JPH07128321A - Nondestructive fruit selecting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance accuracy in the determination of quality by estimating the Brix % based on the measured density and mass of a fruit and then determining the quality of the fruit. CONSTITUTION:When selection work of melon 5 is conducted, a correlation diagram between the density and the extent of saccharide of a fruit is stored in a controller 22 and the difference of density between various types of fruit is corrected by a decision reference setter 21 thus classifying the Brix % for the melon 5. The melon 5 is fed from a receiving conveyor to a fruit holder of a selecting conveyor and the mass thereof is measured by a measuring unit 9. The melon 5 is then supported by a sucker 10 and variation in the capacitance of space within a volume measuring gate 11 is measured by a capacitance meter 10 in order to determine the volume of the melon 5 and to calculate the density thereof. Subsequently, the estimated Brix % B=18.5D-1, 6M-1.05 is estimated from the mass Mg and the density Dg/ml of the melon 5 and employed, along with a decision reference of a setter 21, for making decision of unripe, full ripe, and out of judgement selecting the fruits automatically.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nondestructive method and apparatus for selecting fruits such as melon and watermelon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant of the present application has developed a technique for nondestructive inspection of sugar content of watermelon, as described in 1993, Japanese Patent Application No. 18134.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned prior art, it was possible to obtain a substantially accurate sugar content by measuring the density of watermelon, but it is important to increase the estimated sugar content in order to perform quality determination with higher accuracy. Therefore, in order to increase the estimated sugar content, it was found that it is necessary to consider not only the density but also the mass of melon, watermelon, etc.

[0004]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the density and mass of fruits are measured, the estimated sugar content is calculated based on the density and mass of fruits, and the fruit quality is determined by determining the fruit quality. Since the quality of the fruit is judged by the sugar content calculated based on the mass, the fruit is sorted into high sugar content and low sugar content, and high quality fruit and low quality fruit are selected based on sugar content. Therefore, the accuracy of fruit quality discrimination can be improved more easily than before.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a fruit selection control circuit, and FIG. 2 is a side view of a fruit selection device, which includes a fruit selection conveyor (3) stretched through a driving wheel (1) and a driven wheel (2). ) Is driven in one direction at a substantially constant speed by an electric motor (4), and fruit holders (6) on which the melons (5) as fruits are placed are attached to the conveyor (3) at substantially equal intervals, and a plurality of melons are attached. (5) is configured to be continuously conveyed at a constant speed.

Further, the conveyor (3) is provided with a cargo receiving conveyor (7) for automatically supplying the melon (5) to the holder (6) on the starting end side, and the melon (5) received by the shipping port or the producer is received. The conveyor (7) is configured to stock and manage the receipt.

Further, a load cell type weighing machine (9) having a weighing conveyor (8) for lifting the melon (5) of the holder (6) on the fruit sorting conveyor (3) is provided, and the weighing conveyor (3) and The mass of the melon (5) is measured by moving the melon (5) synchronously.

Further, a suction plate (10) forming a main electrode
And a volume measuring gate (11) forming an earth electrode,
The melon (5) of the holder (6) is supported by the suction cup (10) and provided with a volume measuring conveyor (12) for passing through the inside of the gate (11), and the melon is attached to the suction cup (10) by the air cylinder (13). The melon (5) is moved by synchronizing the picking conveyor (3) with the (5) fixed, and by energizing between the suction plate (10) and the gate (11).
It is configured to measure the volume of the melon (5) based on the capacitance of the space inside the gate (11) that changes depending on the volume of the.

[0009] Further, the receiving boxes (14) (1) for each equal grade for taking out the melon (5) for each equal grade from the fruit selection conveyor (3)
5) (16), the low sugar content and high sugar content extraction cylinders (17) and (18) for moving the melon (5) of the holder (6) to the boxes (14) to (16) and the non-judgment extraction cylinder ( 19) and divide the melon (5) of the holder (6) into each box (1
4) It is configured to be taken out to (15) and (16).

