JP7072953B1 - Weighing foreign matter detection packaging device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a metered foreign matter detection packaging device for packaging a plurality of articles in a packaged product having a predetermined weight and removing the packaged product containing a foreign substance. SOLUTION: The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 includes a combination scale 50, a packaging device 60 for packaging articles in one package, and an inverted conical trapezoidal shooter 51 for dropping articles discharged from a container 40. , A passage 70 provided at the bottom of the shooter 51, an upper portion of the shooter 51, and / or a photographing device 80 provided on the side surface between the shooter 51 and the passage 70 to photograph a falling article, and an imaging device 80. A combination of a foreign matter detecting device 90 for determining whether or not a foreign matter other than an article is contained in the image, and a sorting device 90 provided after the packaging device 60 for removing the packaged article containing the foreign matter. The scale 50 sequentially opens the outlets of the containers 40 constituting the selected combination at predetermined time intervals. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a weighing foreign matter detection packaging device that wraps a plurality of articles such as foods in a packaged product having a predetermined weight and removes the packaged product containing a foreign substance.

The following inventions have been filed for a device for detecting and removing foreign substances contained in an article.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-148130) makes it possible to distinguish a packaged product sent from a packaging device from a packaged product containing no metal when metal is mixed in the packaged product. A combination weighing and packaging device that solves the above problems is disclosed.

The combination weighing and packaging device described in Patent Document 1 is selected by variously combining the weighing values of articles housed in a plurality of containers and selecting a combination having a total value that meets the conditions from these combinations. The articles constituting the combination are discharged from the container containing these articles by free drop, and the articles are arranged below the combination scale, and the articles freely dropped from the combination scale are collectively collected. A packaging device for packaging in one package, a passage provided between the combination scale and the packaging device, and a passage for collecting articles freely dropped from the combination scale and sending them to the packaging device, and a passage provided in this passage. The packaging device includes a metal detector that generates a metal detection signal when metal passes through this passage, and the packaging device describes the form of the packaging product containing metal delivered from the packaging device as that of the packaging product containing no metal. It is characterized in that it is controlled based on the metal detection signal so as to be different from the morphology.

Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-321762) solves the problem that the rice sorting rate changes depending on the amount of rice handled in the rice sorting color sorter used in rice mills and the like. Disclosed is a grain sorting device using a neural network.

In the grain sorting device described in Patent Document 2, templates are prepared for the number of types of rice, and a neural network is used as a neurotemplate matching sorting method as a system configuration method, enabling high-performance sorting even for ambiguous images. And said. Further, the grain falling in a seamless state is imaged by a camera, a certain image frame is formed, and a plurality of rice images are cut out one by one from the formed image, which is the target of the sorting system.

Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-42955) discloses a food inspection apparatus capable of improving the robustness of food inspection for confirming that no foreign matter is mixed.

The food inspection apparatus described in Patent Document 3 includes a light irradiation means for irradiating an inspection object with light, an image pickup means for capturing an image of the inspection object, and an identification processing apparatus, and the identification processing apparatus is provided in advance. It is equipped with a food reconstruction neural network that learns only good food products, and reconstructs a food assumption image from the image obtained by the imaging means using the food reconstruction neural network, and the image obtained by the imaging means. The difference between the image and the food assumption image is calculated, and the inspection object A whose difference exceeds a preset threshold is identified as a foreign substance.

In Patent Document 4 (Re-Table 2018/142988), when a foreign substance is mixed in the article discharged from the measuring unit at the Nth position (N is an integer of 2 or more), the foreign substance is more than the article. Disclosed is a measuring and packaging system that can eliminate the possibility of foreign matter entering the article side discharged from the N-1st measuring unit when the falling speed is high.

In the measuring and packaging system described in Patent Document 4, a measuring unit that weighs and sequentially discharges articles, a discharge chute that is arranged below the measuring unit and allows articles discharged from the measuring unit to pass through, and a discharge chute that is passing through the discharge chute. The control unit includes a foreign matter detection unit that detects foreign matter contained in the article, a storage unit that stores quality information regarding the quality of the article based on the detection result of the foreign matter detection unit, and a control unit that controls the storage unit. , Nth (N is an integer of 2 or more) When a foreign matter is detected by the foreign matter detection unit for the article discharged from the measuring unit, the quality information of the article discharged from the N-1th measuring unit is forcibly transmitted. As a result, it is stored in the storage unit.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-148130 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-321762 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2021-4-2955 Re-table 2018/142988

As a tool for automation and labor saving at production sites, a combination weighing machine that wraps products of different sizes and shapes in fixed quantities is known. However, when packaging articles such as food using a combination weighing machine, the package may contain foreign substances such as pebbles, insects, and / or food containing rotten parts, so the combination weighing It is necessary to inspect the goods before they are machined for foreign matter, or to inspect the packaged goods for foreign matter after packaging.
In this case, foreign matter inspection and combined weighing are required separately, and there is a problem that even if the combined weighing machine is used, sufficient automation and labor saving at the production site cannot be achieved.

