JP5384231B2 - Cap separation device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cap separation device for identifying and separating a cap of a container, particularly a cap of a PET bottle, based on a color.

  In modern society, various articles that support people's lives are made of plastic resin. In the high growth period, resin products made of these plastic resins were discarded by incineration or landfill after use.

  However, due to the recent rise in crude oil prices and shortage of raw materials, there is a demand for reuse of resin products. In addition, the process of refining crude oil and producing plastic resin from the refined raw materials will emit a large amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In recent years, there has been a demand for reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, and from this point of view, it is also required to reuse resin products.

  In such a social environment, plastic products, plastic bottles, and the like are separated and collected, and the collected products are reused.

  However, since the cap of the container, particularly the cap of the PET bottle, is different from the PET material of the PET bottle body, it is often collected as general waste. For this reason, there has been a problem that the cap of the plastic bottle is rarely reused.

  In order to solve this situation, volunteer activities are being started to collect PET bottle caps and produce reused products, and to use some of the profits obtained from them for developing countries and other benefits. .

Conventionally, container caps such as plastic bottle caps are not intended for reuse or collection, and there are few technical proposals for their separation. For example, a technique for determining the shape and color of the container cap from a captured image and empirical data values has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-86000

  Since PET bottles are often transparent and other resin products are only equipped with a single color printed package, classification is easy.

  On the other hand, the cap of a plastic bottle has various colors, has printing, or has a sticker on its upper surface. In the case where caps of different colors are melted together and regenerated as a resin material, the resin material has a discolored color, and there is a problem of reducing reuse flexibility. Or a seal | sticker is a raw material different from a cap, and there exists a problem which will reproduce | regenerate the resin material inferior in quality, when the cap to which the seal | sticker was stuck is melted together.

  In addition, PET bottle caps have printing and sealing on the top surface and packing inside, making color identification difficult.

  In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the color of the cap is determined only when viewed from a certain direction, and there is a problem that wrong color identification is performed by printing or sticking. In addition, since the cap with the seal attached is identified as a reuse material as it is, there is also a problem of manufacturing a resin material with inferior quality. In addition, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the classification method is unclear when it is determined that a single cap has a plurality of colors.

  That is, the technique of Patent Document 1 cannot perform color identification considering the characteristics of the cap of a container such as a plastic bottle with printing or sealing.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a cap separation device that can identify the color of a cap with high accuracy in consideration of the characteristics of a cap of a container, particularly a cap of a plastic bottle.

In view of the above problems, the cap sorting device of the present invention determines the color of the side surface of the cap visually recognized from the first direction of the cap of the container, and outputs a first color result, A second color judging means for judging the color of the upper surface of the cap viewed from a second direction different from the direction and outputting the second color result, and the color of the cap based on the first color result and the second color result And identifying means for identifying the caps based on the color of the caps.

  The cap separation device of the present invention can finally determine the color of the cap by combining color judgments from different angles having different characteristics. For this reason, the cap sorting apparatus can identify the color of the cap with high accuracy.

  Since the color identification accuracy of the cap is high, it is possible to provide a resin material in which colors are reliably classified when the resin material is regenerated from the sorted cap. In addition, since the cap having foreign matter such as a seal can be separated from the cap to be reused, it is not necessary to mix impurities into the resin material manufactured for reuse. As a result, the quality of the resin material manufactured from the collected cap is improved, and the reuse value of the resin material is increased.

  Since the cap separation device can identify the color with high accuracy, when the cap is reused as a resin material, the separation cost is reduced and the motivation for the reuse of the cap as the resin material is increased. As a result, the reuse rate of the cap increases, which can contribute to the protection of the global environment.

A cap sorting device according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: a first color judging means for judging a color of a side surface of a cap visually recognized from a first direction of a cap of a container; and outputting a first color result; Determining the color of the upper surface of the cap viewed from a second direction different from the first direction, and outputting a second color result; based on the first color result and the second color result; Identification means for identifying a color, and separating the cap based on the color of the cap.

  With this configuration, it is possible to perform separation with high accuracy in consideration of the characteristics of the cap. In particular, it is possible to sort caps that optimally match the characteristics of the caps of PET bottles.

  In the cap separation device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first aspect, the cap of the container includes a cap of a plastic bottle.

  With this configuration, it is possible to sort caps that optimally match the characteristics of the caps of the PET bottles.

  In the cap separation device according to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the first or second aspect, the first direction is a direction in which a side surface of the cap is visually recognized, and the first color determination means is provided on both sides of the cap. A first imaging unit that captures a side image of the surface; and a first determination unit that determines a color of the side surface of the cap as a first color result from the wavelength of the side image.

  With this configuration, the cap separation device can separate the caps by using the color determination result on the side where the color that is the base of the cap is likely to appear. As a result, sorting according to cap characteristics can be performed.

  In addition to the third invention, the cap sorting device according to the fourth invention of the present invention has a reflecting mirror at a position facing the first image pickup unit, and the first image pickup unit is a first cap that is directly visible. It is possible to image one side and the second side opposite to the first side reflected on the reflecting mirror.

  With this configuration, the manufacturing cost of the cap separation device can be reduced.

  In the cap separation device according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to any of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, the second direction is a direction in which the upper surface of the cap is visually recognized, and the second color determining means is A second imaging unit that captures an upper surface image of the upper surface of the cap, and a second determination unit that determines the color of the upper surface of the cap as the second color result from the wavelength of the upper surface image.

