JP6257423B2 - Conveying apparatus and conveying method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a transport apparatus and a transport method characterized by estimating a weight based on a captured image and adjusting a transport speed according to the estimated weight.

  In recent years, when manufacturing processed foods, mass production is performed for the purpose of reducing production costs. When mass production is performed, it is one of the issues to keep product quality constant, and various studies have been made.

  In order to keep the product quality constant, it is important that the food is processed almost uniformly in the manufacturing process. And in order to process foodstuffs substantially uniformly, it is necessary to manage the quantity of the foodstuffs provided to a process process.

  Examples of a method for managing the amount of food provided for the processing step include a method of supplying food at a constant speed of a conveyor or a feeder. This method is useful for regular foods, but for irregular foods such as potatoes, beef bowls, cucumbers and other fruits, peaches, fruits such as strawberries, the weight tends to vary and the supply is controlled. Had the problem of being difficult.

  On the other hand, as a method of managing the amount of the irregular food material, a method of managing the supply amount while sequentially measuring the weight can be mentioned. (See Patent Document 1)

JP 2004-37252 A

  However, when sequentially measuring the weight, the measurement takes time, so that it is not suitable for mass production. In addition, the equipment becomes complicated, and a large burden is imposed in terms of space and cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a transporting device and a transporting unit that can supply a fixed amount of an irregular food without using complicated equipment.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a transport apparatus according to the present invention is a transport apparatus for transporting a transported object, and includes a transport means for storing and transporting the transported object in a partitioned section, An image pickup means for picking up an image of the object to be conveyed for each section, a control numerical value generation means for generating a control numerical value from the picked-up image, and a transfer speed of the transfer means based on the generated control numerical value. Adjusting means for adjusting.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to quickly adjust the conveyance speed by generating the control numerical value from the image of the object being conveyed. Moreover, the supply amount to the next process can be made substantially constant by adjusting the conveyance speed.

  In the configuration described above, it is preferable that there are a plurality of objects to be conveyed accommodated in the section.

  According to this, the numerical value for control can be produced | generated at once with respect to several to-be-conveyed objects in a division. Therefore, time can be shortened rather than generating a control numerical value for each conveyed object.

  In the configuration described above, it is desirable to provide leveling means so that the objects to be conveyed in the compartment do not overlap.

  According to this, it is possible to prevent variations in the generated numerical values for control by eliminating overlapping of the objects to be conveyed.

  Moreover, in order to solve the said subject, the conveying method concerning this invention is a conveying method for conveying a to-be-conveyed object, Comprising: The accommodation process which accommodates a to-be-conveyed object in the division into the division, During conveyance An image capturing step for capturing an image of the object to be transported for each section, a control numerical value generating step for generating a control numerical value from the captured image, and adjusting the transport speed of the transport unit based on the generated control numerical value And an adjusting process.

  According to this transport method, the transport speed can be quickly adjusted by generating the control numerical value from the image of the transported object being transported. Further, the supply amount can be made substantially constant by adjusting the conveyance speed.

  In the transport method described above, it is desirable to further include a leveling step so that the objects to be transported in the compartment do not overlap.

  According to this transport method, since the overlap between the transported objects can be eliminated, it is possible to prevent the generated control numerical values from being varied. Thereby, supply amount can be made constant.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to generate a control numerical value from a captured image and adjust the conveyance speed according to the generated control numerical value. Thereby, the quantity of the conveyed product provided to the next processing process can be made substantially constant.

FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a transfer device 1. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conveyance speed adjustment device 3. FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the stored contents of a storage unit 33 that is a component of the transport speed adjusting device 3. 10 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the conveyance speed adjustment device 3 according to a control program 331.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In addition, embodiment described below shows an example of typical embodiment of this invention, and, thereby, the range of this invention is not interpreted narrowly.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a transport apparatus 1 including a transport speed adjusting apparatus 3 of the present invention as a component. The transport apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a transport line 2, a transport speed adjusting device 3, and an imaging device 4.

  The transport line 2 is for transporting the object A transported in the previous process of the transport line 2 and supplying it to the subsequent process. The conveyance line 2 includes a conveyor 21, a separation plate 22 provided on the conveyor 21 at a predetermined interval in the width direction of the conveyor 21, and side plates (not shown) provided on both sides of the conveyor 21. It is configured.

