JP3354844B2 - Grain quality measuring method and quality measuring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of irradiating a sample consisting of a plurality of grains with light and receiving measurement light having a measurement wavelength correlated with quality information to be obtained as reflected light or transmitted light from the sample. Then, the present invention relates to a grain quality measuring method for obtaining quality information based on components contained in the grain based on the received measurement light, and a grain quality measuring device using the measuring method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a grain is irradiated, there is light having a wavelength that is absorbed depending on the components contained in the grain.
In other words, quality information based on the components contained in the grain (hereinafter,
(It may be simply abbreviated as quality information.) Receiving measurement light of a measurement wavelength that is correlated with the measurement light as reflected light or transmitted light from the sample, and obtaining quality information based on the received measurement light. Can be. Conventionally, when measuring a sample composed of a plurality of grains, a measurement wavelength is set for a sample in which a shelled grain with a shell is not mixed.

[0003]

Conventionally, if kernel grains with shells are mixed in a sample, the light of the wavelength for measurement is affected by the shells and the absorption is changed, so that the quality information is measured. Since the accuracy is deteriorated, the shelled grain is removed when the shelled grain is mixed in the sample. However, the operation of removing the husk grains from the sample is complicated, and if the husk grains are not completely removed, the measurement accuracy deteriorates, and thus an improvement has been desired. For example, there is a case where quality information of harvested and undried grains is measured. However, husks such as undried grains having a high moisture content are difficult to remove. Therefore,
In such a case, the amount of shelled grains increases,
The work of removing shelled grains has been particularly complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to accurately measure quality information even when shell grains are mixed in a sample including a plurality of grains. To be able to do it.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a canceling apparatus in which the amount of light changes according to the quality information to be obtained, and the amount of light increases when a grain with shells is mixed in the sample. The light of the wavelength and the amount of light that changes according to the quality information required and the light for measurement including the light of the wavelength for cancellation, in which the amount of light decreases when the shelled grain is mixed into the sample, are received and received. Quality information is obtained based on the measuring light. And, since each of the information obtained based on the light of each canceling wavelength to obtain the quality information acts so as to suppress the influence of the respective shells on the grain,
It is possible to suppress the fluctuation of the quality information to be obtained due to the influence of the kernel grain. Therefore, it has become possible to provide a grain quality measuring method capable of accurately measuring quality information even when shell grains are mixed in a sample composed of a plurality of grains.

According to the characteristic structure of the second aspect, approximately 9
Using the canceling wavelength consisting of the wavelength of 68 nm and the wavelength of about 972 nm, it is possible to accurately obtain information on water as quality information of rice.

[0007] According to the characteristic structure of the third aspect, approximately 9
By using a canceling wavelength consisting of a wavelength of 08 nm and a wavelength of about 918 nm, information on protein as rice quality information can be accurately obtained.

According to the characteristic structure of the fourth aspect, approximately 8
Using the canceling wavelength including the wavelength of 24 nm, the wavelength of approximately 852 nm, the wavelength of approximately 914 nm, and the wavelength of approximately 916 nm, it is possible to accurately obtain information on amylose as rice quality information.

According to the characteristic structure of the fifth aspect, approximately 9
Using the canceling wavelength including the wavelength of 02 nm, the wavelength of approximately 922 nm, the wavelength of approximately 928 nm, and the wavelength of approximately 934 nm, it is possible to accurately obtain information on the taste as rice quality information. The taste here has a correlation with a sensory value when rice is cooked and eaten, for example.

