JP7428966B2 - color sorter - Google Patents

Description

In the present invention, defective products removed from raw materials include colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, green immature grains, colored grains such as unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles. This invention relates to a color sorting machine that allows detailed examination of the proportion of colors.

BACKGROUND ART Conventionally, when grains produced by farmers (for example, brown rice and polished rice) are collected and distributed, a quality inspection (grain inspection after shipment from the farmer), etc. is performed. This quality inspection is carried out based on the national law that stipulates that ``producers of rice may undergo quality inspection'' (Article 3 of the Agricultural Products Inspection Act). In other words, rice producers such as farmers establish a collection organization for the purpose of conducting fair and smooth transactions, ensuring traceability on the rice distribution route, and gaining trust in the quality. The current situation is that products are actively inspected for quality, etc. by organizations such as JA (Agricultural Cooperative Association).

At JA (Agricultural Cooperative Association) and other organizations, agricultural product inspectors currently visually assess the quality of grains, but recently, grain quality discriminators (see, for example, Patent Document 1) have been developed that can measure the proportion of colored grains, etc. Development is progressing, and measuring instruments are being used as supplements. In addition, color sorting machines for removing colored grains, etc., have been made smaller and cheaper, and models with improved performance have been introduced for the purpose of use by farmers (for example, Patent Document 2 reference).

However, in the color sorter described in Patent Document 2, colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, colored grains such as green immature grains, unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign objects such as pebbles are all sorted into one. These products are included in the standard and defined as defective products, and are distinguished from non-defective products. For example, by comparing the weight of fine products that have been sorted and sorted as good products with the weight of sorted products that have been sorted and sorted as defective products, the proportion of defective products in the raw materials can be calculated, or The sorting rate of the machine is calculated (for example, Patent Document 3).
In other words, conventional color sorting machines detect colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, green immature grains, colored grains such as unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles. It was not possible to investigate in detail what the percentage was. Conventionally, the analysis of defective items in such defective products involves separating the removed defective products into black carton and visually checking them, or placing the defective products into a grain quality discriminator and using another measuring device. I was doing some analysis.

JP2016-125867A Patent No. 6052287 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-216650

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention has been developed to remove colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, green immature grains, unhulled rice, milky white grains, and other colored grains among the defective products removed from raw materials. The technical problem is to provide a color sorter that can check in detail the proportion of foreign substances such as pebbles.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a chute arranged at an angle to allow raw materials to be sorted to flow down, an optical detection means for detecting objects to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute, and a A color sorting machine comprising an ejector means for sorting out the objects to be sorted based on a detection result, and a discharge hopper for separately discharging the objects to be sorted that have been sorted by the ejector means,
a sorting mode in which the objects to be sorted are sorted into good and defective items based on the imaging signal of the optical detection means; and while the sorting mode is inactive, the defective items are separated into grains damaged by pests, grains damaged by burnt rice; A technical measure was taken to provide a calculation means that can be switched to a quality discrimination mode that discriminates and displays the quality of green immature grains, unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances.

The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the calculation means is provided with a storage means so that a plurality of selection data of the current year and selection data of the previous year can be stored and compared.

According to the invention described in claim 1, there is provided a chute arranged at an angle to allow the raw materials to be sorted to flow down, an optical detection means for detecting the objects to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute, and a A color sorting machine comprising: an ejector means for sorting out the objects to be sorted based on a detection result; and a discharge hopper for separately discharging the objects to be sorted separated by the ejector means, the color sorter comprising the optical detection means. a sorting mode in which the objects to be sorted are sorted into good and defective items based on the imaging signal of the image sensor; We have taken technical measures to provide a quality discrimination mode that distinguishes and displays the quality of unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances, and a calculation means that can be switched to.
In addition to simply sorting the items to be sorted into good and defective items in the sorting mode, when the sorting mode is inactive, the sorted defective items include grains damaged by pests, grains damaged by burnt rice, and green grains. The proportion of immature grains, unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances can be investigated in detail, and the grain quality can be determined without having to take the trouble of inputting the grain into a grain quality discriminator.

Further, according to the invention as set forth in claim 2 , the calculation means is provided with a storage means for storing and comparing a plurality of selection data of the current year and selection data of the previous year. It is possible to objectively understand and visualize information such as whether there was a good harvest or a poor harvest this year using data, and inform farmers accordingly.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a color sorter of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the color sorter. It is a schematic diagram in which quality is determined from six types of spectral ratios as quality determination classifications. This is a display example of analysis results displayed on the screen of the display unit.

