JP2022120611A - Granular object bounce detection device and granular object sorting device equipped with the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an optical sorting machine capable of quantitatively grasping bouncing of granular objects that are flowing down.SOLUTION: A granular object bounce detection device is provided, comprising conveying means for conveying granular objects 2, image capturing means 4, 5 capable of capturing images of the granular objects 2 being conveyed by the conveying means, and bounce determination means configured to determine the presence or absence of bouncing of the granular objects 2 being conveyed on the conveying means according to data acquired by the image capturing means 4, 5.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a granular object bounce detection device capable of detecting splashing of falling granular objects, and a particulate matter sorting apparatus equipped with the bounce detection device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an optical granular material sorting apparatus, a sorting operation can be performed on a plurality of types of granular materials such as grains. However, depending on the type, shape, size, flow rate, etc. of the particulate matter, it is assumed that the flow-down state on the chute serving as the conveying means will differ. If the granular material flows down on the chute in such a situation, the granular material will flow down while bouncing (bouncing) on the chute. If the granular materials flow down while bouncing on the chute, the granular materials do not pass through a normal flow locus when discharged from the lower end of the chute, and cannot be sorted accurately. This causes a reduction in sorting accuracy in the granular material sorting apparatus.

In the optical particulate matter sorting apparatus, various technical measures have been conventionally taken to suppress the above-mentioned "bouncing" of the particulate matter.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a granular material sorting apparatus capable of suppressing "jumping" on a chute even when soybeans that are not truly spherical are sorted. In this system, a large number of blast holes are provided in the bottom surface of the chute through which the granular materials flow down, and an air accumulation chamber is provided on the rear side of the bottom surface of the chute so as to blow air from the blast holes to the objects to be sorted. A technical measure was taken to connect the blower to the air chamber. In other words, the objects to be sorted that flow down on the chute flow down while being slightly lifted by the blowing air from the blowing holes. It is described that the objects to be sorted come into contact with the bottom surface of the slanted chute and flow down in an aligned state without bouncing, thereby enabling the objects to be sorted to flow down in the same trajectory in the detection unit.

However, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, a large number of blow holes are provided in the bottom surface of the chute, and an air accumulation chamber is provided on the back side of the bottom surface of the chute so as to blow air from the blow holes to the objects to be sorted. , a large-scale configuration is required to connect the air blower to the storage chamber. In addition, there is a problem that it is difficult to flexibly cope with various types, shapes, sizes, flow rates, and the like of granular materials such as grains.

Patent Document 2, like the above, is an invention of a granule sorting apparatus for sorting soybeans that are not truly spherical in shape. A shutter for adjusting the amount of soybeans is provided, and furthermore, a vibrating supply path and an inclined downflow path are arranged in a straight line on the downstream side of the shutter to suppress the soybean "bounce" flowing down the inclined downflow path.
However, as with the invention described in Patent Document 1, the invention described in Patent Document 2 also has the problem that it is difficult to flexibly respond to various types, shapes, sizes, flow rates, etc. of granular materials such as grains. There is

In Patent Documents 3 and 4, elongated grains such as long-grain seed rice and grains having a viscous surface such as parboiled rice are used as objects to be sorted. Disclosed is a chute for an optical sorter capable of suppressing unevenness in the flow of particulates and scattering of particulates in the flow direction by bouncing on the chute.

That is, in Patent Document 3, a first portion having a surface on which a plurality of protrusions are formed and receiving objects to be sorted from a vibrating feeder, and a second portion continuous from the first portion and allowing objects to be sorted to freely fall from the lower end are disclosed. An arrangement is disclosed that includes two sections in the chute. Thereby, since the first portion for receiving the sorting object supplied from the vibrating feeder has a surface on which a plurality of projections are formed, the sorting object falling on the first portion can be reliably dispersed, and the granular Prevent uneven flow of goods. As a result, it is possible to prevent detection errors of defective products and to improve sorting accuracy.

Further, in Patent Document 4, smooth undulations are formed on the entire surface of the chute on which the granular materials flow down, so that the granular materials flow down in a state of being overlapped or combined with each other, and the flow of the granular materials is uneven. It is described that it suppresses and bounces.
However, the inventions described in Patent Documents 3 and 4 are specialized for elongated granules such as long-grain seed rice and granules having a viscous surface such as parboiled rice. There is a problem that it is difficult to respond flexibly to the type, shape, size, flow rate, etc. of particulate matter.

Patent Literature 5 discloses a technique in which a screw is manually rotated to vary the chute inclination angle. In other words, it is described that by finely adjusting the inclination angle of the chute, a normal grain flow down trajectory is maintained and the grain quality is optically discriminated.

