JP2003148922A - Portable capacity measuring apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable capacity meter capable of precisely and quickly measuring the volumetric capacity of a rectangular object only by touching the object once. SOLUTION: A vertical slit light 12 is radiated to a measuring object 5, the image of the reflected slit light from the surface A of the measuring object 5 is taken by a vertical TV camera 10, and the slit light is measured by light cut method. When the vertical slit light 12 is collided to the end C of the measuring object, the reflected vertical slit light from the surface A is extinguished, or a discontinuous state where it is collided to an object of the other shape and largely broken is caused. To determine the coordinates of the reflected vertical slit light and the end point C of the measuring object 5, the vertical dimension of the actual measuring object is calculated by three-dimensional operation. Since the measuring object has a rectangular shape, the above measurement is performed with respect to the vertical, lateral and height directions to calculate the volumetric capacity.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

[Industrial application] Generally, in order to calculate a rectangular volume, it is sufficient to measure the length, width and height with a scale and take the product. However, this operation requires measurement three times and multiplication of the measured values. The number of packages to be collected by courier is large and it is necessary to measure the volume in principle, but the current situation is that the collection destination is not protected from the problem of securing space and time for measurement. . The reason why it is necessary to measure the volume of each package is that even if the collection volume of each collection truck is small, it will be an enormous amount if gathered, and the volume of individual packages will be calculated from the volume of individual packages for each destination. This is because integrated data is needed. Therefore, there has been a demand in this field for a volume meter that can accurately and simply measure the volume of luggage. The volume meter according to the present invention is a portable type, and the volume can be measured instantaneously by simply applying it to the corner of the luggage, and accurate total integrated data for each destination can be obtained.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A home delivery system first collects a package from a customer, writes a destination and a volume of the package on a slip, and transfers the data online from the collection site to the center. The center grasps the total amount of baggage and arranges main routes. The amount of baggage for mainstream flights is enormous, and the calculation criterion is the volume of the baggage.
If this volume is a sufficient amount, the number of high-order flights to be ordered will be greatly affected, and a large number of vehicles will be surplus or there will be situations where they cannot be installed. To prevent these situations, it is necessary to accurately calculate the volume of luggage, but in general, there is only one pick-up worker and it is necessary to handle a lot of luggage in a short time. It was impossible to measure the volume. For this reason, various methods have hitherto been devised. A scale that automatically extends from one point in the vertical, horizontal, and height directions to physically measure dimensions. A camera that captures luggage with a TV camera and measures the volume by image processing. For example, ultrasonic waves are used to measure each side of a package. These methods have not been put to practical use in terms of size, weight, accuracy, etc. suitable for carrying.
On the other hand, there have been many examples of attempts to measure a three-dimensional object by a light-section method using slit light. If the emission angle of the slit light and the position of the camera are fixed, these positions are known, and the three-dimensional coordinates of the light cutting plane can be calculated from the principle of triangulation.

[0002]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When measuring the volume of a package, the package is not placed properly because the package has ropes or cords, the opening is not normally closed, or the package has holes. Even if you just hit the corner of your luggage,
An object is to provide a device for measuring a volume.

[0004]

The present invention has a slit light source and a television camera in the vertical, horizontal, and height directions, respectively, and applies slit light to each side of a rectangular measurement object to determine the end points of the measurement object. It is characterized by including a circuit capable of detecting, calculating the actual length from the three-dimensional calculation of the end points, and measuring the volume from the length of each side.

[0005]

The present invention projects the slit light on the object to be measured,
The slit light image is detected by the TV camera. When the projected slit light reaches the end of the measurement object, it is found that the slit light disappears or is largely bent and is the end point of the measurement object.
The length of one side of the measurement object can be calculated by detecting the three-dimensional coordinates of the end points of the obtained slit light image. By performing this detection in the vertical, horizontal, and height directions, the volume of the measurement object can be measured.

