JP2021133296A - Color sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a color sorter which is capable of examining in detail at what degrees of proportions grains colored due to insect pest or the like, grains damaged due to tarnished rice or the like, green immature grains, unhulled rice, colored grains such as milky white grains, and foreign matters such as pebbles, constitute in a waste product removed from a raw material.SOLUTION: A color sorter 1 includes: a chute 3 installed to make matters to be sorted flow down; optical detection means 6 for detecting matters to be sorted falling down from a lower end of the chute 3; ejector means 11 for selectively eliminating matters to be sorted on the basis of a detection result according to the optical detection means 6; a discharge hopper 5 for separately discharging the matters to be sorted that have been sorted by the ejector means 11; and calculation means 9 capable of switching between a sorting mode for sorting matters to be sorted into nondefective articles and defective articles on the basis of imaging signals of the optical detection means 6, and a quality determining mode for determining the defective articles to be respective qualities out of grains damaged due to insect pest or the like, grains damaged due to tarnished rice or the like, green immature rice, unhulled rice, milky white grains and foreign matters, and for displaying the determined qualities during a pause in the sorting mode.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

In the present invention, among defective products removed from raw materials, colored grains such as pests, damaged grains such as burnt rice, immature blue grains, colored grains such as paddy rice and milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles It relates to a color sorter that can examine in detail what proportion of rice is.

Conventionally, when grains produced by a farmer or the like (for example, brown rice and polished rice) are collected and distributed, quality inspection (grain inspection after shipping from the farmer) or the like is performed. This inspection of quality, etc. is stipulated by the national law that "rice producers can undergo inspection of quality, etc." (Article 3 of the Agricultural Products Inspection Law), and is carried out based on this. In other words, rice producers such as farmers are organizations for collection for the purpose of conducting fair and smooth transactions, ensuring traceability on the rice distribution route, and gaining trust in quality. (For example, JA (Agricultural Cooperative), etc.) is actively undergoing quality inspections.

At JA (Agricultural Cooperatives), agricultural product inspectors are currently visually assessing the grade, etc., but recently, a grain grade discriminator that can measure the mixing ratio of colored grains, etc. (see, for example, Patent Document 1) Development is progressing, and measuring instruments are being used as an auxiliary. In addition, as a color sorter for removing colored grains and the like, a model having improved performance while realizing miniaturization and price reduction for use by farmers and the like has appeared (for example, Patent Document 2). reference).

However, in the color sorter described in Patent Document 2, colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, etc., colored grains such as blue immature grains, paddy rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles are all one. It is defined as a defective product by including it in the above, and is distinguished from a non-defective product. Then, for example, the weight of the refined product sorted as a non-defective product and the weight of the sorted product sorted as a defective product are compared to calculate the defective product mixing ratio with respect to the raw material, or the color selection. The sorting rate of the machine is calculated (for example, Patent Document 3).
In other words, in the conventional color sorter, among defective products, colored grains such as pests, damaged grains such as burnt rice, immature blue grains, colored grains such as paddy rice and milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles It was not possible to investigate in detail how much the ratio was. Conventionally, the analysis of defective products among such defective products is performed by separating the removed defective products into black carton and visually checking them, or by putting the defective products into a grain grade discriminator and using another measuring instrument. I was analyzing it.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-125867 Japanese Patent No. 6052287 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-216650

In view of the above problems, among the defective products removed from the raw materials, the present invention includes colored grains such as pests, damaged grains such as burnt rice, blue immature grains, paddy rice, and colored grains such as milky white grains. It is a technical issue to provide a color sorter capable of examining in detail the proportion of foreign substances such as pebbles.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention comprises an inclined chute for allowing a raw material to be sorted to flow down, an optical detection means for detecting an object to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute, and the optical detection means. It is a color sorter provided with an ejector means for selecting and eliminating the object to be sorted based on the detection result, and a discharge hopper for discharging the items to be sorted separately by the ejector means.
A sorting mode in which the object to be sorted is sorted into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the imaging signal of the optical detection means, and the defective product is damaged by pests or the like, damaged grains by burnt rice or the like while the sorting mode is paused. A technical measure was taken to provide a calculation means that can be switched to a grade determination mode in which the grades of blue immature grains, paddy rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances are discriminated and displayed.