  Examples of the conveyor 21 include an endless rotating conveyor. The types of conveyors 21 include rubber belt conveyors, steel belt conveyors, wire mesh belt conveyors, cable belt conveyors, magnet belt conveyors and other belt conveyors, slide conveyors, flat conveyors, wire mesh chain conveyors, crossbar conveyors, apron conveyors, bread Chain conveyors such as conveyors, curved conveyors, pivoted bucket conveyors, drag chain conveyors, scraper conveyors, emmassé conveyors, pallet conveyors, pusher conveyors, cart conveyors, tow conveyors, trolley conveyors, free roller conveyors, drive roller conveyors, wheels Examples thereof include a roller conveyor such as a conveyor.

  The partition plate 22 is for partitioning the placement surface of the conveyor 21. The separator plates 22 are provided on the conveyor 21 at predetermined intervals. Examples of the material of the sorting board include plastic, rubber, or a core material coated with silicone rubber. The height of the separation plate 22 is preferably slightly higher than the height of the conveyed object A.

  The side plates are for preventing the conveyed object A from falling from both sides of the conveyor 21. Examples of the side plate include a metal plate and a plastic plate. Among these, those having a small coefficient of friction with the conveyed object A are preferable. The height of the side plate is preferably higher than that of the partition plate 22.

  The imaging device 4 is installed above the transport line 2 and photographs the object A to be transported on the transport line 2 from above. Here, photographing is preferably performed for each section of the transport line 2.

  Examples of the imaging device 4 include a line camera and an ITV camera that captures an image of the conveyed object A instantaneously. Further, the photographing timing may be performed at regular time intervals, or may be controlled so as to be interlocked with the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21. Further, the image may be taken based on the command information received from the conveyance speed adjusting device 3 or the conveyor 21, or the movement of the section of the conveyance line 2 may be detected and photographed. The image data photographed by the imaging device 4 is transmitted to the transport speed adjusting device 3. Note that the imaging device 4 does not have to be an independent device, and may function as a part of the conveyance speed adjustment device 3. In this case, the imaging device 4 has a function of capturing images according to instructions from the processing unit 31 and transmitting captured image data to the processing unit 31.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the transport speed adjusting device 3 of the present invention.

  The conveyance speed adjustment device 3 of the present invention includes a processing unit 31, an input unit 32, a storage unit 33, and an output unit 34.

  The processing unit 31 includes a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), and the like. An input unit 32, a storage unit 33, and an output unit 34 are connected to the processing unit 31. The processing unit 31 controls the operation of each unit of the transport speed adjusting device 3 according to various programs stored in the storage unit 33.

  The input unit 32 and the output unit 34 are I / O (Input / Output) interface units that control input / output of information to / from an external device, and are configured by a USB (Universal Serial Bus), a serial port, or the like. The input unit 32 and the output unit 34 control input / output of information with the imaging device 4, the conveyor 23, the operation input unit, the display unit, and the like connected to the transport speed adjustment device 3.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the stored contents of the storage unit 33 which is a component of the transport speed adjusting device 3 of the present invention.

  The storage unit 33 can use a non-volatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), or a flash memory as a storage medium for the control program 331 and the control data 332. The storage unit 33 can use a volatile memory such as DRAM or SRAM as a storage medium for the work data 333.

  In the storage unit 33, a control program 331 and control data 332 are stored, and work data 333 is stored as necessary.

  The control program 331 is a program that is read and executed by the processing unit 31. Specifically, the control program 331 includes an image analysis program 3311, an area calculation program 3312, a control numerical value generation program 3313, and a conveyance speed adjustment program 3314.

  The image analysis program 3311 is a program for processing an image acquired from the imaging device 4 via the input unit 32. Specifically, this is a program that binarizes the image data acquired by the input unit 32 and aggregates the gray value for each pixel of the image to detect the peripheral coordinates of the plane cross section of the conveyed object A.

  The area calculation program 3312 is a program for calculating the area from the processed image. Specifically, this is a program for calculating the area of the plane section of the conveyed object by counting the number of pixels based on the peripheral coordinates of the conveyed object detected by the image analysis program 3311. Note that the area calculation method is not limited to the method of counting the number of pixels, and any known method can be applied.

  The control numerical value generation program 3313 is a program for converting the calculated area into a control numerical value using the control numerical value conversion parameter 3321. The converted control numerical value is stored as work data 333 as a value for each section of the conveyor 21. Examples of the numerical value for control include weight and volume.

  The conveyance speed adjustment program 3314 is a program that determines whether or not the converted control numerical value is within a specific range, and adjusts the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21 according to the determination result. Specifically, the control numerical value for each section of the conveyor 21 stored as the work data 333 is added by the number stored as the section number data 3322, and the total value is preset as the total value allowable data 3323. It is determined whether it is within the range. And it is a program which transmits a command to the conveyor 21 via the output part 34 so that the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21 may be adjusted according to a determination result.

  The control data 332 is data used when the processing unit 32 calculates using the control program 331. Specifically, the control data 332 includes control numerical value conversion parameters 3321, number-of-sections data 3322, and total value allowable range data 3323.

  The control numerical value conversion parameter 3321 is data used when the area calculated by the area calculation program 3312 is converted into a control numerical value by the control numerical value generation program 3313. Specifically, for example, the height of the conveyed object A is recorded. Thereby, the volume of the conveyed product A can be approximated by multiplying the calculated area by the height. Alternatively, the volume may be approximated by approximating that the conveyed object A is a sphere, multiplying the area by 3/2 and multiplying by a constant. Furthermore, an approximate value of the density of the conveyed object A may be recorded. Thereby, the weight of the conveyed product A can be estimated. Note that the volume and weight estimation methods are not limited to those described above, and any known method can be applied.

  The section number data 3322 is data indicating the total number of sections from the section photographed by the imaging device 4 to the section just before the transported object A is supplied to the subsequent process among the sections on the conveyor 21. The division number data 3322 is set in advance as a natural number before the conveyance of the conveyed object A is started, and will be described as a natural number N hereinafter.

  The combined value allowable range data 3323 is data used when the conveyance speed adjustment program 3314 determines whether or not the control numerical value is within a specific range. Specifically, the upper limit value and lower limit value of the allowable range of the total volume and the total weight of the conveyed object A loaded from the section photographed by the imaging device 4 on the conveyor 21 to the section immediately before being supplied to the subsequent process. Is recorded.

  Next, operations of the conveyor 21 and the imaging device 4 and processing executed by the transport speed adjusting device 3 according to the control program 331 will be described mainly with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Here, potato will be described as an example of the transported object A.

  The transport apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used when transferring potatoes from a pre-process to a post-process. Here, the case where it transfers to a peeling process from a washing | cleaning process is demonstrated to an example.

  In the potatoes that have been brought in, the adhering soil is first washed in a washing tank. The washing tank is a large storage tank and is provided with rotating wings. The washed potato is once transferred from the washing tank to another tank.

  Next, the potato transferred to another tank is conveyed to a peeler by the conveyor 21. Here, the conveyor 21 is inclined, and a part of the conveyor 21 is inserted into the tank. And the potato is taken out from a tank by the conveyor 21 driving. Since the separator 21 is provided on the conveyor 21, the potato can be taken out from the tank by the potato being caught on the separator 22. Moreover, the side plate is provided in the both sides of the conveyor 21, and the fall of the potato from the conveyor 21 side surface can be prevented.

  A leveling member (not shown) is attached to the side plate. Examples of the shape of the leveling member include a plate-like member or a cylinder vertically divided and hollowed. The leveling member is rotatably attached to the side plate via a bar or plate.

  The leveling member is for leveling the potatoes placed on the conveyor 21. The potatoes stacked on the conveyor 21 come into contact with the leveling member as the conveyor 21 advances. Here, the height of the separating member on the conveyor 21 is only slightly higher than one potato. Therefore, the potato that has come into contact with the leveling member gets over the partition member and falls into the next section. Here, since the side plates are provided on both sides of the conveyor 21, the overlapping potatoes can be reliably guided to the next section. Thereby, the overlapping potato can be removed and the potatoes in the compartment can be leveled.

  Next, the leveled potatoes are photographed by the imaging device 4 (step S1). More specifically, each time a new section moves to the imaging range of the imaging device 4 by the conveyance of the conveyor 21, the imaging device 4 captures an image. Further, the angle of the imaging device 4 is adjusted so as to be substantially perpendicular to the conveyor surface.

  The captured image data is sent to the processing unit 31 of the transport speed adjusting device 3 via the input unit 32, and is stored in the storage unit 33 as work data 333 by the processing unit 31. The processing unit 31 binarizes the image data stored in the storage unit 33 according to the image analysis program 3311 stored in the storage unit 33. Subsequently, the processing unit 31 adds up the gray value for each pixel of the image from the binarized image data, and detects the peripheral coordinates in the plan view of the potato (step S2).

  Next, the processing unit 31 counts the number of pixels based on the peripheral coordinates detected in step S2 according to the area calculation program 3312 stored in the storage unit 33, and calculates the total area of the potatoes in plan view. (Step S3).

  Next, the processing unit 31 converts the area calculated in step S3 into a control numerical value using the control numerical value conversion parameter 3321 according to the control numerical value generation program 3313 stored in the storage unit 33 (step S4). ). And the process part 31 preserve | saves the converted numerical value for control as the working data 333 of the memory | storage part 33 as the value of the partition acquired most recently (step S4).

  Next, in accordance with the conveyance speed adjustment program 3314 stored in the storage unit 33, the processing unit 31 sets the numerical values for control stored in the storage unit 33 in order from the most recently acquired value to the partition number data 3322. Read back the data for the section. And the process part 31 adds the numerical value for control for the read N division according to the conveyance speed adjustment program 3314 (step S5). Thereafter, the processing unit 31 determines whether or not the summed value is within the sum value allowable range corresponding to the sum value allowable range data 3323 (step S6). When it is determined that the total value is within the total value allowable range (YES), the processing unit 31 does not transmit a command to change the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21.

  On the other hand, when the processing unit 31 determines that the combined value is not within the combined value allowable range (NO), it is determined whether or not the combined value exceeds the combined value allowable range (step S7). And when it is judged that it exceeds (YES), the processing part 31 transmits the command to reduce the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21 to the conveyor 21 via the output part 34. On the other hand, when it is determined that the speed is not exceeded (NO), the processing unit 31 transmits a command for increasing the transport speed of the conveyor 21 to the conveyor 21 via the output unit 34. The conveyor 21 changes the conveyance speed according to the received command. In addition, you may change the conveyance speed of the conveyor 21 in multiple steps. When changing in multiple stages, it may be changed based on the difference value from the upper limit value or the lower limit value of the combined value allowable range.

  After the determination, the processing unit 31 deletes the oldest control numerical value from the work data 333 among the control numerical values used for the determination. This is because the potatoes in the section corresponding to the deleted control numerical value disappear from the conveyor 21. It is not always necessary to delete.

  Thereafter, when a new section moves to the photographing range of the image pickup device 4 by the conveyance of the conveyor 21, the next section is photographed by the photographing apparatus (step S1). Thus, the process by the conveyance speed adjustment device 3 is repeated. Thus, the amount of potato supplied to the peeler can be controlled to be constant.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Conveyance apparatus 2 ... Conveyance line 21 ... Conveyor 22 ... Separator board 3 ... Conveyance speed adjustment apparatus 31 ... Processing part 32 ... Input part 33 ... Storage part 331 ... Control program 3311 ... Image analysis program 3312 ... Area calculation program 3313 ... Control Numerical value generation program 3314 ... Conveying speed adjustment program 332 ... Control data 3321 ... Control numerical value conversion parameter 3322 ... Shooting section number data 3323 ... Total value allowable range data 333 ... Working data 34 ... Output unit 4 ... Imaging device A ... Covered Transported goods

Claims (4)

A transport device for transporting an object to be transported,
Conveying means for accommodating and conveying the object to be conveyed in the divided compartments;
Leveling means to prevent the conveyed objects in the compartment from overlapping,
An image pickup means for picking up an image of an object to be conveyed for each section;
Control numerical value generating means for generating a control numerical value from the captured image;
Adjusting means for adjusting the conveying speed of the conveying means based on the generated control numerical value;
A transport apparatus comprising: The control numerical value generated by the control numerical value generating means is a value indicating the weight or volume of the transported object estimated from the captured image,
The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment unit decreases the transport speed of the transport unit as the control numerical value increases.   The transport apparatus according to claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of objects to be transported accommodated in the section. A transport method for transporting an object to be transported,
A housing step of housing the object to be transported in the partitioned compartments;
A leveling process to prevent the objects in the compartment from overlapping,
An imaging step of capturing an image of the object being transported for each section;
A control numerical value generating step for generating a control numerical value from the captured image;
An adjustment step of adjusting the transport speed of the transport means based on the generated control numerical value;
Conveying method including.

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