  With this configuration, the caps can be separated in consideration of features that are likely to appear on the upper surface of the cap such as a printing surface and a seal.

  In the cap separation device according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fifth aspect, the second determination unit is configured so that the upper surface image has a foreign object on the upper surface of the cap when the upper surface image has a peak value of a predetermined number of wavelengths or more. Judge that there is.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can determine the presence of foreign matter such as a seal with simple means.

  In the cap separation device according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the fifth or sixth aspect, the second determination unit is configured such that the light transmittance at the center portion of the top image is the light transmittance at the peripheral portion of the top image. If it is lower than that, it is determined that there is foreign matter on the upper surface of the cap.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can determine the presence of a foreign substance such as a seal with a high probability.

  In the cap separation device according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to any of the first to seventh aspects, each of the first color result and the second color result includes color information indicating color classification and foreign matter. It includes at least one piece of foreign matter information indicating the presence or absence.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can identify the cap color based on the determination corresponding to each of the cap characteristics.

  In the cap separation device according to the ninth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the eighth aspect, when the color classification indicated by the first color result and the color classification indicated by the second color result indicate the same result, identification is performed. The means identifies the color classification indicated by either the first color result or the second color result as the color of the cap.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can identify the color of the cap based on the judgment obtained from two or more viewpoints.

  In the cap sorting device according to the tenth invention of the present invention, in addition to the eighth invention, when the color classification indicated by the first color result and the color classification indicated by the second color result show different results, identification is performed. The means identifies the color of the cap in preference to the color classification indicated by the first color result.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can identify the color of the cap with priority given to the determination result on the side surface indicating the cap base color.

  In the cap separation device according to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the eighth aspect, identification is performed when the color classification indicated by the first color result and the color classification indicated by the second color result show different results. The means identifies the mixed color of the color classification indicated by the first color result and the color classification indicated by the second color result as the cap color.

  With this configuration, finer separation is possible.

  In the cap sorting device according to the twelfth invention of the present invention, in addition to the eighth invention, the identifying means identifies the cap color as indistinguishable when the second color result indicates that there is a foreign object. .

  With this configuration, a cap with foreign matter can be excluded from reuse, and quality deterioration of the resin material to be recycled can be prevented.

  In the cap separation device according to the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to any one of the first to twelfth inventions, there is further provided a conveyor that conveys the cap and a reversing device that aligns the top and bottom directions of the cap conveyed by the conveyor. Prepare.

  With this configuration, the cap sorting device can identify the color of the cap with the top surface of the cap always facing upward.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the characteristics of the container cap will be described. Here, a description will be given using a PET bottle cap as an example. In order to identify the color of an object such as a cap, the peak position of a wavelength confirmed by spectral analysis of the obtained image obtained by imaging these objects with a camera is often used.

(Cap features)
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the characteristics of the cap according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  There are various types of PET bottle caps. FIG. 1 shows three patterns of caps from a wide variety of caps. FIG. 1 shows caps of pattern 1, pattern 2, and pattern 3 from the left, and shows a top surface, a side surface, and a bottom surface in order from the top in each of patterns 1 to 3.

  Pattern 1 shows a cap that is monochromatic and has no pattern or print on any of top surface 1, side surface 2, and bottom surface 3. Although it is not clear in FIG. 1 because it is not three-dimensional, the bottom surface 3 has a recess and a screw groove as a cap. The cap of the pattern 1 has the same color when viewed from any of the top surface 1, the side surface 2, and the bottom surface 3. For this reason, the wavelength peak position obtained from the spectrum analysis of the captured image when the cap of the pattern 1 is imaged is the same for the top surface 1 image, the side surface 2 image, and the bottom surface 3 image. For this reason, the cap of the pattern 1 is easily identified as the same color regardless of the direction of image processing.

  Pattern 2 shows a cap having printed characters on the upper surface. The side surface 6 and the bottom surface 7 have the same color. On the top surface 4 of the cap, characters and marks such as a product name and a catch phrase may be printed. However, printing is hardly applied to the side surface or bottom surface of the cap that is difficult for consumers to notice. In FIG. 1, the cap of the pattern 2 has a printing surface 5 “Green tea is delicious” on its upper surface.

  For example, it is assumed that the base color of the cap of the pattern 2 is white, but the printing surface 5 “green tea is delicious” is blue. In this case, the wavelength peaks obtained from the images taken from the side surface 6 and the bottom surface 7 are the same (substantially coincide with the wavelength peak indicated by white), but the wavelength peaks obtained from the image taken from the upper surface 4 are the same. Is different. Alternatively, it may have peaks at a plurality of wavelength values. Alternatively, depending on the size and color of the printed character, the peak position is at a position different from the peak position that should be shown by white as the base color.

  That is, in the cap of the pattern 2, the color identified by the image processing from the upper surface 4 and the color identified by the image from the side surface 6 (or the bottom surface 7) can have different identification results.

  Next, pattern 3 shows a cap having a seal 9 attached to the upper surface. In many cases, a sticker 9 is affixed to the upper surface of the cap, such as a promotion of a product or a winning ticket. The cap is made of resin such as polypropylene, and if it is a cap of a PET bottle, it is almost the same material regardless of the product, but the seal 9 is made of paper and is originally discarded by incineration. It is not intended to be reused with the cap. When the seal 9 is melted together with the cap and the resin material is manufactured, the quality of the resin material is significantly deteriorated, and the resin material becomes unusable. When such a cap with a sticker 9 is mixed, it is difficult to reuse the cap, and motivation for reuse is reduced.

