JP6806962B2 - Waste removal device for agricultural products - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for removing waste parts of agricultural products.

Conventionally, as a device for removing unnecessary parts existing on the surface of agricultural products such as potatoes, as described in Patent Document 1, the agricultural products gripped by the clamps are rotated together with the clamps and the cutter is pressed against the agricultural products to remove the unnecessary parts from the agricultural products. There is a technology to scrape off.

JP-A-9-308475

According to Patent Document 1, it is necessary to support each agricultural product with a clamp and rotate it to remove unnecessary parts. Therefore, when processing a plurality of agricultural products at the same time, it is necessary to provide as many mechanisms for rotating the clamp as the number of agricultural products to be processed at the same time. Further, in order to properly rotate the agricultural product while gripping it with a clamp, it is necessary to make a straight line connecting the two grip points pass through the center of the agricultural product. However, agricultural products such as potatoes differ in size and shape one by one. Therefore, it is difficult to properly grasp the center of each of the plurality of agricultural products and have the clamp grip the center.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for removing waste parts of agricultural products, which can easily process a plurality of agricultural products having different sizes or shapes at the same time.

The waste part removing device for agricultural products according to the first aspect of the present invention removes waste parts existing at a plurality of places on each surface of a plurality of agricultural products having at least one of different shapes and sizes. The removing device is provided with a roller pair consisting of two rollers arranged so that their rotation axes are parallel to each other and form a plurality of depressions arranged along the rotation axis. A contact that can move to the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair and the agricultural product supporting means that supports each of the plurality of agricultural products in each of the depressions, and contacts the surface of the agricultural product to remove the unnecessary portion. The removing means, the roller rotating means for rotating at least one of the two rollers so as to rotate the plurality of agricultural products at the same time, the position detecting means for detecting the position of each of the unnecessary parts, and the contact removing. The means and the control means for controlling the roller rotation means are provided, and the control means moves the contact removing means to the position detected by the position detection means and from the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair. After executing the first removal process for removing the unnecessary portion, the attitudes of the plurality of agricultural products supported by the roller pair are simultaneously changed by rotating at least one of the two rollers on the roller rotating means. The useless portion is moved to the position detected by the position detection means with respect to the useless portion before removal on the surface of the agricultural product whose posture has been changed by the attitude change process and the contact removing means. The second removal process for removing the above is repeated once or a plurality of times, respectively.

According to the present invention, the agricultural product is supported on the depression formed by the roller pair, and the agricultural product is rotated by rotating the roller. Therefore, it is possible to rotate agricultural products of different sizes and shapes while appropriately supporting them without grasping the center of the agricultural products. In addition, a plurality of depressions are formed along the rotation axis of the roller, and each of the plurality of agricultural products is supported in each depression. Therefore, it is possible to rotate a plurality of agricultural products at the same time and remove unnecessary portions. As described above, according to the present invention, a waste removal device that can easily process a plurality of agricultural products having different sizes or shapes at the same time is realized.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that a constriction is formed in each of the two rollers, and the recess is formed by both of the constrictions formed in the two rollers. According to this, agricultural products are likely to be stably supported in the depression formed by the two rollers.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the control means causes the roller rotating means to rotate at least one of the two rollers a plurality of times before the first removing process. According to this, it is possible to perform the removal treatment of the unnecessary portion after stabilizing the posture of the agricultural product placed on the roller. Therefore, it is easy to properly remove the unnecessary portion.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that a plurality of slits are formed on the surface of the roller. According to this, the slit functions as a non-slip for the agricultural products placed on the rollers. Therefore, it is easy to rotate the agricultural product by a desired rotation amount in the posture change process.

Further, in the present invention, a plurality of the roller pairs are arranged in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the axial direction, and the control means is the rotation of the roller by the roller rotation means and the agricultural product by the position detection means. It is preferable that the detection of the position of the above is performed simultaneously for the plurality of the roller pairs and the plurality of the agricultural products. According to this, a plurality of roller pairs forming a plurality of recesses are provided in the orthogonal direction. Then, the treatment is simultaneously executed on the plurality of agricultural products supported by the plurality of roller pairs. In addition, the position of the unused portion is detected at the same time for these agricultural products based on the images of a plurality of agricultural products taken at the same time. Therefore, agricultural products can be processed efficiently.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the contact removing means has a drill blade for scraping the unnecessary portion from the surface of the agricultural product. According to this, the unnecessary portion can be appropriately removed by the drill blade.

Further, in the present invention, when the contact removing means scrapes off the unnecessary portion, a support member that supports the agricultural product by sandwiching it between the roller pair and an elastic force toward the roller pair are applied to the support member. It is preferable that the elastic member is further provided. According to this, the support member surely sandwiches and supports the agricultural product between the roller pair and the support member by the elastic force from the elastic member. Therefore, when the unnecessary portion is scraped off by the contact removing means, the position of the agricultural product is unlikely to shift due to the reaction.

