JP4897996B2 - Grain quality judgment device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a quality determining device for a laying grain, in which grains as samples arranged at equal intervals on an imaging tray are imaged by a scanner from the tray lower surface direction, and the quality of the grain is judged from the image.
[Prior art]
A method of imaging a grain using a conventional scanner will be described below with reference to FIGS.
First, the grains 50 as samples for determination are arranged on the imaging tray 51. At this time, when imaging the grain 50, it is desirable for image analysis that the position of the grain 50 is in a predetermined position.
Therefore, the bottom surface of the image pickup tray 51 is formed by an alignment plate 53 in which a plurality of holes 54 for fixing the grain 50 are fitted and a position is fixed, and a bottom plate 52 positioned below the alignment plate 53. It is configured.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the grain 50 is scanned by the light source of the scanner from the lower surface direction of the imaging tray 51, is imaged, and is captured by receiving light by the light receiving sensor 60. The bottom plate 52 is made of a transparent member.
Next, the imaging tray 51 is placed on the imaging platform of the scanner, covered with an imaging cover, imaging by the scanner is started, and an image of the grain 50 is obtained.
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the conventional imaging method described above has the following problems.
(1) When the imaging is repeated many times, the holes 54 and the bottom plate 52 of the alignment plate 53 of the imaging tray 51 are gradually soiled and have an adverse effect on the quality determination. However, the alignment plate 53 and the bottom plate 52 are integrated. It is difficult to remove by cleaning because it is a structure that is difficult to be disassembled.
(2) When the grain 50 is imaged, the surrounding background, that is, the holes 54 of the alignment plate 53 of the imaging tray 51 and a part of the imaging cover of the scanner are also imaged together. Such a background portion must be removed by a software process during image processing of the grain.
However, the arrangement plate 53 of the conventional image pickup tray 51 and the image pickup cover of the scanner are not particularly devised for performing background removal at the time of the effect, and software processing becomes complicated during image processing. If the background removal is incomplete, the quality judgment will be adversely affected.
(3) In the quality judgment item of the grain 50, not only the color and shape are determined, but for example, in the case of brown rice, whether or not the grain is cracked like “body crack” Items that can be identified are also included as important items.
In order to detect this “trunk crack”, it has been found that when the transmitted light is applied obliquely along the longitudinal direction of the grain, the crack surface becomes clear and the detection operation becomes easy.
However, the conventional imaging method using a scanner is an imaging method using only reflected light and is not structured to irradiate transmitted light, so the crack surface is unclear and it is difficult to detect “body crack”. .
(4) Furthermore, in the conventional imaging method using a scanner, the imaging state differs between the left and right end portions and the central portion of the imaging platform of the scanner in the scanning direction.
That is, the image picked up at the central part of the imaging stand of the scanner is an image from directly below the image pickup tray 51, but as shown in FIG. This is a captured image.
This is because the light receiving sensor 60 of the scanner is in the central portion directly below the imaging platform of the scanner, and the left and right imaging objects on the imaging platform are imaged obliquely.
This is not particularly problematic if the object to be imaged is a planar object such as a photograph. However, when a three-dimensional object such as the grain 50 using the alignment plate 53 is imaged, the following is performed. Problems arise.
That is, as shown in FIG. 11, as the image of the grain 50 approaches the left and right end portions of the alignment plate 53, the image is taken obliquely. At this time, the grain 50 opened on the alignment plate 53. Since the outer peripheral side wall surface of the hole 54 is perpendicular to the alignment plate 53, a part of the image of the grain 50 to be imaged becomes a shadow of the outer peripheral side wall surface of the hole 54. As shown in 50a in FIG. 13, the image is an image in which the outer peripheral side wall surface image portion 54a of the hole 54 is missing from the whole grain image.
Needless to say, the captured image in such a state has a significant adverse effect on the quality determination of the grain 50. The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional circumstances, and facilitates maintenance of the imaging tray. Provides a grain quality judgment device that can easily remove backgrounds during imaging, easily detect "brass cracks" in brown rice, etc., and eliminate imaging errors due to the position of the imaging platform of the scanner To do.