There is known a measuring and packaging device that wraps a plurality of articles in a package having a predetermined weight and removes the package containing a foreign substance.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a packaging device is provided below a combination scale that combines and discharges articles so as to have a constant weight, and when metal passes through a passage between the combination scale and the packaging device, a metal detection signal is sent. A measuring and packaging device for removing a package containing metal by providing a metal detector for producing the metal is disclosed.

However, although the measuring and packaging device described in Patent Document 1 can remove a packaged product in which metal is mixed in the product, the food product or the like contains pebbles, insects, and / or a rotten portion in the food product or the like. It is not possible to remove packages containing foreign matter.

In the grain sorting apparatus described in Patent Document 2, rice grains dropped from a shooter are photographed by a line sensor, and a large amount of rice is cut out from the photographed image data into rice image data one by one, and a neural network is used. Then, good rice and damaged rice are sorted, and the damaged rice is removed by applying air pressure to that part based on the position information.

In this case, since good rice and damaged rice are sorted from the image data using a neural network, it is possible to sort foreign matter other than metal as foreign matter. However, when photographing an article (rice grain) that has fallen from a shooter, there is a problem that accurate selection cannot be performed if the articles overlap in the photographed image. In the grain sorting apparatus described in Patent Document 2, the center position of an article (grain) image cut out and separated for each grain is obtained, and when a plurality of articles form an overlapping image, an edge portion is provided. Is contracted toward the center to separate and separate it from the adjacent article, thereby accurately obtaining image data of the article around the center position. The edge portion of the article image is contracted toward the center. It is also stated that the article is forcibly separated from the adjacent article (paragraph [0055] of the specification), but for example, if the image of the article in the overlapping portion contains a rotten part, the article is foreign. Cannot be removed as.

In the food inspection apparatus described in Patent Document 3, the food is imaged by the image pickup means in a state where the food is placed on the transport means such as a belt conveyor. Therefore, if the articles are placed on the transport means so as not to overlap, the photographed image is taken. The articles do not overlap in. However, if the workers are arranged so as not to overlap, labor saving at the production site cannot be achieved. Further, when this food inspection device is combined with a combination weighing machine, there is a problem that the device becomes large-scale and complicated.

In the weighing and packaging system described in Patent Document 4, if a foreign substance (metal) has a faster falling speed than an article, the foreign substance may enter the article side discharged from the weighing unit immediately before. One of the features is that it is determined that the article discharged from the measuring unit immediately before contains a foreign substance. However, the foreign matter detection unit of the weighing and packaging system described in Patent Document 4 is a metal detection device, and is a packaged product in which foreign matter such as food containing pebbles, insects, and / or rotten parts is mixed in an article such as food. Cannot be removed.

A main object of the present invention is to wrap a plurality of articles containing metal and a foreign substance other than metal in a package having a predetermined weight, and to remove the package containing the foreign substance, which has a simple structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide an automatic weighing foreign matter detection packaging device capable of miniaturization.

(1)
The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to one aspect is a weighing foreign matter detection packaging device that combines a plurality of articles into a package having a predetermined weight and removes the package containing foreign matter, and is a packaging device for detecting foreign matter in a plurality of containers. Various combinations of the weighing values of the articles contained therein are combined, a combination having a total value of a predetermined weight is selected from the combinations, and the outlet of the container constituting the selected combination is opened to release the articles. A combination scale for discharging, a packaging device which is arranged below the combination scale and packages the articles discharged from the combination scale into one package, and an article discharged from each of the containers toward the center. An inverted cone-shaped shooter to be dropped, a passage provided at the bottom of the shooter to send articles discharged from the shooter to the packaging device, an upper portion of the shooter, and / or a side surface between the shooter and the passage. , A photographing device for photographing a falling article, a foreign substance detecting device for inputting an image photographed by the photographing device and determining whether or not the image contains foreign matter other than the article, and a foreign matter detected after the packaging device. The combination scale comprises a sorting device for removing the package containing the selected combination, and sequentially opens the outlets of the containers constituting the selected combination at predetermined time intervals.

