JP5681687B2 - Inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, an article inspection apparatus that determines the quality of an inspection object based on quality data acquired while conveying the inspection object such as raw meat, fish, processed food, and medicine, The present invention relates to an article inspection apparatus capable of accurately adjusting a carry-in interval of an inspection object.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a weight sorter that sorts the weight of an inspection object is known as an article inspection apparatus that determines the quality of the inspection object. Such a conventional weight sorter is installed in a production line and measures the weight of an object to be inspected that is conveyed at a predetermined interval from an upstream conveying conveyor while it is being conveyed. It is determined whether or not the value is within the reference range, and non-defective products within the reference range and other defective products are selected. This weight sorter is composed of a carry-in sensor, a load sensor, a mass detection unit, and a pass / fail judgment unit, and when the passage of an object to be inspected conveyed from upstream is detected by the carry-in sensor, The load sensor operates after the elapse of the reference time representing the measurement timing from the detection until the detection of the mass, that is, the mass of the inspection object is measured, and the measurement signal is output to the mass detection unit. It has become. The mass detection unit detects the mass of the object to be inspected based on the measurement signal, and outputs the mass signal to the quality determination unit. The quality determination unit determines the quality of the object to be inspected based on the mass signal. It has become.

  However, if the preset reference time is deviated from the optimum reference time corresponding to the actually transported object, the measurement value may vary, resulting in erroneous determination. Setting is required. As this type of conventional article inspection apparatus, a reading means for reading a weighing signal, a storage means for storing a plurality of weighing signals read by the reading means as weight data, and a variation in weight data stored in the storage means A variation degree calculating means for calculating the degree of each set, and a relatively small variation degree among the plurality of variation degrees calculated by the variation degree calculating means and selecting a measurement time point corresponding to the selected set of variation degrees. There is known a device that includes a reference time determination unit that determines the reference time during operation and automatically sets the reference time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3226974

  However, in the thing of patent document 1, since the dispersion | variation degree of weight data is calculated and the reference | standard time is set based on the dispersion | variation degree, the carrying-in space | interval in which a to-be-inspected object is carried in to a weight sorter is set. In the case of variation, the weight is measured at the set reference time, so that the weight is measured at a position deviated from the original optimum measurement position, and the measurement value varies. Since the weight data is calculated based on such measured values, the dispersion of the weight data increases due to the variation in the carry-in interval, and the inappropriate reference time based on the weight data having such a variation is automatically set. Will be set. Therefore, there is a problem that it is still insufficient to obtain an optimum reference time.

  In particular, when the interval between the inspection objects is reduced, a part or all of the inspection object and the inspection object to be measured next are placed on the load sensor at the same time. There was a problem that so-called double riding in which measured values of objects could not be obtained occurred, and variation in weight data became larger. FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a transport unit of a conventional weight sorter, and shows a state where two passengers are generated in the transport unit. As shown in FIG. 12, when a part of the inspection object W1 and the inspection object W2 conveyed to the conveyance unit 52 from the direction of the arrow A get on the load sensor 53 of the conveyance unit 52 at the same time, the load sensor 53, a part of the inspection object W1 and a part of the inspection object W2 are simultaneously measured, and appropriate weight data cannot be obtained. In such a case, the variation in the weight data increases, the optimum reference time cannot be obtained, the inspection accuracy is lowered, and the inspection object W1 and the inspection object W2 are removed from the transport unit 52, and the reference There is also a problem that the inspection efficiency is lowered because the time must be reset. In order to set this reference time to an optimum value, it is necessary to properly grasp the variation in the carry-in interval of the inspection object and the conveyance speed of the conveyance unit according to the carry-in interval, and correspond to the optimum value of the carry-in interval and the conveyance speed. Need to get a reference time. In addition, in order to improve inspection efficiency, it is necessary to know whether the inspection capability during operation is sufficient for the inspection limit capability limited by the currently set transport speed and reference time. is there.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the conventional problems as described above and achieve the following objects. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide an article inspection apparatus capable of obtaining the degree of margin of inspection capability during operation with respect to the limit of the optimum conveyance speed or inspection capability from the carry-in interval.

In the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, (1) a transport means for transporting sequentially inspected objects, and detecting that the inspected object has been carried into the transport means. And obtaining quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveying means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object is carried into the conveying means by the carrying-in detection means. Detected by the carry-in detection means in an article inspection apparatus comprising: quality data acquisition means; and quality determination means for determining quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition means A carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the inspected object, and a clear of the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means Statistical means for calculating a statistic relating to the carry-in interval within a predetermined range set for the purpose; and a histogram display means for displaying a histogram relating to the carry-in interval based on the statistic relating to the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means; And an optimum carry-in interval calculating unit for calculating an optimum carry-in interval from the statistical amount representing the variation in the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical unit and the reference time, and the display of the histogram display unit is configured to display the inspection object. And a histogram having the number of inspections of the inspection object as a frequency, and an optimum carry-in interval mark representing the optimum carry-in interval calculated by the optimum carry-in interval calculating means. .

With the above configuration, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, when the carry-in detection unit detects that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance unit, the quality data acquisition unit performs the detection after the reference time elapses from this detection time. Quality data of the inspection object is acquired. When the quality data is acquired, the quality determination means determines the quality of the inspection object. Further, the carry-in interval detected by the carry-in detection unit is measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage unit. When the measured carry-in interval is stored, a carry-in interval within a preset predetermined range among the carry-in intervals stored by the statistical means is read, and a statistic relating to the read carry-in interval is calculated. . Once this statistic is calculated, the carry-in interval of the object being inspected, such as weight sorting, can be accurately grasped based on this statistic, so the transfer speed and reference time can be distributed It is possible to reset the speed and the reference time to be suitable for the vehicle, and the occurrence of double riding is reduced, the inspection accuracy of the inspection object is increased, and the inspection efficiency is improved.

Furthermore, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, when the histogram relating to the carry-in interval is displayed on the basis of the statistics relating to the carry-in interval by the histogram display means, the operator of the article inspection apparatus refers to the displayed histogram. It is possible to appropriately change the conveyance speed according to the carry-in interval. In particular, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the optimum carry-in interval mark representing the optimum carry-in interval calculated by the optimum carry-in interval calculating means is displayed on the display screen simultaneously with the histogram by the histogram display means. As a result, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can simultaneously refer to the displayed histogram and the optimum carry-in interval mark, and can change the carry-in interval appropriately by changing the carrying speed.

Further, in an article inspection apparatus according to the present invention described in (1) is, (2) display of the histogram display means it may further include a reference time mark indicating the reference time.

  With the above configuration, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, a histogram is displayed on the display screen with the carry-in interval indicating the data section and the number of inspections indicating the frequency of the inspection object, and at the same time the reference time mark is also displayed. The As a result, since the operator of the article inspection apparatus can simultaneously grasp the displayed histogram and the reference time mark, the conveyance speed can be appropriately changed with reference to the histogram and the reference time mark.

Moreover, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention , (3) transport means for transporting sequentially inspected objects, and carry-in detection means for detecting that the inspection objects are carried into the transport means; Quality data acquisition means for acquiring quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveyance means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance means by the carry-in detection means; In the article inspection apparatus comprising: a quality determination unit that determines quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition unit, the inspection target detected by the carry-in detection unit A carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the object, and a preset predetermined value among the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means Convert a statistical means for calculating statistics regarding loading interval囲内, based on the statistics for the carry distance calculated by the statistical means, the histogram display means for displaying the histogram of the carry distance, said carrying distance And a conveyance speed calculation means for calculating a conveyance speed for each carry-in interval, and an optimum carry-in interval calculation means for calculating an optimum carry-in interval from the statistic indicating the variation in the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means and the reference time. And an optimum conveyance speed calculation means for calculating an optimum conveyance speed based on the optimum carry-in interval calculated by the optimum carry-in interval calculation means, and the histogram display means converts the display by converting into the conveyance speed. If it is determined that performing the conveying speed calculated by the conveying speed calculating unit and data section, the object to be inspected The histogram with the frequency of inspection number, both may be displayed and the optimum transport speed marks representing the optimal transport speed that has been calculated by the optimum transport speed calculating means.

