JP2006200892A - Judge apparatus for internal quality of farm produce - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a judge apparatus for the internal quality of farm produce constituted so as to employ a plurality of floodlight projecting means and a light detecting means suitable for measuring the predetermined measuring region of farm produce not only to efficiently measure, for example, the different internal qualities of the farm produce with high precision but also to process the measuring signals from the light detecting means by a single processing means to reduce the cost of the judge apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The farm produces fed in a row by a feed means are irradiated with light by the floodlight projecting means while the light transmitted through the farm produces by the irradiation are detected by the light detecting means and the internal qualities of the farm produces are judged on the basis of the detected light. In this judge apparatus for the internal quality of the farm produce, a plurality of the floodlight projecting means and the light detecting means both of which form pairs are arranged along the feed direction of the feed means in order to independently measure the different regions of the farm produces fed by the feed means and the internal qualities of the farm produces are judged on the basis of the light data respectively obtained from the light detecting means by the single processing means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an agricultural product internal quality judging device preferably used in a sorting and packaging facility (fruit selection field) for sorting and shipping agricultural products such as peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes and tangerines.

In general, in this type of selection area, the agricultural products conveyed in a row on the conveyor are irradiated with light by a halogen lamp or laser, and the transmitted light and reflected light of the agricultural products are measured, There is known an internal quality judging device for judging quality. Conventionally, such an internal quality determination device is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1, and this determination device measures different parts of agricultural products in the same arrangement form of light projecting means and light receiving means on the same transport line. A first measurement unit and a second measurement unit are provided, and the internal quality of the agricultural product is determined based on the difference in absorbance measured by both measurement units.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-173985

  However, in this internal quality judgment device, the absorbance of the light that is irradiated below and transmitted downward from the substantially equatorial part of the pear as an agricultural product, and the light that is irradiated and transmitted downward to the approximately equatorial part of the pear In order to judge the quality by the difference, although one specific internal quality such as the presence or absence of stone pears of pears can be detected and judged, for example, obstacles such as cavities in different parts such as around the upper fruit pear of pears, It is difficult to measure different internal qualities that are important for determining the internal quality of pears such as sugar content and acidity of pears almost simultaneously. Therefore, it is also possible to set multiple internal quality judgment devices on the transport line to measure and judge different individual measurement parts and internal quality, or to measure at an arbitrary angle by rotating agricultural products. However, in these cases, the configuration of the apparatus itself is complicated, resulting in an increase in cost, which is not practical.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to employ a plurality of light projecting means and light receiving means suitable for measuring a predetermined measurement site of agricultural products, for example, different interiors of agricultural products. To provide an internal quality determination device for agricultural products that can efficiently and accurately determine quality and process measurement signals from each light receiving means with a single processing means to reduce the cost of the apparatus. It is in.

  In order to achieve such an object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is directed to irradiating the agricultural products conveyed in a line by the conveying means with the light projecting means, and the light transmitted or reflected by the agricultural products by the irradiation. In the internal quality determination device for agricultural products that is received by the light receiving means and determines the internal quality of the agricultural products based on the received light, in order to independently measure different parts of the agricultural products conveyed by the conveying means, A plurality of pairs of light projecting means and light receiving means are arranged along the transport direction of the transport means, and the internal quality of the agricultural product is determined by a single processing means based on the optical information obtained from each light receiving means. It is characterized by that.

