JPH0666708A - Grade discriminating apparatus for material to be measured - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve measuring accuracy by substantially enlarging the area of a cover when the capacitance of the space between a material to be measured and a capacitance measuring cover is continuously measured. CONSTITUTION:A capacitance measuring part 5, which comprise a conductor 51 for electrifying a material to be measured, a capacitance measuring cover 52 and a capacitance meter 64, and a conveying frame 2, which conveys the material to be measured to the capacitance measuring part 5, are provided. The capacitance measuring cover 52 of the capacitance measuring part 5 is formed so that the conveying frame 2 can be inserted. Metal plates 23 before and after the conveying direction are provided in the conveying frame 2. The metal plates 23 serves as the partition grounding electrodes when the plates are inserted into the cover 52. The capacitance of the space between the material to be measured and the cover 52 and the metal plates 23 is measured with the capacitance measuring part 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a class discriminating apparatus capable of discriminating a class by measuring the diameter and volume of an object to be measured such as fruits and root vegetables such as watermelon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when measuring or determining the hollow state of fruit such as watermelon without destroying it, there is known a method of making a determination by tapping sound or a sound wave, or a method of detecting and measuring electric resistance. However, there is a problem that sufficient discrimination accuracy cannot be obtained in any case. Therefore, the weight and volume of the object to be measured are obtained first, and the specific weight of the object to be measured is calculated from these weights and volumes, and the hollow state of the object to be measured from this specific weight, that is, the presence or absence of a cavity and its degree are destroyed. We have proposed a continuous measuring device that can measure continuously without performing.
(Japanese Patent Application No. 3-194191) This measuring device measures the weight of an object to be measured by a weight sensor using a load cell, and uses a capacitance measuring cover of a size that covers the object to be measured. An object to be measured is intervened, and a high-frequency voltage is applied between the cover and a conductor which is in the cover and is in contact with the object to be measured to electrostatically discharge the gap between the cover and the object to be measured. Measure the capacitance with a capacitance meter, measure the volume of the measured object based on this capacitance, calculate the specific weight by these weight and volume, and measure the cavity state of the measured object It is something that is done.

[0003]

However, according to the previously proposed measuring device, in order to continuously measure the object to be measured, the capacitance measuring cover that covers the object to be measured is It has been necessary to have a structure in which the measurement object can enter and exit, that is, a structure in which the conveyance direction of the measurement object on the side surface of the cover is cut out. Therefore, there is a problem in that the cover cannot cover the entire object to be measured and the measurement accuracy is reduced.

The hollow state of the object to be measured is measured by calculating the specific weight by the weight measurement by the weight measuring unit and the volume measurement by the volume measuring unit, and the grade determination based on the hollow state is performed. However, the diameter has not been measured, and therefore the class cannot be discriminated by the diameter.

However, when classifying objects to be measured, in general, large objects to be measured, such as watermelons, are packed in a predetermined number of boxes, so that the class by measuring the diameter is It is required.

By the way, when measuring the diameter of an object to be measured, known methods include an image processing method, a non-contact sensor such as an optical sensor, and a contact sensor.

However, when each of the above-mentioned methods is used to measure the diameter of the object to be measured, according to the image processing method, it is necessary to rotate the object to be measured in order to measure one surface. There is a problem that the size of the apparatus becomes large and the cost becomes high, and when the surface of the object to be measured has irregularities, shadows appear in the concave portions and the accuracy is lowered. In addition, the method using a non-contact or contact sensor has a problem that if the surface of the object to be measured has irregularities, the measurement error becomes large.

A main object of the present invention is to provide a class discriminating apparatus which can improve the measurement accuracy when the capacitance of the gap between the object to be measured and the capacitance measuring cover is continuously measured. For other purposes, the volume or diameter of the object to be measured can be calculated using this continuous measurement of capacitance, and highly accurate values can be measured with a simple configuration, and class determination based on these results. The point is to provide a class discriminating device capable of performing the above.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an electrostatic capacitance consisting of a conductor 51 for energizing an object to be measured, a capacitance measuring cover 52 and a capacitance meter 64. The transport unit 2 includes a measurement unit 5 and a transport frame body 2 that transports an object to be measured to the capacitance measurement unit 5, and the capacitance measurement cover 52 of the capacitance measurement unit 5 covers the transport frame body 2. The transport frame 2 is provided with a metal plate 23, which serves as a partitioning ground electrode when entering the cover 52, before and after the transport frame body 2 in the transporting direction. Measured object and the cover 52 and the metal plate 2
Therefore, the capacitance of the air gap with 3 was measured.