JP-A-63-084680 JP-A-63-093387 JP 2013-000684 A JP 2013-043164 A Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-26011

The inventors of the present invention have found that if it is a simple operation of varying the chute inclination angle, as in the device described in Patent Document 5, the type, shape, size, and flow rate of grains and other granular materials can be adjusted. I thought it would be possible to respond appropriately to However, whether the inclination angle of the chute is appropriate according to the type, shape, size, flow rate, etc. of granules such as various grains (for example, soybeans that are not truly spherical, The appropriate angle of inclination that does not cause "splashing" for each of the elongated granules, parboiled rice and other granules with viscous surfaces has not been clarified at all. In other words, since adjustment of the inclination angle of the chute has conventionally been performed intuitively by the operator's visual observation, there is a risk of variation in sorting accuracy depending on the operator.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, the present invention aims to provide a granular object bounce detector capable of quantitatively grasping the bounce of granular objects flowing down a chute, and a granular object sorting apparatus equipped with the bounce detector. This is a technical issue. In addition, it is equipped with a bouncing suppressing device that suppresses bouncing of the falling particulate matter, and controls the bouncing suppressing device based on a bounce detection signal from the bouncing detecting device, thereby improving the sorting accuracy of the particulate matter. A technical problem is to provide a sorting device.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention
a conveying means for conveying the granular material;
an imaging means capable of imaging the granular material conveyed by the conveying means;
a bouncing detecting device for granular material, comprising bouncing determination means capable of determining whether or not there is bouncing in the granular material being conveyed on the conveying means based on data acquired by the imaging means; did.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2,
The imaging means is
a first imaging means capable of imaging from one side the granular material conveyed by the conveying means;
a second imaging means capable of imaging the granular material from the other side facing the first imaging means;
The bouncing determination means determines whether the granular material is The bouncing detection device is characterized in that it can determine whether or not there is a bouncing.

Furthermore, in the invention according to claim 3,
The granular object bounce detection device is characterized by comprising bounce adjustment means capable of suppressing bounce of the granular objects conveyed by the conveying means based on a determination result of the bounce discrimination means.

And in the invention according to claim 4,
An ejector capable of ejecting a jet against the granular material conveyed by the conveying means,
4. A device for detecting splashing of particulate matter according to claim 3, wherein said bounce adjusting means is capable of adjusting the ejection time and/or ejection range of the jet from said ejector based on the determination result of said bounce determining means. It was used as a granular material sorting device.

Further, in the invention according to claim 5,
The conveying means is a chute that causes the granular material to flow down in a certain direction,
an ejector capable of ejecting a jet of air onto the granular material ejected from the chute;
a chute inclination angle adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the chute;
a bouncing adjusting means capable of suppressing bouncing of the granular material flowing down the chute;
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the bouncing adjustment means is capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the chute and the jetting time and/or range of the jet from the ejector based on the judgment result of the bouncing judgment means. A granular material sorting apparatus comprising the granular material bouncing detection device according to any one of the above.

And in the invention according to claim 6,
The conveying means is a belt conveyor that throws the granular material at a constant speed in the conveying direction and allows it to fall freely,
an ejector capable of ejecting a jet of air onto the granular material discharged from the belt conveyor;
bouncing adjusting means capable of suppressing bouncing of the granular material conveyed on the belt conveyor;
with
The bouncing adjusting means presses the granular material against the belt conveyor in synchronization with the tension of the belt tension of the belt conveyor, the conveying speed of the belt conveyor, and the belt conveyor based on the judgment result of the bouncing judging means. 3. The device for detecting splashing of particulate matter according to claim 1, wherein any one of the pressing force of the pressing roller and the jetting time and/or jetting range of the jet from the ejector can be adjusted. It was a granular material sorting device.

According to the above invention, it is possible to determine whether or not there is splashing of the falling granular material by the image pickup means, and based on this, it is possible to take measures to suppress the splashing of the granular material. For example, by applying the present invention to an optical grain sorting device, it is possible to improve the sorting accuracy of defective grains.

According to the above invention, it is possible to quantitatively detect pixel deviation from the images of the granular material captured by the first imaging means and the second imaging means, and to determine with high accuracy whether or not the granular material bounces. can do.

According to the above invention, it is possible to suppress the bounce of the particulate matter by the bounce adjusting means based on the determination result of the bounce.

According to the above invention, the bounce adjusting means can adjust the ejection time and/or the ejection range of the jet from the ejector based on the detection result of the pixel shift detecting means, and the granular materials to be sorted can be reliably sorted. can.