Further, the device for removing waste parts of agricultural products according to the second aspect of the present invention removes waste parts existing at a plurality of locations on the surfaces of a plurality of agricultural products having at least one of different shapes and sizes. A plurality of roller pairs consisting of two rollers arranged so that their rotation axes are parallel to each other and form one or more recesses together, which is a waste removal device, is an axis along the rotation axis. Agricultural product supporting means that is arranged in a direction and supports each of the plurality of agricultural products in each of the plurality of depressions formed by the plurality of roller pairs, and moves to the surface of the agricultural products supported by the roller pairs. It is possible to use a contact removing means for contacting the surface of the agricultural product to remove the unnecessary portion, and two or more said rollers included in the plurality of roller pairs so as to rotate the plurality of agricultural products at the same time. A roller rotating means for rotating, a position detecting means for detecting the position of each of the unnecessary portions, and a contact removing means and a control means for controlling the roller rotating means are provided, and the control means removes the contact. After performing the first removal process of causing the means to move to the position detected by the position detecting means and removing the unnecessary portion from the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair, the roller rotating means has the two or more. A posture change process for simultaneously changing the postures of the plurality of agricultural products supported by the roller pair by rotating a roller, and removal on the surface of the agricultural products whose posture has been changed by the posture change process by the contact removing means. The second removal process of removing the unnecessary portion while moving the previous unnecessary portion to the position detected by the position detecting means is repeated once or a plurality of times, respectively.

According to the first aspect, a plurality of depressions are formed in a pair of rollers. On the other hand, from the second viewpoint, a plurality of dents are formed by arranging a plurality of roller pairs forming one or more dents. Also in such an embodiment, as in the first aspect, a waste portion removing device that can easily process a plurality of agricultural products having different sizes or shapes at the same time is realized.

It is a perspective view of the potato sprout removing device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the sprout removal device of FIG. It is a perspective view of the roller provided in the sprout removal device of FIG. It is a perspective view of the drill unit provided in the lower end part of the robot arm which the sprout removal device of FIG. 1 has. It is a partially enlarged front view including a partial cross section of the drill unit of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the relationship between the control part and the control target in the bud removal device of FIG. It is a flow which shows a series of processing applied to the potato of the potato mounting area and the potato group of the potato processing area of FIG. 2 with the control of the sprout removal device by the control unit. FIG. 8A is a front view of the roller pair immediately after the potato is placed. FIG. 8B is a front view of the roller pair after the posture of the potato is stabilized by the rotation of the rollers. FIG. 9A is a front view of a pair of rollers immediately after the upper half of the potato is subjected to the bud removal treatment. FIG. 9B is a front view of the roller pair after the posture of the potato P is changed by the rotation of the rollers. It is a top view of the modified example in which a plurality of rows of rollers are provided.

Hereinafter, the potato sprout removing device 1 (hereinafter referred to as the sprout removing device 1) according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sprout removing device 1 (unused part removing device) includes a stage 2 installed on the floor of a potato processing factory or the like, a frame 3 installed on the stage 2, and a potato transport unit. 20 (agricultural product supporting means), each device such as a robot arm 50, and a control unit 100 (control means) for controlling the drive of the robot arm 50 or the like are provided. As shown in FIG. 1, the stage 2 is a stand with legs in which wall plates such as metal outer plates 2a to 2c are arranged on all four sides.

As shown in FIG. 1, the potato transport unit 20 is provided on the upper part of the stage 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the potato transport unit 20 includes a plurality of rollers 21 arranged horizontally with respect to the potato transport direction X, two L-shaped stays 24 supporting each roller 21, and two conveyor chains. It has 27 mag. The transport direction X is a direction orthogonal to the front-rear direction of the bud removing device 1 and along the horizontal plane. As shown in FIG. 3, each of the plurality of rollers 21 is axially oriented from both ends of the roller main body 22 and both ends of the roller main body 22 in the axial direction (hereinafter, simply referred to as the axial direction) along the rotation axis A1. It is composed of a protruding support shaft 23. The roller body 22 is formed with three constricted portions 22a whose peripheral surfaces are recessed in a saddle shape toward the rotation axis A1. The three constricted portions 22a have the same shape and the same size as each other, and are arranged at equal intervals along the rotation axis A1. A plurality of slits 22b are formed on the surface of the constricted portion 22a. Each slit 22b is a groove extending parallel to the rotation axis A1. The plurality of slits 22b are arranged in the circumferential direction about the rotation axis A1. The rotation axis A1 of each roller 21 is along the front-rear direction Y. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the rollers 21 are arranged at the same positions in the front-rear direction Y at an arrangement interval slightly larger than the roller diameter in the transport direction X. As a result, the two rollers 21 adjacent to each other form a roller pair 21P, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the constricted portion 22a of both rollers 21 in each roller pair 21P forms three recesses S having a spindle-shaped planar shape. One potato is placed in each recess S. A plurality of roller pairs 21P are arranged with respect to the transport direction X. As a result, a plurality of rows consisting of the three recesses S arranged along the front-rear direction Y are further arranged in a plurality of rows along the transport direction X.