With the above configuration, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the display of the histogram display means uses the transport speed calculated by converting from the carry-in interval by the transport speed calculation means as the data section, and the number of inspected objects is calculated. A histogram representing the frequency is displayed on the display screen by the histogram display means, and an optimum conveyance speed mark representing the optimum conveyance speed calculated by the optimum conveyance speed calculation means is displayed on the display screen simultaneously with the histogram. As a result, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can simultaneously refer to the displayed histogram and the optimum transport speed mark, and can directly and appropriately change the transport speed.

Moreover, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention , (4) transport means for transporting sequentially inspected objects, and carry-in detection means for detecting that the inspection objects are carried into the transport means; Quality data acquisition means for acquiring quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveyance means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance means by the carry-in detection means; In the article inspection apparatus comprising: a quality determination unit that determines quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition unit, the inspection target detected by the carry-in detection unit A carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the object, and a preset predetermined value among the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means A statistical means for calculating a statistic regarding the import interval within the range;
Histogram display means for displaying a histogram relating to the carry-in interval based on the statistics relating to the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means , and an inspection number of the inspection object per unit time from the statistics relating to the carry-in interval. And an inspection ability calculation means for calculating a reference inspection ability that represents a limit of the inspection ability based on the reference time, and the histogram display means converts the inspection ability into a display When it is determined that the switching is to be performed, the reference value calculated by the inspection capability calculation unit is a histogram in which the inspection capability calculated by the inspection capability calculation unit is a data section and the number of inspections of the inspection object is a frequency. reference test capability marks representing inspection capability and both may be displayed.

  With the above configuration, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the histogram display means displays the histogram and the inspection with the inspection ability calculated by the inspection ability calculation means as the data section and the inspection number of the inspection object as the frequency. A reference inspection capability mark representing the reference inspection capability that means the limit of the inspection capability calculated from the reference time by the capability calculation means is simultaneously displayed on the display screen. As a result, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can recognize at a glance from the displayed reference inspection ability mark and the distribution of the inspection ability at a glance whether the inspection ability tendency of the article inspection apparatus or the article inspection has been operated correctly. Thus, it is possible to promote appropriate treatment for the production line preceding the article inspection apparatus.

Moreover, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention described in (4) , (5) the inspection capability calculation means calculates an estimated optimum inspection capability representing an optimal inspection capability estimated from the statistics, An inspection capability that represents the degree of margin of the estimated optimum inspection capability relative to the reference inspection capability is calculated, and the display of the histogram display unit indicates the inspection capability margin calculated by the inspection capability calculation unit A margin mark may be included.

  With the above configuration, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the inspection capability margin mark indicating the degree of margin of the estimated optimum inspection capability with respect to the reference inspection capability is further displayed on the histogram displaying the reference inspection capability mark. Therefore, it is possible to visually indicate to the operator whether or not the capacity of the article inspection apparatus that has been operating is sufficient.

According to the article inspection apparatus of the first aspect, the statistic relating to the carry-in interval is calculated, and the histogram relating to the carry-in interval is displayed based on the statistic. The displayed histogram includes a histogram in which the inspection object import interval is a data section and the inspection object frequency is the frequency, and an optimal import interval mark indicating the optimal import interval. As a result, the loading interval of the inspected object that has been subjected to weight selection is accurately grasped based on this statistic. This can be reset, and the occurrence of double riding is reduced, and the inspection accuracy of the inspection object is increased and the inspection efficiency is improved. In addition, based on this statistic, the estimated optimum inspection ability obtained by calculating from the reference time corresponding to the optimum value of the carry-in interval and the conveyance speed is the inspection ability obtained by calculating from the reference time. An inspection capability margin indicating the degree of margin with respect to the reference inspection capability indicating the limit is obtained. As a result, it is possible to grasp how much the estimated optimum inspection capability is sufficient with respect to the reference inspection capability, and the inspection capability can be adjusted within the range of this inspection capability margin, so that the inspection accuracy is maintained. In addition, the inspection efficiency can be improved.

Furthermore, since the histogram relating to the carry-in interval is displayed, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can refer to the displayed histogram, and the conveyance speed can be appropriately changed according to the distribution of the carry-in interval.
Also, since the optimum loading interval mark is displayed on the display screen simultaneously with the histogram by the histogram display means, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can refer to the displayed histogram and the optimum loading interval mark at the same time, and changes the conveyance speed. Thus, the carry-in interval can be appropriately changed so as to approach the optimum carry-in interval.

  According to the article inspection apparatus according to the second aspect, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can simultaneously grasp the displayed histogram and the reference time mark, so that the conveyance speed is appropriately set with reference to the histogram and the reference time mark. Can be changed.

  According to the article inspection apparatus of the third aspect, since the optimum conveyance speed mark is displayed on the display screen simultaneously with the histogram, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can simultaneously refer to the displayed histogram and the optimum conveyance speed mark. The transfer speed can be changed appropriately and directly so as to approach the optimum transfer speed.

According to the article inspection apparatus according to claim 4 , since the histogram and the reference inspection capability mark are simultaneously displayed on the display screen, the operator of the article inspection apparatus can determine from the distribution status of the displayed reference inspection ability mark and inspection ability. It is possible to recognize at a glance whether there is a tendency of the inspection capability of the article inspection apparatus or whether the article inspection has been correctly operated, and it is possible to promote an appropriate treatment for a production line preceding the article inspection apparatus.

According to the article inspection apparatus according to claim 5 , since the inspection capability margin mark indicating the degree of margin of the estimated optimum inspection capability relative to the reference inspection capability is further displayed in the histogram displaying the reference inspection capability mark, It is possible to visually indicate to the operator whether or not the inspection capability of the article inspection apparatus that has been used is sufficient.

It is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a weight sorter concerning an embodiment of an article inspection device of the present invention. It is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a weight sorter concerning an embodiment of an article inspection device of the present invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the conveyance part in one Embodiment of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the numerical value displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the histogram of the carrying-in interval displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the histogram of the inspection capability displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the histogram of the conveyance speed displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the histogram of the operation button and the conveyance speed which were displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the goods inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a top view which shows an example of the operation part displayed on the display part of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention, and a histogram. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the weight selection of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the weight selection of the weight sorter which concerns on embodiment of the article inspection apparatus of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the conveyance part of the conventional weight sorter.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an article inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 to 11 show an example of an embodiment in which the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention is applied to a weight sorter.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the weight sorter 1 includes an apparatus main body 2, a transport unit 3 as a transport unit, a carry-in sensor 4 as a carry-in detection unit, and a sorter 5. .
The weight sorter 1 is installed on the downstream side of the belt conveyor 14 constituting a part of the production line, measures the mass of the inspection object W that is sequentially conveyed in the direction of arrow A at a predetermined interval, The obtained measurement value is compared with the set upper and lower reference values of mass respectively, and it is judged whether or not the obtained measurement value is within the range of the reference value. The outside is selected as defective.

  The apparatus main body 2 includes a conveyance control unit 6, a weight selection unit 7 as a quality data acquisition unit, a carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 as a carry-in interval measurement storage unit, a calculation processing unit 9, and a histogram display unit. The display unit 10, the operation unit 11, and a storage housing 2 a that stores these units are configured.

  The transport unit 3 includes a running conveyor 31 and a weighing conveyor 32. The running conveyor 31 includes two rollers 31a and 31c and an endless transport belt 31b wound around these rollers. ing. The weighing conveyor 32 is composed of two rollers 32a and 32c and an endless conveying belt 32b wound around these rollers.

  The transport unit 3 transports various inspection objects W such as packaged raw meat, fish, processed food, and medicines that are transported in the direction of arrow A from the belt conveyor 14. The inspection object W is conveyed by being accelerated or decelerated so as to have an optimum speed for measurement by the run-up conveyor 31, further conveyed by the weighing conveyor 32, and the quality data is transferred to the weight selection unit 7 while being conveyed. And is further conveyed to the sorting unit 5.

  The carry-in sensor 4 is configured by a transmission photoelectric sensor including a pair of light projecting units 4 a and light receiving units 4 b, and is disposed between the run-up conveyor 31 and the weighing conveyor 32. Specifically, the light projecting unit 4a is disposed on the apparatus main body 2 side of the transport belt 32b, and the light receiving unit 4b is disposed on the other side of the transport belt 32b so as to face the light projecting unit 4a. When the inspection object W passes between the light projecting unit 4a and the light receiving unit 4b, the light receiving unit 4b is shielded by the inspection object W, so that it is detected that the inspection object W has started to be carried in. It is like that. The detected carry-in start signal is output to the weight selection unit 7, the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8, the calculation processing unit 9, and the like in the apparatus main body 2.