According to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, the measuring means changes the amount of light in accordance with the quality information to be obtained and increases the amount of light when the kernel grain is mixed in the sample. The light and the measuring light including the light of the canceling wavelength whose light quantity changes according to the quality information required and the light quantity decreases when the shelled grain is mixed into the sample are received,
Quality information is obtained based on the received measurement light.
Then, since each piece of information obtained based on the light of each canceling wavelength to obtain the quality information acts so as to suppress the influence of each piece of information on the kernel grain, the quality information to be obtained is It is possible to suppress the fluctuation caused by the grain with shell. Therefore, it is possible to provide a grain quality measuring device capable of measuring quality information with high accuracy even when shell grains are mixed in a sample composed of a plurality of grains.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the reflected light or the transmitted light from the sample is separated by the measuring means within a set wavelength range including the measuring wavelength to obtain a spectral spectrum. Measurement light having a measurement wavelength is obtained based on the spectrum. That is, usually, even if one item of quality information is obtained, a plurality of measurement wavelengths are used,
In addition, there are a plurality of items of quality information to be obtained, and measurement wavelengths are different according to the items of quality information to be obtained. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain measurement lights of a plurality of measurement wavelengths. Therefore, a light source for irradiating light in a predetermined wavelength range including a measurement wavelength corresponding to all items of quality information to be obtained is provided, and a spectral spectrum within the set wavelength range in reflected light or transmitted light from a sample is obtained. Thus, measurement light having a plurality of measurement wavelengths can be obtained from the spectrum. Therefore, the configuration for obtaining the measurement light beams having a plurality of measurement wavelengths can be simplified, so that the cost for implementing the present invention can be reduced. By irradiating the sample with the measurement wavelength light, the measurement light with multiple measurement wavelengths can be obtained, but the configuration for irradiating the measurement wavelength light with each is complicated. become.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention applied to measuring quality information of rice will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the quality measuring device irradiates light to the sample holding unit H that holds a sample made of brown rice, and irradiates the sample held in the sample holding unit H with the quality information to be obtained. Measuring means M which receives measurement light of a certain measurement wavelength as transmitted light from a sample and obtains quality information based on components contained in brown rice based on the received measurement light.
It is provided with.

The measuring means M includes a light source 1 composed of a tungsten-halogen lamp which emits infrared light, a spectroscopic section 2 for dispersing transmitted light from a sample to obtain a spectral spectrum, and a spectroscopic section 2 obtained by the spectroscopic section 2. A processing unit 3 for obtaining the quality information based on the spectrum is provided.
In FIG. 1, the light path from the light source 1 passes through the sample held by the sample holding unit H, enters the spectroscopic unit 2, and travels through the spectroscopic unit 2 at the one-dot chain line P. Is shown.

The sample holder H will be described. As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the sample holding unit H includes a funnel-shaped sample input hopper 4 and an outlet 4 of the sample input hopper 4.
e, a square-tube-shaped cell 5 for storing a sample flowing down from the outlet 4e, an inlet-side shutter 6 interposed at a communication connection portion between the sample input hopper 4 and the cell 5, and a cell 5 And an exit-side shutter 7 interposed at the exit portion of the apparatus. The cell 5 is formed in a rectangular tube shape having a rectangular cross-sectional shape, and a pair of cylindrical wall portions forming a long side portion of the rectangular cross-section among the cylindrical wall portions of the cell 5 are made of transparent glass. It is formed. Then, the light source unit 1, the sample holding unit H, and the spectroscopic unit 2 allow the light from the light source 1 to pass through the pair of transparent cylindrical walls of the cell 5 and to enter the entrance holes 21i of the spectroscopic unit 2. They are arranged in a positional relationship.

The sample input hopper 4 has an elliptical cross section, and has a major axis _RL and a minor axis R _S in the elliptical cross section.
Is formed in a funnel shape in which the ratio (R _L / R _S ) becomes larger toward the outlet 4e. The sample input hopper 4 and the cell 5 are connected to each other so that the major axis direction of the sample input hopper 4 and the long side direction of the cell 5 are in the same direction.

The quality measuring apparatus according to the present invention sometimes uses brown rice with a high moisture content that has not been harvested and dried, and even with such a high moisture content brown rice, the sample input hopper 4 may be used. The dimensions of the sample input hopper 4 and the cell 5 are set as described below so that the sample flows smoothly from the cell 5 to the cell 5. That is, as shown in FIGS.
The inner dimension A of the short diameter portion of the outlet 4e of the sample input hopper 4 and the angles α1 and α2 formed by the long diameter portion of the sample input hopper 4 and the axis are set as follows. The cell 5 shown in FIGS.
Are set as follows in the short side direction. A: 20 to 30 mm α1: 35 ° ± 5 ° α2: 35 ° ± 5 ° B: 18 to 25mm When the angles α1 and α2 are smaller than the above set values, clogging occurs when brown rice having a high moisture content is introduced. In a large case, it is difficult to uniformly supply brown rice to the cell 5. or,
The inner dimension B in the short side direction of the cell 5, that is, the light source 1
If the optical path length through which the light from the sample passes through the sample is smaller than the above set value, the transmitted light amount is too large, and if it is large, the transmitted light amount is too small, and in any case, the measurement accuracy is deteriorated.