  The invention according to claim 2 irradiates the agricultural products conveyed in a line by the conveying means with the light projecting means, receives the light transmitted or reflected by the agricultural products by the irradiation with the light receiving means, and receives the light. In the agricultural product internal quality judgment device for judging the internal quality of the agricultural product based on the light, the paired light projecting means and light receiving means for independently measuring different parts of the agricultural product conveyed by the conveying means A plurality of means are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying means so that the centers of the respective optical paths are set differently in the produce and do not overlap with each other, and the information from the respective light receiving means is switched to the subsequent stage of each light receiving means. An information switching means for sending to the processing means, and determining the internal quality of the agricultural product by a single processing means based on the optical information obtained from each light receiving means. And butterflies.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the agricultural products are conveyed by the conveying means at regular intervals, and the plurality of (N) pairs of light projecting means and light receiving means are one of the conveying intervals of the conveying means. / N pitches are arranged so as to be shifted. Further, in the invention according to claim 4, a plurality of the light projecting means and the light receiving means arranged in pairs include a horizontal-horizontal arrangement, a horizontal-lower arrangement, a horizontal-upper arrangement, an upper-lower arrangement, The light path formed by each light projecting means and the light receiving means is set to a different part of the agricultural product by being set to at least two of the five different placement forms of the lower-upper arrangement or the same arrangement form. It is characterized by being. The horizontal-horizontal arrangement does not necessarily indicate an arrangement in which the light projecting means and the light receiving means are in a horizontal state, but also includes an arrangement in which the light projecting means and the light receiving means are inclined with the agricultural product in between. In this case, the case where the light receiving means is above and the light projecting means is below and vice versa are included. Furthermore, the invention described in claim 5 is characterized in that the information switching means includes a light shielding plate that is rotatably disposed behind each light receiving means and provided with a light transmitting portion and a light shielding portion.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, based on the respective pieces of light information obtained from the light projecting means and the light receiving means arranged in pairs along the transport direction of the transport means, Since the internal quality of agricultural products is determined by the processing means, it is possible to measure internal quality such as obstacles centered on the fruit infestation of agricultural products, etc., and internal quality such as sugar content and acidity mainly about the equator of agricultural products. , It is possible to efficiently and accurately determine different internal qualities of agricultural products and the same internal quality of different parts, and based on the internal qualities of these different parts, it is possible to comprehensively determine the quality of agricultural products, from multiple light receiving means The measurement signal can be processed by a single processing device, and the configuration of the device itself can be simplified to reduce the cost.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, a plurality of pairs are arranged along the transport direction of the transport unit, and the light path is obtained from the light projecting unit and the light receiving unit in which the center of each optical path is set to a predetermined value. In addition, since the internal quality of the agricultural product is determined by a single processing unit based on the optical information of each optical path switched by the information switching unit, the internal quality of the agricultural product is different as in the first aspect of the invention. In addition, the same internal quality of different parts can be determined efficiently and accurately, and the quality of agricultural products can be comprehensively determined, and the measurement information from each light receiving means can be processed by a single processing device by switching by the information switching means Therefore, it is possible to simplify the configuration of the device itself and reduce the cost.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the agricultural products are conveyed by the conveying means at regular intervals, and a plurality of pairs of the light projecting means and the light receiving means are paired. Since (N) is arranged with a shift of 1 / N pitch of the conveying interval of the conveying means, the optical information received by the plurality of light receiving means can be sequentially processed at a constant interval by a single processing means, and conveyed. Even if a plurality of light receiving means are provided to measure the internal quality and the like of different parts of the agricultural product conveyed by the means, it can be determined more efficiently.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 3, a plurality of light projecting means and light receiving means arranged in pairs are arranged in a horizontal-lateral arrangement with respect to agricultural products, Agricultural products that are measured and judged because they are set to at least two different arrangement forms or the same arrangement form among the five arrangement forms of horizontal-lower arrangement, horizontal-upper arrangement, upper-lower arrangement, lower-upper arrangement The light projecting means and the light receiving means can be used in an optimal arrangement according to the part to be measured and the internal quality, and the internal quality of the agricultural product can be determined with higher accuracy regardless of the type of the agricultural product.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 2 to 4, the information switching means is disposed rotatably at the subsequent stage of each light receiving means, and the light transmitting part and the light shielding part are provided. Since the provided light shielding plate is provided, even if a plurality of light receiving means are provided, the light of the other light receiving means can be shielded by the light shielding part when the light of one light receiving means is transmitted through the light transmitting part. The light from the means can alternatively or reliably be transmitted to the control means, and for example, the internal quality of different parts of the agricultural product can be determined with higher accuracy.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 8 show an embodiment of an internal quality determination apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, an internal quality determination device 1 includes a first measuring unit 3 and a second measuring unit 4 arranged along a conveying direction (b) of a conveyor 2 (conveying means) having a bucket 2 a, and both measuring units 3. 4 of the photoreceivers 3b and 4b, the spectroscope 5 and the detection device 6 arranged in the subsequent stage, and a switching device 7 for alternately switching the electrical signals output from each detection device 6 with a ½ pitch shift of the bucket 2a. (Information switching means) and a control device 8 and the like arranged at the subsequent stage of the switching device 7.