  The sorting unit 5 includes a sorting mechanism unit 5a and a conveyor belt 5b. The sorting mechanism unit 5a includes a sorting mechanism such as an air jet mechanism. The sorting mechanism unit 5a may be any as long as it can sort out non-defective products and defective products. For example, the sorting mechanism unit 5a may be configured by a sorting mechanism such as a flipper mechanism or a dropout mechanism. In this air jet mechanism, while the inspection object W conveyed from the upstream weighing conveyor 32 is conveyed in the arrow B direction by the conveying belt 5b, the jet is applied to the inspection object W determined to be defective. Air is blown, and selection is performed by moving defective inspection objects W from the conveyor belt 5b and distinguishing them from non-defective inspection objects W. Further, the conveyance belt 5b is composed of a roller 5c, a roller (not shown) disposed opposite to the roller 5c, and an endless conveyance belt 5d wound around these rollers, and the measurement is finished. The inspected object W is conveyed downstream at a predetermined speed.

  The conveyance control unit 6 includes a drive motor 12 and a control unit 13, and the rotation speed (rpm) of the drive motor 12 is controlled by the control unit 13. The control means 13 controls the rotational speed of the drive motor 12 based on information such as speed information output from the calculation processing unit 9 and control information input from the operation unit 11.

  The weight selection unit 7 includes a load sensor 21 as a quality data acquisition unit, a mass detection unit 22, a storage unit 23, and a quality determination unit 24, and the inspection object W transported by the transport unit 3 is used. Is measured, and it is determined whether or not the measured mass is within a predetermined value range.

  The load sensor 21 is composed of a scale mechanism such as an electromagnetic balance mechanism, and measures the mass of the inspection object W while the inspection object W is being conveyed by the weighing conveyor 32. . The load sensor 21 may be a scale mechanism capable of measuring mass, and may be configured by a scale mechanism such as a differential transformer mechanism or a strain gauge mechanism.

  This electromagnetic balance mechanism has a balance, and is configured to balance this balance by applying electromagnetic force instead of placing an object W on one side of the balance and placing a weight on the other side of the balance. Has been. This electromagnetic balance mechanism utilizes the fact that the electromagnetic force required when balancing the balance changes according to the mass of the object W to be detected, detects the current when the balance is balanced, and responds to this current. Output the signal. This electromagnetic force is applied when a predetermined reference time Tk elapses after the carry-in sensor 4 detects that the workpiece W has been carried into the weighing conveyor 32. The reference time Tk is output from the load sensor 21 after the inspection object W has completely transferred onto the weighing conveyor 32 after the inspection sensor 4 detects that the inspection object W has started to be loaded into the weighing conveyor 32. It means the time required for the signal to stabilize, and is preset in accordance with the type and weight of the predetermined object W to be inspected. Specifically, the reference time Tk is the speed of the weighing conveyor 32 (m / min), the length of the weighing conveyor 32 in the arrow B direction (mm), and the length of the inspection object W in the direction of the arrow B. The length (mm) is set based on the type of the workpiece W, the production plan, and other inspection conditions.

  In this load sensor 21, the inspection conditions such as the measurement range, measurement capability and inspection accuracy are selected according to the type of the object W to be inspected. For example, the measurement range is selected from 6 g to 600 g, the measurement capability is a maximum of 150 pieces / min, and the inspection accuracy is selected at about ± 0.1 g, and the detected mass signal is output to the quality judgment means 24. Yes. When the measurement capability is 150 pieces / min at the maximum, the reference time Tk for each inspection object W is set to a minimum of 400 msec. The reference time Tk in this case may be 400 msec or more, but is set according to the type, production plan, and other inspection conditions. Since the reference time Tk is measured in a shorter time as it is closer to 400 msec, the inspection efficiency is increased. As the distance is longer, the inspection time is longer, but the inspection accuracy is increased.

  On the other hand, in the case of small items such as varieties other than medicines and health foods, for example, the measurement range is 1 g to 300 g, the maximum measurement capability is 600 pieces / min, and the inspection accuracy is about ± 0.03 g. The signal is output to the quality judgment means 24. When the measurement capability is 600 pieces / min at the maximum, the measurement time per piece of the inspection object W is set to a minimum of 100 msec. In this case, if the reference time Tk is 100 msec or more, the occurrence of double riding can be prevented, but it is set according to the product type, production plan and other inspection conditions. Since the reference time Tk is measured in a shorter time as it is closer to 100 msec, the inspection efficiency is increased, and the inspection time is increased as the distance is longer, but the inspection accuracy is increased.

  The mass detection means 22 is composed of a predetermined detection circuit. When the mass signal of the inspection object W output from the load sensor 21 is input to the detection circuit, the mass detection means 22 is based on the mass signal. The mass of the inspection object W is detected, and this mass is further output to the quality determination means 24 as a detected mass signal. Further, in this mass detection means 22, a predetermined reference time Tk has elapsed after the load sensor 4 detects that the inspection object W has been loaded onto the weighing conveyor 32, and the load sensor 21 measured the mass. Mass detection is performed on the inspection object W for each inspection object W. The individual masses detected by the mass detection unit 22 may be stored in the storage unit 23 as detection data.

  The storage means 23 is composed of a storage medium or the like, and stores various data set in advance corresponding to the type of the inspection object W. The storage means 23 includes, for example, each belt speed (m / min) and length in the conveying direction (mm) of the run-up conveyor 31 or the weighing conveyor 32, and the size (mm) and shape of each type of inspection object W. The upper limit Ga and the lower limit Gb of the allowable range for the mass of the object W to be inspected, the distance from the carry-out end of the weighing conveyor 32 to the sorting unit 5, and the carry-in interval t (msec) set for each type of the object W to be inspected The set reference time Tk, the carry-in interval t (msec) of each inspection object W acquired by the load sensor 21, the quality data such as the inspection conditions, and the like are stored.

  The quality judgment means 24 is composed of a quality judgment circuit and the like, and judges the quality of the inspection object W. In the quality determination unit 24, when the mass signal of the inspection object W output from the mass detection unit 22 is received, the upper limit value Ga and the lower limit value Gb of the mass stored in advance in the storage unit 23 are read out. The detected mass of the inspection object W is compared with the upper limit value Ga and the lower limit value Gb, respectively, and whether or not the mass of the inspection object W is within the allowable range of mass determined by the upper limit value Ga and the lower limit value Gb. Is determined.

  The determination result determined by the quality determination unit 24 is output to the selection unit 5 so that the inspection object W is selected as a non-defective product or a defective product. The determination result is output to the display unit 10 and displayed as a non-defective product or a defective product, and is further output to the storage unit 23 so that the determination result for each inspection object W is stored. It has become. Further, it is also output to the transport control unit 6 and used as control information for driving the transport unit 3 during normal times and stopping the transport when there is an abnormality such as when defective products continue.

  The carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 measures the carry-in interval t (hereinafter may be referred to as calculation processing), an electronic circuit such as an integrated circuit (Integrated Circuit), a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and a RAM that stores the carry-in interval t ( It is composed of a storage medium such as Random Access Memory.

In this electronic circuit, the carry-in interval t of the inspection object W is calculated based on the detection signal received from the carry-in sensor 4 and is output to the storage medium. For example, t (i) is a time when a detection signal indicating that the first inspection object W (i) has started to be carried in from the carry-in sensor 4, and the next inspection object W (i + 1) is started to be carried in. T (i + 1) is the time when the detection signal is received, and t (1) is the carry-in interval between the inspection object W (i) and the next inspection object W (i + 1). 1) is expressed by the following formula (1).
t (1) = t (i + 1) −t (i) (1)

The first carry-in interval t from the start of carrying in the first inspection object W (i) to the start of carrying in the next inspection object W (i + 1) is calculated from the above equation (1), and is expressed as t (1). It is output to a storage medium. The carry-in interval t (2) of the next test object W (i + 2) of the next test object W (i + 1) is also calculated in the same manner as the calculation process of the carry-in interval t (1), and the carry-in interval t (2). Are output to the storage medium, and the calculation process is repeated n times sequentially until the quality inspection of the n inspection objects W is completed, and the calculated carry-in intervals t (1) to t (n) are stored. It is output to the medium. When the storage medium sequentially receives the individual carry-in intervals t (1) to t (n) output from the electronic circuit, the individual carry-in intervals t (1) to t (n) are sequentially stored. Yes.
In the article inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment, the case where the unit of the carry-in interval t is time has been described. However, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, the carry-in interval t (sec) may be Further, the conveyance speed V (mm / sec) of the conveyance unit 3 may be divided by the carry-in interval t (sec) to be expressed in a unit of length (mm).