In each roller 21, each support shaft 23 is rotatably supported with respect to the rotation shaft A1 by two L-shaped stays 24 from both sides in the axial direction. The two L-shaped stays 24 are fixed to the two conveyor chains 27, respectively. The two conveyor chains 27 are supported by the stage 2 so as to travel along an orbital path along a vertical plane that overlaps with each other when viewed from the front. In FIG. 1, the circuit path of one of the conveyor chains 27 is illustrated by a chain double-dashed line. A conveyor drive mechanism is provided in the stage 2 to move the two conveyor chains 27 in the same direction and at the same speed when viewed from the front (not shown). This conveyor drive mechanism is driven by a conveyor drive motor 29 (see FIG. 6) provided in the stage 2.

In each roller 21, the extension shaft 25 is fixed to the support shaft 23 projecting rearward of the bud removing device 1. The extension shaft 25 projects further rearward from the support shaft 23. A magnet unit 26 is fixed to the tip of the extension shaft 25. The magnet unit 26 is a columnar member in which a plurality of permanent magnets are installed. As will be described later, power is transmitted from the magnet unit 42 by a magnetic force acting on the magnet unit 42.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the potato transport unit 20, one region upstream with respect to the transport direction X is the potato mounting region V on which the potato is placed on the empty roller 21. One area downstream is the potato processing area W on which the potato sprout processing is executed, which is placed on the roller 21. In the potato mounting area V, the operator manually places the potato P in each recess S formed on the roller pair 21P. As shown in FIG. 2, the potatoes P are arranged on the roller pair 21P as a set of 9 potatoes in 3 rows and 3 columns. When the conveyor drive motor 29 (see FIG. 6) drives the conveyor drive mechanism while the potato P is placed on the roller pair 21P, the conveyor drive mechanism runs the conveyor chain 27. As a result, the potato P placed on the roller pair 21P is conveyed together with the roller 21 from the potato mounting area V to the potato processing area W. In the potato processing area W, the bud removal processing is executed for each of the potato groups P1 and P2 in which 9 pieces of 3 rows and 3 columns are set. The potato group P1 is arranged on the upstream side in the transport direction X, and the potato group P2 is arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction X. When the potato P is subjected to the bud removal treatment in the potato processing region W, the potato P is further conveyed together with the roller 21 along the transfer direction X, and the bud removal device 1 is further conveyed from the discharge unit 2X provided at the left end of the stage 2. It is discharged to the outside. When the roller 21 that has been emptied by discharging the potato P passes through the inside of the stage 2 and makes a half circuit around the circuit path of the conveyor chain 27, it returns to the potato mounting area V at the upper part of the stage 2.