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the measuring device (9) is a measuring means for measuring the density and mass of the melon (5).
And a capacitance meter (20), a judgment reference value setting device (21) which is a setting means for initially setting a judgment reference value of sugar content, and calculation and judgment of sugar content based on the measured density and mass of the melon (5). It is provided with a controller (22) composed of a microcomputer which is a judging means for carrying out.

When the melon (5) is selected, the correlation diagram between the fruit density and the sugar content shown in FIG. 5 is stored as determination data in the controller (22), and the fruits produced depending on the variety or the like. Judgment standard value setter (2
1) It corrects by operation and changes the set value that divides the sugar content of the melon (5). The melon (5) of the receiving conveyor (7) is automatically transferred to the fruit holder (6) of the fruit selecting conveyor (3). To the holder (16), the mass of the melon (5) placed on the holder (16) is measured by the measuring device (9), and then the melon (5) is supported by the suction cup (10).
The volume of the melon (5) is measured by the capacitance change of the space inside the volume measurement gate (11). Then, when the mass and volume of the melon (5) are clarified and the fruit density is measured, the sugar content B (Brix%) estimated from the fruit density D (g / ml) and mass M (g) of the melon (5). ) Is calculated according to the calculation formula B = 18.5D-1.61M-1.05, and the estimated sugar content shown in FIG. 4 is obtained to determine whether it is an unripe fruit, a ripe fruit, or out of judgment. Calculated estimated sugar content B
Is determined based on the determination reference value of the setting device (21) and the cylinders (17), (18) and (19) are operated and controlled to automatically select the results. As shown in the flowchart of FIG. The mass of the melon (5) measured by the measuring instrument (9) is input to the controller (22), and the volume of the melon (5) based on the capacitance change between the suction plate (10) and the gate (11) is statically measured. From the capacitance meter (20) to the controller (22), the density is calculated from the mass and volume of the melon (5), and the estimated sugar content B shown in FIG. Calculated by 18.5D-1.61M-1.05, inputting the sugar content determination reference value from the determination reference value setting device (21) to the controller (22), and calculating the estimated sugar content of the melon (5) and the determination reference. The sugar content of melon (5) is judged by the value Allowed by sugar content of melons was nondestructive (5) to determine melon (5) is a high sugar content or low sugar content, the cylinders (17) (18)
(19) is activated to automatically and continuously select the melons (5), and the melons (5) are separated into low-sugar fruits, high-sugar fruits, and non-judgment to remove the melons (5). The mass is measured to calculate the estimated sugar content, and the quality is determined based on the estimated sugar content of the melon (5). The low sugar content of low quality with low sugar content and the high sugar content of high quality with high sugar content ) Is configured to select.

As is apparent from FIG. 4, using the above calculation formula B = 18.5D-1.61M-1.05,
When the estimated sugar content B of the melon (5) is calculated based on the fruit density D and the mass M, the estimated sugar content B which is approximately similar to the actually measured sugar content obtained by collecting the pulp of the melon (5) and measuring the sugar content with a sugar meter is obtained. Therefore, it was found that the sugar content of melon (5) can be accurately determined by nondestructive measurement by using the estimated sugar content B as the fruit selection determination data of melon (5).

Further, the melon (5) which has passed a predetermined number of days (about 50 days) after flowering is harvested as a sample, and the density of the sample melon (5) is determined, for example, by measuring the weight in air and the weight in water. With melon (5)
The fruit flesh is sampled and the sugar content is measured with a sugar meter, and the relationship between the melon density and the sugar content is obtained as the fruit selection data as shown in Fig. 5. The fruit selection data in Fig. 5 is stored in the controller (22). The sugar content of the melon (5) is judged based on the judgment data of FIG. 5 based on the measured sugar content of the melon (5) and the judgment reference value by storing in advance, and the melon density is determined by the non-destructive measurement of the melon (5). It is determined whether (5) is low sugar content or high sugar content, and each cylinder (1
7) (18) (19) can be activated to automatically and continuously sort melons (5).