  In addition, the seal 9 often has a color different from the base color of the upper surface 8, and the presence of the seal 9 may be identified as a color different from the original color of the upper surface of the cap.

  In the caps of pattern 2 and pattern 3, there is a possibility that different colors are identified depending on the imaging direction for identifying the color. By simply identifying the color only by imaging from a single direction, the color is identified. Will be mistaken. If the color is mistakenly identified, it is impossible to recycle the resin material separately for each of a white cap, a blue cap, a red cap, and the like.

  On the other hand, if the sticking of the seal is overlooked, the quality of the resin material to be recycled is significantly deteriorated. In addition, a resin packing may be fitted on the bottom surface of the cap, and there is a possibility that a color different from the base color of the cap may be determined by this packing.

  In any case, the quality of the resin material to be recycled is deteriorated and the motivation to reuse the cap is lowered.

  As described above, there are various characteristics of caps, and it is necessary to sort caps based on colors while taking these characteristics into consideration.

(Overview)
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the cap sorting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  FIG. 2 shows a state where the cap sorting device is installed in a factory or the like.

  The cap separation device 10 determines the color visually recognized from the first direction of the cap 12, the feeder 11 that inserts the cap 12, the conveyor 13 that sequentially conveys the cap 12 that is sent out from the feeder 11, and obtains the first color result. The first color judging means 14 for outputting, the second color judging means 15 for judging the color visually recognized from the second direction of the cap 12 and outputting the second color result, the sorter 16 and the sorting lane 17 are provided.

  The cap sorting apparatus 10 arranges a large number of caps 12 put into the feeder 11 one by one and sends them to the conveyor 13. The conveyor 13 conveys the caps 12 in a row. A photo detector as an example of the first color determination means 14 is provided in the middle of the conveyor 13.

  The photo detector images the cap 12 from the first direction. The photo detector performs spectrum analysis on the image captured from the first direction of the cap 12. That is, a correspondence relationship between the wavelength and the gain is generated. The color of the object is determined by the wavelength. When the wavelength is long, the color of the object is close to red, and when the wavelength is short, the color of the object is close to blue. The photo detector detects the peak gain obtained from the image captured from the first direction of the cap 12 (which does not actually need to be captured but can be spectrum-analyzed) based on the wavelength value indicating the gain of the peak. The color that is visually recognized is determined. The photo detector outputs the determined color as the first color result.

  Here, the first direction is preferably a direction in which the side surface of the cap is visually recognized. The photo detector images from the side of the cap 12. The captured image shows the side surface of the cap 12, and the photo detector determines the color of the side surface of the cap 12 as the first color result. The photo detector may be installed beside the cap 12 that flows on the conveyor 13 in order to image the side surface of the cap 12.

  As described with reference to FIG. 1, the base color appears on the side of the cap. The top and bottom surfaces often represent a different color from the base color of the cap. For this reason, it is preferable that the first color determination unit 14 identifies the color of the side surface of the cap 12. Based on the first color result in the first color determining means 14, the color serving as the base of the cap is determined.

  In addition, the cap sorting device 10 includes second color determining means 15 that determines the color of the cap 12 in the second direction. In FIG. 2, a color camera as an example of the second color determination unit 15 is shown.

  The color camera images the cap 12 from the second direction. Here, the second direction is a direction different from the first direction. The color camera performs spectrum analysis on the image captured from the second direction of the cap 12. That is, a correspondence relationship between the wavelength and the gain is generated. The color camera detects from the second direction of the cap from the wavelength value indicating the gain of the peak obtained from the image captured from the second direction of the cap 12 (which does not actually need to be imaged but only needs to be able to perform spectrum analysis). Determine the visible color. The color camera outputs the determined color as the second color result.

  Here, the second direction is preferably a direction in which the upper surface of the cap is visually recognized. The color camera takes an image from the upper surface of the cap 12. The upper surface of the cap 12 is shown in the captured image, and the color camera determines the color of the upper surface of the cap 12 as the second color result. The color camera is preferably installed above the cap 12 that flows on the conveyor 13 in order to image the upper surface of the cap 12.

  The second color result is a result of determining the color of the upper surface of the cap 12. For this reason, if there is a printing surface on the upper surface of the cap, the second color result may be different from the first color result depending on the color generated by the printing surface. In this case, the caps may be separated according to various criteria.

  The cap separation device 10 further includes identification means (which may be provided inside the color camera or inside the photo detector).

  The identification means sorts the cap 12 based on the color based on the first color result and the second color result. For example, sorting into red, white, green, gray, blue, yellow, etc.

  The cap 12 whose color has been separated by the identification means is put into the corresponding lane of the sorting lane 17 by the sorter 16. The sorting lane 17 includes a number of lanes corresponding to the type to be sorted, and the sorting lane 17 of the cap sorting apparatus 10 in FIG. 2 includes six types of lanes of red, white, green, gray, blue, and yellow. ing.

  The sorter 16 puts the cap identified as red, for example, into the red lane by air blowing or a sending mechanism. At this time, it is determined from which conveyance speed of the conveyor 13 and the number of caps 12 which color the caps in which order are identified. The sorter 16 puts the cap 12 into the sorting lane 17 in accordance with the determination result as the sorting means has sorted. The sorter 16 may use known techniques to distribute the color-identified cap 12 to the sorting lane 17.