  The first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4 are arranged such that a pair of light projector 3a and light receiver 3b, a light projector 4a and a light receiver 4b are arranged to face the conveyor 2, respectively, and the first measuring unit 3 The light path L1 at the time of measurement by the projector 3a and the light receiver 3b is set to a substantially central position in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the bucket 2a of the transport conveyor 2, and is measured by the light projector 4a and the light receiver 4b of the second measuring unit 4. The time optical path L2 is positioned between the buckets 2a before and after the transport conveyor 2, that is, the measurement positions in the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 are shifted by 1/2 pitch of the transport interval of the transport conveyor 2 Has been. Due to the deviation of 1/2 pitch between the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4, simultaneous measurement of the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 is prohibited, that is, the optical information received by the light receivers 3b and 4b is changed. Processing can be alternately performed by processing means described later. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the second measuring unit 4 includes one bucket and one half of the bucket with respect to the first measuring unit 3 (1/2 of the transport interval of the transport conveyor 2). Although the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 may be shifted by ½ bucket, they may be arranged close to each other. Moreover, you may arrange | position between the 1st measurement part 3 and the 2nd measurement part 4 by the space | interval shifted, for example by 3 buckets and 1/2 bucket. Although not shown, when three pairs of light projectors and light receivers are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyer 2, each light emitter and light receiver pair is arranged at an interval of 1/3 bucket. You can also In this case as well, N buckets may be arranged between the measurement units shifted in pitch.

  Moreover, the 1st measurement part 3 is arrange | positioned by the horizontal-horizontal arrangement | positioning form which opposedly arrange | positioned the light projector 3a and the light receiver 3b on both sides of the apple above the conveyance conveyor 2. FIG. The projector 3a and the light receiver 3b are arranged above the equator of the agricultural product, and the light path L1 of the first measuring unit 3 is an apple W or the like on the bucket 2a of the conveyor 2 as shown in FIG. For example, it is set so as to permeate, for example, the calyx part above the equator of the agricultural product. Moreover, the 2nd measurement part 4 is arrange | positioned by the horizontal-lower arrangement | positioning form which arrange | positioned the light projector 4a above the conveyance conveyor 2, and opposedly arrange | positioned the light receiver 4b below the conveyance conveyor 2 so that an apple may be pinched | interposed. In this way, the quality of different parts of the same agricultural product W on the bucket 2a is measured by the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4, respectively. The light path L2 of the second measuring unit 4 is such that the light irradiated from the side of the agricultural product is transmitted downward from the substantially equatorial part of the agricultural product on the bucket 2a through the center as shown in FIG. 2 (b). Is set. In addition, the light projector 4a of the 2nd measurement part 4 is arrange | positioned by multiple units | sets (two units in the figure) on the width direction both sides of the conveyance conveyor 2, and light is irradiated with respect to a substantially equator part from the both sides | surfaces of agricultural products, for example. It is like that. Thereby, the information regarding the 1st quality of agricultural products is measured by the 1st measurement part 3 of horizontal-horizontal arrangement, and the information regarding the 2nd quality of agricultural products is measured by the 2nd measurement part 4 of horizontal-lower arrangement. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 8 includes a computing unit 14 that computes optical information related to a predetermined internal quality from electrical signals (optical information) that are alternately switched by the switching device 7 and sent out. The determination device 15 that determines the calculated information, and the information determined by the determination device 15 and information such as a reference value preset in the setting means 17 are compared to comprehensively determine the total internal quality of the agricultural product. The integrated determination device 16 includes an output unit 18 that outputs the determination information obtained by the comprehensive determination device 16 to the discharge device 19 and the like, and is constructed in, for example, a microcomputer.