Further, it is preferable that the class discriminating apparatus according to the first aspect includes a diameter calculating section 80 for calculating the diameter of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measuring section 5.

Further, it is preferable that the class discriminating apparatus according to the first aspect includes a volume calculating section 81 for calculating the volume of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measuring section 5.

[0012]

A transport frame body 2 for transporting the object to be measured to the capacitance measuring portion 5 is provided, and a metal serving as a partition earth electrode when entering the cover 52 before and after the transport frame body 2 in the transport direction. By providing the plate 23, it is possible to allow the object to be measured to enter the cover 52 by being conveyed, while the carrying part of the object to be measured in the cover 52 can be blocked by the metal plate 23. While the capacity can be measured efficiently, the measurement accuracy can be improved.

Further, since the diameter is calculated based on the electrostatic capacity of the gap between the object to be measured measured by the electrostatic capacity measuring unit 5 and the electrostatic capacity measuring cover 52, the surface of the object to be measured is calculated. Even if there is unevenness on the surface, or even if the setting state of the object to be measured on the measuring unit 5 changes, the equivalent diameter of the object to be measured can be accurately measured, and the accuracy of class determination based on the diameter can be improved. . That is, the present invention uses a capacitance measuring cover, and when measuring the capacitance between this cover and the object to be measured introduced into the cover, the cover is a hollow sphere, and the object to be measured is If spherical, measured capacitance Cs
Is obtained by calculating the diameter of the object to be measured based on the following relational expression.

[0014]

[Number 1] _{Cs = 4πε 0 ε r r 1} r 2 / (r 2 -r 1) where r ₁ is the outer surface radius of the object, r ₂ is the case where the capacitance measurement cover the hollow sphere The inner radius. Further, ε ₀ is a dielectric constant under vacuum condition (8.854 pF / m), and ε _r is a relative dielectric constant of an intermediate medium (mainly air) interposed between the DUT and the capacitance measurement cover. Is.

Since the present invention measures the electrostatic capacitance of the gap between the object to be measured and the cover, the measured device is based on the electrostatic capacity as in the previously proposed measuring device. Since the volume of the object can be easily obtained, the diameter of the object to be measured may be measured from the volume obtained based on the capacitance.

Therefore, the inner surface radius r _{2 of the} cover is set to 1
Radius r ₁ in this cover is from 0 mm to 1 as 50 mm, 300 mm and infinity (substantially without cover)
The capacitance when the object to be measured which changes to 50 mm is introduced changes as shown in FIG.

Therefore, when the inner surface radius r _{2 of the} cover is constant, the object to be measured introduced into the cover is the object to be measured based on the measured value of the capacitance Cs measured by a capacitance meter. The radius r ₁ of the cover can be calculated, and in particular, if the inner surface radius r ₂ of the cover is set sufficiently large with respect to the object to be measured,
Even if the surface of the object to be measured has irregularities, its equivalent diameter can be accurately calculated.

In the above description, the cover is a medium spherical body and the object to be measured introduced into the cover is spherical. However, when the cover is box-shaped or the object to be measured is other than spherical. For example, even in the case of an ellipse, the diameter of the object to be measured, and in the case of an ellipsoid, the diameters in the minor axis direction and the major axis direction can be determined by calculation by similarly constructing a theoretical formula. Furthermore, if the cover is made sufficiently large, in the case of an ellipsoid in which the difference between the major axis and the minor axis is small, it can be approximated by the same formula as that of a sphere. In particular, the provision of the metal plate 23 improves the measurement accuracy.

A volume calculation unit 81 for calculating the volume of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measurement unit 5.
By providing the above, it is possible to measure not only the diameter but also the volume by using the capacitance, and it becomes possible to discriminate the class based on the volume.