  In this way, the cap sorting device 10 is based on both the first color result indicating the color of the cap determined from the first direction and the second color result indicating the color of the cap determined from the second direction. Separate caps. By finally determining the cap color in both the first direction and the second direction, it is possible to perform separation with high accuracy.

(Detailed explanation)
Next, details of the cap sorting device will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the cap sorting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  The cap separation device 10 includes a first color determination unit 14, a second color determination unit 15, and an identification unit 20.

(First color determination means)
First, the first color determination unit 14 will be described.

  The first color determination unit 14 determines the color visually recognized from the first direction of the cap 12 and outputs the first color result to the identification unit 20.

  The first color determination unit 14 determines the color of the cap 12 in the first direction from the first imaging unit 21 that images the cap 12 from the first direction and the wavelength of the image captured by the first imaging unit 21. 1 determination unit 26 is provided. Here, the first direction is preferably a direction in which the side surface 23 of the cap 12 is visually recognized. As described above, the printing surface and the seal are not stretched on the side surface of the cap 12, and the base color of the cap appears with a high probability. For this reason, the first direction is preferably a direction in which the side surface 23 of the cap 12 is visually recognized.

  The imaging unit 21 images the cap 12 from the side surface 23.

  Here, the imaging unit 21 preferably images both side surfaces of the cap 12. This is because if the image is taken from only one side, there is a possibility that the color judgment may be distorted due to reflection of reflected light or strobe light.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing imaging by the first imaging unit in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  FIG. 4 shows a state in which the two first imaging units 21 a and 21 b image both side surfaces 23 a and 23 b of the cap 12. Each of the side surface 23a and the side surface 23b of the cap 12 is imaged by the two first imaging units 21a and 21b. The color of the side surface of the cap 12 can be determined by spectrum analysis of the two captured images. By determining the color of the side surface of the cap 12 from the captured images of both side surfaces, the first determination unit 26 can determine the color with high accuracy.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the two first imaging units 21a and 21b are used, there is a problem that the cost increases. In order to solve this, as shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 5, an image reflected on the reflecting mirror may be captured on one of the side surfaces. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing imaging by the first imaging unit in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  On the side surface 23b side of the cap 12, a reflecting mirror 30 that projects the side surface 23b is installed. The first imaging unit 21 directly recognizes and images the side surface 23 a and images the mapping 31 of the side surface 23 b reflected on the reflecting mirror 30. At this time, since the first imaging unit 21 can capture the mapping 31, it can capture the opposite side surfaces 23a and 23b with only one device.

  The first determination unit 26 performs spectrum analysis on the image captured by the first imaging unit 21.

  The relationship between wavelength and gain is obtained by spectrum analysis. From this relationship, the value of the wavelength with the maximum gain is detected. A general correspondence relationship is known between the value of the wavelength at which the gain exhibits a peak and the color of the object. The first determination unit 26 determines the color of the side surface 23 of the cap 12 based on this correspondence.

  Here, if the positions of the wavelength peaks indicated by the side surface 23a and the side surface 23b are substantially the same, the first determination unit 26 can determine the color of the side surface 23 of the cap 12 as it is from the wavelength value.

On the other hand, when the position of the wavelength peak indicated by the side surface 23a and the side surface 23b is different,
(1) Judge the color based on the wavelength value with the larger gain value at the peak;
(2) judging the color based on the value of the wavelength at the center of the peak position;
(3) The color is determined from the peak position and the wavelength value at the position interpolated from the gain value at each peak position.
For example, the first determination unit 26 determines the color of the side surface 23 of the cap 12.

  The first determination unit 26 outputs the determined color to the identification unit 20 as the first color result. For example, the first color result including information that the color of the side surface of the cap 12 is “red” or “white” is output. Since the cap has a feature that the base color appears on the side surface, the identification unit 20 can identify the base color of the cap 12 based on the first color result. That is, the cap sorting apparatus 10 can identify the color that is the base of the cap based on the first color result.

  Here, the first determination unit 26 may output the first color result to the identification unit 20 as digital data having a predetermined number of bits.

  The first color determination unit 14 may determine the color of the side surface of the cap 12 only from one side surface of the cap 12.

(Second color judgment means)
Next, the second color determination unit 15 will be described.

  The second color determination unit 15 determines the color visually recognized from the second direction of the cap 12 and outputs the second color result to the identification unit 20.

  The second color determination unit 15 determines the color of the cap 12 in the second direction from the second imaging unit 22 that images the cap 12 from the second direction and the wavelength of the image captured by the second imaging unit 22. 2 determination unit 27 is provided. Here, the second direction is preferably a direction in which the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 is visually recognized. As described above, the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 may have a printing surface or a sticker on it, which may cause a mistake in the original color of the cap 12. In addition, depending on the amount of the printing surface and the presence or absence of foreign matter typified by a sticker, the cap may be removed from the object of separation and discarded.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a state in which the second imaging unit according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention images the upper surface of the cap. The second imaging unit 22 images the upper surface 24 of the cap 12. For this purpose, the second imaging unit 22 may image the cap 12 from above the cap 12 flowing on the conveyor.