  The control device 8 is connected to the comprehensive judgment device 16 with display means 20 such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display, and the display means 20 displays information on the internal quality of agricultural products judged by the comprehensive judgment device 16. It has come to be. Further, the output device 18 of the control device 8 is connected to the discharge device 19 provided in the transport conveyor 2 and to the clock signal transmitter 11 provided in the transport conveyor 2, thereby A discharge device 19 corresponding to the quality information determined by the comprehensive determination device 16 is operated in synchronization with a signal from the clock signal transmitter 11.

  Next, an example of operation | movement of the internal quality determination apparatus 1 comprised in this way is demonstrated. First, apples W, for example, as agricultural products are manually or automatically placed one by one with the stalk portion positioned on the bucket 2a on the start end side of the transport conveyor 2 and transported downstream of the transport conveyor 2. . When the apple W on the bucket 2a reaches the position of the first measuring unit 3 by this conveyance, the light irradiated from the projector 3a of the first measuring unit 3 is above the substantially equator of the apple W on the bucket 2a. The transmitted light is received by the light receiver 3b.

  The optical information received by the light receiver 5 is input to the calculation means 14 and the determination device 15 of the control device 8 via the spectroscope 5, the detection device 6 and the switching device 7, and the presence or absence of a cavity failure in the infarct portion, etc. The first quality of is determined. For the apple W for which the first quality has been determined, the determination information is encoded by, for example, the determination device 15 and input to the comprehensive determination device 16 and is temporarily stored in the determination device 16. During the measurement by the first measurement unit 3, the apple W placed on the bucket 2a does not exist at the position of the second measurement unit 4, and the measurement operation is not executed. The same applies to the measurement of the second quality of the apple W by the second measuring unit 4.

  Then, the apple W in which the first quality of the inflection portion is measured and determined by the first measuring unit 3 and the information is stored is further transported downstream by the transport conveyor 2 to the position of the second measuring unit 4 When it reaches, the light irradiated from, for example, two projectors 4a of the second measuring unit 4 is irradiated to the substantially equator part of the apple W on the bucket 2a, and each transmitted light is below the conveyor 2 The light is received by the light receiver 4b disposed in the. The optical information received by the light receiver 4 b is input to the control device 8 via the spectroscope 5, the detection device 6, and the switching device 7 in the same manner as the first measurement unit 3, and the sugar content of the substantially equator portion of the apple W Second quality such as acidity and acidity is determined, and the determination information is encoded, for example, and temporarily stored in the comprehensive determination device 16.

  Thereby, both the first quality and the second quality of the apple W are determined, the determination information is encoded and stored in the comprehensive determination device 16, and this stored information is set by the comprehensive determination device 16 by the setting means 17. And the total internal quality based on the first quality and the second quality of the apple W is determined. Then, the apple W whose overall internal quality has been determined is operated by a predetermined discharge device 19 in response to a signal from the output means 18 of the control device 8 based on the determination result. It is discharged and pooled on a drawer conveyor 21 (see FIG. 1) arranged at 19 portions.

  That is, in the case of the internal quality determination device 1, the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4 in which the projectors 3a and 4a and the light receivers 3b and 4b are paired are arranged along the transport direction A of the transport conveyor 2. Then, the first quality of the apple W is measured and determined by the horizontal-horizontal light path L1 of the first measuring unit 3, and the apple W's first quality is measured by the horizontal-bottom optical path L2 of the second measuring unit 4. A second quality different from the first quality is measured and determined. Then, the measuring units 3 and 4 are arranged with a shift of ½ pitch of the transport interval of the transport conveyor 2, and the optical information received by the light receivers 3 b and 4 b is synchronized with the transport speed of the transport conveyor 2. The first and second qualities of different parts of the apple W are alternately measured and judged by the control device 8 alternately input by an alternative switching operation of the device 7. Further, in the arrangement form in which the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 are provided by shifting the number of buckets by an integer multiple and 1/2 of the bucket, the optical information obtained by the first measurement unit 3 and By sending to the 2nd measurement part 4 synchronizing with conveyance of the bucket 2a, the optical information of the 1st measurement part 3 and the optical information of the 2nd measurement part 4 can be processed together.