Rotation drive units 40A (roller rotation means) are provided within the range of the potato mounting area V with respect to the transport direction X, and rotation drive units 40B and 40C (roller rotation means) are provided within the range of the potato processing area W. .. The rotation drive units 40A to 40C are drive units that rotate the rollers 21. The rotation drive units 40A to 40C each have a roller rotation motor 41 and a magnet unit 42 rotated by the roller rotation motor 41. The roller rotation motor 41 is arranged at a position slightly rearward from the potato transport portion 20 so that its output shaft is along the transport direction X. A gear 43 is fixed to the output shaft of the roller rotary motor 41. The magnet unit 42 is a columnar member along the transport direction X. A tooth is cut on a part of the peripheral surface of the magnet unit 42, and the tooth and the gear 43 are engaged with each other. A plurality of permanent magnets are arranged in the magnet unit 42 at the same intervals as the rollers 21 in the transport direction X. The magnet unit 42 is rotatably arranged below the magnet unit 26 of the potato transport portion 20 with the central axis of the magnet unit 42 as a rotation axis. When the power output from the roller rotation motor 41 is transmitted to the magnet unit 42 via the gear 43, the magnet unit 42 rotates about its central axis as a rotation axis. When the magnet unit 42 rotates with each permanent magnet of the magnet unit 42 arranged just vertically below each magnet unit 26, the permanent magnet provided in the magnet unit 26 and the permanent magnet provided in the magnet unit 42 become The magnet unit 26 rotates with respect to the rotation axis A1 of the roller 21 due to the magnetic force acting between them. When the magnet unit 26 rotates, the roller 21 fixed to the magnet unit 26 via the extension shaft 25 also rotates with respect to the rotation shaft A1. As a result, the rotation drive unit 40A rotates the roller 21 within the range of the potato mounting area V. The rotation drive unit 40B rotates the roller 21 that supports the potato group P1 within the range of the potato processing region W. The rotation drive unit 40C rotates the roller 21 that supports the potato group P2 within the range of the potato processing region W.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a rectangular parallelepiped frame 3 is provided above the potato processing region W of the potato transport unit 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the frame 3 is fixed to the stage 2 so as to include the potato processing region W inside in a plan view. Four cameras 45 are fixed to the upper part of the frame 3 via two camera fixing frames 4. Two cameras 45 are fixed to each of the camera fixing frames 4. The two cameras 45 fixed to the frame 4 on the right side of FIG. 2 photograph the potato group P1 consisting of nine potatoes P in 3 rows and 3 columns mounted on the roller 21 below the rollers 21 from different angles. It is arranged so that it can be done. The two cameras 45 fixed to the frame 4 on the left side of FIG. 2 view another potato group P2 consisting of nine potatoes P in 3 rows and 3 columns mounted on the roller 21 below the rollers 21 at different angles. It is arranged so that you can shoot from. The camera 45 generates data (imaging data) indicating an imaging result and transmits it to the control unit 100. The images received by the control unit 100 from the two cameras 45 on the potato group P1 side are image data of the potato group P1 taken from different angles. That is, it is stereo pair image data for the potato group P1. The images received by the control unit 100 from the two cameras 45 on the potato group P2 side are image data of the potato group P2 taken from different angles. That is, it is stereo pair image data for the potato group P2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a robot arm 50 is provided in the frame 3. The robot arm 50 includes a first arm 51 rotatably supported by the robot stage 53 in the R1 direction of FIG. 2 and a second arm 52 rotatably supported by the first arm 51 in the R2 direction of FIG. Have. In the robot arm 50, a turning drive mechanism for turning the first arm 51 with respect to the robot stage 53 and turning the second arm 52 with respect to the first arm 51 is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, a movable shaft 52a projecting vertically downward is provided at the lower end of the second arm 52. The robot arm 50 also includes a movable portion drive mechanism that moves the movable portion 52a up and down. A motor for driving a swivel drive mechanism and a movable portion drive mechanism is provided in the robot arm 50, respectively. A drill unit 60 is connected to the movable portion 52a as described later. With the above configuration, the robot arm 50 can move the drill unit 60 in the horizontal direction (direction along both the transport direction X and the front-rear direction Y), and can move the drill unit 60 in the vertical direction (transport direction). It can be moved in a direction (direction orthogonal to both X and Y in the front-back direction). The moving range of the drill unit 60 by the robot arm 50 includes the distribution range of the potato groups P1 and P2 in the potato processing region W in the horizontal direction. Further, in the vertical direction, the moving range is a range in which the drill blade 61 described later can be brought into contact with the surface of each potato P included in the potato groups P1 and P2.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drill unit 60 includes a drill blade 61, a drill support 62 that rotatably supports the drill blade 61 with respect to the rotation axis A2, and a timing pulley 63 arranged above the drill support 62. It has. The drill blade 61 has a drill support shaft 61a along the rotation shaft A2. The drill support shaft 61a extends upward while penetrating the drill support base 62, and is connected to the timing pulley 63 above the drill support base 62. The shaft support base 65 is supported on the drill support base 62 by four columns 64. The shaft support base 65 is formed with a columnar connection hole 65a along the rotation shaft A2. A movable shaft 52a provided at the lower end of the second arm 52 is inserted into the connection hole 65a from above. As a result, the robot arm 50 and the drill unit 60 are connected.

The shaft support base 65 supports the end of the flexible shaft 66 on the output shaft side. The output shaft of the flexible shaft 66 is connected to a timing pulley 68 arranged below the shaft support base 65. The input shaft of the flexible shaft 66 is connected to the drill rotary motor 69 as shown in FIG. The timing pulley 63 and the timing pulley 68 are connected by a timing belt (not shown). The power output from the drill rotation motor 69 is transmitted to the drill support shaft 61a via the flexible shaft 66, the timing pulley 68, the timing belt and the timing pulley 63. As a result, the drill blade 61 rotates with respect to the rotation axis A2. When the lower end of the drill blade 61 comes into contact with the bud portion of the potato P while the drill blade 61 is rotating, the drill blade 61 scrapes the bud portion of the potato P.

A potato holding plate 71 is arranged below the drill support base 62. The potato pressing plate 71 is a disk-shaped member provided with a pressing portion 72 (supporting member) at the lower portion. The pressing portion 72 is a disk protruding downward from the lower surface of the potato pressing plate 71. A corrugated groove 72a is formed on the lower surface of the pressing portion 72. Through holes 73 are formed in the center of the disk of the potato pressing plate 71 and the pressing portion 72 to penetrate them in the thickness direction. The size and arrangement of the through hole 73 are set so that the drill blade 61 can pass through the through hole 73 in the vertical direction.