  The second imaging unit 22 captures an image of the upper surface 24 of the cap 12. The second determination unit 27 performs spectrum analysis on the image of the upper surface 24 and determines the color of the cap upper surface 24. The second determination unit 27 outputs the determined color to the identification unit 20 as the second color result.

  Here, the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 may have a printing surface. When there is a printed surface, the spectrum analysis result of the upper surface 24 shows a plurality of peak positions as shown in FIG. This is because the printing surface has a color different from the base color of the cap 12. FIG. 7 shows the spectrum analysis result of the top image in the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, the second determination unit 27
(1) Information that it has a plurality of colors,
(2) Information on what kind of color each color is,
(3) Although it has a plurality of colors, it does not affect the base color from the viewpoint of its gain value.
(4) It has a plurality of colors and affects the base color as seen from the gain value.
Are output as the second color result. For example, when the second color result includes the information (4), the identification unit 20 may classify the cap as “not subject to reuse”. If the second color result includes the information (2) or (3), the identification unit 20 determines that there is no problem even if other caps are mixed in the reuse, and the first color. The cap may be classified into base colors obtained from the results.

  Actually, the printing surface occupies only a part of the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 and only the surface thereof, and the color of the printing surface does not greatly affect the color of the resin material to be recycled by melting the cap. For this reason, even when the second determination unit 27 determines that the printing surface is on the cap upper surface 24, the identification unit 20 may identify the color of the cap by giving priority to the first color result.

  Next, a seal is often attached to the upper surface 24 of the cap 12. The seal is often made of paper, and when melted together with other caps and regenerated into a resin material, the quality of the resin material is degraded.

  It is important for the second determination unit 27 to determine that the seal is affixed to the upper surface 24. Of course, it is conceivable that the seals are previously removed manually from a large number of caps 12 to be loaded on the conveyor, but this increases the cost of reusing the caps. When identifying the cap color, it is preferable that the presence or absence of foreign matter such as a seal can be automatically detected.

  The second determination unit 27 detects foreign matter such as a seal by various means.

(Judging means 1)
The second determination unit 27 determines the presence / absence of a foreign substance from the spectrum analysis of the image on the upper surface 24 based on the presence of a predetermined number or more of peaks.

  FIG. 8 shows a spectrum analysis result of the top image in the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the top surface 24 of a cap has three or more peaks at different wavelength values.

  Even if a printing surface is provided on the upper surface 24 of the cap, the printing surface is often about 1 color or 2 colors at most. For this reason, even when combined with the base color, the color of the upper surface 24 is almost two or three. On the other hand, the seal describes various information and also has a base color of the seal itself. For this reason, when the seal is affixed, the upper surface 24 has almost three or more colors.

  For this reason, when there is a peak value of three or more wavelengths by spectrum analysis of the image of the upper surface 24 (that is, having three or more colors), there is a foreign substance such as a seal, to decide. Of course, the predetermined number may be three or four or more. In short, when the value of the wavelength indicating the peak is equal to or greater than a predetermined number such as 3 or 4, the second determination unit 27 determines that a foreign substance such as a sticker is attached instead of the printing surface. .

  Information indicating that such foreign matter is included is included in the second color result as foreign matter information and is output to the identification means 20. The identification means 20 classifies that the cap is not reused based on the information that the foreign matter is included. Alternatively, the cap color is classified as indistinguishable.

  Even when the upper surface 24 has a peak of a wavelength of a predetermined number or more, it may be caused by the printed surface rather than a foreign substance such as a seal. In such a case, caps that are classified as indistinguishable (the number should be small since they have been separated) may be re-sorted by human means, or foreign substances may be removed. .

(Judgment means 2)
The second determination unit 27 may determine the presence / absence of a foreign substance based on the light transmittance of the upper surface 24.

  The second imaging unit 22 emits strobe light in order to image the upper surface 24 of the cap 12. At this time, the second imaging unit 22 can image the light transmission state of the upper surface 24 by sandwiching the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 between the strobe light and the imaging lens. This is because the second imaging unit 22 captures the strobe light emitted from the back side of the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 to determine how much the strobe light has passed through the upper surface 24.

  Generally, the seal is made of paper, and the cap is made of resin such as polypropylene. Polypropylene has a higher light transmittance than paper. This is due to the difference between the crystal structure of the resin and the crystal structure of the paper.

  In most cases, the seal is attached to a substantially central portion of the upper surface 24. This is because the seal itself provides information to the consumer, and there is no reason to stick it to the peripheral portion of the small upper surface 24.

  The second determination unit 27 analyzes the light transmittance of the upper surface 24. When the seal is affixed, the light transmittance of the substantially central portion 40 should be lower than the light transmittance of the peripheral portion 41 as shown in FIG. This is because the pasted seal prevents light from being transmitted at the substantially central portion 40.

  As described above, the second determination unit 27 determines the presence or absence of a foreign substance based on the fact that the light transmittance at the substantially central portion 40 of the upper surface 24 is lower than the light transmittance of the peripheral edge portion 41.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing the light transmittance of the upper surface in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  The second determination unit 27 includes the determination unit 1 and the “presence / absence of foreign matter” determined by the second item as foreign matter information in the second color result and outputs the result to the identification unit 20.

  As described above, the second color determination unit 15 outputs the second color result including the color of the upper surface 24 of the cap 12 and the foreign matter information to the identification unit 20.

  In addition, you may use means other than these for judgment of the presence or absence of a foreign material.

  Various known methods can be used as the color determination method in the first determination unit 26 and the second determination unit 27 in addition to the wavelength based on the spectrum analysis.

  The first imaging unit 21 and the second imaging unit 22 may use a device having an imaging function such as a digital camera or a digital video camera. Alternatively, an apparatus including a lens and an element having an imaging function may be used. There may be no function of recording the captured image. For example, an imaging device for identifying good / bad goods may be used in a factory line.

(Identification means)
Next, the identification of the cap color by the identification means 20 will be described.

  The identifying unit 20 identifies the cap color based on the first color result and the second color result, and finally classifies the cap based on the color. For example, the caps are classified by classification such as “red”, “blue”, “white”, “grey”, “yellow”, “pink”, and the like. The caps classified as the same color classification are collected and melted, and after a predetermined treatment, are regenerated into resin materials to be reused. At this time, if caps having different colors are mixed in caps of a certain color classification, the color of the resin material to be regenerated is adversely affected.

  For this reason, the identification means 20 needs to identify the color of the cap with high accuracy.

  Each of the first color result and the second color result includes color information and foreign matter information determined by the first determination unit 26 and the second determination unit 27, respectively. The identification unit 20 identifies the color of the cap based on the combination of the color information and the foreign matter information included in the first color result and the second color result.

  Thus, based on the combination of the color information obtained from the first direction and the second direction, which are different directions, and the foreign substance information, the identification unit 20 can identify the cap color with high accuracy.

  FIG. 10 is a determination table for defining a determination pattern in the identification unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The result finally determined by the identification unit 20 is determined by the combination of the first color result and the second color result.

  FIG. 10 illustrates an example in which the first color result is red. Note that the table shown in FIG. 10 is an example of a determination criterion in the identification unit 20, and is not limited to this.

(Pattern 1)
In pattern 1, the first color result (ie, the color of the side of the cap) has color information that is red, and the second color result (ie, the color of the top surface of the cap) is the color that is red. Have information.

  According to this combination, in addition to the color of the side that is the color of the base of the cap, the color of the upper surface is also determined to be “red” that is the same color, so the color of the cap may be viewed as red throughout. . For this reason, the identification unit 20 identifies the cap color as red.

  As described above, the identification unit indicates the first color result or the second color result when both the color information of the first color result and the color information of the second color result indicate the same color. The color (red in FIG. 10) is identified as the cap color.

(Pattern 2)
2 in the pattern has color information that the first color result (ie, the color of the side of the cap) is red, and the second color result (ie, the color of the top surface of the cap) is red (70%) And color information of blue (30%).

  When the colors indicated by the color information included in the first color result and the second color result are different, the identification unit 20 prioritizes the first color result as one method. This is because the first color result shows the color of the side surface of the cap, and the base color of the cap appears greatly on the side surface. The second color result shows that it contains 30% blue, but this blue is not the color of the cap material itself (the base color) but the color of the printing surface provided on the top surface. it is conceivable that. The printing surface has a color only on the surface, and the proportion of the printing surface in the total volume of the cap is very small.

  For this reason, it is considered that the influence of the color of the printed surface on the case where the cap is melted to regenerate the resin material is small. That is, the influence level of “blue” in FIG. 10 can be ignored.

  From such an empirical rule, the identification unit 20 identifies the cap color by giving priority to the first color result even when the colors indicated by the first color result and the second color result are different.

  Here, in the color indicated by the second color result, when the ratio of the color indicated by the first color result is large and the ratio of the other colors is small, the influence of the other color (blue in FIG. 10) on the entire cap. Is considered very small.

  In FIG. 10, it is determined that red is 70% and blue is 30%. This is because the second determination unit 27 has a ratio of 7: 3 for the gain at the red wavelength with respect to the gain at the blue wavelength in the spectrum analysis of the cap upper surface. Thus, the color of the upper surface showing 70% red and 30% blue indicates that there is almost no influence of blue.

  In this way, even when the second color result includes a color different from the color indicated by the first color result, the identification means is used when the proportion of the different color is smaller than the proportion of the color indicated by the first color result. 20 identifies the color indicated by the first color result as the cap color.

  As described above, the identification unit 20 may identify the cap color by giving priority to the first color result, or identify the cap color based on the ratio of the color different from the color indicated by the first color result. You may do it.

(Pattern 3)
Pattern 3 has color information that the first color result (ie, the color of the side of the cap) is red, and the second color result (ie, the color of the top surface of the cap) is red (30%) and blue (70%) color information.

  Unlike pattern 2, the color information included in the second color result indicates another color having a higher ratio than the color indicated by the first color result. That is, it is considered that the other color (white in FIG. 10) included in the printing surface printed on the upper surface of the cap has a considerable area.

  Even in this case, the identification unit 20 may identify the cap color by giving priority to the first color result on the assumption that the influence of the printing surface is small like the pattern 2. That is, the identification unit 20 identifies the cap as red, giving priority to the first color result.

  On the other hand, even if the degree of influence is low, it does not mean that there is no degree of influence. Considering that the second color result shows 70% white, the resin material produced by melting the cap is not always completely red.

  In such a case, it is also preferable that the identification unit 20 identifies the color of the cap as a pink color which is a complementary color of red and white. This is because if the color classification of the resin material to be recycled can be separated at a finer stage, the applications of the resin material will be dramatically expanded.

  Note that the ratio between red and white indicated by the second color result is determined by the ratio between the peak values of the red and white wavelengths indicated by the spectrum analysis on the upper surface, as in the case of the pattern 2.