[0020]

EXAMPLE The example shown in FIG. 1 is applied to a continuous measuring device capable of continuously measuring an object to be measured,
As shown in FIG. 3, a weight measuring unit 4 and a capacitance measuring unit 5 are provided in the conveying path of the conveying device 1, and the capacitance measuring unit 5 is brought into contact with the object to be measured W to It is formed of a conductor 51 that conducts electricity to the object to be measured, a capacitance measuring cover 52, and a capacitance meter 64, and also a capacitance meter 64.
Volume calculator 8 that calculates the volume based on the capacitance measured in
1 and the weight information measured by the weight measuring unit 4, that is,
A specific weight calculator 8 for calculating a specific weight based on the voltage corresponding to the weight and the volume information calculated by the volume calculator 81, that is, the voltage corresponding to the capacitance is provided, and the capacitance meter is further provided. A diameter calculation unit 80 for calculating the diameter of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured at 64 is provided, and classification is performed according to the hollow state by the specific weight calculation unit 8 and the diameter measurement result by the diameter calculation unit 80. It is the one. The diameter calculation unit 80 calculates from the electrostatic capacitance Cs measured by the electrostatic capacitance meter 64 based on the relational expression shown in Formula 1 above.

That is, the inner surface size of the capacitance measuring cover 52 (in the case of a hollow sphere, the inner surface radius), the dielectric constant ε ₀ under vacuum conditions, and the relative dielectric constant of air when measured in air. Since ε _r can be specified in advance, these data are stored in the central processing unit CPU which constitutes the calculation unit 80.
Stored in the memory, read out these data at any time, and calculate in the diameter calculation unit 80 based on the above equation 1,
The equivalent diameter 2r _{1 of the} object to be measured is obtained, and the classification is performed based on the measurement result of the diameter thus obtained and the cavity state obtained by the specific weight calculation unit 8.

This class classification is performed by the display device 83 in FIG. 1, but in the continuous measuring device shown in FIG. 3, the class display is performed and the discharging device 7 performs the sorting operation.

Next, the continuous measuring device shown in FIG. 3 will be described.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the carrying device 1 having a length from the carry-in position to the carry-out position of the object to be measured is arranged,
A large number of metal transport frames 2 ... Are provided at regular intervals in the transport device 1, and synthetic resin trays 3 to be described later are respectively installed on the transport frame bodies 2 and the transport device 1 is used. A weight measuring unit 4, a volume measuring unit 5, and a discharging device 7 are provided in the transport path.

As shown in FIG. 3, the carrier device 1 has
A drive sprocket 11 that interlocks with the motor 10 is arranged on one end side in the length direction, and a forward sprocket 12 is arranged on the other end side, and an endless link chain 13 is installed between these sprockets 11, 12. Using a chain conveyor consisting of
As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, a pair of the chain conveyors are arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals.

Brackets 14 having flat mounting surfaces are provided on the outer link plates 13a of the chains 13, 13 of the chain conveyors. The brackets 14 are provided with the carrying frames 2 at regular intervals. The transport frame bodies 2 can be forcibly transported, and the transport frame bodies 2 can be forcibly transported while fixing the approximately central portions of the transport frame bodies 2 in the front-back direction in the transport direction to one of the brackets 14. The sprocket 11, 12 of the carrier frame 2 can be turned.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the carrying frame 2 has a pair of side frames 16 and 1 extending in the carrying direction.
7 and a front frame body 18 and a rear frame body 19 which are provided between the front and rear portions of the side frame bodies 16 and 17 to form a planar rectangular frame shape. On the upper surface of the side frame body 16 rises upward and extends toward the center between the chains 13 and 13, and the elongated hole 2 is formed at the extension tip.
A pair of support pieces 20 having 0a are fixed by bolting, and a pair of receiving pieces 21 having receiving grooves 21a opening upward are bolted to the upper surface of the other side frame body 17. It is fixed by.

Then, on the back surfaces of the side frame members 16 and 17,
The bracket 14 is fixed to the center part in the front-rear direction by bolts so that it can be forcibly moved by driving the chains 13, 13.

The front and rear frames 18 and 19 are shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, an inverted L-shaped stay 22 that is supported in front of and behind the side frames 16 and 17 and has a tip bent outward.
The metal plate 23 is fixed between the stays 22 and serves as a partition earth electrode when the transport frame 2 enters the cover 52. The metal plate 23 has a sloping upper surface on which a cushion such as a sponge or a rubber plate is formed. The material 24 is laid on the entire surface.

Further, the tray 3 is mounted on the transport frame body 2 configured as described above so as to be able to float and tilt, and one side frame body 16 of the transport frame body 2 is mounted.
A tilting fulcrum shaft 31 that is vertically movably inserted into the long hole 20a of the support piece 20 provided on the above, and a guide rod 32 that is fitted into the receiving groove 21a of the receiving piece 21 provided on the other side frame body 17. It is composed of a tray body 30 having a tray and a mount 33 for the object to be measured supported on the tray body 30.