As the volume measuring means in the density measurement of the melon (5), in addition to the above embodiment, an image processing method,
Alternatively, there is a method using a volume meter using Boyle-Charles's law, and the volume of the melon (5) can be measured by using these methods.

Further, as is clear from FIG. 6, the measuring device (9) and the capacitance meter (2) are similar to the melon (5).
0) was used to measure the mass and density of watermelons that had passed a predetermined number of days (about 40 days) after flowering, and the calculation formula B =
Based on the fruit density D and the mass M, the estimated sugar content B of watermelon (Brix) was calculated using −35.5D + 0.30M + 43.1.
%) Was obtained, an estimated sugar content B that was approximately similar to the actually measured sugar content obtained by collecting the pulp of watermelon and measuring the sugar content with a sugar content meter was obtained. Therefore, the estimated sugar content B was used as the watermelon selection determination data. , The sugar content of watermelon can be accurately determined by non-destructive measurement. The watermelon mass measured by the measuring instrument (9) is input to the controller (22),
Further, the volume of the watermelon based on the capacitance change between the suction plate (10) and the gate (11) is input to the controller (22) from the capacitance meter (20), and the density is calculated from the mass and volume of the watermelon, From the fruit density D and the mass M, the estimated sugar content B shown in FIG. 6 is calculated as B = −35.5D + 0.30M + 4.
The calculation is made according to 3.1, and the judgment reference value setting device (2
Whether the sugar content of the watermelon is low according to the sugar content of the watermelon measured non-destructively by inputting the sugar content determination reference value from 1) into the controller (22), and determining the sugar content of the watermelon based on the calculated estimated sugar content of the watermelon and the determination reference value. It is determined whether or not the sugar content is high, and each cylinder (17) (18) (19) is activated to automatically and continuously select watermelons. It can be taken out, the density and mass of watermelon are measured to calculate the estimated sugar content, and the quality is determined by the estimated sugar content of the watermelon, and low quality low sugar content fruit with low sugar content and high quality high sugar content fruit with high sugar content. In addition, watermelon can be selected.

Also, watermelons that have passed a predetermined number of days (about 40 days) after flowering are harvested as samples, and the density of the sample watermelons is determined, for example, by measuring the weight in air and the weight in water, and the pulp of the watermelons is obtained. By collecting and measuring the sugar content with a sugar meter and obtaining the relationship between the density and sugar content of watermelon as the fruit selection judgment data as shown in Fig. 7, the judgment data of Fig. 7 is obtained from the measured sugar content of watermelon and the judgment reference value. It is also possible to determine the sugar content of the watermelon based on the above, and to determine whether the watermelon has a low sugar content or a high sugar content based on the density of the watermelon measured nondestructively.

[0017]

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As is clear from the above examples, according to the present invention, the density and mass of fruit (5) are measured, and the estimated sugar content is calculated based on the density and mass of fruit (5). By judging the quality, the quality of the fruit (5) is judged by the sugar content calculated based on the density and mass of the fruit (5). Therefore, the fruit (5) is classified into those with high sugar content and those with low sugar content. Therefore, the high quality fruit (5) and the low quality fruit (5) can be selected based on the sugar content, and the quality discrimination accuracy of the fruit (5) can be improved more easily than before. Is something that can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a selection control circuit diagram.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a fruit selection device.

3 is a flowchart of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a correlation diagram of the estimated sugar content and the actually measured sugar content of melon.

FIG. 5 is a correlation diagram of melon fruit density and sugar content.

FIG. 6 is a correlation diagram of the estimated sugar content and the actual sugar content of watermelon.

FIG. 7 is a correlation diagram of fruit density and sugar content of watermelon.

[Explanation of symbols]

 (5) Melon (fruit)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A non-destructive fruit selection method comprising measuring the density and mass of fruits, calculating the estimated sugar content based on the density and mass of fruits, and discriminating the quality of fruits.