  As described above, when the color indicated by the first color result is different from the color indicated by the second color result, the identifying unit 20 sets the cap color to the complementary color of different colors based on the ratio of the plurality of colors indicated by the second color result. It is also suitable to identify as

(Pattern 4)
In pattern 4, the first color result (that is, the color of the side surface of the cap) has color information that it is red, and the second color result (that is, the color of the upper surface of the cap) is 3 colors or more, so there is foreign matter. Foreign matter information.

  The second determination unit 27 determines that there is a foreign object on the cap upper surface by detecting a peak value at three or more wavelengths in the spectrum analysis of the cap upper surface. For this reason, the second determination unit 27 outputs the foreign matter information that there is a foreign matter to the identification unit 20 as the second color result.

  The identification unit 20 identifies the cap as being indistinguishable based on the foreign substance information. In other words, it is not classified into any color, and it is classified whether it is discarded, foreign matter is removed manually, or separation processing is performed again.

  For this reason, a separation lane that does not belong to any color such as red or blue is provided and distributed to the separation lane. The caps distributed to the other sorting lanes are processed after receiving a manual foreign object check.

  In Pattern 4, since the presence of a foreign object is notified by the foreign object information, the cap is classified as indistinguishable. However, the first color result may be prioritized and classified according to the color indicated by the first color result. . These may be determined appropriately according to the specifications of the cap separation device.

(Pattern 5)
In pattern 5, the first color result (that is, the color of the side surface of the cap) has color information that it is red, and the second color result (that is, the color of the top surface of the cap) is more foreign than the result of light transmittance And foreign matter information.

  In the inspection of the light transmittance on the cap upper surface, the second determination unit 27 determines that there is a foreign object on the cap upper surface because the light transmittance at the substantially central portion is lower than the light transmittance at the peripheral portion. The foreign matter information indicating that there is a foreign matter is output to the identification means 20 as the second color result.

  The identification unit 20 identifies the cap as being indistinguishable based on the foreign substance information. In other words, it is not classified into any color, and it is classified whether it is discarded, foreign matter is removed manually, or separation processing is performed again.

  For this reason, a separation lane that does not belong to any color such as red or blue is provided and distributed to the separation lane. The caps distributed to the other sorting lanes are processed after receiving a manual foreign object check.

  Similar to the pattern 4, depending on the specification, the first color result may be sorted.

  The patterns 1 to 5 described here are examples, and the identification unit 20 can separate the caps by appropriately combining the first color result and the second color result.

  As described above, the cap sorting apparatus according to Embodiment 1 can classify caps with high accuracy based on the combination of both the first color result and the second color result.

  As a result, only caps of the same color are collected, and the collected caps are melted and regenerated into a resin material. This regenerated resin material has a sorted color and is used in a wide range of applications. For this reason, it is easier to use than a resin material that has been regenerated with the colors mixed, and the motivation for reusing the cap is increased. In addition, since the work of separating caps based on colors is performed automatically rather than by human work, the cost of recycling the resin material is reduced, and in this respect also the motivation to reuse the caps is increased.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a part of the cap classification device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. The upper side of FIG. 11 shows a state when the cap conveyed by the conveyor is viewed from above, and the lower side of FIG. 11 shows a state when the cap conveyed by the conveyor is viewed from the side.

  As described with reference to FIG. 2, the cap separation device may include a conveyor 50 that conveys a large number of caps. The caps move sequentially on the conveyor 50.

  The cap 51 and the cap 52 are the same cap, and the front-back state in which the conveyor 50 is conveying the cap from right to left is shown. The cap 51 is in a state of facing down (with the bottom face facing up). This is because when the cap is put into the conveyor 50, it is conveyed facing down.

  Since the cap 51 shows the bottom surface upward, the second color determination means images the bottom surface of the cap and determines the color on the bottom surface side. A packing may be fitted on the bottom surface side, and this packing is different from the color that becomes the base of the cap. Therefore, the second color determination means may determine that the color is different from the original color. In addition, the upper surface of the cap has many elements that are problematic in the separation of the cap, such as a seal and a printing surface, and it is not good to separate them without judging them.

  On the other hand, since the second imaging unit provided in the second determination means is installed so as to image the cap flowing through the conveyor from above, the cap flowing through the conveyor 50 shows the bottom face up like the cap 51. The upper surface of the cap cannot be imaged. If the cap 51 flows on the conveyor 50 as it is, the second color determination means outputs the determination result of the color of the bottom surface of the cap to the identification means as the second color result.

  The conveyor 50 includes a reversing device 53.

  The reversing device 53 aligns the top and bottom of the cap. Since the cap 51 is shown with the bottom face up, by turning the top and bottom upside down, the top face of the cap can be seen up like the cap 52.

  The reversing device 53 may be provided with a protruding rod that repeatedly protrudes from the bottom surface of the conveyor 50. When the cap flowing through the conveyor 50 shows the bottom surface upward, the top surface contacts the conveyor 50. For this reason, the stick protruding from the bottom surface of the conveyor 50 hits the top surface, and the cap is turned over.

  On the other hand, when the top surface of the cap is shown upward like the cap 52, the bottom surface of the cap contacts the conveyor 50. The bottom surface of the cap naturally has a depression, so that the stick does not hit (the stick only enters the internal space of the cap). For this reason, the cap does not turn over, and the upper surface is shown up.