The tray body 30 includes the side frame members 16,
A pair of side plates 30a and 30b parallel to 17 and the front and rear frame body 1
8 and 19 and front and rear plates 30c and 30d parallel to each other. The front and rear plates 30c and 30d are fixed to the tilt fulcrum shaft 31 on one side in the longitudinal direction and the guide rods on the other side. A pair of interference legs 3 having a length extending in the transport direction with an interval at which the conductor 51 of the volume measuring unit 5 described later can be inserted at the lower edge side while fixing 32.
4, 35, that is, an interference leg 34 for interfering with the weight measuring belt 41 of the weight measuring unit 4 which will be described later so that the tray main body 30 is levitated with respect to the transport device 3 and the tray main body 30 is moved together with the measuring belt 41. , 35 are provided. The interference leg 35 also interferes with a roller 71a of the ejecting device 7, which will be described later, as shown in FIG. 8, and also causes the tray main body 30 to tilt about the tilt fulcrum shaft 31.

The mounting body receiver 3 for supporting the mounting body 33 is provided at the longitudinal intermediate portions of the front and rear plates 30c and 30d and the longitudinal intermediate portions of the interference legs 34 and 35.
6 is an insertion hole 3 for the conductor 51 provided in the mounting body 33.
They are attached so as to surround 3a.

Further, one side plate 30b of the side plates 30a, 30b, that is, the side plate 30b provided on the side supporting the guide rod 32, is provided outside the one chain 13 of the chains 13, 13 in the vertical direction. The tilting prevention guide 37 disposed in this direction, that is, the turning portion of the driven sprocket 12 from the turning portion of the drive sprocket 11 to the driven sprocket 12 via the return portions of the chains 13 and 13 as shown in FIG. To the tilting prevention guide 37 arranged from the above to the loading unit for loading the object to be measured into the placing body 33.
A guide roller 38 that is engaged with the tray main body 30 and prevents the tray main body 30 from tilting when moving along the path.

Further, the above-mentioned mounting body 33 has a saucer shape having an inclined surface which is slanted toward the inside, and is provided with the insertion hole 33a at the center thereof. It is attached to 36 by bolts or the like. A cushion material 39 such as a sponge or a rubber plate is attached on the entire surface of the inclined surface.
The surface of the cushion member 24 is flush with the surface of the cushion member 24 provided on the front and rear frame members 18, 19 of the transport frame member 2 on the inclined plane.

Therefore, by loading the object to be measured into the above-mentioned mounting body 33 from the side of the carrier device 1,
Is placed above the insertion hole 33a in the
It is supported by the cushion material 39 around 3a,
When the tray body 30 is tilted, the surface of the cushion material 39 serves as a guide surface and can be discharged.

In the above construction, however, the tray 3 having the mounting body 33 attached to the tray body 30 is attached to the conveying frame body 2 mounted on the conveying device 1 at a predetermined interval and the tilting fulcrum. The shaft 31 is attached to the long hole 20 of the support piece 20.
The tray 3 is set by being inserted into a, and the tray 3 is conveyed together with the conveyance frame body 2 from the carry-in side to the discharge side by the driving of the carrying device 1 by such setting. The object to be measured placed on the placing body 33 on the side is conveyed to the discharge side while being placed, and subjected to the weight measurement and volume measurement described below, and after the cavity state and the quality are determined, By tilting the tray 3 by the operation of the discharging device 7, the object to be measured placed on the placing body 33 is discharged.

Next, the measuring device 6 provided on the conveyance path of the object to be measured conveyed as described above will be explained.

This device 6 comprises a weight measuring unit 4 and a capacitance measuring unit 5. The weight measuring unit 4 shown in FIG.
A weight measuring belt 41 driven by a geared motor (not shown) is supported by a weighing machine 43 having a load cell (not shown) via a support 42, as schematically shown in FIG. The tray main body 3 conveyed by the conveying device 1 is arranged on the upper surface of the weight measuring belt 41.
The interference legs 34, 35 of the front tray main body 30 which have been conveyed are slightly higher than the lower conveyance position of the interference legs 34, 35 of 0.
35 rides on the belt 41, and the conveyor 1
With the belt 41 in a state of being levitated against the conveyor device 1
The weight of the object to be measured W is measured by the weighing machine 43 during the transportation while being transported in a synchronous manner.