In the invention according to claim 2, when the quality determination mode is selected in the calculation means, the calculation means binarizes each of the R, G, and B signals obtained from the optical detection means, and at the same time, the calculation means binarizes the R, G, and B signals. It is characterized in that this value is subjected to arithmetic processing by addition, subtraction, integration or division to obtain a spectral ratio, and the quality is characterized by the spectral ratio and the value of R, G or B to determine the quality. ..

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the calculation means is provided with a storage means so that a plurality of selected data of the current year and a plurality of selected data of the previous year can be stored and compared.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the chute is tilted to allow the raw material to be sorted to flow down, the optical detection means for detecting the object to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute, and the optical detection means. A color sorter comprising an ejector means for sorting and eliminating the object to be sorted based on the detection result and a discharge hopper for discharging the items to be sorted separately by the ejector means, wherein the optical detection means. A sorting mode that sorts the material to be sorted into non-defective products and defective products based on the imaging signal of Since we have taken technical measures to provide a calculation means that can be switched to a quality discrimination mode that discriminates and displays the grades of paddy rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances.
In addition to simply sorting the items to be sorted into non-defective products and defective products in the sorting mode, among the defective products that have been sorted while the sorting mode is inactive, damaged grains due to pests, etc., damaged grains due to burnt rice, etc., blue It is possible to investigate in detail the proportion of immature grains, paddy rice, milky white grains and foreign substances, and it is possible to perform grade determination without having to bother to put it in the grain grader.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the calculation means binarizes each signal of R, G, B obtained from the optical detection means, and adds, subtracts, integrates or divides the values. The spectral ratio is obtained by performing the calculation process according to the above, and the quality is determined by characterizing the quality from the spectral ratio and the value of R, G or B. It has become easier to distinguish between burnt rice and paddy rice, and between green immature blue grains and white milky grains.

Further, according to the invention of claim 3, the calculation means is provided with a storage means so that a plurality of selected data of the current year and a plurality of selected data of the previous year can be stored and compared. It is possible to objectively grasp and visualize from the data, such as whether the crop was a good harvest or the crop was poor this year, and inform the farmers.

It is a schematic side sectional view of the color sorter of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the control circuit of a color sorter. It is a schematic diagram which judges the quality from 6 kinds of spectral ratios as a quality discrimination classification. This is a display example of the analysis result displayed on the screen of the display unit.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of the color sorter of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the color sorter 1 includes an object to be sorted 2, a chute 3, an optical sorter 4, and a discharge hopper 5. The object to be sorted 2 includes a tank 2a and a vibration feeder 2b that supplies the object to be sorted to the chute 3. The chute 3 has a predetermined width and is arranged in a state of being inclined downward on the tip end side of the vibration feeder 2b, and allows the object to be sorted supplied from the vibration feeder 2b to flow down naturally. The optical sorting unit 4 is composed of a pair of optical detection devices 6a, 6b, lighting devices 7a, 7b, 7c, background 8a, 8b, etc., which are arranged before and after the falling locus of the object to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute 3. Will be done. The imaging signals from the optical detection devices 6a and 6b are electrically connected so as to be input to the arithmetic means 9. In the calculation means 9, the inspected object is classified into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the imaging signals input from the optical detection devices 6a and 6b, and the defective product is classified into a plurality of grades, that is, colored grains caused by pests, burnt rice, and the like. The grade can be discriminated into 6 types: damaged grains, blue immature grains, paddy rice, colored grains such as milky white grains, and foreign substances. Further, the calculation means 9 is electrically connected so that the output signal from the calculation means 9 is input to the ejector drive means 10. That is, the calculation means 9 discriminates between a non-defective product and a defective product, and the signal of the discriminating result is output to the ejector driving means 10 for eliminating the defective product. Further, the ejector driving means 10 is electrically connected to the ejector device 11 and is configured to output an exclusion signal to the ejector device 11. The discharge hopper 5 has a non-defective product discharge gutter 12 and a defective product discharge gutter 13, and the ejector device 11 selects a non-defective product and a non-defective product other than the non-defective product (what kind of non-defective product is simultaneously eliminated by the ejector device 11). It is also possible to confirm the quality of the product as to whether it is a non-defective product). That is, the non-defective product is discharged to the outside of the machine from the non-defective product discharge gutter 12, and the defective product is discharged to the outside of the machine from the defective product discharge gutter 13.

