodiment are achieved. be able to.

FIG. 7 shows another example in which the transparent plate 18 is replaced. The belt-shaped transparent film 18g stretched opposite to the lower image pickup camera 19 is continuously or intermittently fed out at a constant speed by a predetermined size. Winding, the transparent portion of a new transparent film 18g having a predetermined transmittance is transferred to the lower imaging camera 19
Since it is moved and supplied to a position opposite to the above, substantially the same operation and effect as the above-described embodiment can be obtained. FIG.
The wiping member 18c indicated by a virtual line in the figure may be used in combination with the embodiment of FIG.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the crop of the present invention corresponds to the long crop such as leek A, burdock, and asparagus of the embodiment. Corresponds to the mounting table 3, buckets of a bucket conveyor, a belt conveyor, a roller conveyor, a free tray, and the like, and the cutting means corresponds to the root cutting device 14,
The cutting position detecting means corresponds to the imaging camera 19 and other optical detecting means, and the cutting position determining means is stored in the image processing device 20 of the cutting position determining device 13, the control device 23, and a CPU built in the device. Corresponding to the program
The relative moving means corresponds to the motor 14e, the solenoid, the air cylinder, the cam mechanism, and the like, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the peripheral surface of the root portion Aa of the green onion A is imaged vertically by the two imaging cameras 19, but may be imaged obliquely vertically by the plurality of imaging cameras 19, for example.

Further, the configuration of the crop sorting apparatus 1 can be applied to, for example, an operation of trimming the root Aa of the green onion A held substantially vertically.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a leek cutting operation performed by a crop sorting apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a leek measuring operation and a trimming operation.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a leek measuring operation by the cutting position determination device.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a captured image of green onion processed by the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a control circuit block diagram of the crop sorting apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the transparent plate.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing another example in place of the transparent plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Leek Aa: Root 1: Agricultural crop sorting device 2: Feeding conveyor 3: Mounting table 13: Cutting position determination device 14: Root cutting device 17: Light source 18: Transparent plate 18c: Wiping body 18f: Transparent portion 18g: Transparent film 19 imaging camera 20 image processing device 23 control device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Gentaro Kakemizu 66 Takaokacho, Matsuyama-shi, Ehime Ishii Kogyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 4B061 AA01 AA02 AB04 AB08 BA02 BA03 BB10 BB13 BB19 CB05 CB07 CB13 CB16 CB30

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A crop trimming device for trimming crops mounted on a mounting portion to a predetermined size by cutting means, comprising: a plurality of cutting position detecting means for detecting a cut portion of the crop from different directions; Cutting position determining means for comprehensively determining the cutting position of the crop based on the detection information detected by each of the cutting position detecting means; and cutting for the cutting position of the crop based on the determination by the cutting position determining means. A crop sorting apparatus comprising: a relative movement means for relatively moving the placement section and the cutting means at a position where the means is opposed to the cutting section. 2. The crop sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutting position detecting means is provided on one side and the other side of the crop facing the portion for detecting the crop. 3. A transparent body having a transmittance necessary for detecting a cutting position of the crop, a cutting part of the crop,
2. The crop sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said crop sorting apparatus is provided between said cutting portion and said cutting position detecting means. 4. The crop sorting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein transmittance recovery means for recovering the transparent portion of the transparent body to a predetermined transmittance is provided at a position facing the transparent portion of the transparent body. 5. The crop sorting apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a transparent portion supplying means for supplying a transparent portion of the transparent body to a position facing the cutting position detecting means.