In this case, the tray 3 is conveyed while being separated from the carrier frame 2, but since the belt 41 is driven in synchronization with the carrier device 1, the carrier frame 2 is again driven after the weight measurement. And is transported by the transport frame 2.

The capacitance measuring unit 5 has a measuring body 50 in which a conductive body 51 made of conductive rubber or the like is vertically movable.
And a reciprocating device having a size for covering the object to be measured W and reciprocating the capacitance measuring cover 52 made of a conductive material, the capacitance meter 64, and the measuring body 50 in synchronization with the transport device 1. And 53.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the reciprocating device 53 is a pulse motor 54 capable of normal and reverse rotation and having a variable number of revolutions, and a ball screw which rotates in the forward and reverse direction in association with the motor 54. 55 and a moving body 56 that is coupled to the measuring body 50 and is screwed into the ball screw 55 to reciprocate. The motor 54 and the ball screw 55 are housed in an elongated box-shaped base 57, and the base is The 57 is disposed on the pedestal 9 which is laterally bridged between the chains 13, 13 of the transfer device 1 along the transfer path.

A guide rail 58 extending along the transport path is provided at a position lateral to the base 57 on the gantry 9, and a power supply line for feeding the conductor 51 is provided on one side of the guide rail 58. The power supply side of 59 is fixed, and the power supply line 59 is guided along the guide rail 58.
The power feeding side is fixed to the power feeding portion of the measuring body 50, and the feeding line 59 is guided when the measuring body 50 reciprocates.

More specifically, the power supply line 59 has a fixed end metal fitting 59a and a moving end metal fitting 59b at both ends, and the metal fittings 59a and 59b are held by a wide chain 59c to which a plurality of link plates are pin-connected. , The chain 59c
It is configured to be guided by the guide rail 58 via.

Further, the measuring body 50 is an elevating device 60 for elevating and lowering the conductor 51, and a suction device 61 for adsorbing an object to be measured on the conductor 51 as shown in FIG.
And the electric conductor 5 by the lifting device 60.
1 is moved up to be inserted into the insertion hole 33a of the mounting body 33 and brought into contact with the object to be measured mounted on the mounting body 33. Further, the conductor 51 is provided with the suction device 61. And an air passage 51a communicating with the suction passage, and a switching valve 62 is provided in the communication passage between the air passage 51a and the suction device 61 to switch the air passage 51a between the suction passage and the pressure passage. When contacting the object to be measured 51, that is, at the time of measurement, the object to be measured is adsorbed as a suction passage,
After the measurement, air is blown to the object to be measured as a pressurizing passage so that adsorption can be eliminated.

The motor 54 is connected to the measuring body 50.
When the sheet is conveyed in the same direction as the conveying direction of the conveying device 1,
It is moved at the same speed as the carrying speed, and when it is returned in the direction opposite to the carrying direction, it is moved at twice the carrying speed, and the motor 54 is driven to carry the measuring body 50. When moving forward in the same direction, the elevating device 60 operates, the conductor 51 moves upward, and the switching valve 62 operates, and after the measurement is completed, the measuring body 50 is returned in the opposite direction. When moving it, switch the switching valve 62 before returning.
The lifting device 60 operates to move the conductor 51 downward while the adsorption of the object to be measured is released by blowing pressurized air.

The drive control of the motor 54 is carried out by a carrying frame body detection switch SW provided on the carry-in side of the carrying device 1.
The timing is adjusted on the basis of the detection of the transport frame body 2 by 1 and the transport speed of the transport device 1 and the pitch of the transport frame body 2.

Therefore, in this case, the detection switch SW1
By storing the number of the transport frame body 2 detected by, the weight measurement and the capacitance measurement can be performed based on one detection signal.

The detection switch SW1 is separately provided just before the weight measuring unit 4 and immediately before the capacitance measuring unit 5, and the guard frame motor of the weight measuring unit 4 is detected by detecting the transport frame 2 by this switch. Alternatively, the motor 54 of the capacitance measuring unit 5 may be drive-controlled.

The object to be measured W transported by the transport frame 2 as described above is the cover 5 in the capacitance measuring section 5.
2, the measuring body 50 moves in synchronization with the conveyance of the conveying frame body 2 and moves at the same speed, and at the same time, the elevating device 60 is driven to raise the electric conductor 51 to move the object to be measured. It comes into contact with W and is adsorbed by suction by the suction device 61. Then, due to this contact, a high frequency voltage is applied between the conductor 51, the cover 52 and the metal plate 23, and the electrostatic capacity described later is measured.