  The calculation processing unit 9 includes an electronic circuit such as an integrated circuit (Integrated Circuit) and a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and includes a statistical unit 9a, an optimal loading interval calculation unit 9e, and an optimal conveyance speed calculation unit 9f. In the calculation processing unit 9, information received from the transport control unit 6, the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8, the storage means 23, etc., for example, the carry-in interval t, the cumulative number of inspections for each carry-in interval section, Standard deviation of carry-in interval t as a statistic indicating variation in carry-in interval t based on mass and other inspection conditions, conveyance speed V, optimum carry-in interval, optimum carry speed, standard inspection ability, estimated optimum inspection ability, inspection ability A statistic relating to the carry-in interval t such as a margin and a two-seat limit value for preventing two-seaters from being generated is calculated. The two-seat limit value is a so-called that the inspection object W and a part or all of the inspection object W to be measured next are placed on the load sensor 21 at the same time, and the inspection object W cannot be measured. This is the limit value (msec) of the interval at which two-passengage does not occur. This two-seat limit value is similar to the optimum carry-in interval and optimum carry speed described above, the characteristics of the product type of the inspection object W, the conveyance mode of the belt conveyor positioned upstream from the detection position of the start of the introduction of the inspection object W, Calculation processing is performed based on the production plan and other inspection conditions.

The statistical means 9a is composed of an electronic circuit such as an integrated circuit, and includes a standard deviation calculating means 9b, a conveyance speed calculating means 9c, and an inspection capability calculating means 9d, and calculates a statistic relating to the carry-in interval t within a predetermined range. It is supposed to be. The statistic calculated in this way is stored in the storage means 23.
In the present embodiment, the statistical means 9a has been described as being composed of the standard deviation calculating means 9b, the transport speed calculating means 9c, and the inspection capability calculating means 9d. However, in the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention, The standard deviation calculation unit 9b, the conveyance speed calculation unit 9c, and the inspection capability calculation unit 9d may constitute the calculation processing unit 9.

  Here, the predetermined range determines the range of the carry-in interval t used for the statistic of the inspection object W, and is set to exclude extremely large carry-in intervals t and extremely small carry-in intervals t. This predetermined range may be set in time according to the characteristics of the product type such as the size and shape of the object to be inspected. Assuming that the carry-in interval for determining the predetermined range is st, for example, st ≦ 20 sec, st ≦ 10 sec, or st ≦ 6 sec. The predetermined range may be determined by multiplying the reference time Tk by a predetermined coefficient. For example, if the coefficient is a, a coefficient a that satisfies 2 ≦ a ≦ 5, preferably 3 ≦ a ≦ 4 is selected, and the above-described carry-in interval st, reference time Tk, and coefficient a are expressed as st <a × What satisfies Tk may be set as the predetermined range.

  In the statistical means 9a in the present embodiment, the statistic relating to the carry-in interval t within the predetermined range is calculated. However, in the article inspection apparatus of the present invention, the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 When measuring and storing the interval t, only the carry-in interval t within the same range as the predetermined range is stored in the storage means 23, and the carry-in interval exceeding the predetermined range is excluded from the data to be stored, You may comprise so that the burden of the memory | storage means 23 may be reduced.

  In this statistical means 9a, the cumulative number of inspections from the carry-in interval t (1) to t (n) is within a predetermined number of inspections, for example, 50 to 1,000 from the first t (1). It is counted whether or not the predetermined number of inspections has been reached, and when it reaches, the cumulative number of inspections of the inspected object W is totaled for each predetermined loading interval interval. The carry-in interval section here means that when the accumulated inspection number from the above-mentioned carry-in interval t (1) to t (n), for example, when the accumulated inspection number is 101, 100 carry-ins within the predetermined time mentioned above. The minimum loading interval tmin and the maximum loading interval tmax among the intervals t are divided at equal intervals, which means divided individual sections. In the statistical means 9a, the number of inspected objects W is totalized and stored for each divided section. As described above, the data of the cumulative number of examinations collected and stored in the statistical means 9a is output to the outside and used according to the purpose. For example, in the calculation processing unit 9, it is used as data for obtaining the optimal carry-in interval and the optimal transport speed, is output to the display unit 10, and is displayed as a histogram on the display unit 10. In the case of the histogram display, the smaller the divided individual sections are, the finer and smoother the display of the histogram is, and the larger the sections are, the more staircase the display is. On the other hand, the smaller the individual sections that are divided, the more time is required for calculation processing and storage of aggregation, and the larger the individual sections that are divided, the more calculation processing and storage of aggregation. It can be executed in a short time. Therefore, the division section is appropriately set so that the calculation process and the display are efficiently executed based on the type of the inspection object W and the production plan.

Hereinafter, a case where data is counted for each carry-in interval section of the inspection object W will be described.
For example, in a weight sorter capable of inspecting 600 inspected objects W per minute, 10 is the maximum number of inspections possible per second, so the fastest inspection time per piece is minimum. The reference time Tk and the carry-in interval t are set to values greater than 100 msec.

  Specifically, when the carry-in interval t is set at 150 msec based on the production plan, the characteristics of the product to be inspected W, and other inspection conditions, the variation occurs when the actually measured carry-in interval t varies within ± 50 msec. The range is from 100 msec to 200 msec (150 msec ± 50 msec). When this range is divided into 20 sections, one section is 5 msec, and the carry-in interval section is 5 msec. Such variations in the carry-in interval t are caused when the characteristics of the type of the inspection object W, the conveyance mode of the belt conveyor located upstream from the detection position of the start of the introduction of the inspection object W, or the connection between the belt conveyors. This is considered to be caused by a slip of the inspection object W.

In this statistical means 9a, when the cumulative inspection number of the inspected object W is calculated based on the above-mentioned 20 divided carry-in intervals t, the following is performed. In this case, since the range of the carry-in interval of 100 msec to 200 msec is equally divided by 20 pieces, the individual carry-in interval is 5 msec, and the carry-in interval interval every 5 msec is changed from the first carry-in interval interval H1 to the twentieth carry-in interval interval. Assuming H20
H1 is a carry-in interval of 101 msec to 105 msec, the cumulative number of inspection objects W is three, H2 is a carry-in interval of 106 msec to 110 msec, the cumulative inspection number of the inspection object W is six, and H20 is a carry-in interval of 196 msec to 200 msec. The cumulative number of inspections of the inspection object W is calculated and stored such that the number of inspections of the inspection object W is four, etc. As described above, this calculation process is performed when the cumulative number of inspections from the carry-in interval t (1) to t (n) is a predetermined number of inspections, for example, 50 to 1, from the first t (1). It is executed when a predetermined number of inspections within 000 is reached.

  Further, in this statistical means 9 a, a statistic indicating the variation in the carry-in interval t is calculated from the carry-in interval t measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 and stored in the storage means 23. Yes. The statistic representing this variation is not only the standard deviation, but also the simple arithmetic average calculated by adding all the numerical values and dividing the total by the number, and the weighted arithmetic average calculated by considering each characteristic. Deviations calculated from average values or target values such as arithmetic averages, geometric averages that calculate the average of magnifications, harmonic averages that calculate the average of the number of data divided by the sum of the reciprocals of the data, fluctuations that represent overall variation, This includes a degree of freedom, a variance calculated by dividing the total number of variations by the degree of freedom, a range (maximum value−minimum value), and the like.

  The standard deviation calculating means 9b is expressed by the following equation (2) based on the data of the cumulative number of inspections for each carry-in interval section (for each of H1 to H20) of the inspected object W that is tabulated and stored in the statistical means 9a. The standard deviation σ is obtained, and the calculated standard deviation σ is stored in the storage unit 23.

The standard deviation σ is calculated based on the following equation (2).
In formula (2), n represents a natural number (inspection number), x represents an individual carry-in interval t (msec), and m represents an average value (msec) of the carry-in interval t.