In order to realize an automatic weighing foreign matter detection packaging device with a simple structure and miniaturization, it is necessary to place a packaging device under the combination scale and a foreign matter inspection device between the combination scale and the packaging device. desirable. However, if the foreign matter is metal, the metal detector can be used as a foreign matter detector, but if the foreign matter is food containing pebbles, insects, and / or rotten parts, the metal detector can detect the foreign matter. It cannot be used as a device.
In this case, it is conceivable to photograph an article passing (falling) from the combination scale to the packaging device with a photographing device and determine whether or not foreign matter is contained using the photographed image. However, when a plurality of articles are overlapped in the captured image, it is difficult to accurately determine whether or not the image is a foreign substance.

On the other hand, the combination scale is usually provided with about 10 to 20 containers (measuring hoppers), and among the containers, a combination of containers in which the total weight of the articles has a predetermined weight is selected, and the combination of those containers is selected. Open the exit. In this case, normally, the outlets of the selected containers are opened at the same time, but in the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to one aspect, the outlets of the containers constituting the selected combination are sequentially opened at predetermined time intervals. This limits the number of articles that pass through the shooter and passage at one time so that the articles do not overlap in the images taken by the imaging device.

In addition, how to photograph the article is also important in detecting foreign substances in the article.
The first method is to arrange the photographing device in the direction facing the inclined surface of the shooter, and photograph the state in which the article discharged from each container rolls down or slides down toward the hole in the lower center of the shooter. Can be considered. In this case, the articles on the shooter move apart from each other, so that the overlap of the articles in the captured image can be minimized. Further, since the distance between the hole at the lower part of the shooter and the passage can be shortened, the height of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device can be kept low. However, since a plurality of containers are arranged and the position of the shooter to which the article moves differs depending on each container, a plurality of photographing devices (for example, four) are required.

As a second method, it is conceivable to arrange a photographing device on the side surface between the shooter and the passage and photograph an article that freely falls from the hole at the lower part of the shooter toward the passage. In this case, even if a plurality of articles are dropped, the overlap of the articles in the captured image can be minimized. In particular, if a plurality of photographing devices are arranged on the side surface and the articles are photographed from different directions, there is a high possibility that an image without overlapping of the articles can be obtained.
Further, in free fall, by taking a plurality of images at regular time intervals and calculating the falling speed, for example, when a metal nail or the like is mixed as a foreign substance, it is easy to determine whether the article is a foreign substance. be able to.

As a third method, when the photographing device is arranged on the upper part of the shooter as in the first method, the photographing device equipped with a wide-angle lens is arranged vertically downward in the center of the upper part of the shooter and discharged from each container. It is also conceivable to photograph the article with one photographing device. However, in this case, since the image of the article is included in a narrow range of the entire captured image, the resolution of the photographing device should be higher, and the portion of the entire image in which the article is captured should be extracted. It is necessary to do things.

Further, in order to improve the accuracy of determining the article and the foreign substance, it is desirable to arrange the photographing apparatus on both the upper part of the shooter and the side surface between the shooter and the passage. In this case, the first or third method and the second method are used in combination. The presence or absence of foreign matter is determined for the image taken from the top of the shooter and the image taken from the side between the shooter and the passage, and if it is determined that there is foreign matter in either image, the final judgment result is foreign matter. By making it present, the accuracy of determination can be further improved.

(2)
The weighing foreign body detection packaging device according to the second aspect of the invention is a weighing foreign body detection packaging device according to one aspect, and the photographing device may photograph an article from a plurality of different directions.

In this case, even if two articles overlap in an image taken from one direction, the overlapping articles are separated in an image taken from another direction, so that foreign matter can be detected more reliably. can. This method is particularly effective when the article is photographed from the side.
In this case, it is desirable that the angles between the imaging directions of the imaging devices adjacent to each other are substantially the same. Specifically, for example, if there are two photographing devices, it is desirable that the angles are opposite to each other, and if there are three photographing devices, the angle between the photographing directions is 120 degrees.

(3)
The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to the third invention is the one aspect or the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to the second invention. It may be determined whether or not the foreign matter is contained, and if at least one of the plurality of images contains a foreign matter, it may be determined that the foreign matter is contained.