When the object to be measured W carried by the carrying frame 2 leaves the cover 52, the motor 54 reverses after being stopped.
Is a quick return to the entrance side of the cover 52 at twice the transport speed of the transport frame 2.

On the other hand, the cover 52 is made of a conductive material and is fixed to the outside of the carrying device 1, and has a pair of side surfaces 52a and 52b and an upper surface 52c having a predetermined length along the carrying direction. Therefore, the object to be measured conveyed by the conveying device 1 is arranged so as to surround the three surfaces over a predetermined length.

The conductor 51 connected to the capacitance meter 64 via the power supply line 59 is used as a main electrode, the cover 52 and the metal plate 23 are used as a ground electrode, and a high frequency voltage is applied between these electrodes. To do.

Therefore, by applying a high frequency voltage to the conductor 51, the object to be measured W that penetrates into the cover 52 and occupies the volume in the cover 52 according to its size (volume). The capacitance of the gap between the cover 52 and the object W to be measured is measured by the capacitance meter 64.

On the output side of the capacitance meter 64,
A volume calculator 81 for calculating the volume of the object to be measured W based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance meter 64 is provided, and the weight information from the weight measurer 4 and the volume calculator 81 are provided. The specific weight calculation unit 8 for calculating the specific weight based on the volume information of is connected.

When the capacitance of the gap between the cover 52 and the object to be measured W is measured as described above, the equivalent diameter of the object to be measured can be determined based on this capacitance. The diameter calculator 80 is connected to the output side of the capacitance meter 64.

That is, when the cover 52 has a hollow spherical shape and the object to be measured has a spherical shape, the electrostatic capacitance Cs measured by the electrostatic capacitance meter 64 has the relational expression shown in the above mathematical expression 1 and The inner radius r ₂ of the cover 52 and the permittivity under vacuum conditions and the relative permittivity when air is used as an intermediate medium are constants. Therefore, based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance meter 64, Since the diameter 2r _{1 of the} measured object can be obtained,
The diameter calculator 80 is connected to the output side of the capacitance meter 64 together with the volume calculator 81.

As described above, the hollow state of the object to be measured can be determined from the specific weight calculated by the specific weight calculation in the specific weight calculation section 8, and the equivalent diameter of the measured object can be determined by the diameter calculation in the diameter calculation section. You can tell,
By determining the grade and the class based on the hollow state and the diameter, the number of classes to be classified can be increased, and finer class classification can be performed.

[0058] As a result of equal rank fractionation carried out as described above and displayed on the display device 83 as shown in FIG. 1, may be packed in each equal floor class to reflect this view, FIG. 3 In the embodiment shown in (1), the display device 83 outputs to the operating device 75 of the discharging devices 7 provided on the carry-out side, the operating device 75 is controlled according to the determination result, and the discharged products are divided into equal classes. ing.

It should be noted that, as shown in FIG. 6, the cover 52 has an inward fin 52 extending in the direction of the object to be measured.
By continuously providing d to the side surfaces 52a and 52b and the upper surface 52c, the cover 52 is reinforced and the measurement accuracy can be improved. Also, as shown in FIG. 6, a metal plate 65 that covers the lower opening of the cover 52 is fixedly provided at the lower part of the conveyance path of the cover 3, and the metal plate 65 is grounded. As an electrode, the measurement accuracy can be further improved.

Further, as described above, since the front and rear frames 18 and 19 of the carrier frame 2 are provided with the metal plate 23 serving as the moving side partitioning ground electrode, the metal plate 23 also improves the measurement accuracy. This can be improved, and the error in capacitance measurement can be further reduced by combining the above respective configurations, that is, the respective configurations of the inward fin 52d, the metal plate 65, and the metal plates 23 of the front and rear frames 18 and 19. Highly accurate measurement is possible.

Although the cover 52 shown in FIG. 3 has a box shape, it can be formed into a hollow spherical shape which can be divided into two parts, and even in the case of a box shape, the above theoretical formula can be changed. Thus, the diameter 2r _{1 of the} object to be measured W can be obtained based on the capacitance Cs.

The equivalent diameter 2r _{1 of the} object to be measured calculated by the diameter calculation unit 80 is calculated based on the equation 1, but the diameter is calculated based on the volume calculated by the volume calculation unit 81. May be calculated.