Three columns 74 are fixed to the upper surface of the potato pressing plate 71. Each support column 74 extends vertically upward from the potato holding plate 71 toward the upper drill support 62. Each support column 74 extends vertically upward while penetrating the drill support base 62, and is inserted into a cylinder 75 fixed to the upper surface of the drill support base 62 as shown in FIG. 5A. The support column 74 can move up and down in the cylinder 75. A disk-shaped flange portion 74a is fixed to a part of the cylinder 75 in the support column 74. A spring 76 (elastic member) is housed in the space above the collar portion 74a in the cylinder 75. The spring 76 pushes the collar portion 74a downward toward the stepped portion 75a provided on the inner bottom portion of the cylinder 75. Due to the action of the spring 76, when the potato P is not in contact with the potato pressing plate 71, the position of the potato pressing plate 71 is such that the lower end of the drill blade 61 is the lower surface of the pressing portion 72 as shown in FIG. It is maintained to be placed higher.

When the robot arm 50 moves the movable shaft 52a downward toward the potato P, the lower surface of the holding portion 72 comes into contact with the upper end of the potato P. When the robot arm 50 further moves the movable shaft 52a downward, the potato holding plate 71 and the holding portion 72 do not lower any further because they are in contact with the potato P, whereas the drill support 62 tries to lower. .. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5B, the collar portion 74a rises relative to the drill support 62 while resisting the elastic force of the spring 76. On the other hand, the drill blade 61 descends together with the drill support 62. When the lower end of the drill blade 61 projects downward from the lower surface of the holding portion 72, the lower end of the drill blade 61 comes into contact with the bud portion of the potato P. As a result, as described above, the drill blade 61 scrapes off the bud portion of the potato P. At this time, the state in which the lower surface of the pressing portion 72 is in contact with the potato P from above is maintained. The elastic force of the spring 76 acts on the pressing portion 72 through the flange portion 74a, the support column 74, and the potato pressing plate 71. This elastic force is a force that presses the pressing portion 72 toward the lower roller 21. Therefore, while the drill blade 61 scrapes off the buds of the potato P, the pressing portion 72 surely sandwiches the potato P with the roller 21 and supports it. As a result, when the buds are scraped off by the drill blade 61, the possibility that the position of the potato P is displaced due to the reaction is reduced.

The control unit 100 includes hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory, and software for functioning these hardware as a means for controlling each part of the bud removing device 1. As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 100 controls four cameras 45 to shoot the potato groups P1 and P2, and receives stereo pair image data indicating the shooting results from the cameras 45. Then, the control unit 100 controls the conveyor drive motor 29, the roller rotation motor 41, the robot arm 50, and the drill rotation motor 69 based on the stereo pair image data.

Hereinafter, the details of the control process by the control unit 100 and the flow of a series of processes applied to the potato P in connection with this control process will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, the potato P is placed on the roller 21 of the potato mounting area V (S1). Next, the control unit 100 controls the roller rotation motor 41 of the rotation drive unit 40A to rotate the plurality of roller pairs 21P in the potato mounting region V at the same time a plurality of times (S2). The potato P just placed in S1 is not always in a stable posture on the roller 21. On the other hand, the processing of S2 shakes the potato P on the roller 21, which stabilizes the posture of the potato P in the recess S. In addition, "the posture of the potato P becomes stable" means that the long axis direction of the potato P approaches a state parallel to the axial direction of the roller 21, for example, the center of gravity of the potato P approaches each other in the horizontal direction. It indicates that the position approaches the intermediate position, or the contact point or contact area between the roller 21 and the potato P increases. The rotation angle of the roller 21 at one time in S2 may be any number of times. For example, the roller 21 is rotated a plurality of times at a relatively small angle of less than 90 ° each time. Thereby, for example, the potato P placed at a relatively high position as shown in FIG. 8 (a) can be settled at a low stable position as shown in FIG. 8 (b).

Next, the control unit 100 controls the conveyor drive motor 29 to convey the potato P together with the roller 21 from the potato mounting area V to the potato processing area W (S3). As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the potato groups P1 and P2 are arranged in the potato processing area W. Next, the control unit 100 detects the three-dimensional position (position regarding each of the vertical direction and the horizontal direction) of the bud portion on the surface of each potato P contained in the potato group P1 (S4). Specifically, first, the control unit 100 controls two cameras 45 on the potato group P1 side to cause these cameras 45 to take a picture of the potato group P1. The stereo pair image data indicating the shooting result is transmitted to the control unit 100. Next, the control unit 100 determines the three-dimensional position of the bud portion existing on the surface of the potato P based on the unevenness on the surface of the potato P based on the stereo pair image data from the two cameras 45 for the potato group P1. To get. As a result, the imaging range of the camera 45, that is, the three-dimensional position of each of the bud portions on the surface of each potato P of the potato group P1 facing the camera 45 side is acquired. The function of the control unit 100 that detects the three-dimensional position of the bud portion based on the image data of the camera 45 corresponds to the function of the position detecting means of the present invention.