FIG. 1 is a schematic side sectional view of a color sorter according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the color sorter 1 includes a sorted material supply section 2, a chute 3, an optical sorting section 4, and a discharge hopper 5. The material to be sorted supply section 2 includes a tank 2a and a vibrating feeder 2b that supplies the material to be sorted to the chute 3. The chute 3 has a predetermined width and is arranged in an inclined position below the tip side of the vibrating feeder 2b, and allows the material to be sorted fed from the vibrating feeder 2b to flow down. The optical sorting unit 4 includes a pair of optical detection devices 6a, 6b, illumination devices 7a, 7b, 7c, backgrounds 8a, 8b, etc., which are arranged before and after the fall trajectory of the objects to be sorted that fall from the lower end of the chute 3. be done. The imaging signals from the optical detection devices 6a and 6b are electrically connected to be input to the calculation means 9. The calculation means 9 classifies the inspected object into good and defective products based on the image signals inputted from the optical detection devices 6a and 6b, and categorizes the defective products into multiple grades, i.e., colored grains caused by pests, burnt rice, etc. The quality can be classified into six types: damaged grains, green immature grains, unhulled rice, colored grains such as milky white grains, and foreign substances. Further, the calculating means 9 is electrically connected so that an output signal from the calculating means 9 is inputted to the ejector driving means 10. That is, the arithmetic means 9 discriminates between good products and defective products, and a signal of the discrimination result is outputted to the ejector drive means 10 which eliminates the defective products. Further, the ejector drive means 10 is electrically connected to the ejector device 11 and is configured to output a rejection signal to the ejector device 11. The discharge hopper 5 has a non-defective product discharge gutter 12 and a defective product discharge gutter 13, and the ejector device 11 separates the products to be sorted into non-defective products and defective products other than non-defective products (when rejecting these defective products, it also distinguishes between non-defective products and other defective products). It is also possible to check the quality of the product to see if it is a good product) and dispose of the product separately. That is, non-defective products are discharged from the machine from the non-defective product discharge gutter 12, and defective products are discharged from the machine from the defective product discharge gutter 13.

Next, the control circuit of the color sorter 1 will be described in detail. The calculation means 9 of the color sorter 1 distinguishes the items to be sorted into good and defective items, and further divides the contents of the defective items into colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, etc., green immature grains, and unhulled rice. , color grains such as milky white grains, and foreign substances such as pebbles.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit of the color sorter 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) is composed of a CCD line sensor and has sensitivity to each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). It includes an R element 6r, a G element 6g, and a B element 6b. The light reception signal of the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) is supplied to the R element 6r, the G element 6g, and the B element 6b, and is photoelectrically converted into an R signal, a G signal, and a B signal, and output. The R, G, and B signals are input to amplifiers 14 , 15 , and 16 provided in the calculation means 9 , respectively, and further input to a signal processing circuit 17 . The signal processing circuit 17 binarizes the input values of the R, G, and B signals, and performs signal conversion by performing arithmetic processing by addition, subtraction, multiplication , or division. This signal conversion is to identify the object to be inspected by characterizing the signal received by the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b), and by inputting this signal to the comparison circuit 18, the object to be inspected is The quality and quality of objects are determined.

Reference numeral 19 is a delay circuit, which determines the injection timing according to the distance between the position where the object to be sorted is observed with the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b) and the removal position where the ejector device 11 removes defective products. It is something to do. A rejection signal is outputted from the comparator 18 to the ejector driving means 10 via the delay circuit 19. The exclusion signal determined by the ejector drive means 10 is output to the ejector device 11.

The signal processing circuit 17 shown in FIG. 2 calculates a spectral ratio R/G and a spectral ratio R/B from each value of R, G, and B obtained by performing binarization processing on each grain of the material to be sorted. , is calculated. Then, this calculated value is compared with the discriminant stored in the comparison circuit 18 (see, for example, FIGS. 6 to 10 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-292344), and the quality is discriminated into, for example, six types. .