Bouncing can be detected by using an imaging means for discriminating the quality of the granular material provided in the optical sorting machine. As a result, there is no need to newly provide imaging means for detecting bouncing, and the existing imaging means for determining quality can efficiently detect bouncing at low cost.

It is a control flow before operation of the optical sorting machine in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the imaging aspect of the granular material which deviated from the normal flow-down locus|trajectory by an imaging means. It is the figure which showed the aspect when pixel misalignment is a vertical misalignment. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a threshold value of bounce amount based on pixel shift; It is a figure explaining the imaging aspect of the granular material which deviated from the normal flow-down locus|trajectory by an imaging means. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a mode in which pixel shift is lateral shift; It is the figure which showed the pixel shift of the granular material which flows down. It is a control flow during operation of the optical sorting machine in this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the ejection range of the jet by an ejector. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a mechanism for adjusting the inclination angle of the chute; FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another embodiment of a mechanism that adjusts the inclination angle of the chute; FIG. 10 is a control flow diagram of the inclination angle of the chute based on the scattering rate of particulate matter; It is the graph which showed the relationship between the scattering rate and the frequency|count of inclination-angle adjustment. FIG. 5 is a control flow diagram according to another embodiment of chute tilt angle based on particulate matter scattering rate. It is the graph which showed the relationship between the scattering rate and the frequency|count of inclination-angle adjustment.

The granular object bouncing detector according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings.
The granular object bouncing detector of the present embodiment is provided, for example, in an optical granular object sorting device (optical sorting machine 1) that sorts out the granular objects 2 . Materials to be sorted include grains such as rice, wheat, beans, and corn, as well as raw materials for industrial products. It is possible to appropriately select a glass-made or resin-made granular material 2 or the like.

(Bounce detection during test run)
FIG. 1 shows detection of the bounce of the granular material 2 as the material to be sorted flowing down on the chute 3 and the bounce of the granular material 2 in the test run before the operation of the optical sorter 1 of the present embodiment. A control flow including adjustment to suppress bouncing of the particulate matter 2 based on the detection result is shown. In the test run before the operation of the optical sorting machine 1, if the particulate matter 2 flowing down on the chute 3 bounces, when the particulate matter 2 is released from the lower end of the chute 3 and falls freely, the normal flow The particulate matter 2 is detected by the optical detection unit on a trajectory that deviates from the trajectory. Necessary adjustments are made so as to suppress the splashing of the granular material 2 flowing down the chute 3 according to the detection result of the splashing by the optical detection unit.

As shown in FIG. 2, the optical sorter 1 includes a chute 3 for causing the granular materials 2 to flow down, an imaging means 4 capable of capturing an image of the granular materials 2 released from the lower end of the chute 3 and freely falling. 5, analyzing the image data acquired from the imaging means 4, 5 to discriminate non-defective products and defective products, and outputting a removal signal to drive the ejector of the sorting unit when it is discriminated as a defective product. and a control unit (not shown) that performs control.

Next, the control configuration of the device for detecting bouncing of the granular material 2 in the optical sorting machine 1 according to this embodiment will be described based on the control flow of FIG. First, in a test run before the optical sorting machine 1 is put into operation, a difference between a front image (front image) and a rear image (rear image) of the granular material 2 is calculated by a pixel deviation detection means provided in a control unit (not shown). (step S101).

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, the granular material 2 discharged from the lower end of the chute 3 is captured by first imaging means 4 capable of imaging from one side (front in this embodiment), A front image of the granular material 2 and a rearward image of the granular material 2 are captured by the second imaging means 5 capable of imaging the granular material 2 from the other side (rear in this embodiment) facing the first imaging means 4 across the trajectory 6 . images are captured respectively. When the particulate matter 2 is discharged normally from the lower end of the chute 3 without bouncing on the chute 3, the particulate matter 2 freely falls on the trajectory along the flow-down trajectory 6, and at point A, the first imaging means 4 and the first 2 is imaged by the imaging means 5 . At this time, both the first imaging means 4 and the second imaging means 5 are focused so as to monitor the point A, and when the granular material 2 reaches the point A, the first imaging means 4 and the second imaging means 5 The timing of imaging by the two imaging means 5 is almost the same timing.

On the other hand, when the granular material 2 bounces on the chute 3, is released from the lower end of the chute 3, and falls freely, the trajectory deviates upward from the normal flow trajectory 6 (black ellipse 2 in FIG. 2). 2, first, a black ellipse 2 is imaged by the first imaging means 4 (see the left side of FIG. 2). Next, from the left side of FIG. 2, the black ellipse 2 is imaged by the second imaging means 5 at the timing when the granular material 2 slightly free-falls and reaches the position shown in the right side of FIG. be done.

That is, assuming that both the first imaging means 4 and the second imaging means 5 are line sensors and are monitoring the point A, the first imaging means 4 detects the code at the timing shown in the left diagram of FIG. When the black ellipse 2 is imaged, the black ellipse 2 is not monitored by the second imaging means 5 . After that, at the timing shown in the right side of FIG. 2, the black ellipse 2 cannot be imaged by the first imaging means 4, and the black ellipse 2 is monitored by the second imaging means 5. In other words, the imaging positions of the granular material 2 to be imaged are different between the first imaging means 4 and the second imaging means 5, and a time difference occurs between the imaging timings of the respective imaging means 4 and 5. FIG. Since the captured image is shifted from the point A, the focus (focus) may be slightly blurred.

Therefore, when the front image of the granular material 2 captured by the first imaging means 4 and the rearward image of the granular material 2 captured by the second imaging means 5 are overlapped, as shown in FIG. Pixel shift occurs due to a time difference in timing (pixel shift in the flow direction is hereinafter referred to as “vertical shift”). The pixel shift is quantitatively calculated as the difference between the front image and the rear image by pixel shift detection means in the control unit (not shown). The pixel deviation increases as the splash of the particulate matter 2 from the normal flow-down trajectory 6 increases.

In this embodiment, the area of the pixel displacement is calculated, and the bouncing of the granular material 2 can be quantitatively grasped from the ratio of the pixel displacement to the entire area of the captured granular material 2 . However, the method for quantitatively grasping the bouncing of the particulate matter 2 is not necessarily limited to the method based on the area. It is also possible to quantitatively grasp the bouncing of the granular material 2 by calculating the distance between the .

Next, in the control flow diagram of FIG. 1, it is determined whether or not the imaged granular material 2 is the jumped granular material 2 (step S102). Whether or not the captured granular material 2 is a bounced granular material 2 is determined by determining the degree of bounce. As shown in FIG. (For example, the ratio of the sum of the areas of pixel misalignment to the sum of the areas of each imaged particle) is defined as the amount of bounce, and a predetermined threshold value is set for the amount of bounce. 2 jumps are discriminated. In step S102, if the bounce amount is less than the threshold value A (region 1), it is determined that the particulate matter 2 is not the bounced particulate matter 2, and the process proceeds to step S109, where the test run is terminated and normal operation can be started. becomes. 4 is set to 0 (threshold A=0), and if even a slight pixel shift is detected, the particle 2 is judged to be the particle 2 that has bounced, and the process proceeds to step S103. It is also possible to configure

On the other hand, in the determination in step S102, if it is determined that the bounce amount is equal to or greater than the threshold value A (area 1 or area 2) shown in FIG. 2, and proceeds to the determination process of step S103. Then, in step S103, it is determined whether or not the bounce amount based on the detected pixel shift is equal to or greater than the threshold value B (area 3) shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step S103 that the bounce amount based on the pixel shift is not equal to or greater than the threshold value B (region 3) shown in FIG. Control for expanding the ejection range of the blast of the ejector that selects the ejector is performed by the bounce adjusting means (step S108). FIG. 9 shows an example of the jetting range of the jet against the granular material 2. By extending the jetting time of the jet by the ejector, the jetting range of the jetting in the flowing direction of the granular material 2 is expanded. can do. As a result, the jet air can be reliably jetted to the particulate matter 2 having pixel deviations in the flowing direction, so that the sorting accuracy of the particulate matter 2 can be further improved.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S103 that the bounce amount based on the pixel shift is equal to or greater than the threshold value B (area 3) shown in FIG. The number of times determined to have exceeded is counted up (step S105), and the bounce adjustment means performs adjustment to suppress bounce of the granular material 2 (step S106). The adjustment for suppressing the bouncing of the granular materials 2 in the present embodiment is performed by changing the inclination angle of the chute 3 of the optical sorter 1 by means of the chute inclination angle adjustment mechanism described later, or by adjusting the flow rate of the granular materials 2. done.

After the adjustment for suppressing the bounce of the particulate matter 2 is performed, the bounce of the particulate matter 2 is repeatedly monitored in a loop as shown in FIG. In step S104, it is determined whether or not the number of times N determined in step S103 that the bounce amount based on the pixel shift is equal to or greater than the threshold value B (region 3) exceeds a preset number of times (five times in this embodiment). be discriminated. When it is determined that the number of times N exceeds the set number of times set in advance, an alarm is displayed by a display device or light emitting means (not shown), and a feeder 8 (see FIG. ) is stopped (step S107).

(Bouncing detection during operation)
FIG. 8 shows the control flow during the operation after the trial operation described above. During the operation of the optical sorting machine 1, as in the case of the test run, the splashing of the flowing granular material 2 is monitored, and necessary adjustments to the optical sorting machine 1 are made.

During the operation of the optical sorting machine 1, the difference between the front image and the rear image of the granular material 2 is calculated by the pixel deviation detection means provided in the control unit (not shown), as in step S101 during the trial operation in FIG. (step S201). FIG. 7 shows an image of pixel shifts of a plurality of particles 2 flowing down on the chute 3 and discharged from the lower end of the chute 3 . As shown in the figure, by superimposing the front image of the granular material 2 captured by the first imaging means 4 and the rearward image of the granular material 2 captured by the second imaging means 5, the portions other than the overlapping pixels are obtained. It is detected as pixel deviation. Then, the pixel shift is quantitatively calculated as the difference between the front image and the rear image by the pixel shift detection means.

In this embodiment, the pixel shift is calculated as an area, but it is not necessarily limited to the area. It is also possible to configure to calculate.

Subsequently, in the control flow diagram of FIG. 8, it is determined whether or not the imaged granular material 2 is the jumped granular material 2 (step S202). Whether or not the captured granular material 2 is the bounced granular material 2 is determined by determining the ratio of the pixel deviation detected by the pixel deviation detection means as the bounce amount, as in the control during the test run described above. A predetermined threshold value is set for determination (see FIG. 4). In step S202, if the amount of bounce is less than the threshold value A (region 1), it is determined that the particulate matter 2 is not the bounced particulate matter 2, and whether or not the particulate matter 2 bounces is repeatedly monitored in a loop. be. 4 is set to 0 (threshold A=0), and if even a slight pixel shift is detected, the particle 2 is judged to be a bounced particle 2, and the process proceeds to step S203. It is also possible to configure

On the other hand, in the determination in step S202, if it is determined that the bounce amount is equal to or greater than the threshold A (area 1 or area 2) shown in FIG. 2, and proceeds to the determination process of step S203. Then, in step S203, it is determined whether or not the bounce amount based on the detected pixel shift is equal to or greater than the threshold value B (area 3) shown in FIG.

If it is determined in step S203 that the bounce amount based on the pixel shift is not equal to or greater than the threshold value B (area 3) shown in FIG. On the other hand, control is executed to expand the ejection range of the jet of the ejector for ejecting and sorting the jet by the bounce adjustment means according to the extent of the bounce amount based on the pixel shift (step S208).

On the other hand, if it is determined in S203 that the bounce amount based on the pixel shift is equal to or greater than the threshold value B (region 3) shown in FIG. The number of times the region 3) is determined is counted up (step S205), and control is executed to expand the jetting range of the jet from the ejector by the bounce adjustment means according to the extent of the bounce amount based on the pixel displacement ( step S206). The expansion range of the injection range executed in step S206 is larger than the expansion range of the injection range executed in step S208.

After step S206 is executed to expand the jetting range of the jet from the ejector, as shown in FIG. . In step S204, it is determined whether or not the number of times N that it is determined that the pixel shift has exceeded the threshold in step S203 has exceeded a preset number of times (five times in this embodiment). When the number of times N exceeds the set number of times set in advance, an alarm is displayed by a display device or light emitting means (not shown), and the feeder 8 (see FIG. 10, etc.) that supplies the granular material 2 to the chute 3 operates. is stopped (step S207).

The control modes during trial operation and during operation have been described above. Different thresholds may be set for the middle and during operation. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the amount of bounce is calculated from the area of the pixel displacement and the ratio of the pixel displacement to the total area of the granular material 2, and each discrimination process is performed by setting the threshold value. However, it is not necessarily limited to such a form, and a threshold value may be set to the ratio of pixel displacement. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the amount of bounce based on the pixel shift is obtained in order to determine the degree of bounce of the granular material 2, but the scattering rate may be determined as a method of determining the degree of bounce. That is, it is also possible to obtain the scattering rate from the ratio of the number of particles of the bounced granular material 2 to the unit number of particles flowing down the chute 3, set a threshold value for the scattering rate, and perform each discrimination process. Furthermore, as described above, the bounce amount may be calculated based on the separation distance between the center of gravity of the particle 2 in the front image and the center of gravity of the particle 2 in the rear image, and the threshold may be set. A threshold may be set for the distance between the positions of the centers of gravity.

(Results of comparative test)
In the optical sorting machine 1 equipped with the granular object bounce detection device of the present embodiment, a comparison test was conducted on the sorting accuracy of the granular objects 2 . A comparative test was conducted under the following three conditions.
In test (1), regardless of the presence or absence of splashing of the particulate matter 2, the ejector was operated within the normal ejection range for the particulate matter 2 determined to be of poor quality.
In test (2), aiming at a sorting rate of defective grains of 99.99%, regardless of the presence or absence of splashing of the grains 2, all the grains 2 determined as defective grains were ejected by the ejector. It was extended to expand the spray range of the jet in the flowing direction.
In test (3), the jetting time of the ejector was extended only for the defective grains that bounced to expand the ejection range of the jet in the flowing direction, and the defective grains that did not bounce were the same as in test (1). Then, the ejector was operated in the normal injection range.

As a result of the above-described comparative test, under the conditions of Test (2), the sorting rate of the granules 2 determined to be defective granules was almost 100%, but many non-defective granules were sorted out. Unfortunately, about half of the granules 2 sorted out by the ejector are sorted out as non-defective granules. On the other hand, under the conditions of test (3) performed under the control as in the present embodiment, the sorting rate is higher than that of test (1), and most of the sorted particulate matter 2 is actually It was a defective grain.

From the results of the above comparison test, by extending the injection time only for the bounced granular material 2 and expanding the jetting range of the jet, the proportion of defective particles in the granular material 2 selected as defective particles can be reduced. It was found that it is possible to improve the sorting rate and sort the granular material 2 with high accuracy without significantly lowering it.

(Regarding chute tilt angle adjustment mechanism)
FIG. 10 shows a sectional view of the chute inclination angle adjusting mechanism in this embodiment. As shown in the figure, a motor 30 is provided inside the optical sorting machine 1, and the operation of the motor 30 rotates a shaft 31 directly or indirectly connected to the chute 3. In addition, the chute 3 can be adjusted at an angle of inclination (a in the figure) within a range indicated by a broken line in the figure, with the point of intersection with the bottom surface of the feeder 8 that supplies the granular material 2 as a fulcrum (f in the figure). It's becoming

Further, the chute inclination angle adjusting mechanism using the motor 30 and the shaft 31 is not particularly limited, and for example, a configuration as shown in FIG. 11 can be employed. Specifically, a winding machine 40 is provided inside the optical sorting machine 1, and the chain 41 connected directly or indirectly to the chute 3 can be wound by the operation of the winding machine 40. there is The angle of inclination of the chute 3 (a in the figure) is adjusted within the range indicated by the dashed line in the figure, with the point of intersection of the chute 3 with the bottom surface of the feeder 8 that supplies the granular material 2 as a fulcrum (f in the figure). can be done.

The motor 30 and winder 40 of the chute inclination angle adjusting mechanism can change the inclination angle of the chute 3 under the control of the control section of the optical sorting machine 1 . As a result, the inclination angle of the chute 3 is automatically changed to an appropriate one when the bounce adjustment in S106 at the time of the test run is executed.

(another embodiment)
In the above, the control configuration applied to the optical sorting machine 1 has been described with respect to the granular object bounce detection device according to the present embodiment. However, it is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications described below are possible.

For example, as a principle for calculating the difference between the front image and the rear image of the granular material 2 by the pixel displacement detection means, the principle of lateral displacement detection is shown in FIGS. FIG. 5 shows a passing plane line 7, which is a plane position when the granular material 2 normally flows down the downflow trajectory 6 without bouncing, and a first imaging for capturing an image in front of the granular material 2 in the illustrated imaging range. A means 4 and a second imaging means 5 for taking a rearward image are shown. The depth direction in FIG. 5 is the flowing direction of the granular material 2 . As shown in the figure, when the bouncing granular material 2 is imaged, the pixel deviation as shown occurs in the imaging range imaged by the first imaging means 4 and the second imaging means 5 .

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, when the front image of the granular material 2 captured by the first imaging means 4 and the rearward image of the granular material 2 captured by the second imaging means 5 are superimposed, the illustrated Such pixel deviation occurs. The pixel deviation is quantitatively calculated as the difference between the front image and the rear image of the granular material 2 by the pixel deviation detection means. As in the above-described embodiment, the pixel shift may be calculated as an area, or the distance between the center of gravity of the grain 2 in the front image and the center of gravity of the grain 2 in the rear image may be calculated. It is also possible to

The principle of detecting pixel displacement (vertical displacement) shown in FIG. 2 and the principle of detecting pixel displacement (horizontal displacement) shown in FIG. It is possible. By configuring in this way, it is possible to detect the bouncing of the granular material 2 with higher accuracy than in the case of adopting the detection method based on either detection principle. Furthermore, when applied to the optical sorting machine 1, it is possible to more reliably discriminate the jumped granular material 2 and improve the sorting accuracy of defective grains.

In addition, based on the detection of pixel deviation (lateral deviation), the bounce adjustment means can expand the ejection range of the jet in the horizontal direction from the ejector, as shown in FIG. In this way, by enlarging the ejection range of the jet, it is possible to more reliably sort out the ejected particulate matter 2 by the ejector.

In the above-described embodiment, when the adjustment (step S106) for suppressing bouncing during the test run of the optical sorting machine 1 is performed, the appropriate chute 3 is automatically controlled by the control unit of the optical sorting machine 1. Configured to change the tilt angle. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an operator directly inputs the inclination angle of the chute 3 using a touch panel (not shown) or a remote control PC provided in the optical sorting machine 1 to set the inclination angle. can be configured to change

When the operator directly inputs the inclination angle of the chute 3 to change the inclination angle, the rate at which the granular material 2 bounces (for example, the number of all grains flowing down the chute and the "bounce" by the bounce detection means) It is preferable to measure the ratio of the number of particles of the granular material 2 identified as , and the ratio of the number of particles of the granular material 2 that bounced per unit number of particles that flowed down on the chute (hereinafter referred to as "scattering rate"). . Empirically, when the inclination angle of the chute 3 increases, the velocity of the particles 2 flowing down increases, while the particles 2 bounce due to air resistance to the particles 2 and frictional resistance with the bottom surface of the chute 3. It becomes easier and the scattering rate increases. Conversely, if the inclination angle of the chute 3 is small, the particles 2 are less likely to bounce and the scattering rate is reduced. Based on this tendency, as shown in FIG. 13, it is possible to set an appropriate reference range of the scattering rate in which the necessary flow rate can be ensured while suppressing the scattering rate.

Then, the inclination angle of the chute 3 can be adjusted according to the flow shown in FIG. 12 so that the scattering rate of the particulate matter 2 is within the appropriate reference range described above. For example, in a test run before the optical sorter 1 is put into operation, the scattering rate of the particulate matter 2 is measured. Next, it is determined whether or not the current scattering rate is within the reference range of FIG. 13 (step S301). If the scattering rate is not outside the reference range (is within the reference range), it is possible to start the operation without changing the inclination angle of the chute 3 (step S305).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the scattering rate is outside the reference range, then it is determined whether or not the scattering rate exceeds the reference range (step S302). If the scattering rate does not exceed the reference range, the inclination angle of the chute 3 is increased (step S304), and if the scattering rate exceeds the reference range, the inclination angle of the chute 3 is decreased (step S303). ), the inclination angle of the chute 3 is adjusted until the measured scattering rate of the particulate matter 2 falls within the reference range.

As another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 15, it is also possible to adjust the inclination angle of the chute 3 according to the flow shown in FIG. 14 so that the scattering rate of the particulate matter 2 is below the reference value. . For example, in a test run before the optical sorter 1 is put into operation, the scattering rate of the particulate matter 2 is measured. Then, the inclination angle of chute 3 is initialized (step S401), and it is determined whether or not the current scattering rate exceeds the reference value in FIG. 15 (step S402). If the scattering rate does not exceed the reference value, it becomes possible to start the operation without changing the inclination angle of the chute 3 (step S404).

On the other hand, if it is determined that the scattering rate exceeds the reference value, the inclination angle of the chute 3 is decreased (step S403), and the adjustment of the inclination angle of the chute 3 is repeated until the scattering rate becomes equal to or less than the reference value. You should do it.

In the above-described embodiment, in order to detect the presence or absence of bouncing of the particulate matter 2 and pixel deviation, as shown in FIG. , the second imaging means 5 is provided on the rear side. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and imaging means is provided on the side of the flow-down trajectory 6 to detect the state of separation between the flow-down trajectory 6 and the imaged particulate matter 2 when the particulate matter 2 normally flows down. By doing so, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of bouncing of the granular material 2 and the degree of bouncing. For example, it is possible to determine whether or not the particulate matter 2 bounces based on the distance between the center of gravity of the particulate matter 2 flowing down and the flow-down trajectory.