[0006]

As described above, according to the present invention, if the device is placed at any corner of the luggage, slit light is emitted in three directions to detect projected images of the slit light on the luggage, and the end points are detected. Since the volume of each side can be calculated from the length of each side, the volume can be optically measured with the minimum operation.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Following construction of the embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings an embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the device is shown in FIG. The vertical direction of the measuring object 5 such as luggage will be described.
The same device is installed in the height direction. The vertical slit light 12 is applied to the measuring object 5 diagonally above the measuring object in the vertical direction.
A slit light source 14 for illuminating

A vertical TV camera 10 is provided diagonally above the measuring object 5 for taking an image of the slit light 12 applied to the measuring object 5. The vertical slit light 12 is obliquely irradiated, and the irradiation range includes the end point C of the measurement object 5.

The slit light source 14 uses a red semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 780 nm. The light on the spot is optically made into slit light by two lenses.

The TV camera 10 shoots the light cutting line of the A plane on the object, which is formed by the slit light 12, from an oblique upper side through an optical filter that passes only the wavelength of the slit light. The slit light and the TV camera are installed on the same axis.

The actual coordinate values of the slit light projected on one side A of the object to be measured 5 are calculated by the coordinates (I,
J) and the two-dimensional coordinates (Y,
Z) has a one-to-one relationship, which can be calculated in advance. In this embodiment, in order to detect the two-dimensional coordinates (Y, Z) at high speed, a look-up table showing the correspondence between the TV camera coordinates (I, J) and the two-dimensional coordinates (X, Y) is prepared. The absolute coordinates (Y,
Z) is obtained.

In FIG. 1, the cut surface of the slit light irradiated on the surface A disappears at the end point C of the object to be measured because there is no object to be measured. When the measurement object is on the floor, the slit light irradiates the floor, but it makes a great bend at the end points of the measurement object. Either way, it can be recognized as a discontinuity point. When there is an obstacle up to the end point of the measured object, it becomes a discontinuous point, but the cut surface reproduces within a certain distance.

In the embodiment, the measuring operation is performed as follows. When the device body is placed on the corner of the object to be measured and fixed by hand, the measurement switch enters. In this case, in order to fix the capacity meter at right angles to each side of the luggage according to claim 2, the capacity meter is provided with a guide for hitting the corners of the luggage. When the switch is turned on, the slit light power is turned on and the slit light is emitted. The TV camera shoots the cut surface and follows the slit light from the front by image processing. When the cut surface is continuous, the process proceeds as it is, and when it reaches a discontinuity point, it is determined whether the discontinuity point is due to an obstacle on the measurement object or an end point of the measurement object. In the former case, the cutting line is reproduced after a certain distance. The latter case is not reproduced. The slit light and the TV camera are arranged obliquely upward. The fourth aspect is to reduce the influence of obstacles on the measured object as much as possible. By this operation, the position of the end point on the cutting line is detected. If the position of the end point can be detected, the actual distance is read out from the ROM table recorded in advance,
The distance from the end point of the measured object to the end point. Similar to the vertical direction, this operation is performed in the horizontal and height directions to calculate vertical x horizontal x height, calculate the volume, and display it on the display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a volume meter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

5. Measured object 10. Vertical TV camera 11. Horizontal TV camera 12. Vertical slit light 13. Lateral slit light 14. Vertical slit light source 15. Lateral slit light source 20. Device body A. Vertical object B. Side of measured object C. Measurement object end point

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A slit light source for generating slit light and irradiating it to three sides of a rectangular object to be measured vertically and horizontally, and photographing the slit light on each side hitting the object to be measured. Equipped with a TV camera for detecting the discontinuity point of the slit light image from the image obtained by the TV camera, and calculating the end point of the measurement object.
A volume measuring device including a circuit for performing dimension calculation and calculating a distance to an end point, calculating a distance from each of three sides to calculate a volume of an object, and displaying the volume value or outputting the volume value to an external device. . 2. The capacitance measuring device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanism which is installed at three corners of a rectangular object to be measured and can be fixed at right angles to the respective sides. 3. The capacitance measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the measurement is performed on a side of the rectangular measurement object other than a surface capable of being opened. 4. A slit light and a TV camera are arranged obliquely above the surface of a rectangular object whose length is to be measured in order to avoid the influence of ropes, strings and the like. The capacity measuring device according to claim 1, wherein