The conveyance speed calculation means 9c includes a detection position Po where the carry-in sensor 4 detects the start of carry-in of the inspection object W, and an acquisition start position Ps where the load sensor 21 measures the mass of the inspection object W and starts acquiring quality data. reference distance L _1, which is configured to calculate the conveying speed V of the conveyance section 3 in terms divided by the loading interval t calculated by carrying distance measuring storage unit 8, the calculated transport speed V of Is stored in the storage means 23. As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyance speed V is an average linear velocity that is an average value calculated per predetermined time for each linear velocity (m / min) of the conveyance belt 31 b of the run-up conveyor 31 and the conveyance belt 32 b of the weighing conveyor 32. (M / min), the average linear velocity (m / min) of the conveyor belt 31b is expressed as V ₃₁ , and the average linear velocity (m / min) of the conveyor belt 32b is expressed as V ₃₂ .

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, if the reference time representing the reference of the loading interval t, which is the time from the start of loading of the inspection object W to the measurement of the mass, is Tk, the reference distance is L ₁ . Therefore, the average linear velocity (m / min) V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b is expressed by the following equation (3).
V ₃₂ = L ₁ / Tk (3)
The average linear velocity V ₃₂ and the average linear velocity V ₃₁ are normally set to substantially the same velocity, and are controlled by the conveyance control unit 6 so as to be always maintained at a constant velocity, and can be changed as necessary. ing.

For example, in the above-described weight sorter 1 having an inspection capability of 600 pieces / min, when the reference time Tk is set to 150 msec, the actual carry-in interval t of the inspection object W being conveyed is longer than 150 msec. If it is too high, the inspection efficiency may be lowered, and if the carry-in interval t is too short than 150 msec, so-called double riding occurs, and the inspection accuracy may be lowered. In accordance with such a variation state of the carry-in interval t, the operator sets the average linear velocity V ₃₁ of the conveyor belt 31b and the average linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b so that the carry-in interval t is close to the reference time Tk. 11 and the like can be adjusted as appropriate.

In this Checkweigher 1, for example, when L ₂ representing the length of the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 32b is 300mm, the reference distance L ₁ is usually stability good conveying belt 32b of the measurement Since it is set on the downstream side in the vicinity of the center, if L ₁ = 150 mm, Tk is set at 150 msec. Therefore, the average linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b is substituted into equation (3), and Is calculated as follows.
V ₃₂ = 150mm / 150msec
= 1 mm / msec
= 1,000mm / sec
= 60 m / min.

Such a conveyance speed V can be calculated in terms of the carry-in interval t. For example, when the conveyance speed is V, the conveyance speed V can be calculated from the carry-in interval t by the following equation (4).
V = L ₁ / t (4)

Assuming that L ₁ = 150 mm, the cumulative number of inspected objects W subjected to the calculation processing based on the 20 divided carry-in intervals t is as follows. The range of the carry-in interval of 100 msec to 200 msec is converted by the equation (4), for example, V = 150 mm / 100 msec.
= 1.5mm / msec
= 1,500 mm / sec
= 90m / min
And the range is 45 m / min to 90 m / min. When the transport speed V in this range is divided into 20, the individual transport speed V is 2.25 m / min, and the transport speed section for each 2.25 m / min is divided from the first transport speed section V1 to the twentieth transport speed section. Assuming V20, V1 is a conveyance speed of 45 m / min to 47.25 m / min, the cumulative number of inspection objects W is 4, and V2 is a conveyance speed of 47.25 m / min to 49.5 m / min. The number of cumulative inspections of the object W is 6, V20 is a conveyance speed of 87.75 m / min to 90 m / min, the cumulative number of inspections of the inspection object W is 3, etc. The cumulative number of inspections (every V1 to V20) is converted from the carry-in interval t according to the equation (4) and stored in the storage means 23.

The inspection capability calculation means 9d is configured to obtain an inspection capability (number / min) representing the number of inspections of the inspected object W per unit time by converting it from a statistical amount related to the carry-in interval t. It is stored in the storage means 23. In addition, the inspection capability calculation means 9d calculates the estimated optimum inspection capability obtained by calculating from the carry-in interval t and the conveyance speed V based on this statistic, from the reference time Tk. The inspection capability margin indicating the degree of margin with respect to the reference inspection capability indicating the limit is calculated. For example, when the average linear velocity V ₃₂ of the transport belt 32b is 60 m / min, the maximum inspection number of the inspection object W is 60,000 msec (= 1 minute) ÷ 150 msec (reference time Tk) = 400. Therefore, it becomes 400 pieces / min.

Thus, the variation in the carry-in interval t generated when the average linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b is constant at 60 m / min can be converted as the variation in the inspection capability of the inspection object W as follows. it can. Since the first carry-in interval section (H1) is from 101 msec to 105 msec, if the section of the first inspection capability corresponding to H1 is K1, K1 is
[60,000 msec (1 minute) / 101 msec = 594 (pieces / min)] to
[60,000 msec (1 minute) ÷ 105 msec = 571 (pieces / min)]
Since there are three inspected objects W in H1, the second inspecting ability section K2 corresponding to three inspected objects W in K1 and H2 is 106 msec to 110 msec. 6 pieces / min. To 545 (pieces / min) and the 20th inspection capability section K20 corresponding to H20 is 306 (pieces / min) to 300 (pieces / min). It can also be calculated as the cumulative number of inspections for each inspection ability section (for each of K1 to K20) of the inspection object W such that W is four.

As described above, the cumulative number of inspections in this inspection capacity section (for each of K1 to K20) is such that when the average linear velocity V ₃₂ (m / min) of the conveyor belt 32b is constant at 60 m / min, the carry-in interval t is from 100 msec to It is calculated that the inspection capability (pieces / min) varies due to variation in the range of 200 msec.

  This variation in inspection capability (pieces / min) can also be converted as variation in the linear velocity (m / min) of the conveyor belt 32b. For example, it is assumed that the carry-in interval t is constant at 150 msec and there is no fluctuation, and the above-described inspection capability (pieces / min) varies is assumed to be caused by fluctuations in the linear velocity of the conveyance belt 32b. The variation in the inspection capability (pieces / min) is regarded as the variation in the linear velocity (m / min) of the conveyor belt 32b for each linear velocity section (S1 to S20) of the conveyor belt 32b corresponding to the inspection capability section (K1 to K20). It is also possible to convert every).

Specifically, when the linear velocity section (S1) of the first conveying belt corresponding to 594 (pieces / min) to 571 (pieces / min) of the first inspection capability section (K1) is converted,
594 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 89.1 m / min˜
571 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 85.7 m / min
It becomes. The linear velocity section (S2) of the second conveyor belt corresponding to the second carry-in interval section (K2) is converted in the same manner,
566 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 84.9 m / min˜
545 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 81.8 m / min
It becomes. Similarly, the linear velocity section (S20) of the twentieth transport belt corresponding to the twentieth carry-in interval section (K20) is also converted,
306 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 45.9 m / min˜
300 (pieces / min) × 150 mm (L1) = 45.0 m / min
It can be.
In this way, the carry distance t can be calculated from changes in the inspection capacity variation of the linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b when it is assumed that there is no variation in the constant 150 msec (pieces / min).

  Further, the reference inspection capability (pieces / min) is calculated from the reference time Tk in the weight sorter 1, and the reference time Tk is determined based on the characteristics of the type of the inspection object W and the inspection object W. Because it is set according to the transport mode of the belt conveyor located upstream from the detection position of the start of loading, production plan, and other inspection conditions, the reference inspection capacity is calculated based on other inspection conditions as well as the reference time Tk. Will be processed.

  The estimated optimum inspection capability is calculated based on a statistic relating to the carry-in interval t, and represents the estimated optimum inspection capability in the weight sorter 1 in operation. The optimum carry-in interval calculating means 9e described later. Calculation processing is performed based on the optimal carry-in interval calculated by the above. The estimated optimum inspection capability is also calculated based on other inspection conditions and the like, similar to the above-described reference time Tk.

  In addition, the inspection capability margin is calculated by, for example, a value obtained by multiplying the reference inspection capability by a predetermined coefficient Gα so as to indicate the degree of inspection capability margin the estimated optimum inspection capability has with respect to the reference inspection capability. May be. Further, based on the standard deviation σ of the carry-in interval t, for example, if the inspection capability margin is Ky and the reference inspection capability is Gn, it may be calculated as Ky = Gn−3σ.