In the control flow during operation shown in FIG. 8 of the above-described embodiment, in step S206, the jetting range of the blast is increased by the bounce adjustment means according to the extent of the bounce amount based on the pixel shift. , the inclination angle of the chute 3 may be adjusted. Furthermore, the inclination angle of the chute 3 may be adjusted after expanding the jetting range of the blast a predetermined number of times. That is, when the bounce of the granular material 2 is large, the pixel shift is also large. Then, readjusting the inclination angle of the chute 3 is more effective than adjusting the ejector alone, while effectively suppressing the splashing of the particulate matter 2 (reducing the scattering rate) and improving the sorting accuracy of the particulate matter 2. It can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, an embodiment in which the granular object bounce detection device is applied to the optical sorter 1 has been described, but it is not necessarily limited to the optical sorter 1, and can be widely used for the granular objects 2. It can be used as means for detecting bouncing.

In the above-described embodiment, an embodiment in which the granular object bouncing detector of the present invention is applied to the optical sorting machine 1 has been described. Conventionally, the optical sorting machine 1 is provided with imaging means in front and behind the granular material 2 in order to discriminate the quality of the granular material 2. However, such an imaging means for discriminating the quality is provided. It may be used as the first image pickup means 4 and the second image pickup means 5, and bounce detection may be performed based on the obtained images. In this way, there is no need to additionally provide imaging means for detecting bounces, and there is no need to significantly change the specifications of the optical sorting machine 1, so that the bounces of the granular materials 2 can be detected at a low cost. Detection becomes possible.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the chute 3 for flowing down the granular materials 2 in a constant direction was mainly described as the conveying means of the optical sorting machine 1, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the granular materials 2 can be conveyed at a constant speed as the conveying means. It may be a belt conveyor (not shown) that throws out in the conveying direction and free-falls. In order to prevent the particles 2 from jumping on the belt conveyor, the belt tension of the belt conveyor, the conveying speed of the belt conveyor, and the belt conveyor are synchronized by the bounce adjusting means, and the particles 2 are moved to the belt. It is preferable to adjust either the pressing force of the pressing roller that presses against the conveyor.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the above-described embodiments of the present invention are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof. In addition, within the range where at least part of the above problems can be solved, or within the range where at least part of the effect is achieved, the components described in the claims and the specification can be combined or omitted. .

Reference Signs List 1 optical sorter 2 granules 3 chute 4 first imaging means 5 second imaging means 6 flow trajectory 7 passing plane line 8 feeder 30 motor 31 shaft 40 winder 41 chain

Claims (6)

a conveying means for conveying the granular material;
an imaging means capable of imaging the granular material conveyed by the conveying means;
a bouncing detection device for particulate matter, comprising bouncing determination means capable of determining whether or not there is bouncing in the particulate matter being conveyed on the conveying means based on data acquired by the imaging means. The imaging means is
a first imaging means capable of imaging from one side the granular material conveyed by the conveying means;
a second imaging means capable of imaging the granular material from the other side facing the first imaging means;
The bouncing determination means determines whether the granular material is The device for detecting bouncing of particulate matter according to claim 1, wherein the presence or absence of bouncing can be determined. 3. The particle bouncing according to claim 1, further comprising bounce adjusting means capable of suppressing bouncing of the particulate matter conveyed by the conveying means based on a determination result of the bouncing determination means. detection device. An ejector capable of ejecting a jet against the granular material conveyed by the conveying means,
4. The apparatus for detecting bounces of particulate matter according to claim 3, wherein the bounce adjustment means can adjust the ejection time and/or the ejection range of the jet from the ejector based on the determination result of the bounce determination means. Particulate matter sorting equipment. The conveying means is a chute that causes the granular material to flow down in a certain direction,
an ejector capable of ejecting a jet of air onto the granular material ejected from the chute;
a chute inclination angle adjustment mechanism capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the chute;
a bouncing adjusting means capable of suppressing bouncing of the granular material flowing down the chute;
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the bouncing adjustment means is capable of adjusting the inclination angle of the chute and the jetting time and/or range of the jet from the ejector based on the judgment result of the bouncing judgment means. A granular object sorting device comprising the granular object bouncing detection device according to any one of the above. The conveying means is a belt conveyor that conveys the granular material at a constant speed,
an ejector capable of ejecting a jet of air onto the granular material discharged from the belt conveyor;
bouncing adjustment means capable of suppressing bouncing of the granular material conveyed on the belt conveyor;
with
The bouncing adjusting means presses the granular material against the belt conveyor in synchronization with the tension of the belt tension of the belt conveyor, the conveying speed of the belt conveyor, and the belt conveyor based on the judgment result of the bouncing judging means. 3. The apparatus for detecting splashing of particulate matter according to claim 1, wherein any one of the pressing force of the pressing roller and the jetting time and/or jetting range of the jet from the ejector can be adjusted. Granular material sorting equipment.

Images