Next, the control circuit of the color sorter 1 will be described in detail. The calculation means 9 of the color sorter 1 discriminates the object to be sorted into a non-defective product and a defective product, and further divides the contents of the defective product into colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, blue immature grains, and paddy rice. , Colored grains such as milky white grains and foreign substances such as pebbles are used for quality determination.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the color sorter 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) is composed of a CCD line sensor and has sensitivity to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). It includes an R element 6r, a G element 6g, and a B element 6b. The light receiving signal of the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) is supplied to the R element 6r, the G element 6g, and the B element 6b, and is photoelectrically converted into an R signal, a G signal, and a B signal, respectively, and output. The R, G, and B signals are input to the amplifiers 14, 15, and 16 provided in the arithmetic means 9, respectively, and further input to the signal processing circuit 17. In the signal processing circuit 17, the input values of the R, G, and B signals are binarized, and arithmetic processing by addition, subtraction, integration, or division is performed to perform signal conversion. This signal conversion is to characterize the signal received by the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) to identify the object to be inspected, and when this signal is input to the comparison circuit 18, it is to be inspected. The quality of the product is judged and the quality of the product is judged.

Reference numeral 19 is a delay circuit, and the injection timing is determined according to the distance between the position where the object to be sorted is observed by the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) and the exclusion position where the ejector device 11 eliminates defective products. Is what you do. An exclusion signal is output from the comparator 18 to the ejector driving means 10 via the delay circuit 19. The exclusion signal determined by the ejector driving means 10 is output to the ejector device 11.

In the signal processing circuit 17 shown in FIG. 2, the spectral ratio R / G and the spectral ratio R / B are obtained from the R, G, and B values obtained by binarizing each grain of the object to be sorted. , Is calculated. Then, the calculated value is compared with a discriminant stored in the comparison circuit 18 (see, for example, FIGS. 6 to 10 of JP-A-9-292344), and for example, six types of grades are discriminated. ..

FIG. 3 is an algorithm for determining the quality from six types of spectral ratios as the quality discrimination classification. With reference to FIG. 3, for example, as six types of grade discrimination classifications, (a) Pest-damaged grains: the area of stink bug-damaged grains and the other areas are classified as non-defective products (areas are not shown). , (B) Classification of colored grains made of burnt rice and other areas as non-defective products (areas are not shown), (c) Classification of blue immature grains and other areas as non-defective products (c) Areas are not shown), (d) Pentatomoids and other areas are classified as non-defective (areas are not shown), (e) Paddy (= shaded areas) and other areas. If a program is set up in advance, such as classifying that is a non-defective product and (f) classifying foreign substances and other areas as non-defective products (areas are not shown), statistical processing for quality determination can be performed quickly. Can be executed. In the grade determination mode for performing such grade determination, it is desirable to perform the grade determination mode while the sorting mode is paused so that the arithmetic processing capacity of the arithmetic means 9 is not overloaded so that the processing is not delayed.
In a color sorter for farmers, debris of rice husks and dust such as rice husks fly up during sorting work, and dust and the like adhere to the glass surface of the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b). Sometimes. If dust adheres to the glass surface, optical monitoring will not be performed accurately. Therefore, in the color sorter for farmers, a rest period is set in the middle of the sorting work, and cleaning for removing dust (dust adhering to the glass surface is cleaned and removed by operating a wiper or the like, or the glass surface is cleaned. (Cleaning and removing dust adhering to the glass by aeration with a blast) Since the load of the arithmetic processing capacity of the arithmetic means 9 is relatively light during this cleaning work time, it is preferable to perform the statistical processing of the grade determination (grade determination mode) during this period.