  The optimum carry-in interval calculating means 9e is configured to calculate the optimum carry-in interval from the standard deviation σ calculated by the standard deviation calculating means 9b, the statistic representing the above-described variation, and the reference time Tk. The optimum carry-in interval is stored in the storage means 23.

The optimum carry-in interval is calculated based on the characteristics of the type of the inspection object W, the conveyance mode of the belt conveyor positioned upstream from the detection position of the start of the inspection object W, the production plan, and other inspection conditions. . For example, the carry-in interval t (1) to t (n), the cumulative number of inspections for each carry-in interval section (every H1 to H20), the linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b, the reference time Tk and the carry-in interval t or the carry-in interval section An optimal carry-in interval is calculated based on the standard deviation σ expressed by equation (2). As the carry-in interval t becomes shorter, the inspection efficiency increases, but the inspection accuracy may decrease. On the other hand, the longer the carry-in interval t, the higher the inspection accuracy, but the inspection efficiency may decrease. Therefore, in consideration of the balance between the inspection efficiency and the inspection accuracy, the optimum carry-in interval t is calculated so that the inspection efficiency and the inspection accuracy become the best values.

For example, when the optimum carry-in interval is Gt, the optimum carry-in interval Gt is a value with good inspection efficiency and inspection accuracy, that is, a value with good inspection efficiency and less likely to cause two cars, for example, Tk <Gt <Calculated based on the type, size, shape, inspection capability (number / min) of the weight sorter 1 and the like so as to satisfy the relationship of <σ. The optimum carry-in interval Gt may be calculated within a range such as (Tk + 0.1σ) <Gt <(Tk + 0.5σ).
Alternatively, the optimum loading interval Gt may be calculated by multiplying a predetermined coefficient α obtained from an empirical value based on a statistic such as an inspection condition by a standard deviation σ obtained from a statistic regarding the loading interval t. In this case, the optimum carry-in interval Gt can be calculated as Gt = σ × α.

Optimum transport speed calculating means 9f is a reference distance L _1, divided by the optimal loading intervals Gt calculated by optimum loading interval calculating unit 9e, being configured for calculating an optimum transport speed GV of the conveyance section 3 The calculated optimum transport speed GV is stored in the storage means 23. Since this optimum transport speed GV is calculated based on the carry-in interval t, it is located upstream from the detection characteristics of the characteristics of the product to be inspected W and the start of carry-in of the product to be inspected, similar to the above-mentioned optimum carry-in interval. Calculation processing is performed based on the belt conveyor conveyance mode, production plan, and other inspection conditions. Specifically, the carry-in intervals t (1) to t (n), the cumulative number of inspections for each carry-in interval section (H1 to H20), the linear velocity V ₃₂ of the conveyor belt 32b, the reference time Tk, the standard deviation σ, etc. Based on this, the optimum conveyance speed V to be recommended is calculated. As with the carry-in interval t, the inspection efficiency increases as the conveyance speed V increases, but the inspection accuracy may decrease. On the other hand, the lower the transport speed V, the higher the inspection accuracy, but the inspection efficiency may be reduced. Therefore, in consideration of the balance between the inspection efficiency and the inspection accuracy, the optimum transport speed V is calculated so that the inspection efficiency and the inspection accuracy become the best values.

The optimum transport speed GV, for example, the reference distance _{L 1} is 150 mm, if optimum loading interval Gt is 120msec from equation (4), the optimum transport speed GV is GV ₌ L 1 / Gt becomes,
GV = 150mm / 120msec
= 1.25mm / msec
= 1,250 mm / sec
= 75m / min
Therefore, the optimum transport speed GV is 75 m / min.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the display unit 10 is provided at the upper end of the apparatus body 2 on the side of the transport unit 3. Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 8, the display unit 10 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display. Composed. The display unit 10 performs display processing based on the cumulative number of inspections for each carry-in interval section stored in the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 and displays the carry-in interval t on the display screen indicating the data interval, and the frequency on the vertical axis. A histogram of the number of inspections of the inspection object W is displayed. In addition, the horizontal axis represents the conveyance speed V representing the data section, and the vertical axis represents the histogram of the number of inspected objects W representing the frequency. Furthermore, simultaneously with such a histogram, an optimum carry-in interval mark corresponding to the optimum carry-in interval calculated by the calculation processor 9 and an optimum carry speed mark corresponding to the optimum carry speed are displayed.

  Further, the display unit 10 includes, for example, inspection conditions set in advance corresponding to the type of the inspection object W stored in the storage unit 23, the length (mm) in the transport direction for each type of the inspection object W, Upper limit Ga and lower limit Gb of the allowable range of mass with respect to inspection object W, loading interval t (msec) of each inspection object W acquired by loading sensor 4, optimum loading interval Gt, and conveyance speed of conveyance unit 3 V, optimum transport speed GV, two-seat limit value (msec), inspection ability (pieces / min), estimated optimum inspection ability (pieces / min), reference inspection ability (pieces / min), inspection ability margin, histogram, The determination result determined by the quality determination means 24 is displayed as necessary. In addition to such display, a touch panel to which numbers, characters, and the like displayed when the display screen is touched is displayed on a part of the display unit 10 illustrated in FIG. 8 may be used as the operation unit 11.

4 to 8 show examples displayed on the display screen of the display unit 10. FIG. 4 shows the display screen of the display unit 10 with “optimum loading interval XX msec”, “measurement reference time XX msec”, “current conveyance speed XX m / mim”, and “optimum conveyance speed XX m”. / Mim ”,“ two-seat limit value ○○ msec ”,“ inspection ability ○○ pieces / min ”,“ estimated optimum inspection ability ○○ pieces / min ”,“ reference inspection ability ○○ pieces / min ”,“ inspection Each item and a numerical value corresponding to the item are displayed as “capacity margin ○○”.
In addition to this, examination information such as determination results may be displayed together with these displays or on a display screen separate from these displays as necessary.

In FIG. 5, the horizontal axis indicates the import interval t (msec) of the inspection object W representing the data section, and the vertical axis indicates the cumulative inspection number (pieces) of the inspection object W indicating the frequency. The range of 80 msec to 400 msec is divided into about 40, one carry-in interval section is set to 8 msec, and the cumulative number of inspected objects W for each carry-in interval section (8 msec) is represented as a histogram 41.
Note that the vertical interval may indicate the carry-in interval t (msec) of the inspection object W representing the data section, and the horizontal axis may indicate the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) indicating the frequency.
When the carry-in interval t in the lower left part of FIG. 5 is 80 msec or less, the distribution of the inspected object W selected as the defective product 41a by so-called double riding is shown. Furthermore, simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41, a two-seat limit value mark 44 is displayed that a two-seater ride will occur if the reference time mark 42, the optimum carry-in interval mark 43, and the carry-in interval t become shorter than this.

  Along with these indications, in the upper right part, "Measurement reference time XX msec", "Current transfer speed XX m / min", "Optimum loading interval XX msec", "Two-pass limit value XX msec" And the numerical value corresponding to the item is displayed. Since the reference time mark 42, the optimum carry-in interval mark 43, the two-pass limit mark 44, etc. are displayed simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41 in this way, the operator of the weight sorter 1 refers to these displays for the optimum. The conveyance speed V can be easily changed so that the peak of the histogram 41 comes near the carry-in interval mark 43.

  In FIG. 6, the horizontal axis represents the inspection capability (pieces / min) converted from the loading interval t of the weight sorter 1 representing the data section, and the vertical axis represents the cumulative number of inspection objects W (pieces) representing the frequency. ), The range of the inspection capability from 150/600 to 600 / min is divided into about 40, and one inspection capability section is set to 11 / min. The accumulated number of inspection objects W is represented as a histogram 41b. Note that the vertical axis may display the inspection capability (pieces / min) of the weight sorter 1 representing the data section, and the horizontal axis may display the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) representing the frequency. When the inspection capacity at the lower right in FIG. 6 is 600 pieces / min at the maximum, the distribution of the inspected object W selected as the defective product 41c by so-called double riding is shown. Furthermore, simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41b, a reference inspection capability mark 48, and an inspection capability margin mark 45 represented by an arrow connecting the reference inspection capability mark 48 with the position of 3σ from the average of the inspection capability distribution (position of the dotted line). It is displayed.

  Along with these indications, the upper left corner is “Measurement reference time XX msec”, “Current transport speed XX m / min”, “Estimated optimum inspection capacity XX pieces / min”, “Inspection capacity margin ○ Items and numerical values corresponding to the items are displayed, such as “◯” and “Standard inspection ability XX pieces / min”. Thus, since the inspection capability margin mark 45, the standard inspection capability mark 48, and the like are displayed simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41b, the operator of the weight sorter 1 refers to these displays and the distribution of the inspection capability is determined. It is possible to urge the pre-production line to reduce the capacity of the pre-production line of the weight sorter 1 so as to be below the reference inspection capability mark.

  In FIG. 7, the horizontal axis indicates the linear velocity of the conveyor belt 32b representing the data section as the conveyance velocity V (m / min), and the vertical axis indicates the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) representing the frequency. Therefore, the range of the conveyance speed V from 25 m / min to 90 m / min is divided into about 40, and one speed section is set to about 1.6 m / min, and the inspection object W for each speed section (1.6 m / min) The cumulative number of inspections is represented as a histogram 41d. Note that the linear velocity of the conveyor belt 32b representing the data section is displayed on the vertical axis as the conveyance velocity V (m / min), and the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) representing the frequency is displayed on the horizontal axis. Good. When the conveyance speed V in the lower right part of FIG. 7 is 90 m / min or higher, the distribution of the inspection object W selected as a defective product 41e by so-called double riding is shown. Further, simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41d, a reference time mark 42, an optimum transport speed mark 47, and a two-pass limit mark 44 are displayed.

  Along with these indications, the upper left corner shows “Measurement reference time ○○ msec”, “Current transport speed ○ ○ m / min”, “Optimum transport speed ○ ○ m / min”, “Two-pass limit value ○ The item and the numerical value corresponding to the item are displayed as “msec”. Thus, since the 472 riding limit mark 44, the current transport speed mark 46, the optimum transport speed mark, and the like are displayed simultaneously with the display of the histogram 41d, the operator of the weight sorter 1 refers to these displays. The conveyance speed V can be easily changed so that the peak of the histogram 41d comes near the optimum conveyance speed mark 47.

  In FIG. 8, on the right side of the display screen in the display unit 10, the horizontal axis represents the conveyance speed V (m / min) representing the data section, and the vertical axis represents the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) representing the frequency. The display unit 10 displays a histogram 41d, an optimum conveyance speed mark 47, and a two-pass limit value mark 44, and displays the operation unit 11 as a touch panel on the left side. Note that a histogram may be displayed in which the vertical axis represents the conveyance speed V (m / min) representing the data section, and the horizontal axis represents the cumulative number of inspection objects (pieces) representing the frequency. As shown in FIG. 8, since the histogram 41d is displayed on the right side and the operation unit 11 is displayed on the left side with the touch panel described above, the operator of the weight sorter 1 can read from the left input operation unit 11b while referring to the right side display. The conveyance speed V can be directly input, and the conveyance speed V can be easily changed so that the peak of the histogram 41 d comes near the optimum conveyance speed mark 47.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the operation unit 11 is provided at the upper end portion of the apparatus main body 2 on the transport unit 3 side together with the display unit 10, and as shown in FIG. It may be formed as a touch panel. Further, a screen switching button 11a is displayed on the upper left portion of the operation unit 11 displayed as a touch panel, and an input operation unit including an input button on a part of the display screen of the display unit 10 by touching the screen switching button 11a. 11b may be displayed. Information such as the linear velocity of the conveyor belt 32b can be input from the input operation unit 11b.

  In the weight sorter 1 according to the present embodiment, a CPU (not shown) for controlling each component and a bus (not shown) for connecting the component to these may be provided. For example, the conveyance unit 3, the carry-in sensor 4, the selection unit 5, the conveyance control unit 6, the weight selection unit 7, the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8, the calculation processing unit 9, the display unit 10, and the operation unit 11 in the weight sorter 1. Each component may be operated by a CPU. The CPU executes a control program corresponding to each component stored in the apparatus main body 2 and operates each component.

  Next, histogram display processing in the weight sorter 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

  First, when the power of the weight sorter 1 is turned on and a production line for medicine, processed food, raw meat, fish, etc. is started, the inspection object W is transported from the transport conveyor installed upstream of the weight sorter 1. The inspection object W is started to be carried into the weighing conveyor 32 via the running conveyor 31 shown in FIG. When loading of the inspection object W is started, it is detected by the loading sensor 4 (step S11).

  Next, it is determined whether the reference time Tk has elapsed from the detection by the carry-in sensor 4 (step S12). If the reference time Tk has not elapsed (NO in step S12), the count from the detection of the carry-in sensor 4 is continued. When the reference time Tk has elapsed (YES in step S12), the quality data of the inspection object W is acquired, that is, the inspection object W is detected by the load sensor 21 and a mass signal is output to the mass detection means. Then, the mass of the inspection object W is detected by the mass detection means 22 (step S13). The detected mass is output to the quality determination unit, and the quality determination unit 24 compares the reference mass in a predetermined range stored in the storage unit 23 with the mass of the object W to be inspected. The quality is determined based on whether or not (step S14). If the inspection object W is a non-defective product (YES in step S14), the screening unit 5 performs a non-defective product sorting process (step S15). When the inspected object W is a defective product (NO in step S14), a defective product sorting process is performed by the sorting unit 5 (step S16).

  Next, it is determined whether or not to continue the inspection of the inspection object W (step S17). If the inspection of the inspected object W is not continued (NO in step S17), the inspection ends and predetermined end processing such as turning off the power of the weight sorter 1 is performed.

  When the inspection of the inspected object W is continued (in the case of YES in step S17), the detection signal that the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 has started to carry in the first object W (i) from the carry-in sensor 4. The time t (i) between the time t (i) received and the time t (i + 1) received the detection signal that the next inspection object W (i + 1) has started to be carried in is measured (step). S18). When the carry-in interval t (1) is measured, the carry-in interval t (1) measured in the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 is stored (step S19).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the number of inspections in the carry-in interval t (1) measured in the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 exceeds a predetermined number of inspections, for example, 100 (step S20). When the count of the number of inspections at the carry-in interval t (1) does not exceed the predetermined number of inspections (in the case of NO at step S20), the process returns to the detection of carry-in of the inspection object W (step S11). The process proceeds to step S12 in which it is determined whether or not the reference time Tk has elapsed. When the count of the number of inspections in the carry-in interval t (1) exceeds the predetermined number of inspections (in the case of YES in step S20), the process proceeds to (A) shown in FIGS.

  Next, a display process of the histogram is performed by the display unit 10 (step S25), and the histogram 41 is displayed on the display unit 10 as shown in FIG. 5 (step S26). Further, the reference time mark 42 is clearly displayed as a double line simultaneously with the histogram 41 on the display unit 10 (step S27).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the optimum carry-in interval mark is displayed on the display unit 10 (step S28). If the optimum carry-in interval mark is not displayed (NO in step S28), the process proceeds to step S31.

  When displaying the optimum carry-in interval mark (YES in step S28), the optimum carry-in interval is calculated by the calculation processing unit 9 (step S29), and the optimum carry-in interval mark is displayed on the display unit 10 as shown in FIG. 43 is displayed in the vertical direction with an arrow line simultaneously with the histogram 41 (step S30).

  Next, it is determined whether or not to switch the display by converting the horizontal axis of the histogram 41 shown in FIG. 5 displayed on the display unit 10 from the carry-in interval (msec) to the conveyance speed V (m / min). (Step S31). When the display is not switched (NO in step S31), the process proceeds to step S41 in (B) shown in FIGS.

  When switching the display (in the case of YES at step S31), the calculation processing unit 9 calculates the conveyance speed V (m / min) based on the carry-in interval t (step S32), and the display unit 10 As shown in FIG. 7, the optimum transport speed mark 47 is displayed in the vertical direction with an arrow line simultaneously with the histogram 41d (step S33).

  Next, it is determined whether or not to display the optimum transport speed mark on the display unit 10 (step S34). When the optimum conveyance speed mark is not displayed (NO in step S28), the process proceeds to step S41 of (B) shown in FIGS.

  When the optimum conveyance speed mark is displayed (YES in step S34), the optimum conveyance speed is calculated by the calculation processing unit 9 (step S35), and the optimum conveyance speed mark is displayed on the display unit 10 as shown in FIG. 43 is displayed in the vertical direction with an arrow line simultaneously with the histogram 41 (step S36).

  Next, it is determined whether to switch the display by converting the horizontal axis of the histogram 41d shown in FIG. 7 displayed on the display unit 10 from the conveyance speed V (m / min) to the inspection capability (pieces / min). (Step S41). If the display is not switched (NO in step S41), the process proceeds to step S17 of (C) shown in FIGS. When the display is switched after being converted into inspection capability (pieces / min) (in the case of YES in step S41), the inspection capability (pieces / min) is calculated by the calculation processing unit 9 (step S42), and the display unit 10, a histogram 41d is displayed as shown in FIG. 6 (step S43), and the process proceeds to step S17 of (C) shown in FIGS.

  As described above, in the weight sorter 1 according to the present embodiment, the conveyance unit 3 that conveys the inspected objects W that are sequentially carried in and the inspection unit W that has been carried into the conveyance unit 3 are detected. Loading sensor 4 and a load for detecting the mass of inspection object W carried into conveyance unit 3 after elapse of reference time Tk after it is detected that conveyance object 3 has been carried into conveyance unit 3 by carrying-in sensor 4 The sensor 21 and the mass detection means 22, the quality determination means 24 for judging the quality of the inspection object W based on the mass calculated by the load sensor 21 and the mass detection means 22, and the carry-in detected by the carry-in sensor 4 A carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8 that measures and stores the interval t; and a statistical unit 9a that calculates a statistic relating to the carry-in interval t within a predetermined range of the carry-in intervals t measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage unit 8; so Since is made, it is possible to obtain optimal conveyance speed V of the conveyance section 3 (m / min) from the standard deviation σ of the carry distance t.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention is applied to the weight sorter 1 has been described. However, the article inspection apparatus according to the present invention includes a transport unit, a carry-in detection unit, Any data acquisition means, quality determination means, carry-in interval measurement storage means, and statistical calculation means may be used, and the inspection contents of the article, the method, the type of the inspection object, etc. are not limited. Absent. For example, the present invention is optimally applied to an X-ray foreign object detection apparatus that irradiates an object to be inspected with X-rays and detects whether or not foreign substances are mixed in the inspection object from the amount of transmitted X-rays. be able to. Also, an alternating magnetic field is generated in the transfer line, the inspection object of each product type is passed through the alternating magnetic field, and a metal that detects whether or not metal is mixed from the detection output when passing through the magnetic field is detected. It can be optimally implemented in the detector.

  As described above, the present invention has an effect that an optimum conveying speed can be obtained from a carry-in interval in an article inspection apparatus, and a device that measures the mass of an article widely, such as a weight sorter and an auto- This is useful for X-ray foreign matter detection devices and metal detection devices that detect foreign matters contained in checkers and articles.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,51 Weight sorter 2 Apparatus main-body part 2a Storage housing | casing 3,52 Conveyance part (conveyance means)
4 Carry-in sensor (carry-in detection means)
4a Light projecting unit 4b Light receiving unit 5 Sorting unit 5a Sorting mechanism unit 5b, 31b, 32b Conveying belt 5c, 31a, 31c, 32a, 32c Roller 6 Conveying control unit 7 Weight sorting unit (quality judging means)
8 Loading interval measurement storage unit (loading interval measurement storage means)
9 Calculation processing unit (statistical means, standard deviation calculating means, optimum carry-in interval calculating means, transport speed calculating means, optimum transport speed calculating means, inspection capability calculating means)
9a Statistical means 9b Standard deviation calculating means 9c Conveying speed calculating means 9d Inspection capacity calculating means 9e Optimal loading interval calculating means 9f Optimal conveying speed calculating means 10 Display section (histogram display means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Operation part 11a Operation button 11b Input operation part 12 Drive motor 13 Control means 14 Belt conveyor 21, 53 Load sensor (quality data acquisition means)
22 Mass detection means 23 Storage means 24 Quality judgment means 31 Run-up conveyor 32 Weighing conveyor 41, 41b, 41d Histogram 41a, 41c, 41e Defective product 42 Reference time mark 43 Optimal carry-in interval mark 44 Two-pass limit value mark 45 Inspection capacity margin Degree mark 46 Current transport speed mark 47 Optimal transport speed mark 48 Standard inspection capability mark W, W1, W2, W3, W4 Inspected object

Claims (5)

A transport means for transporting inspected objects sequentially carried in;
Carrying-in detection means for detecting that the inspection object has been carried into the conveying means;
Quality data acquisition means for acquiring quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveyance means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance means by the carry-in detection means; ,
In an article inspection apparatus comprising: a quality determination unit that determines quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition unit;
Carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the inspection object detected by the carry-in detection means;
Statistical means for calculating a statistic relating to a carry-in interval within a predetermined range among the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means;
Histogram display means for displaying a histogram relating to the carry-in interval based on the statistics relating to the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means;
An optimum carry-in interval calculating means for calculating an optimum carry-in interval from a statistic representing the variation in the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means and the reference time ;
The histogram display means displays the histogram with the loading interval of the inspection object as a data section and the frequency of the number of inspections of the inspection object, and the optimal loading interval calculated by the optimal loading interval calculation means. An article inspection apparatus including an optimum carry-in interval mark . The article inspection apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the display of the histogram display unit further includes a reference time mark representing the reference time. A transport means for transporting inspected objects sequentially carried in;
Carrying-in detection means for detecting that the inspection object has been carried into the conveying means;
Quality data acquisition means for acquiring quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveyance means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance means by the carry-in detection means; ,
In an article inspection apparatus comprising: a quality determination unit that determines quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition unit;
Carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the inspection object detected by the carry-in detection means;
Statistical means for calculating a statistic relating to a carry-in interval within a predetermined range among the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means;
Histogram display means for displaying a histogram relating to the carry-in interval based on the statistics relating to the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means;
A transport speed calculating means for calculating the transport speed for each carry-in interval by converting the carry-in interval;
An optimum carry-in interval calculating means for calculating an optimum carry-in interval from a statistic representing the variation in the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means and the reference time;
An optimum conveyance speed calculation means for calculating an optimum conveyance speed based on the optimum carry-in interval calculated by the optimum carry-in interval calculation means,
When it is determined that the histogram display means converts to the transport speed and switches the display, the transport speed calculated by the transport speed calculation means is used as a data section, and the number of inspections of the inspection object is set as a frequency. histogram, the optimum transport speed both article inspection apparatus and displaying the optimum transport speed marks representing the optimal transport speed that has been calculated by the calculation means. A transport means for transporting inspected objects sequentially carried in;
Carrying-in detection means for detecting that the inspection object has been carried into the conveying means;
Quality data acquisition means for acquiring quality data of the inspection object carried into the conveyance means after elapse of a reference time after it is detected that the inspection object has been carried into the conveyance means by the carry-in detection means; ,
In an article inspection apparatus comprising: a quality determination unit that determines quality of the inspection object based on the quality data acquired by the quality data acquisition unit;
Carry-in interval measurement storage means for measuring and storing the carry-in interval of the inspection object detected by the carry-in detection means;
Statistical means for calculating a statistic relating to a carry-in interval within a predetermined range among the carry-in intervals measured and stored by the carry-in interval measurement storage means;
Histogram display means for displaying a histogram relating to the carry-in interval based on the statistics relating to the carry-in interval calculated by the statistical means;
An inspection capability calculating means for calculating an inspection capability representing the number of inspections of the inspection object per unit time from a statistic regarding the carry-in interval, and calculating a reference inspection capability indicating a limit of the inspection capability based on the reference time; With
When it is determined that the histogram display means converts to the inspection ability and switches the display, the inspection ability calculated by the inspection ability calculation means is used as a data section, and the number of inspections of the inspection object is a frequency. histogram of article inspection apparatus and displaying together with the reference test capability mark indicating the reference test capability calculated by the inspection capacity calculating means. The inspection capability calculation means calculates an estimated optimal inspection capability that represents an optimal inspection capability estimated from the statistics, and an inspection capability margin that indicates a margin of the estimated optimal inspection capability relative to the reference inspection capability. 5. The article inspection apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the display of the histogram display means calculated includes an inspection capability margin mark indicating the inspection capability margin calculated by the inspection capability calculator .