Next, the discharge device 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

A plurality of the discharging devices 7 are provided on the carry-out side of the carrying device 1 and operate based on the measurement result by the cavity state measuring device 6 to sort the objects to be measured by equal rank and carry-out case or the like. It can be discharged to the
1 of the interference legs 34 and 35 provided in the first embodiment, that is, the tilt fulcrum shaft 3 of the tray body 30.
1. A tilting arm 71 having a roller 71a which is provided below the movement locus of the interference leg 35 provided at a position distant from 1, and tilts by pushing up the interference leg 35, and the roller 71a.
Is swingably supported, and the roller 71a is moved to a retracted position that is lower than the movement locus of the lower surface of the interference leg 35, and an operation position that pushes up the interference leg 35 beyond the movement locus from this retracted position. Control body 72 for controlling and this control body 7
It is composed of an actuating device 75, which is mainly composed of a hydraulic cylinder for reciprocating the two.

The control body 72 has a pedestal 9A whose one end in the length direction is provided between the chains 13, 13 of the transfer apparatus 1.
In addition, it is pivotally attached via a pin 74 and an intermediate portion is connected to the actuating device 75.

Further, the tilting arm 71 is swingably supported by a pin 73 on the free end side of the control body 72, and the control body 72 has the tilting arm 71 of the tilting arm 71 as shown in FIG. A stopper 77 for restricting swinging in one direction in the upright state, that is, swinging in the opposite direction to the transport direction (arrow X direction in FIG. 9) is provided, and the control body 72 and the tilting arm 7 are provided.
A spring 76 for urging the tilting arm 71 toward the stopper 77 is provided between the spring 76 and the stopper 1.

The pin 7 for pivotally mounting the tilting arm 71
The position of 3 is provided above the locking position of the spring 76 in the control body 72, and
6 in the locking position of the tilting arm 71,
When the tilting arm 71 swings in the transport direction when the roller 71a is erroneously projected to the moving locus of the interference leg 35 due to a malfunction of the actuating device 75, the pin of the spring 76 is provided. The urging direction is reversed when the fulcrum of 73 is exceeded, and an unstable switching mechanism that switches to the reverse position shown by the chain line in FIG. 9 is configured.

In this case, the pedestal 9A has a malfunction detection switch S which operates at the reverse biasing position of the tilting arm 71.
By providing W2 and connecting it to the alarm device, a malfunction of the actuating device 75 can be detected, and in combination with the configuration in which the tilting arm 71 is provided, mechanical damage can be avoided and the actuating device 75 can be prevented. Can be stopped and its alarm can be issued.

Therefore, a plurality of the actuating devices 75 are provided, and one of the actuating devices 75 is selectively actuated based on the measurement result of the measuring device 6, and the actuating device 75 is actuated. As a result, the control body 72 moves upward, the roller 71a moves to the operating position, and pushes up the interference leg 35, and the push-up pushes up the tray body 30.
Tilts around the tilt fulcrum shaft 31, and
The object to be measured placed on is discharged.

When the operating device 75 is not operated, the roller 71a is in the retracted position shown in FIG. 9, and the interference leg 35 passes without interfering with the roller 71a. Is not discharged.

Next, the operation of the measuring device configured as described above will be described.

The object to be measured W is placed on the placing body 33 of the tray 3 set on the carrying frame body 2 and is carried while being carried along with the carrying of the carrying frame body 2. Then, the weight of the object W to be measured transported as described above is measured for each tray that is floated from the carrier frame 2 while being transported by the weight measuring unit 4.

This weight measurement is started based on the operation of the transfer frame body detection switch SW1 provided on the carry-in side of the transfer device 1. This information is obtained by the controller incorporating the specific weight calculation section 8. It is stored in the memory of the CPU.

After the weight measurement is completed as described above, the tray 3 is lowered again and is conveyed together with the conveyance frame body 2, and the capacitance measuring section 5 measures the capacitance.

This capacitance measurement is performed by the switch SW1.
The operation is started based on the above operation, and the motor 54 is driven and the elevating device 60 is driven in accordance with the transport speed and the pitch of the transport frame body 2 while transporting by the transport frame body 2. A conductor 51 that moves in synchronization with the transport frame body 2
This is done by applying a high frequency voltage to the.

By applying this high frequency voltage, the cover 5
2 and the capacitance of the gap between the metal plate 23 and the object to be measured W is measured by the capacitance meter 64, and based on this capacitance, the equivalent diameter of the object to be measured W is calculated by the diameter calculator 80. In addition to being calculated, the volume calculation unit 81 calculates the volume of the object to be measured W.