Next, the control unit 100 executes the potato P sprout removal process by controlling the robot arm 50 and the drill rotation motor 69 (S5; first removal process). Specifically, the control unit 100 controls the robot arm 50 and moves the drill unit 60 in the horizontal direction so that the drill blade 61 is arranged at the horizontal position of the bud portion acquired in S4. Then, the control unit 100 controls the drill rotation motor 69 and the robot arm 50 to rotate the drill blade 61 and lower the drill unit 60 to the vertical position of the bud portion acquired in S4. As a result, the bud portion of the potato P is scraped off by the drill blade 61. The control unit 100 executes the processing of S5 for each of the bud portions existing on the surface of each of the nine potatoes P contained in the potato group P1. As a result, the portion of the bud in the region facing the camera 45 side on the surface of each potato P of the potato group P1 is scraped off. FIG. 9A shows the potato P immediately after the treatment of S5. On the surface of the potato P, the region on the camera 45 side, that is, the region facing upward is the region that has been subjected to the bud removal treatment. On the other hand, the region opposite to the camera 45, that is, the region facing downward is an unprocessed region.

The control unit 100 executes the position detection process for the potato group P2 with the same processing content as the process for the potato group P2 during the process of S5 for the potato group P1 (S6). That is, the control unit 100 detects the three-dimensional position of the bud portion on the surface of each potato P contained in the potato group P2 based on the shooting results of the two cameras 45 on the potato group P2 side. Then, the control unit 100 executes a bud removal process for each potato P with respect to the potato group P2, as in the process for S5, based on the position of the bud portion acquired in S6 (S7; first removal process).

The control unit 100 supports the nine potatoes P included in the potato group P1 by controlling the roller rotation motor 41 of the rotation drive unit 40B in the potato processing area W during the processing of S7 regarding the potato group P2. The four rollers 21 are rotated (S8; posture change processing). The rotation angle of the roller 21 at this time is, for example, 180 °. As a result, the postures of the nine potatoes P in the potato group P1 are changed, and the orientation of each potato P is reversed with respect to the vertical direction. Therefore, the state shown in FIG. 9 (a) is the state shown in FIG. 9 (b), that is, the bud-removed region faces downward and the untreated region faces upward. As a result, the buds that could not be removed in S5 are exposed within the shooting range of the camera 45. Next, the control unit 100 performs a position detection process (S9) of a bud portion on the surface of each potato P contained in the potato group P1 based on the shooting results of the two cameras 45 on the potato group P1 side, as in the process of S4. ) Is executed. Then, the control unit 100 performs a process of scraping off the bud portion of each potato P with respect to the potato group P1 based on the position of the bud portion acquired in S9 (S10; second removal process). During the processing of S9 and S10 regarding the potato group P1, the control unit 100 controls the roller rotation motor 41 of the rotation driving unit 40C to change the posture of the potato P of the potato group P2 as in the processing of S8. (S11; posture change processing), and based on the shooting results of the two cameras 45 on the potato group P2 side, the position detection process (S12) of the bud portion on the surface of each potato P contained in the potato group P2 is executed. .. Then, the control unit 100 performs a process of scraping off the bud portion of each potato P with respect to the potato group P2 based on the position of the bud portion acquired in S12 (S13; second removal process), as in the process of S5.

Regarding the next bud removal treatment for the potato P, the potato P is newly placed in the potato mounting area V at any stage after the treatment of S3 (S14), and the newly placed potato P is placed. The posture stabilization process is executed in the same manner as the process of S2 (S15). That is, the control unit 100 controls the roller rotation motor 41 of the rotation drive unit 40A, and rotates the roller 21 of the potato mounting region V a plurality of times to stabilize the posture of the potato P. Next, when the control unit 100 controls the conveyor drive motor 29, the potato P together with the roller 21 is conveyed from the potato mounting area V to the potato processing area W, and the bud portion is removed in the potato processing area W. The potato groups P1 and P2 are discharged from the discharge unit 2X (S16). After that, in the potato mounting area V, the processing after S14, the processing after S4 for the new potato group P1 in the potato processing area W, and the processing after S6 for the new potato group P2 in the potato processing area W. Repeated.