For example, when the article is photographed from the side, when the article is photographed from different directions, the foreign matter is not detected in the image taken from one direction, and the foreign matter is detected in the image taken from another direction. In the image in which no foreign matter was detected, it is probable that the foreign matter was hidden behind the article and was not detected.
Also, when imaging devices are placed on both the top of the shooter and the side surface between the shooter and the passage and images of the article are captured by each imaging device, no foreign matter is detected in one image and the other. When a foreign substance is detected in the image, it is considered that the foreign substance is hidden behind the article and is not detected in the image in which the foreign substance is not detected.
In these cases, when at least one of the plurality of images contains a foreign substance, it is possible to improve the accuracy of determining the foreign substance by determining that the foreign substance is contained.

(4)
The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to the fourth aspect of the invention is the weighing foreign matter detecting packaging device according to the third aspect of the invention. May be learned using.

If the shape or color of the foreign matter is constant, it is possible to determine whether it is an article or a foreign matter by setting a threshold value. However, in many cases, foreign substances mixed in articles such as foods are diverse, such as foods containing pebbles, insects, or spoiled parts. In the foreign matter detection device configured by the multi-layer neural network, it is possible to reliably determine that the foreign matter is a foreign matter against a wide variety of foreign matter by learning in advance using an image of an article and an image of the foreign matter. Further, as the teacher data of the multi-layer neural network, it is also possible to learn whether the article is an article or a foreign substance by learning using only the article or only the foreign substance.
The multi-layer neural network used in the foreign matter inspection device may be any one that can detect the class (type) and the bounding box (region) of each article and foreign matter from an image containing a plurality of articles and foreign matter. For example, Mask R-CNN, YOLO system (you only look once), and the like can be used.
In a multi-layer neural network such as the YOLO system, even when two articles and foreign objects overlap in an image, the class (type) and bounding box (region) of each article and foreign object can be distinguished. More suitable.

(5)
The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to the fifth aspect of the invention may be configured such that the article freely falls from the shooter to the packaging device in the weighing foreign matter detecting packaging device according to the fourth aspect of the invention.

In this case, the time from the shooter to the packaging device after passing through the passage is short, and the article can be packaged at a higher speed.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the whole structure of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging apparatus of 1st Embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the combination scale. 3 (a), 3 (b), and 3 (c) are schematic views showing three types of modifications of the photographing apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the result of adding the class (type) and the bounding box (area) by the foreign matter detection device to the image taken by the image pickup device. It is a schematic diagram which shows the result of adding a class and a bounding box by a foreign matter detection device in an image in which an article and a foreign matter partially overlap. 7 (a) and 7 (b) are schematic views showing the results of adding a class and a bounding box by a foreign matter detecting device to two images taken at regular time intervals. It is a flowchart which shows a series of flow from weight weighing of the article of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging apparatus to shipping.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals. Further, in the case of the same reference numeral, their names and functions are also the same. Therefore, detailed explanations about them will not be repeated.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the overall configuration of the measuring foreign matter detection packaging device 200 of the first embodiment. The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 includes a combination scale 50, a shooter 51, a packaging device 60, a passage 70 provided between the shooter 51 and the packaging device 60, a photographing device 80, a foreign matter detecting device 90, and a sorting device 100. ..

(Combination scale 50)
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the combination scale 50. In FIG. 2, the combination scale 50 includes a plurality of containers 40 (10 in FIG. 2), and one or a plurality of articles 10 (and foreign matter 20) contained in the container 40 are instructed by the control system. While measuring the weight, the outlet (not shown) of the container 40 is opened, and the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) is dropped.
The operation of the combination scale 50 is as follows. First, the weight of the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) contained in each container 40 is weighed. Next, a combination of articles 10 (and foreign matter 20) in each container 40 is selected, wherein the total weight is the target predetermined weight. If there is no combination that has exactly the predetermined weight, the combination that exceeds the predetermined weight but is closest to the predetermined weight is selected.
After the combination of article 10 (and foreign matter 20) is selected, the outlet of each selected container 40 is opened and article 10 (and foreign matter 20) falls into the aisle 70, which is selected in the present embodiment. The outlets of the containers 40 constituting the combination are sequentially opened at predetermined time intervals, and the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) discharged from the container 40 directs the inverted cone-shaped shooter 51 toward the hole in the lower center. Rolls down or slides down.
At this predetermined time interval, the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) falling from the container 40 whose outlet is opened and the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) falling from the container 40 whose outlet is opened next are in the passage. Is set so that they do not overlap. This predetermined time interval varies depending on the type of the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) and the like, but may be selected from 0.02 seconds or more and 3.0 seconds or less, for example, about 1.0 second.