FIG. 3 shows an algorithm for determining quality from six types of spectral ratios as quality determination categories. Referring to FIG. 3, for example, there are six types of quality classification classifications: (a) grains damaged by pests: areas with stink bug damaged grains and other areas are classified as good quality (areas not shown); , (b) Classification of colored grains due to burnt rice, etc. and other areas as good quality (areas not shown), (c) Classification of green immature grains and other areas as good quality ( (The area is not shown), (d) Milky white grains and other areas are classified as being good (areas are not shown), (e) Paddy (=shaded area) and other areas. If you create a program in advance, such as (f) classifying foreign matter and other areas as good products (the areas are not shown), you can quickly perform statistical processing for quality determination. can be executed. In addition, in the quality discrimination mode in which such quality discrimination is performed, it is desirable to perform it during a pause in the sorting mode, when no load is placed on the arithmetic processing capacity of the calculation means 9, so as not to cause processing stagnation.
In color sorting machines for farmers, dust such as rice husk fragments and rice bran powder is thrown up during the sorting process, and the dust adheres to the glass surface of the optical detection device (imaging camera) 6a (or 6b). Sometimes. If dust adheres to the glass surface, optical monitoring will not be accurate. Therefore, in color sorting machines for farmers, there is a downtime in the middle of the sorting process for cleaning to remove dust (dust that has adhered to the glass surface is cleaned and removed by operating a wiper, etc.) There is a set working time for cleaning and removing dust that has adhered to the surface by aeration using a jet of air. During this cleaning work time, the load on the calculation processing capacity of the calculation means 9 is relatively light, so it is preferable to perform statistical processing for quality determination (quality determination mode) during this time.

Reference numeral 20 in FIG. 4 is a display section of the color sorting machine, which displays the quality results and sorting results after color sorting, and also serves as an operation section for operating the color sorting machine 1. FIG. 4 is a display example of the analysis results displayed on the screen 20a of the display unit 20, and what is shown in FIG. The results of classifying the paddy into good and good grains are shown, and in this example, the good grains accounted for 93% of the grains to be sorted, and the defective rice grains accounted for 7%. What is shown in FIG. 4(b) is a detailed analysis result (pie chart) of defective products obtained by aggregating the analyzes using six types of grades. In this example, the occupancy rate was 93% for non-defective items and 7% for defective items among the items to be sorted, and of the defective items, 2% were green and unripe, and 1% were each of the remaining quality items. .

Note that a storage means 21 is connected to the calculation means 9 (see FIG. 2), and the storage means 21 is capable of recording a plurality of pieces of data, including the current year's sorting data and the last year's sorting data. It is good to form. Furthermore, the storage means 21 can also store advice on farming guidance and the like in the form of a database. As a result, it is possible to provide farmers with feedback on rice cultivation conditions in the field this year, and provide farming guidance that will be useful for next year's cultivation management (for example, the timing of irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide spraying the following year). advice on annual cultivation management, etc.).

For example, as countermeasures for the next year, we may provide farmers with cultivation management guidelines (advice) that take into account ``fertilization management'' and ``harvesting time,'' or we can provide farmers with cultivation management guidelines (advice) that take into consideration ``fertilization management'' and ``harvesting timing,'' or provide farmers with cultivation management guidelines (advice) that consider rainy weather during harvest. We provide farmers with guidance on ``pre- and post-harvesting management,'' and provide farmers with guidance on ``seed disinfection and pest control plans'' as next year's cultivation management guidelines (advice). can do.

Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the embodiments of the invention described above are for facilitating understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof. In addition, it is possible to combine or omit each component described in the claims and the specification to the extent that at least part of the above-mentioned problems can be solved or at least part of the effect can be achieved. .

1 Color sorter 2 Sorted material supply section 3 Chute 4 Optical sorting section 5 Discharge hopper 6 Optical detection device 7 Illumination device 8 Background 9 Calculation means 10 Ejector drive means 11 Ejector device 12 Good product discharge gutter 13 Defective product discharge gutter 14 Amplifier 15 Amplifier 16 Amplifier 17 Signal processing circuit 18 Comparison circuit 19 Delay circuit 20 Display section

Claims (2)

a chute arranged at an angle to allow raw materials to be sorted to flow down; an optical detection means for detecting the objects to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute; A color sorting machine comprising an ejector means for sorting and eliminating, and a discharge hopper for separately discharging the objects to be sorted that have been sorted by the ejector means,
a sorting mode in which the objects to be sorted are sorted into good and defective items based on the imaging signal of the optical detection means; and while the sorting mode is inactive, the defective items are separated into grains damaged by pests, grains damaged by burnt rice; A color sorting machine characterized by having a grade discrimination mode for discriminating and displaying each grade of green immature grains, unhulled rice, milky white grains, and foreign substances, and a calculation means that can be switched to. 2. The color sorting machine according to claim 1, wherein said calculation means is provided with a storage means for storing and comparing a plurality of sorting data of the current year and sorting data of the previous year .

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