  By providing such a cap reversing device 53, the second color determining means can always determine the color and foreign matter while imaging the top surface of the cap.

  In addition, it is also preferable that the reversing device 53 further includes a mechanism for sending air to the cap lifted by the protruding rod so that the cap is easily turned over.

  As described above, the cap sorting device of the second embodiment can always make the upper surface of the cap flowing through the conveyor 50 upward, thereby improving the accuracy of cap sorting.

  Further, although not shown in the figure, in addition to the second color determining unit that images the upper surface of the cap and determines the color, a third color determining unit that images the bottom surface of the cap and determines the color may be provided. Is preferred. This is because packing may be fitted on the bottom surface of the cap, and this packing may be different from the color that becomes the base of the cap.

  In this case, the cap sorting device can identify the color of the cap after combining all the color judgments of the side surface of the cap, the top surface of the cap, and the bottom surface of the cap. For example, when the color of the packing existing on the bottom surface is significantly different from the base color of the cap determined on the side surface, it may be identified as indistinguishable, or the base color and the packing color (determined from the side surface). May be identified as a mixed color of the determined color and the color determined from the bottom surface. Alternatively, the cap separation device may separate the cap colors as all mixed colors of the side surface color, the top surface color, and the bottom surface color.

  In the case where such third color determination means is provided, by providing the second color determination means and the third color determination means before and after the reversing device 53, the upper surface and the bottom surface can be reliably imaged, respectively. By the reversing device 53 for reversing the cap, the imaging direction of the cap is further increased, and the accuracy of color identification of the cap is improved.

  The cap separation apparatus described in the first and second embodiments is an example, and includes other forms that do not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the characteristic of the cap in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view of the cap separation apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the cap separation apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the imaging by the 1st imaging part in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the imaging by the 1st imaging part in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state in which the 2nd imaging part in Embodiment 1 of this invention images a cap upper surface. It is the spectrum analysis result of the upper surface image in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the spectrum analysis result of the upper surface image in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the light transmittance of the upper surface in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a determination table which defines the determination pattern in the identification means in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a part in the cap classification | category apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Cap sorter 11 Feeder 12 Cap 13 Conveyor 14 1st color judgment means 15 2nd color judgment means 20 Identification means 21 1st imaging part 22 2nd imaging part 23 Side surface 24 Upper surface 26 1st judgment part 27 2nd judgment part

Claims (14)

First color judging means for judging the color of the side surface of the cap visually recognized from the first direction of the cap of the container and outputting a first color result;
Second color determining means for determining a color of the upper surface of the cap viewed from a second direction different from the first direction and outputting a second color result;
An identification means for identifying the color of the cap based on the first color result and the second color result, and a cap sorting device for sorting the cap based on the color of the cap.   The cap separation device according to claim 1, wherein the cap of the container includes a cap of a plastic bottle. The first direction is a direction in which a side surface of the cap is visually recognized,
The first color determining means includes
A first imaging unit that captures at least one side image of both sides of the cap;
3. The cap separation device according to claim 1, further comprising: a first determination unit that determines a color of the side surface of the cap as the first color result from the wavelength of the side image. A reflecting mirror at a position facing the first imaging unit;
4. The cap sorting device according to claim 3, wherein the first imaging unit is capable of imaging the first side surface of the cap that is directly visible and the second side surface opposite to the first side surface reflected on the reflecting mirror. . The second direction is a direction for visually recognizing the upper surface of the cap,
The second color determining means is
A second imaging unit that captures an upper surface image of the upper surface of the cap;
5. The cap separation device according to claim 1, further comprising: a second determination unit configured to determine a color of the upper surface of the cap as the second color result from the wavelength of the upper surface image.   6. The cap sorting device according to claim 5, wherein the second determination unit determines that there is a foreign substance on the upper surface of the cap when the upper surface image has a peak value of a predetermined number of wavelengths or more.   The said 2nd judgment part judges that there exists a foreign material on the upper surface of the said cap, when the light transmittance of the center part of the said upper surface image is lower than the light transmittance of the peripheral part of the said upper surface image. Cap separation device as described.   8. The cap separation device according to claim 1, wherein each of the first color result and the second color result includes at least one information of color information indicating a color and foreign object information indicating the presence or absence of a foreign object.   When the color indicated by the first color result and the color indicated by the second color result indicate the same result, the identifying unit selects a color indicated by either the first color result or the second color result. The cap sorting device according to claim 8, wherein the cap sorting device is identified as a color of the cap.   When the color indicated by the first color result and the color indicated by the second color result indicate different results, the identifying means prioritizes the color indicated by the first color result and assigns the color of the cap. The cap separation device according to claim 8 for identification.   In the case where the color indicated by the first color result and the color indicated by the second color result indicate different results, the identifying means determines the color indicated by the first color result and the color indicated by the second color result. The cap separation device according to claim 8, wherein a mixed color is identified as a color of the cap.   The cap classification device according to claim 8, wherein the identification unit identifies the color of the cap as indistinguishable when the second color result indicates that there is a foreign object. A conveyor for conveying the cap;
The cap separation device according to any one of claims 1 to 12, further comprising a reversing device that aligns the top and bottom directions of the caps conveyed by the conveyor.   The cap sorting device according to any one of claims 1 to 13, further comprising a sorter that sorts the caps identified by the identifying means according to the identified results.

Images