(Photographing device 80)
In FIG. 1, the photographing apparatus 80 is arranged in a direction facing the inclined surface of the shooter 51, and photographs a state in which the article 10 rolls down or slides down toward a hole in the lower center of the shooter 51. Since there are a plurality of containers 40 in the present invention, a plurality of photographing devices 80 are also required. However, the photographing device 80 is not required for each container 40, and for example, four units can photograph the article 10 discharged from each container 40.
In this case, since the articles 10 on the shooter 51 move apart from each other, the overlap of the articles 10 in the captured image 81 can be minimized. Further, since it is not necessary to arrange the photographing device 80a on the side surface between the shooter 51 and the passage 70, the vertical distance between the hole at the lower part of the shooter 51 and the passage 70 can be shortened. , The height of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 can be kept low.
The photographing device 80 photographs the article 10 at the timing when the article 10 reaches the inclined surface of the shooter 51 facing the photographing device 80 after a certain period of time has elapsed after the container 40 ejects the article 10. Alternatively, the photographing device 80 captures a movie or a plurality of continuous images 81, and the foreign matter detecting device 90 selects and selects an image 81 including the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) from those images 81. The image 81 may be input to the multi-layer neural network 91 for detecting foreign matter (see FIG. 4).

(Modification example of imaging device 80)
FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C show modifications of the photographing apparatus 80.
In FIG. 3A, in addition to the photographing device 80 arranged in the direction facing the inclined surface of the shooter 51, the photographing device 80a arranged on the side surface between the shooter 51 and the passage 70 is provided. The photographing device 80a photographs the article 10 that freely falls from the hole at the lower part of the shooter 51 toward the passage 70. In this case, even if a plurality of articles 10 are dropped, the overlap of the articles 10 in the captured image 81 can be minimized. In particular, if a plurality of photographing devices 80a are arranged on the side surface and the articles 10 are photographed from different directions, there is a high possibility that an image 81 without overlapping of the articles 10 can be obtained.
Further, in free fall, by taking a plurality of images 81 at regular time intervals and calculating the falling speed, for example, when a metal nail or the like is mixed as a foreign matter 20, the article 10 and the foreign matter 20 are separated. It can be easily determined.
Further, the presence or absence of the foreign matter 20 is determined for each of the image 81 photographed by the photographing device 80 and the image 81 photographed by the photographing device 80a, and among the image 81 photographed by the photographing device 80 and the image 81 photographed by the photographing device 80a. When the foreign matter 20 is detected in either of them, it is determined that the foreign matter 20 is present, so that the determination accuracy of the foreign matter 20 contamination can be further improved.
However, in order to photograph the article 10 that freely falls from the hole in the lower part of the shooter 51 toward the passage 70 with the photographing device 80a, the vertical distance between the hole in the lower part of the shooter 51 and the passage 70 is set to a certain degree. Since it is necessary to remove it, the height of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 is slightly required.

In FIG. 3B, only the photographing apparatus 80a arranged on the side surface between the shooter 51 and the passage 70 is provided. The photographing device 80a photographs the article 10 that freely falls from the hole at the lower part of the shooter 51 toward the passage 70. In this case, even if a plurality of articles 10 are dropped, the overlap of the articles 10 in the captured image 81 can be minimized. In particular, if a plurality of photographing devices 80a are arranged on the side surface and the articles 10 are photographed from different directions, there is a high possibility that an image 81 without overlapping of the articles 10 can be obtained.
Further, in free fall, by taking a plurality of images 81 at regular time intervals and calculating the falling speed, for example, when a metal nail or the like is mixed as a foreign matter 20, the article 10 and the foreign matter 20 are separated. It can be easily determined.
However, in order to photograph the article 10 that freely falls from the hole in the lower part of the shooter 51 toward the passage 70 with the photographing device 80a, the vertical distance between the hole in the lower part of the shooter 51 and the passage 70 is set to a certain degree. Since it is necessary to remove it, the height of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 is slightly required.

In FIG. 3C, a photographing device 80b provided with a wide-angle lens is arranged vertically downward in the center of the upper part of the shooter 51. By providing the photographing device 80b with a wide-angle lens, it is possible to photograph all the articles 10 discharged from the plurality of containers 40, and the device can be simplified and the price can be reduced. However, in this case, since the image 81 of the article 10 is included in a narrow range of the entire captured image, the resolution of the photographing device 80b is made higher, and the article 10 in the entire image is captured. It is necessary to extract the existing part.