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the quality of the grain for which the grains arranged at equal intervals on the imaging tray are imaged by the imaging means from the lower surface direction of the imaging tray and the quality of the grain is determined based on the captured image. In the determination apparatus, the bottom of the imaging tray includes an alignment plate made of a blue-colored transparent member having holes as many as the number of grains to be collected, and a transparent member arranged in close contact with the alignment plate. A plurality of fixing brackets are fixed to the alignment plate, and the bottom plate has the same number of holes into which the fixing brackets are fitted. The outer peripheral side wall surface of the plurality of sizing holes opened in the alignment plate at the bottom of the imaging tray is configured so that it can be attached to and detached from the imaging tray. Configure the sensor so that it faces the light-receiving surface of the sensor. And, the imaging cover positioned with one end at the top of the imaging tray is pivotally supported to be openable and closable, so as to cover the upper portion of the imaging tray when closing the captured cover on the imaging tray A grain quality judging device comprising a reflecting plate made of a blue opaque member having a gloss suitable for reflection on a surface reflecting fixed illumination light for imaging.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, the maintenance such as cleaning of the imaging tray is facilitated, the background removal at the time of imaging is facilitated, and the reliability of the quality determination is improved. This makes it possible to detect “barrel cracks” such as brown rice, which have been difficult, and to improve the reliability of quality judgment by eliminating imaging errors due to the position of the imaging platform of the scanner.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking as an example the case where the grain as a sample is, for example, brown rice.
1 and 3 are schematic cross-sectional views of a grain quality judgment device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the quality determination apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, for example, the bottom of the imaging tray 30 arranged on the imaging stand 13 of the box-shaped scanner 1 is as shown in FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. As an example of a sample to be collected, the grain is composed of an alignment plate 31 having brown rice holes 31a as many as, for example, the number of brown rice 4 and a bottom plate 32 disposed in close contact with the alignment plate 31. . This quality determination apparatus captures, for example, brown rice 4 as samples arranged on the imaging tray 30 at equal intervals from the lower surface direction of the imaging tray 30 by an imaging means, and uses the captured image as a grain. Grain quality is determined.
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, a plurality of fixing brackets 33 are fixed to the alignment plate 31, and the fixing brackets 33 fit into the bottom plate 32 of the imaging tray 30. The same number of bowl-shaped holes 34 are opened.
The bottom plate 32 can be easily attached to and detached from the imaging tray 30 by fitting the hole 34 and the fixing bracket 33.
Accordingly, when the alignment plate 31 and the bottom plate 32 having the holes 34 are dirty, the cleaning can be easily performed.
In the present embodiment, the detaching mechanism using the hole 34 and the fixing bracket 33 is used, but it is of course possible to perform the same function by other known detaching mechanisms.
In this embodiment, the alignment plate 31 at the bottom of the imaging tray 30 is made of a blue-colored transparent member, and the bottom plate 32 at the bottom of the imaging tray 30 is made of a transparent member. In addition, the reflection plate 21 to be described later is made of a blue opaque member having gloss suitable for reflection on the surface.
With such a configuration, the brown rice 4 is put on the alignment plate 31 at the bottom of the imaging tray 30, and light is emitted toward the imaging tray 30 from the light source 11 of the scanner 1 shown in FIG. When an image is picked up by the light receiving element 12, all the background portions other than the brown rice 4 are blue images.
Since this blue system is a color component that is not originally present in the brown rice 4, it is possible to easily remove the background simply by removing the blue component in order to remove an unnecessary background from the captured image. Become.
In the scanner 1, the reflection plate 21 fixed to the lower part of the imaging cover 2 and positioned above the imaging tray 30 is mounted so as to cover the upper part of the imaging tray 30 when the imaging cover 2 is closed. Is done. Further, a step 35 for fitting the reflecting plate 21 is provided on the side wall of the imaging tray 30, and the distance between the imaging tray 30 and the reflecting plate 21 is held constant by the step 35. It is supposed to be.