According to the present embodiment described above, the roller 21 rotates with the potato P supported on the recess S of the roller pair 21P. As a result, the roller 21 rotates the potato P. Therefore, unlike the conventional technique in which the agricultural product is gripped by the clamp, it is possible to rotate the agricultural product while appropriately supporting the agricultural product having a different size and shape. Further, the potato P is stably supported in the recess S formed by the two rollers 21 constituting the one roller pair 21P. In each roller pair 21P, a plurality of recesses S are formed along the rotation axis A1 of the rollers 21, and each of the plurality of potatoes P is supported by the recesses S. Therefore, a plurality of potatoes P can be rotated at the same time by rotating each roller pair 21P. As described above, according to the present embodiment, an apparatus that can easily process a plurality of potatoes P having different sizes or shapes at the same time is realized.

Further, in the present embodiment, the roller 21 on which the potato P is placed is rotated before the sprout removal process to cause the potato P to take a stable posture (S2 in FIG. 7). Therefore, when the drill unit 60 comes into contact with the potato P in the subsequent sprout removal process (S5 or the like), the position of the potato P is unlikely to shift. Therefore, it is easy to properly carry out sprout removal. Further, if the long axis direction of the potato P is significantly deviated from the axial direction during the posture change process, the long axis direction of the potato P will be along the axial direction when the potato P is rotated in the posture change process. There is a risk of sudden deviation. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the potato P is made to take a stable posture before the posture change process (S8 or the like) (S2). That is, in the posture change process, the long axis direction of the potato P is brought close to the axial direction in advance. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the possibility that the long axis of the potato P is suddenly displaced in the posture change process.

Further, in the present embodiment, the plurality of slits 22b formed on the surface of the roller 21 function as a non-slip for the potato P placed on the roller 21. Therefore, for example, in the process of changing the posture of the potato P (S8 or the like), it is easy to rotate the potato P by a desired rotation amount (for example, 180 °).

Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of roller pairs 21P forming a plurality of recesses S are provided in the transport direction X. Nine potatoes P in 3 rows and 3 columns are placed on these roller pairs 21P and are simultaneously supported by the rollers 21. Then, the rotation processing of the roller 21 is simultaneously executed for each of the potato groups P1 and P2 composed of these nine potatoes P. Further, the position of the bud portion is simultaneously detected for the nine potatoes P based on the stereo pair image obtained by simultaneously photographing the nine potatoes P for each of the potato groups P1 and P2. Therefore, the processing of a large number of potatoes P can be efficiently executed.

Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made as long as it is described in the claims.

For example, in the above embodiment, a plurality of rollers 21 are arranged in a row with respect to the transport direction X. However, a plurality of rows of rollers in which a plurality of rollers 21 are arranged in the transport direction X may be provided in a plurality of rows in the front-rear direction Y. The roller rows 21M and 21N shown in FIG. 10 are examples thereof. In this case, the camera 45, the robot arm 50, the roller rotation motor 41, and the like may be configured to perform position detection processing, posture change processing, and bud removal processing for each of the roller rows 21M and 21N, or the rollers. It may be provided in common in both columns 21M and 21N. In the configuration of FIG. 10, the rollers 21 are arranged in two rows to form six recesses S in the front-rear direction Y. In this way, a plurality of recesses S may be formed by arranging the plurality of rollers 21 in the front-rear direction Y. Further, although the roller 21 has three constrictions, a plurality of recesses S may be formed by arranging a plurality of rollers having only one constriction in the front-rear direction Y. Further, a plurality of rollers having different numbers of constrictions may be arranged in the front-rear direction Y.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is applied to remove the bud portion as an unnecessary portion of the potato P. However, the present invention may be applied to the removal of waste parts in other agricultural products having different shapes or sizes. For example, the present invention may be applied to remove spines on the surface of pineapple.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the buds are removed by bringing the rotating drill blade 61 into contact with the bud portion of the potato P. However, the buds may be removed by bringing a member other than the drill blade 61 into contact with the bud portion of the potato P. For example, the buds may be removed by rotating a columnar member having protrusions on the outer peripheral surface and bringing the outer peripheral surface into contact with the bud portion of the potato P. Further, the buds may be removed by contacting the cutter with the potato P so as to scoop the bud portion of the potato P.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the buds are removed from each potato P by performing the first bud removal treatment on each of the potato groups P1 and P2, and then performing the posture change treatment and the bud removal treatment once. ing. However, the buds may be removed from the potato P by performing the posture change treatment and the bud removal treatment twice or more after the first bud removal treatment. For example, in the posture change process of the above-described embodiment, the roller 21 is rotated by 180 °. On the other hand, after the first bud removal process, the potato P may be rotated by 90 ° by rotating the roller 21 by 90 ° as a posture change process. That is, after the first bud removal process, each process is executed in the order of posture change process (90 °) → bud removal process → attitude change process (90 °) → bud removal process → attitude change process (90 °) → bud removal process. By doing so, the entire potato P may be subjected to a sprout removal treatment. In this case, after the first sprout removal process (first removal process), the posture change process and the sprout removal process (second removal process) are repeated three times each. Further, the angle at which the roller 21 is rotated at one time does not have to be a divisor of 360 °. For example, it may be 50 °, 160 °, or the like.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, by rotating the two rollers 21 included in the roller pair 21P, the potato P supported by the roller pair 21P is rotated. However, the potato P may be rotated by rotating only one of the two rollers 21.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, one recess S is formed by the constricted portion 22a formed in advance on the two rollers 21 included in the roller pair 21P. However, the dent may be formed by a roller in which a constriction or the like is not formed in advance. For example, the outer surface of the roller may be covered with an elastic member, and when the potato P is placed between the two rollers, the elastic member may be distorted by the weight of the potato P to form a dent.