(Foreign matter detection device 90)
FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the entire weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 centering on the foreign matter detection device 90.
In FIG. 4, the foreign matter detecting device 90 includes a combination scale 50, a photographing device 80, a packaging device 60, and a sorting device 100, in addition to a multi-layer neural network 91 that inputs an image 81 to determine whether the article 10 or the foreign matter 20 is used. It includes a control unit 95 for controlling, a recording unit 96 for recording the coefficients of the multi-layer neural network 91, parameters of each device, and the like.
Although the control unit 95 and the recording unit 96 are provided in the foreign matter detecting device 90 in the present embodiment, the control unit 95 and the recording unit 96 may be provided independently of the foreign matter detecting device 90.

(Multilayer Neural Network 91)
The multi-layer neural network 91 used in the foreign matter inspection device includes a class 92 (type) of each article 10 and foreign matter 20 and a bounding box 93 (region) from an image 81 containing a plurality of articles 10 and foreign matter 20. Anything that can be detected will do. For example, Mask R-CNN, YOLO system (you only look once), and the like can be used.
The multi-layer neural network 91 prepares many articles 10 and foreign matter 20 as teacher data in advance, learns the coefficient using the teacher data, records it in the recording unit 96, and learns the coefficient at the time of foreign matter detection. The class 92 (type) of the article 10 and the foreign matter 20 and the bounding box 93 (region) are detected using the above. The coefficient of the multi-layer neural network 91 is learned using only the article 10 or only the foreign object 20 as teacher data, and when a class other than the article 10 is detected or a class of the foreign object 20 is detected, the foreign object 20 is referred to. It is also possible to judge.

FIG. 5 is an image 81 in which the class 92 and the bounding box 93 detected by the multilayer neural network 91 are added to the image 81 including the plurality of articles 10 and the foreign matter 20 taken by the photographing apparatus 80. FIG. 4 is an example of the output of the YOLO system.
FIG. 4 contains green pepper G1 as the article 10, green pepper NG1 as the foreign substance 20, and partially rotten green pepper NG2. In the case of the image 81 of FIG. 4, a plurality of articles 10 (and foreign matter 20) are photographed in a non-overlapping manner.
The figure is a diagram for explaining the operation of the multi-layer neural network 91, and in the actual measuring foreign matter detection packaging device 200, the image 81 as shown in FIG. 5 is not output from the multi-layer neural network 91 and is input. Only whether or not the foreign matter 20 such as NG1 and NG2 is included in the image 81 may be output.

In the case of the present embodiment, the outlets of the containers 40 constituting the selected combination are sequentially opened at predetermined time intervals so that the article 10 and the foreign matter 20 do not overlap in the photographed image 81. There is. Further, the foreign matter 20 is included in each of the plurality of images 81 photographed by the photographing devices 80, 80a, 80b arranged at different positions, or the plurality of images 81 photographed from a plurality of different directions. If it is determined whether or not the image 81 contains the foreign matter 20 in at least one of the plurality of images 81, it is determined that the foreign matter 20 is contained in the image 81. It is more preferable because the possibility of erroneous determination due to the overlap of 10 and the foreign matter 20 can be further reduced.
Further, when the image 81 taken by the photographing apparatus 80 is a movie or a continuous photograph, if at least one image 81 in the images 81 contains the foreign matter 20, the foreign matter 20 is included. It may be determined that there is.

FIG. 6 is also an image 81 in which the class 92 and the bounding box 93 detected by the multilayer neural network 91 are added to the image 81 including the plurality of articles 10 and the foreign matter 20 taken by the photographing apparatus 80. In the image 81 of FIG. 6, the bell pepper G1 (article 10) and the green worm NG1 (foreign substance 20) partially overlap, but the class 92 and the bounding box 93 can be detected correctly. A multi-layer neural network 91 such as a YOLO system is suitable because it can detect each class 92 and a bounding box 93 even if objects partially overlap each other.

7 (a) and 7 (b) are schematic views showing the results of adding a class 92 and a bounding box 93 by the foreign matter detection device 90 to two images 81 taken at regular time intervals. be. By comparing FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), NG3 (iron nail) is at a lower position in FIG. 7 (b), which is an image 81 after a certain period of time, and G1 (green pepper). It can be seen that NG3 (iron nail) is falling faster than that. Then, from these comparison results, it can be determined that NG3 (iron nail) has a falling speed faster than G1 (green pepper) and is a foreign substance 20.