Reference numeral 20 in FIG. 4 is a display unit of the color sorter, which displays the quality result and the sorting result after the color sorting and also serves as an operation unit for operating the color sorter 1. FIG. 4 is a display example of the analysis result displayed on the screen 20a of the display unit 20, and in the one shown in FIG. The result of classifying the non-defective product is shown. In this example, the non-defective product accounted for 93% and the defective paddy accounted for 7%. What is shown in FIG. 4 (b) is a detailed analysis result (pie chart) of the obtained defective products obtained by totaling the analyzes of 6 types of grades. In this example, good products accounted for 93% and defective products accounted for 7% of the sorted products, and among the defective products, blue immature 2% and the remaining grades 1% each. ..

A storage means 21 is connected to the calculation means 9 (see FIG. 2) so that the storage means 21 can record a plurality of data of this year's selection data and last year's selection data. It is good to form. Further, the storage means 21 can store the advice of farming guidance and the like in a database. In this way, it is possible to provide feedback to farmers such as the rice cultivation conditions in the field this year, and to give farming guidance to help the cultivation management of the next year (for example, irrigation, fertilization, pesticide spraying time of the next year) (next). Advice on cultivation management for the year, etc.).

For example, as measures for the next year, we will provide farmers with cultivation management guidelines (advice) that take into consideration "fertilization management" and "cutting time", and as cultivation management guidelines (advice) for the next year, rain at the time of harvest. Providing farmers to consider "management before and after harvesting" in consideration of the above, and providing farmers with an emphasis on "seed paddy disinfection and pest control plans" as a cultivation management guideline (advice) for the next fiscal year. can do.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are for facilitating the understanding of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof. Further, in the range where at least a part of the above-mentioned problems can be solved, or in the range where at least a part of the effect is exhibited, the scope of claims and the combination of each component described in the specification can be combined or omitted. ..

1 Color sorter 2 Sorted object supply unit 3 Shoot 4 Optical sorting unit 5 Discharge hopper 6 Optical detection device 7 Lighting device 8 Background 9 Computational means 10 Ejector drive means 11 Ejector device 12 Good product discharge gutter 13 Defective product discharge gutter 14 Amplifier 15 Amplifier 16 Amplifier 17 Signal processing circuit 18 Comparison circuit 19 Delay circuit 20 Display unit

Claims (3)

The chute arranged at an angle to allow the raw material to be sorted to flow down, the optical detection means for detecting the object to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute, and the object to be sorted based on the detection result by the optical detection means. It is a color sorter provided with an ejector means for sorting and eliminating and a discharge hopper for separately discharging the objects to be sorted by the ejector means.
A sorting mode in which the object to be sorted is sorted into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the imaging signal of the optical detection means, and the defective product is damaged by pests or the like, damaged grains by burnt rice or the like while the sorting mode is paused. A color sorter equipped with a calculation means that can be switched to a grade discrimination mode in which grades are discriminated and displayed for each grade of blue immature grains, paddy rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances. The calculation means binarizes each of the R, G, and B signals obtained from the optical detection means, and performs calculation processing by adding, subtracting, integrating, or dividing these values to obtain the spectral ratio. The color sorter according to claim 1, wherein the grade is characterized from the spectral ratio and the value of R, G or B, and the grade is discriminated in the grade discriminating mode. The color sorter according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the calculation means is provided with a storage means so that a plurality of sort data of the current year and a plurality of sort data of the previous year can be stored and compared.

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