P1, P2 potato group, P potato, S dent, V potato mounting area, W potato processing area, 1 sprout removal device, 20 potato transport part, 21 roller, 21P roller pair, 22 roller body, 22a constriction part, 22b slit , 40A, 40B, 40C rotary drive unit, 41 roller rotary motor, 45 camera, 50 robot arm, 60 drill unit, 61 drill blade, 69 drill rotary motor, 71 potato retainer plate, 72 retainer, 76 spring, 100 control unit

Claims (8)

It is an agricultural product waste removing device that removes unnecessary parts existing at a plurality of places on each surface of a plurality of agricultural products having at least one of different shapes and sizes.
A roller pair consisting of two rollers arranged so that their rotation axes are parallel to each other and form a plurality of depressions arranged along the rotation axis is provided, and the plurality of depressions are provided in each of the plurality of depressions. Agricultural product support means that support each of the individual agricultural products,
A contact removing means that is movable to the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair and that comes into contact with the surface of the agricultural product to remove the unnecessary portion.
A roller rotating means for rotating at least one of the two rollers so as to rotate the plurality of agricultural products at the same time.
A position detecting means for detecting the position of each of the unnecessary parts, and
The contact removing means and the control means for controlling the roller rotating means are provided.
The control means
After performing the first removal process of moving the contact removing means to the position detected by the position detecting means and removing the unnecessary portion from the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair.
A posture changing process for simultaneously changing the postures of the plurality of agricultural products supported by the roller pair by rotating at least one of the two rollers on the roller rotating means.
A second removal that causes the contact removing means to remove the unnecessary portion while moving the unnecessary portion on the surface of the agricultural product whose posture has been changed by the posture changing process to a position detected by the position detecting means. A device for removing waste parts of agricultural products, which comprises repeating the treatment once or a plurality of times, respectively. A constriction is formed on each of the two rollers.
The waste portion removing device for agricultural products according to claim 1, wherein the recess is formed by both of the constrictions formed on the two rollers. The non-use of agricultural products according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the control means rotates at least one of the two rollers a plurality of times on the roller rotating means before the first removing process. Part removal device. The waste portion removing device for agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a plurality of slits are formed on the surface of the roller. A plurality of the roller pairs are arranged in the orthogonal direction orthogonal to the axial direction.
The control means is characterized in that the rotation of the roller by the roller rotating means and the detection of the position of the agricultural product by the position detecting means are simultaneously executed for the plurality of the roller pairs and the plurality of the agricultural products. The waste part removing device for agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The waste portion removing device for agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the contact removing means has a drill blade for scraping the unnecessary portion from the surface of the agricultural product. A support member that supports the agricultural product by sandwiching it between the roller pair when the contact removing means scrapes off the unnecessary portion.
The waste portion removing device for agricultural products according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising an elastic member that applies an elastic force toward the roller pair to the support member. It is an agricultural product waste removing device that removes unnecessary parts existing at a plurality of places on each surface of a plurality of agricultural products having at least one of different shapes and sizes.
A plurality of roller pairs consisting of two rollers arranged so that their rotation axes are parallel to each other and form one or more depressions together are arranged in an axial direction along the rotation axis. Agricultural product supporting means for supporting each of the plurality of agricultural products in each of the plurality of recesses formed by the roller pair of the above.
A contact removing means that is movable to the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair and that comes into contact with the surface of the agricultural product to remove the unnecessary portion.
A roller rotating means for rotating two or more of the rollers included in the plurality of roller pairs so as to rotate the plurality of agricultural products at the same time.
A position detecting means for detecting the position of each of the unnecessary parts, and
The contact removing means and the control means for controlling the roller rotating means are provided.
The control means
After performing the first removal process of moving the contact removing means to the position detected by the position detecting means and removing the unnecessary portion from the surface of the agricultural product supported by the roller pair.
A posture changing process for simultaneously changing the postures of the plurality of agricultural products supported by the roller pair by rotating the two or more rollers on the roller rotating means.
A second removal that causes the contact removing means to remove the unnecessary portion while moving the unnecessary portion on the surface of the agricultural product whose posture has been changed by the posture changing process to a position detected by the position detecting means. A device for removing waste parts of agricultural products, which comprises repeating the treatment once or a plurality of times, respectively.

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