(Packaging device 60)
Referring again to FIG. 1, the packaging device 60 is composed of a heater 61, a knife 62, and a drum 63, and tapes articles 10 (and foreign matter 20) that sequentially fall from a plurality of containers 40 constituting the selected combination. It is packaged in a synthetic resin film 64. The packaging process is as follows.
First, the lower part of the synthetic resin film 64 sent out from the drum 63 by the heater 61 is thermocompression bonded by the heater 61, and both ends of the tape are thermocompression bonded to form the synthetic resin film 64 into a bag shape.
Next, the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) is sequentially dropped from the container 40 and stored in the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64.
Further, the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 containing the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) is moved to the bottom of the heater 61, the upper part of the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 is thermocompression bonded by the heater 61, and then cut by the knife 62. do. By the above steps, the packaged product 30 containing the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) is completed.
The packaging device 60 of the present embodiment is as described above, but as the packaging device 60, various packaging devices 60 such as a packaging device 60 of a type that can be stored in a box can be used.

(Distribution device 100)
Further referring to FIG. 1, it is composed of a chute plate 101, a belt conveyor 102 for shipping, and a disposal box 103.
After the article 10 (and the foreign matter 20) is stored in the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64, the foreign matter detecting device 90 is used to sort the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 until the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 is moved under the heater 61. Information is sent to 100 whether or not the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 (packaged product 30) contains the foreign matter 20. Then, the chute plate 101 of the sorting device 100 is located at the position of the solid line in FIG. 1 when the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 does not contain the foreign matter 20, and at the position of the dotted line in FIG. 1 when the foreign matter 20 is contained. It is fixed. When the chute plate 101 is in the position of the solid line, the package 30 is placed on the belt conveyor 102 for shipping and shipped, and when it is in the position of the dotted line, it falls into the disposal box 103 and is discarded.
The sorting device 100 of the present embodiment is as described above. As the sorting device 100, for example, all the packages 30 are placed on the belt conveyor 102 and placed on one side of the belt conveyor 102. It is possible to use a configuration in which an actuator is placed and a piston rod is used to push out a defective product to the other side, or a configuration in which an air gun is used to blow a defective product.

(flowchart)
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the entire steps from weighing to foreign matter detection, packaging, and sorting of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 of the present embodiment. The contents will be described below for each step.
(S1) Article 10 (and foreign matter 20) is housed in each of a plurality of containers 40, and the weight of the article 10 (and foreign matter 20) contained in each container 40 is weighed.
(S2) Based on the weight of each of the articles 10 (and the foreign matter 20) contained in the plurality of containers 40, a combination of the articles 10 (and the foreign matter 20) having a predetermined weight is selected. If there is no combination having an exact predetermined weight, a combination exceeding the predetermined weight but closest to the predetermined weight may be selected.
(S3) The outlets of the containers 40 corresponding to the selected combination are sequentially opened at predetermined time intervals.

(S4) After a certain period of time has elapsed from the opening of each outlet, images 81 of the shooter 51 and / or the article 10 passing between the shooter 51 and the passage 70 are photographed by the photographing devices 80, 80a, and 80b. For example, if there are five containers 40 corresponding to the combination, the images will be taken five times.
The photographing apparatus 80, 80a, 80b may capture a movie or a plurality of continuous photographs.

(S5) The image 81 captured by the photographing device 80 is input to the multilayer neural network 91 of the foreign matter detecting device 90, and it is detected whether or not each image 81 contains the foreign matter 20. In this case, the number of images 81 input to the multilayer neural network 91 is at least the number of combinations of the selected containers 40, and when the images 81 are photographed by different imaging devices 80, 80a, 80b, a plurality of different images 81 are captured. When the image 81 is shot from the direction, or when the image 81 shot in the movie is input, the number of the images 81 is further increased. However, since the speed of object detection is high in the latest multi-layer neural network 91 such as the YOLO system, it is possible to cope with a large number of input images 81. For example, in the case of the YOLO system, it is said that 45-155 images 81 can be processed per second.