The spectral unit 2 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the spectroscopic unit 2 includes a reflecting mirror 22 that reflects light incident on the dark box 21 in a dark box 21 made of aluminum into which transmitted light transmitted through the sample enters through an entrance hole 21 i. A concave diffraction grating 23 that spectrally reflects the light reflected by 22 and an array-type light receiving element 24 that detects the light flux intensity for each wavelength spectrally reflected by the concave diffraction grating 23 are provided. The array type light receiving element 24 receives the diffusely reflected light spectrally reflected by the concave diffraction grating 23 at the same time for each wavelength and converts it into a signal for each wavelength and outputs the signal.

The processing unit 3 will be described. Processing unit 3
Is configured using a microcomputer, and basically processes an output signal from the array type light receiving element 24 to obtain an absorbance spectrum and a second derivative in a wavelength region of the absorbance spectrum. At the same time, quality information based on the components contained in the brown rice is calculated based on the second derivative. The processing unit 3 calculates the quality information based on the following arithmetic expression (hereinafter, referred to as a calibration expression). Y = K ₀ + K ₁ × A (λ ₁ ) + K ₂ × A (λ ₂ ) + K ₃ × A (λ ₃ ) where Y: quality information A (λ ₁ ), A (λ ₂ ), A ( λ ₃ ) ……; second derivative K ₀ , K ₁ , K ₂ , K ₃ of the absorbance at the measurement wavelength λ that is correlated with the required quality information. Coefficients set by the least squares method using measured values of quality information

In the processing section 3, a specific calibration formula is set for each item of quality information. That is, in the above calibration equation, the measurement wavelength λ ₁ , which is correlated with the quality information to be obtained,
λ _2, λ ₃ ......, the coefficient _{K 0, K 1, K 2} , K 3 ...... is set for each item of quality information. In the present invention, the wavelength for measurement is correlated with the quality information to be sought, and the wavelength at which the amount of light increases when paddy hulls (corresponding to husk grains) from which husks have not been removed are mixed in the sample. It is set so as to include a canceling wavelength which has a correlation with the quality information to be obtained and a wavelength at which the amount of light decreases when paddy is mixed in the sample. As quality information, measurement wavelengths and coefficients for obtaining each of the moisture content, protein content, amylose content, and taste evaluation value are shown in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively. In FIGS. 5 to 8, the wavelengths for measurement are denoted by reference symbols λ ₁ , λ ₂ , λ ₃ ,. For example, when obtaining the water content, as shown in FIG. 5, λ ₂ , λ ₃ ,
That is, 968 nm and 972 nm are the cancellation wavelengths.

Hereinafter, the grounds for canceling the influence of the paddy in the sample will be described with reference to the case where the moisture content is determined. Using undried brown rice having a high moisture content, samples were prepared in which the mixing ratio of paddy was variously changed, and the moisture content was determined by the above calibration formula. FIG. 9 shows the calculation results at that time, and K ₁ × A (λ ₁ ), K ₂ × A (λ ₂ ) and K
The calculated value of each item of ₃ × A (λ ₃ ) and the obtained water content are shown. K ₂ × A corresponding to cancellation wavelength of 968 nm
The calculated value of the term (λ ₂ ) becomes smaller due to the mixing of paddy into the sample, and conversely, the calculated value of the term K ₃ × A (λ ₃ ) corresponding to the cancellation wavelength 972 nm increases,
Since the decrease in the term of K ₂ × A (λ ₂ ) and the increase in the term of K ₃ × A (λ ₃ ) cancel each other, even if the sample is mixed with the paddy, the sample is not mixed with the paddy. The moisture content can be determined in the same manner as in the above. As shown in FIG. 9, it can be seen that even if the mixing ratio of paddy to the sample changes from 0 to 20%, the water content can be determined within an error range of 0.1%.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing the correlation between the value of the water content obtained by the quality measuring apparatus according to the present invention and the chemical analysis value. According to the graph of FIG. 10, since the correlation between the two is high, it can be understood that quality information can be accurately measured by the present invention even if paddy is mixed in the sample.

[Another Embodiment] Next, another embodiment will be described. (B) The measurement wavelength for determining each of the water content, the protein content, the amylose content, and the taste evaluation value, and the cancellation wavelength included therein are limited to the values exemplified in the above embodiment. Instead, it can be changed as appropriate.

(B) In the above embodiment, the case where the measuring means M is configured to receive the transmitted light from the sample and disperse the received light has been exemplified. May be configured to receive reflected light from the light source and split the received light.

(C) In the above embodiment, the measuring means M obtains a spectral spectrum by separating the reflected light or transmitted light from the sample, and based on the spectral spectrum, the measuring light having the measuring wavelength. The case where it is configured so as to obtain is described above. Instead of this, for example, by using an interference filter, irradiating the sample with light having a measurement wavelength, and receiving reflected light or transmitted light from the sample to obtain measurement light having a measurement wavelength. You may comprise.

(D) The items of quality information that can be measured according to the present invention are not limited to the moisture content, protein content, amylose content, and taste evaluation values exemplified in the above embodiment. , Quality information of various other items can be measured.

(E) According to the present invention, in addition to the rice exemplified in the above embodiment, the quality information of various cereals such as barley can be obtained with accuracy even if the sample contains husk grains. It can measure well.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a grain quality measuring device.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sample holding unit.

FIG. 3 is a vertical front view of a sample holding unit.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view of a sample holding unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing measurement wavelengths and coefficients for obtaining a water content.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a measurement wavelength and a coefficient for obtaining a protein content.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing measurement wavelengths and coefficients for obtaining an amylose content.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing measurement wavelengths and coefficients for obtaining a taste evaluation value.

FIG. 9 is a view for explaining the basis for canceling the influence of paddy in the sample when obtaining the water content.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the correlation between the value of the water content obtained by the apparatus of the present invention and the chemical analysis value.

[Explanation of symbols]

 M measuring means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Susumu Morimoto 1-1-1 Hama, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture Inside Kubota Technology Development Laboratory Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-11-83736 (JP, A) JP-A-5-164691 (JP, A) JP-A-4-351945 (JP, A) JP-A-4-310845 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01N 21 / 00-21/01 G01N 21/17-21/61 Practical file (PATOLIS) Patent file (PATOLIS)

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] Illuminating a sample comprising a plurality of grains with light;
Measurement light with a measurement wavelength that is correlated with the quality information required
A quality measurement method for a grain that receives light reflected or transmitted from a sample and obtains quality information based on components contained in the grain based on the received measurement light, and has a correlation with the desired quality information. And, the wavelength at which the amount of light increases when the shelled grains from which the shell has not been removed is mixed with the sample, there is a correlation with the quality information to be sought, and when the shelled grains are mixed into the sample. A grain quality measuring method for receiving the measuring light having the measuring wavelength including the canceling wavelength including the wavelength at which the light amount decreases, and obtaining the quality information based on the received measuring light. 2. When information about moisture is obtained as quality information of rice, the wavelength for cancellation is approximately 968 n.
2. The method for measuring grain quality according to claim 1, comprising a wavelength of m and a wavelength of about 972 nm. 3. When obtaining information on protein as rice quality information, the wavelength for cancellation is approximately 90%.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the wavelength comprises a wavelength of 8 nm and a wavelength of approximately 918 nm.
Grain quality measurement method described. 4. When seeking information on amylose as rice quality information, the wavelength for cancellation is about 8
The grain quality measuring method according to claim 1, comprising a wavelength of 24 nm, a wavelength of approximately 852 nm, a wavelength of approximately 914 nm, and a wavelength of approximately 916 nm. 5. When information about taste is obtained as rice quality information, the wavelength for cancellation is approximately 902n.
2. The grain quality measuring method according to claim 1, comprising a wavelength of m, a wavelength of approximately 922 nm, a wavelength of approximately 928 nm, and a wavelength of approximately 934 nm. 6. Irradiating a sample comprising a plurality of grains with light,
Measurement light with a measurement wavelength that is correlated with the quality information required
A grain quality measuring device provided with measuring means for receiving quality reflected light or transmitted light from a sample and obtaining quality information based on components contained in the grain based on the received measurement light, wherein the measurement is performed. The means is correlated with the quality information to be obtained, and the wavelength at which the amount of light increases when the shelled kernels from which the shell has not been removed is mixed with the sample, and the wavelength is correlated with the quality information to be obtained. Receiving measurement light having a measurement wavelength including a cancellation wavelength consisting of a wavelength at which the amount of light decreases when the attached kernels are mixed with the sample, and based on the received measurement light, the quality information is obtained. A grain quality measurement device that is configured to seek. 7. The measuring means obtains a spectral spectrum by separating reflected light or transmitted light from a sample within a set wavelength range including the measuring wavelength, and obtains the measurement based on the spectral spectrum. The grain quality measuring device according to claim 6, wherein the quality measuring device is configured to obtain measurement light having a measurement wavelength.