Since the reflection plate 21 has a gloss suitable for reflection and is made of a blue opaque member, a part of the irradiation light emitted from the light source 11 of the scanner 1 passes through the alignment plate 31. The light is reflected by the reflecting plate 21 and further passes through the brown rice 4 to reach the light receiving element 12.
That is, for detecting cracks in, for example, brown rice 4 which is a grain as a sample, applying the transmitted light from an oblique direction along the longitudinal direction of the brown rice 4 makes the crack surface clear and easy to detect. According to the configuration of the present embodiment described above, by providing the reflector 21 on the upper part of the imaging tray 30, as shown in FIG. 2, along the longitudinal direction of the brown rice 4, and The transmitted light can be applied from an oblique direction.
Since this transmitted light uses the reflection of the reflecting plate 21, a dedicated light source is not required. As a result, the structure of the device itself can be simplified and the cost can be reduced, and the economic effect is also great. It is.
Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the outer peripheral side wall surface 31 b of the plurality of holes 31 a for the brown rice 4 opened in the alignment plate 31 at the bottom of the imaging tray 30 is extended by the light receiving element 12. It is opened so that it faces the light receiving surface.
As a result, as shown in FIG. 10, a normal image with no chipping that only has a wall surface image 31 c on the outer peripheral portion of the image 4 a of the brown rice 4 taken at any part on the imaging stand 13 of the scanner 1. The imaging error due to the position on the imaging stage 13 of the scanner 1 can be eliminated.
【Effect of the invention】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.
That is, the maintenance of the grain imaging tray is facilitated, the background removal at the time of grain imaging is facilitated, the reliability of grain quality determination is improved, and brown rice that has been difficult in the past In addition, it is possible to improve the reliability of the grain quality determination by making it possible to detect the “body crack” and eliminating the imaging error due to the position of the scanner on the imaging stand.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a grain quality judgment device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of the grain quality judgment device of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view of an imaging tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the imaging tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a bottom plate attachment portion of the imaging tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged plan view of a bottom plate attachment portion of the imaging tray according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a front view showing a light receiving method in the scanner of the present embodiment.
9 is a partially enlarged view of a left end portion in FIG.
10 is an imaging diagram in the state of FIG. 9;
FIG. 11 is a front view of a light receiving method in a conventional scanner.
12 is a partially enlarged view of the left end portion of FIG. 11. FIG.
FIG. 13 is an imaging diagram in the state of FIG. 12;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Scanner 2 Imaging cover 4 Brown rice 4a Image 11 Light source 12 Light receiving element 13 Imaging stand 21 Reflecting plate 30 Imaging tray 31 Alignment plate 31a Brown rice hole 31b Peripheral side wall surface 31c Wall image 32 Bottom plate 33 Fixing bracket 34 Bowl-shaped hole 35 steps

Claims (1)

In the grain quality determination device that captures the grains arranged at equal intervals on the imaging tray from the lower surface direction of the imaging tray by the imaging means, and determines the quality of the grain based on the captured image,
The bottom of the imaging tray is composed of an alignment plate made of a blue-colored transparent member perforated by the number of grains to be collected, and a transparent plate arranged in close contact with the alignment plate. A plurality of fixing brackets are fixed to the alignment plate, and the same number of holes for fitting the fixing brackets are formed in the bottom plate, and the bottom plate is attached to the imaging tray. In addition to being configured to be removable,
The outer peripheral side walls of the plurality of sizing holes opened in the alignment plate at the bottom of the imaging tray are configured such that the extension of each wall faces the light receiving surface of the light receiving sensor of the imaging means. ,
With respect to the imaging cover arranged with one end pivotably supported on the upper part of the imaging tray, the imaging cover is fixed so as to cover the upper part of the imaging tray when the imaging cover is closed on the imaging tray. And a reflection plate made of a blue opaque member having gloss suitable for reflection on the surface that reflects the illumination light for imaging.

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