(S6) After all the articles 10 (and foreign matter 20) of the container 40 of the selected combination are dropped and stored in the packaging container (bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 in the case of the present embodiment), the packaging container is sealed. Then, the packaged product 30 is completed.
(S7-S9) It is checked whether or not there is an image 81 containing a foreign substance 20 among the plurality of images 81 input to the multilayer neural network 91, and if there is no image 81 containing the foreign substance 20, the package 30 If there is an image 81 containing a foreign substance 20, the package 30 is discarded.
In the case of the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to set the position of the chute plate 101 of the sorting device 100 before the bag-shaped synthetic resin film 64 moves to the lower side of the heater 61. Therefore, the determination in step S7 is performed before the completion of step S6.

As described above, in the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 of the first embodiment, between the combination scale 50 and the packaging device 60 of the weighing and packaging device including the combination scale 50, the packaging device 60, and the distribution device 100. By arranging the photographing devices 80, 80a, 80b in the We have realized a weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 that has a simple structure and can be miniaturized by packaging a plurality of articles 10 in a packaged product 30 having a predetermined weight and removing the packaged product 30 mixed with foreign matter 20. ..

In the present invention, the article 10 corresponds to the "article", the foreign matter 20 corresponds to the "foreign matter", the packaged item 30 corresponds to the "packaged item", the container 40 corresponds to the "container", and the combination scale 50 corresponds to the combination scale 50. The shooter 51 corresponds to the "shooter", the packaging device 60 corresponds to the "packaging device", the passage 70 corresponds to the "passage", and the photographing devices 80, 80a, 80b correspond to the "combination scale". The image 81 corresponds to the "image", the foreign matter detection device 90 corresponds to the "foreign matter detection device", the sorting device 100 corresponds to the "sorting device", and the multilayer neural network 91 corresponds to the "device". It corresponds to the "multilayer neural network", and the weighing foreign matter detection packaging device 200 corresponds to the "weighing foreign matter detection packaging device".

A preferred embodiment of the present invention is as described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be appreciated that various embodiments are made that do not deviate from the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, in the present embodiment, the actions and effects according to the constitution of the present invention are described, but these actions and effects are examples and do not limit the present invention.

10 Article 20 Foreign matter 30 Packaged product 40 Container 50 Combination scale 51 Shuta 60 Packaging device 70 Passage 80, 80a, 80b Imaging device 81 Image 90 Foreign substance detection device 91 Multilayer neural network 100 Sorting device 200 Weighing foreign substance detection packaging device

Claims (5)

A metered foreign matter detection packaging device that combines a plurality of articles and wraps them in a package having a predetermined weight and removes the package containing foreign substances.
The weighing values of the articles contained in each of the plurality of containers are combined in various ways, a combination having a total value of the predetermined weight is selected from the combinations, and the outlet of the container constituting the selected combination is formed. With a combination scale that opens and discharges the article,
A packaging device that is arranged below the combination scale and that collectively packages the articles discharged from the combination scale into one package product.
An inverted truncated cone-shaped shooter that drops the article discharged from each of the containers toward the center.
A passage provided at the bottom of the shooter to send the article discharged from the shooter to the packaging device.
An imaging device that photographs the falling article, and
A foreign matter detecting device for inputting an image taken by the photographing device and determining whether or not the image contains the foreign matter other than the article.
A sorting device provided after the packaging device and for removing the packaged product containing the foreign matter, and the like.
The combination scale sequentially opens the outlets of the containers constituting the selected combination at predetermined time intervals.
A lower shooter is provided in the passage, and the lower end portion of the shooter and the upper end portion of the lower shooter are arranged apart from each other in the vertical direction, and the article freely falls between the shooter and the lower shooter. Configured to
A plurality of photographing devices are provided on the side surface between the lower end portion of the shooter and the upper end portion of the lower shooter, and the free-falling article is photographed from different directions . The weighing foreign body detection packaging device according to claim 1, further comprising the plurality of the photographing devices for photographing the article from a plurality of different directions. The foreign matter detecting device determines whether or not the foreign matter other than the article is contained in each of the plurality of captured images, and the foreign matter detecting device includes the foreign matter in at least one of the plurality of images. The measuring foreign matter detection and packaging device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the foreign matter is contained, it is determined that the foreign matter is contained. The metered foreign body detection package according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the foreign body detection device is composed of a multi-layer neural network and is learned in advance using the image of the article and / or the image of the foreign body. Device. The shooting device shoots a movie or a plurality of images and
The foreign matter detecting device according to claims 1 to 4 calculates the falling speed of an article and / or the foreign matter in an image using the movie or a plurality of images, and detects whether or not the foreign matter is contained. The weighing foreign matter detection packaging device according to any one of the items.

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