  In the above example, the optical path L1 of the first measurement unit 3 is set in the horizontal-horizontal arrangement, and the optical path L2 of the second measurement unit 4 is set in the horizontal-downward arrangement. The optical paths L1 and L2 may be set as shown in FIGS. Hereinafter, the same parts as those in the above embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals. First, in the optical path of the example shown in FIG. 3, the optical path L1 for measuring / determining the first quality is arranged horizontally and horizontally above the substantially equator portion of the apple W as shown in FIG. The optical path L2 that measures and determines the is assumed to be a horizontal-horizontal arrangement of the substantially equatorial part of the apple W as shown in (b). In this case, the two horizontal-horizontal arrangement forms are arranged so that the light path is set at different parts of the agricultural product, and the first quality is applied to the cavernous lesion of the infarction portion as in the above embodiment. The second quality is applied to sugar content, acidity, and the like.

  The optical path in the example shown in FIG. 4 has an optical path L1 that measures and determines the first quality, as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2B, the optical path L2 for measuring / determining the quality is arranged in the horizontal-upper arrangement of the substantially equatorial part of the apple W (in the horizontal-lower arrangement form in FIG. 2B), the light receiver 4b is positioned above the agricultural product. In the form). At this time, in the second measuring unit 4, in order to prevent the light emitted from the two projectors 4a from being directly received by the light receiver 4b, an opening is formed between the apple W and the light receiver 4b. A plurality of light shielding members 22 having 22a are arranged so that the opening 22a is concentric with the light receiver 4b. In the case of this example, the first quality is applied to, for example, sugar content / acidity of apple W, internal damage of the apple flower fallen portion, etc., and the second quality is, for example, sugar content / acidity, center of apple W, for example. Applicable to cavernous lesions from the cervical part to the infarction part.

  Further, in the optical path of the example shown in FIG. 5, the optical path L1 for measuring / determining the first quality is arranged horizontally and above the substantially equator portion of the apple W as shown in FIG. The light path L2 to be determined is arranged horizontally-below the substantially equatorial part of the apple W as shown in (b). At this time, two projectors 3a and 4a of the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4 are arranged, and the light shielding member 22 is arranged in the first measuring unit 3 as in the example shown in FIG. . In the case of this example, the first quality is applied to, for example, a cavity obstruction from the central part to the infarction portion of the apple W, and the second quality is applied to, for example, sugar content / acidity of the apple W.

  Further, in the example of the optical path shown in FIG. 6, the optical path L1 for measuring and determining the first quality (for example, sugar content / acidity) is set to the horizontal-horizontal arrangement of the substantially equatorial part of the apple W as shown in (a). The optical path L2 for measuring / determining the second quality (for example, an obstacle such as a cavity) is arranged below and above the apple W as shown in (b). In the optical path of the example shown in FIG. 7, the optical path L1 for measuring / determining the first quality is set to the horizontal-horizontal arrangement of the substantially equatorial part of the apple W as shown in (a), and the second quality is measured. -As shown in (b), the light path L2 to be determined is set obliquely downward from the equator portion of the apple toward the lower side as shown in FIG. It arrange | positions in the part where a failure | damage | failure of W generate | occur | produces, for example, an infarction part.

  In these examples, the first quality of the different parts of the apple W on the bucket 2a is different by the optical paths L1 and L2 in which the centers of the optical paths of the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 are different and do not overlap. Although different qualities of the second quality are measured and determined, respectively, for example, the same quality of different parts of the apple W may be measured and determined. In this case, for example, the first and second measuring units 3 and 4 measure and determine the internal quality of sugar and acidity of agricultural products at different parts (light paths), for example, horizontal-upper and horizontal-lower shown in FIG. By using the arrangement form, by arranging each projector / receiver at a position where the first measurement unit 3 measures the upper part from the equator part of the produce and the second measurement part 4 measures the lower part, the internal quality of the whole produce Can be determined. Similarly, it is possible to reliably measure and determine even when the agricultural product has a fault in different parts, and to measure and determine the most important quality required for the apple W with higher accuracy. The combinations of the optical paths L1 and L2 of the measuring units 3 and 4 are not limited to the illustrated examples, and five lights in a horizontal-horizontal, horizontal-lower, horizontal-upper, upper-lower, and lower-upper arrangement forms. Of the paths, at least two different or identical patterns can be appropriately combined depending on the quality of measurement / determination.

  Thus, in the internal quality determination device 1 of the above embodiment, the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4 having the projectors 3a and 4a and the light receivers 3b and 4b are arranged in the transport direction A of the transport conveyor 2. The measurement signals based on the optical information obtained from the two measurement units 3 and 4 are selectively switched by the switching device 7 and input to the control device 8, Since the internal quality of the agricultural product is determined in comparison with the reference value, the different internal quality of different parts of the agricultural product can be measured by the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4. As a result, the overall internal quality of the agricultural products can be determined efficiently and with high accuracy, and the measurement signals from the projectors 3a, 4a and the light receivers 3b, 4b can be processed by a single control device 8. Therefore, the configuration of the internal quality determination device 1 can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

  In particular, the agricultural products are conveyed by the conveyance conveyor 2 at regular intervals, and the light projector 3 a and the light receiver 3 b of the first measurement unit 3, and the light projector 4 a and the light receiver 4 b of the second measurement unit 4 are 1 of the conveyance interval of the conveyance conveyor 2. / 2 Since the pitch is shifted, the second measurement unit 4 (or the first measurement unit 3) is surely brought into the non-measurement state during the measurement of the first measurement unit 3 (or the second measurement unit 4). It can be set, and the measurement by both the measurement units 3 and 4 can be performed at an extremely short interval, so that the measurement work can be performed more efficiently.

  Furthermore, the light projectors 3a, 4a and the light receivers 3b, 4b, which form a pair constituting the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4, respectively, are horizontal-horizontal arrangement, horizontal-lower arrangement, horizontal-upper arrangement, Of the five arrangement forms of the upper-lower arrangement and the lower-upper arrangement, for example, the first measurement unit 3 is in the horizontal-horizontal arrangement, the second measurement unit 4 is in the horizontal-lower arrangement, or the first measurement unit 3 is in the horizontal direction. -Set as two different arrangement forms, such as the second measurement unit 4 as a horizontal-lower arrangement as the upper arrangement, and set the optical paths L1, L2 of each measurement unit 3, 4 to different parts of the produce, Or both the 1st measurement part 3 and the 2nd measurement part 4 can be set to the same arrangement | positioning form of horizontal-horizontal arrangement, and the optical paths L1 and L2 of each measurement part 3 and 4 can be set to a different site | part of agricultural products. .

  As a result, the projectors 3a, 4a and the light receivers 3b, 4b can be set and used in an optimal arrangement form according to the quality to be judged of the agricultural product, for example, from the center of the apple W as the agricultural product to the fruit portion. It is possible to accurately determine the presence or absence of a cavity failure and different qualities such as sugar content and acidity of apple W. In addition, when the light projectors 3a, 4a and the light receivers 3b, 4b of the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 are arranged horizontally-upward, a light shielding member 22 that shields irradiation light and the like of the light projectors 3a, 4a is disposed. Therefore, the light information received by the light receivers 3b and 4b can be set only to the light that has passed through the agricultural products, and determination with higher accuracy is possible. Therefore, regardless of the type of agricultural product, it becomes possible to determine the overall internal quality of the agricultural product with higher accuracy and efficiency, and it can be suitably used for a selection site for agricultural products. .

  FIG. 8 shows a modification of the internal quality determination device, and hereinafter, the same reference numerals are assigned to the same parts as those in the above embodiment. The characteristic of the internal quality determination device 1 of this modification is that the control device 8 of the above-described embodiment has the shared calculation means 14 and the determination device 15, and optical information from the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4. Are calculated and determined alternately, whereas the first calculation means 14a and the first determination device 15a that calculate and determine the optical information from the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4 The second calculating means 14b and the second determining device 15b for calculating and determining optical information are provided separately, and the optical information obtained from each measuring unit is calculated and determined for each measuring unit. .

  And based on the determination information regarding the first quality determined by the first determination device 15a and the second determination device 15b and the determination information regarding the second quality, the comprehensive determination device 16 determines the first quality and the second quality of the agricultural products. The total internal quality is determined. According to the control device 8 of this example, the reference units corresponding to the first quality and the second quality are stored in advance in the determination devices 15a and 15b, so that each measurement unit 3, 4 In addition to being able to accurately determine the relevant quality from the optical information measured in step 1, the various information measured and determined by the measuring units 3 and 4 can be reliably stored according to quality, so that statistical processing for various types of quality is high. It can be done accurately and efficiently. As described above, the configuration in the control device 8 is an appropriate configuration capable of determining the predetermined internal quality by processing the two pieces of optical information measured by the first measurement unit 3 and the second measurement unit 4. Can be used.

  Further, the internal quality determination device 1 of the present invention may adopt the configuration shown in FIG. That is, the internal quality determination device 1 includes a first measurement unit 3 and a second measurement unit 4 arranged along the conveyance direction A of the conveyance conveyor 2 (conveying means) having the bucket 2a, and both the measurement units 3, 4 includes a switching device 7 (information switching means) disposed at the subsequent stage of each of the light receivers 3b and 4b, and a control device 8 disposed at the subsequent stage of the switching device 7 via the spectroscope 5 and the detection device 6. Has been.

  In addition, as the switching apparatus 7 in the said embodiment, what is shown, for example in FIG.10 and FIG.11 can also be used. That is, the switching device 7 includes a light shielding plate 9 that is disposed opposite to the rear stage of the pair of optical fibers 3b1 and 4b1 forming the light receivers 3b and 4b of the first measuring unit 3 and the second measuring unit 4 and is rotated by the motor 10. For example, three light-transmitting portions 9a each having a circular opening are formed at equal intervals on the outer peripheral portion of the light shielding plate 9 along the circumferential direction. Between the light transmitting portions 9a of the light shielding plate 9, three virtual light shielding portions 9b are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction by the light shielding plate 9 itself, and the light shielding plate 9 transmits a clock signal to be described later. It rotates in synchronization with the signal of the machine 11.

  The inner diameter of the translucent part 9a is set to be substantially the same as the outer shape of the optical fibers 3b1, 4b1, and is separated from the optical fibers 3b1, 4b1 at the rear stage of the light shielding plate 9 so as to face the translucent part 9a. The optical fibers 12a and 12b are arranged to face each other. As a result, the light shielding plate 9 rotates and the light transmitting part 9a is positioned between the optical fiber 3b1 and the optical fiber 12a, so that the optical information measured by the first measuring part 3 is transmitted to the spectroscope 6 through the optical fiber 12a. Since the light transmitting section 9a is positioned between the optical fiber 4b1 and the optical fiber 12b, the optical information measured by the second measuring section 4 is output to the spectroscope 6 through the optical fiber 12b. Note that the output sides of the optical fibers 12a and 12b are integrated and connected to the spectrometer 6.

  In each of the above embodiments, two light projectors 3a and 4a and one light receiver 3b and 4b are arranged when the measuring units 3 and 4 are arranged horizontally-down and horizontally-upside. Light may be emitted from a table or three or more projectors, and transmitted light may be received by one or a plurality of light receivers. Although the 1st, 2nd measurement part was constituted by the system which receives transmitted light, adopting the reflected light system which receives light from a floodlight and reflects light from agricultural products with the light receiver, the 1st, 2nd You may comprise a measurement part. The first measurement unit may be configured as a transmitted light method, and the second measurement unit may be configured as a reflected light method. In this way, by adopting an appropriate method that can accurately determine various internal qualities according to the type of agricultural products, etc., by configuring each measuring unit, different internal qualities of different parts of agricultural products or the same Can measure and determine the internal quality of Also, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 8, apart from ½ pieces and one piece (= 1.5 pieces), the bucket intervals are ½ pieces and plural pieces. It can be arranged, or can be arranged next to ½ pitch (0.5 pieces) without sandwiching the bucket, and the switching device 7 can also adopt other appropriate configurations.

  The present invention is not limited to the internal quality determination device provided with two light projecting means and light receiving means paired with the transport means, and is appropriately arranged at a predetermined interval such that simultaneous measurement is prohibited by three or more, for example. The present invention can also be applied to an internal quality determination device including a pair of light projecting means and light receiving means.

The block diagram which shows one Embodiment of the internal quality determination apparatus of the agricultural product concerning this invention The figure which shows the arrangement | positioning relationship between the light projection means and the light-receiving means The figure which shows the other arrangement | positioning relationship of the light projection means and light reception means The figure which shows other arrangement | positioning relationship of the light projection means and light reception means The figure which shows other arrangement | positioning relationship of the light projection means and light reception means The figure which shows other arrangement | positioning relationship of the light projection means and light reception means The figure which shows other arrangement | positioning relationship of the light projection means and light reception means The block diagram which shows the modification of the same internal quality determination apparatus The block diagram which shows the modification of the same internal quality determination apparatus Configuration diagram of the switching device Front view of the shading plate

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Internal quality determination apparatus, 2 ... Conveyor 2a ... Bucket, 3 ... 1st measurement part, 3a ... Light projector, 3b ... Light receiver, 4 ... 2nd measurement 4a ... light projector, 4b ... light receiver, 5 ... spectrometer, 6 ... detection device, 7 ... switching device, 8 ... control device, 9 ... light-shielding plate, 9a: Translucent part, 9b: Shading part, 11 ... Clock signal transmitter, 12a, 12b ... Optical fiber, 14 ... Calculation means, 15 ... Determination means, 16 ... Comprehensive determination device, 17 ... setting means, 18 ... output means, 19 ... discharge device, 20 ... display means, 22 ... light shielding member, L1, L2 ... light path.

Claims (5)

Light emitted from the light projecting means is irradiated to the agricultural products conveyed in a line by the conveying means, and the light transmitted through or reflected by the agricultural products is received by the light receiving means, and the internal quality of the agricultural products is determined based on the received light. In the agricultural product internal quality judgment device,
In order to independently measure different parts of the agricultural products conveyed by the conveying means, a plurality of light projecting means and light receiving means which are paired are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying means, and from each light receiving means, respectively. An internal quality judging device for agricultural products, wherein the internal quality of agricultural products is judged by a single processing means based on the obtained optical information. Light emitted from the light projecting means is irradiated to the agricultural products conveyed in a line by the conveying means, and the light transmitted through or reflected by the agricultural products is received by the light receiving means, and the internal quality of the agricultural products is determined based on the received light. In the agricultural product internal quality judgment device,
In order to independently measure different parts of the agricultural products conveyed by the conveying means, a plurality of pairs of light projecting means and light receiving means are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying means, and the center of each light path is Set differently in the agricultural products so that they do not overlap each other, and information switching means for switching the information from each light receiving means and sending it to the processing means is arranged at the subsequent stage of each light receiving means. An internal quality determination device for agricultural products, wherein the internal quality of agricultural products is determined by a single processing means based on the obtained optical information.   The agricultural products are conveyed by a conveying means at regular intervals, and the plurality of (N) pairs of light projecting means and light receiving means are arranged with a shift of 1 / N pitch of the conveying interval of the conveying means. The internal quality determination apparatus for agricultural products according to claim 1 or 2.   The light projecting means and the light receiving means that are arranged in a plurality of pairs are arranged in five arrangement forms of horizontal-horizontal arrangement, horizontal-lower arrangement, horizontal-upper arrangement, upper-lower arrangement, and lower-upper arrangement for agricultural products. The light paths formed by the light projecting means and the light receiving means are set at different parts of the agricultural product by being set to at least two of different arrangement forms or the same arrangement form. The internal quality determination device for agricultural products according to any one of 3 above.   The interior of the agricultural product according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the information switching means includes a light-shielding plate that is rotatably disposed behind each light-receiving means and is provided with a light-transmitting part and a light-shielding part. Quality judgment device.

Images