Then, the volume value (voltage) calculated by the volume calculation unit 81 and the weight value (voltage) stored in the memory.
From the above, the specific weight of the object to be measured W is calculated in the specific weight calculating section 8 to determine the hollow state thereof.

Then, the cavities and the diameters are discriminated as described above, and the objects to be measured W which have been classified are transported while being placed on the tray 3, and the plurality of discharging devices 7 of the plurality of discharging devices 7 are classified based on the classified equal ranks. It is discharged from one.

As described above, since the object to be measured W is ranked based on its hollow state and diameter, it is possible to finely classify and classify, and the diameter is used as an element for rating. advantage of the number of boxes packed constant even when packed the workpiece W to be unloaded from the discharging apparatus 7 for each floor class is the also obtained.

In the embodiment described above, the diameter, the volume and the specific weight are calculated, and the grade and the class are discriminated based on the diameter and the hollow state. However, the class may be discriminated only by the diameter, The class may be determined only by the diameter and the volume.

[0081]

As described above, according to the present invention, the capacitance measuring section 5 including the conductor 51 that conducts electricity to the object to be measured, the capacitance measuring cover 52 and the capacitance meter 64, and the object to be measured. And a carrying frame 2 for carrying the electrostatic capacity measuring section 5 to the electrostatic capacity measuring section 5, and the electrostatic capacity measuring cover 52 of the electrostatic capacity measuring section 5 is provided.
The transport frame body 2 is allowed to enter, and the transport frame body 2 is provided with a metal plate 23 which serves as a partitioning ground electrode before and after the transport frame body 2 intrudes into the cover 52. Since the capacitance measuring unit 5 measures the capacitance of the void between the object to be measured and the cover 52 and the metal plate 23, the object to be measured can be transferred into the cover 52 and conveyed. While the cover 5
Since the transport part of the object to be measured in 2 can be closed by the metal plate 23, the substantial area of the cover 52 can be increased, and the capacitance can be measured efficiently, but the measurement accuracy is also high. Can be improved.

Further, the class discriminating apparatus according to claim 1 is provided with a diameter calculating section 80 for calculating the diameter of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measuring section 5, whereby the object to be measured is provided. Even if there is unevenness on the surface of the object or the setting state of the object to be measured on the measuring section 5 changes, the equivalent diameter can be accurately measured, and class determination with less error is possible based on this diameter. It will be.

Further, by providing the volume calculating section 81 for calculating the volume of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measuring section 5, not only the diameter but also the volume can be measured and the volume can be measured. It is possible to discriminate between classes.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a change in capacitance with respect to a change in a radius of an object to be measured in relation to a capacitance measurement cover.

FIG. 3 is an overall side view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state where a tray is set on a transfer frame.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a state where the tray is set on the transport frame.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the volume measuring unit as seen from the front side in the transport direction.

FIG. 7 is a partial explanatory view of only the measuring body in the volume measuring unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a tilted state of the tray.

9 is an enlarged side view of the discharge device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Transport Device 2 Transport Frame 3 Tray 4 Weight Measurement Section 5 Capacitance Measurement Section 8 Specific Weight Calculation Section 23 Metal Plate 51 Conductor 52 Capacitance Measurement Cover 64 Capacitance Meter 80 Diameter Calculation Section 81 Volume Calculation Section

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hirano, Chuo Sanchome No. 33-3, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture Omi Metrology Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroro Kato 93-4 Shimogamokitaencho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A capacitance measuring section (5) comprising a conductor (51) for energizing an object to be measured, a capacitance measuring cover (52) and a capacitance meter (64), and an object to be measured. The transport frame (2) for transporting to the capacitance measuring section (5) is provided, and the capacitance measuring cover (52) of the capacitance measuring section (5) is provided on the transport frame (2). Is allowed to enter, and the carrying frame (2) is provided in the front and rear of the carrying direction.
The cover (52) is provided with a metal plate (23) which serves as a partitioning ground electrode when it enters the cover (52), and further, in the capacitance measuring section (5), the object to be measured and the cover (5).
2) and a class determination device for the object to be measured, which measures the capacitance of the air gap between the metal plate (23). 2. A diameter calculation unit (80) for calculating the diameter of the object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measurement unit (5).
The class discriminating device according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. A volume calculation section (81) for calculating the volume of an object to be measured based on the capacitance measured by the capacitance measurement section (5).
The class discriminating device according to claim 1, further comprising: