JPH08187468A - Quality evaluation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To judge the quality of fruit vegetables individually while increasing the efficiency of evaluation work by providing a fruit vegetables placing part on which a large number of fruit vegetables are placed side by side to an imaging region and providing a fruit vegatables separating means separating a large number of introduced fruit vegetables thereto at appropriate intervals. CONSTITUTION: When a large number of the tangerines A charged in a transport container C are collectively discharged to a dispersing conveyor 4, the tangerines A are placed on the dispersing rollers 12 of the dispersing conveyor 4 and fed in a feed direction while tumbled and dispersed before and behind as well as left and right. When the tangerines A are transferred to a feed conveyor 6 from the dispersing conveyor 4, they are accelerated in the feed direction and allowed to be spaced apart from each other in a before-and-behind direction. The tangerines A are fed to an imaging position in this state and imaged by the respective imaging cameras 29 of an image reader 7. The tangerines A are individually analyzed imagewise from the image data taken by the imaging cameras 29 to judge quality such as a size, a shape or a hue.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a quality evaluation device used for the quality judgment of fruit vegetables such as mandarin orange, apple, pear, persimmon, cucumber, eggplant, carrot, and yam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for collectively determining the quality of mandarin oranges as in the above-mentioned example, for example, as shown in FIG. Then, the plurality of mandarin oranges A ... Injected into the respective transport containers C ... Are collectively discharged onto the transport conveyor 50. Each of the imaging cameras 51, 51 while transporting a large number of mandarin oranges A ... Mounted on the transport conveyor 50.
After sequentially evaluating the quality of each mandarin orange A ... which is received by comparing the image data captured by the imaging cameras 51, 51 with the equal class data stored in the image processing device 53, There is a device for sequentially transferring a large number of oranges A to the sorting conveyor 54 and individually sorting.

[0003]

However, when a large number of mandarin oranges A ... Are collectively discharged onto the conveyer 50 as described above, the mandarin oranges A. . Like the monitor 52 shown in FIG.
Since each mandarin orange A ... Mounted on the conveyer 50 is imaged by the respective imaging cameras 51, 51 in a dense state, it is considered that a plurality of mandarin oranges A .. Since it is processed as one image data, and the quality of each of the plurality of oranges A ... Is collectively determined from the image data, the quality of each orange A. cannot be individually determined. Moreover, it is technically difficult to individually analyze images when the oranges A ... Are densely packed with each other, and there may be a large difference in the receiving quantity, so it is difficult to calculate the receiving quantity for each equal class. It has a problem that high reliability cannot be obtained.

In view of the above problems, the present invention can collectively determine the quality of each fruit and vegetable by individually imaging a large number of each fruit and vegetable with an imaging camera while keeping them at appropriate intervals. It is an object of the present invention to provide a quality evaluation device capable of improving the quality and efficiency of evaluation work.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
In the imaging area, a fruit and vegetable placing section for placing the plurality of each of the vegetable and fruits in parallel is provided, and in the fruit and vegetable placing section, a large number of each of the fruits and vegetables placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section. It is a quality evaluation device provided with a fruit and vegetable separating means for providing a fruit and vegetable separating means for separating foods at appropriate intervals.

The invention according to claim 2 is, in addition to the structure according to claim 1, characterized in that the placement surface of the fruit and vegetable placing portion is used to identify each fruit and vegetable placed on the fruit and vegetable placing portion. It is characterized in that it is a quality evaluation device in which the hue is set to be clear.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the first or second aspect, a conveyor for supplying the fruit and vegetable placing section to supply the plurality of fruit and vegetables in parallel. It is characterized in that it is a quality evaluation device constituted by.

The invention according to claim 4 is the same as claim 1 or claim 2.
Alternatively, in combination with the configuration according to claim 3, the fruit and vegetable separating means divides the supply conveyor into a pre-stage conveyor and a post-stage conveyor in the feeding direction, and a post-stage conveyor with respect to the pre-stage conveyor. The quality evaluation device is configured by setting the feeding speed of the high speed.

The invention according to claim 5 is the same as claims 1 and 2 above.
Alternatively, in addition to the configuration according to claim 3, the fruit and vegetable separating means is configured by providing vibration generating means for applying vibration to each of the plurality of fruit and vegetables placed on the fruit and vegetable placing portion. It is a quality evaluation device.

[0010]

In the quality evaluation apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the fruit and vegetable separating means is driven to separate a large number of each of the fruit and vegetables placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section at appropriate intervals, and at the same time, the fruit and vegetables are placed. By collectively imaging a large number of each fruit and vegetables placed on the placing unit with the imaging camera, each fruit and vegetables can be individually image-analyzed based on the image data captured by the imaging camera. The quality of a product can be evaluated and judged individually.

According to the quality evaluation device of the second aspect, in addition to the operation of the first aspect, since the discrimination between the placing surface of the fruit placing portion and each fruit becomes clear, the image pickup camera Image analysis of each fruit and vegetable can be accurately performed based on the imaged image data, and the quality of each fruit and vegetable can be accurately determined.

The quality evaluation apparatus according to a third aspect of the invention, in addition to the operation of the first or second aspect of the invention, drives the fruit and vegetable separation means to place a large number of each of the fruits and vegetables mounted on the supply conveyor. By separating the objects at appropriate intervals, by collectively imaging a large number of each fruit and vegetables placed on the supply conveyor with an imaging camera, each fruit and vegetables is imaged based on the image data captured by the imaging camera. Images can be analyzed individually, and the quality of each fruit and vegetable can be evaluated and judged individually.

According to the quality evaluation apparatus of claim 4, in combination with the operation of claim 1, 2 or 3, the rear side conveyor rotates faster in the feeding direction than the front side conveyor constituting the supply conveyor. Then, by accelerating and transporting a large number of each fruit and vegetables when transferring from the front-stage side conveyor to the rear-stage side conveyor, each fruit and vegetable is supplied to the fruit and vegetable placing section at an appropriate interval, thereby producing each fruit and vegetable. Objects can be imaged by the imaging camera while being separated from each other at appropriate intervals, and the quality of each fruit can be individually determined based on the image data captured by the imaging camera.

The quality evaluation device according to a fifth aspect of the invention, in addition to the operation of the first, second or third aspect, drives the vibration generating means to place a large number of pieces on the fruit and vegetable placing section. By applying vibration to each fruit and vegetable and separating them at an appropriate interval, a large number of each fruit and vegetable placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section are collectively imaged by the image capturing camera, so that the image is captured by the image capturing camera. The quality of each fruit can be individually judged based on the image data.

[0015]

According to the present invention, since a large number of individual fruits and vegetables are collectively imaged by the image pickup camera while being separated from each other at appropriate intervals, each fruit and vegetable is extracted from the image data taken by the image pickup camera. Images can be individually analyzed, and for example, quality such as size, shape, hue, damage, and decay can be evaluated and judged with high accuracy. In addition, it is possible to accurately calculate the equal rank of each fruit and vegetables and the quantity received by each rank from the analyzed image data, and it is possible to obtain a high reliability as an evaluation system, and to judge the quality of many fruit and vegetables collectively. ,and,
Since the quality is fluidly determined, the efficiency of the evaluation work can be improved.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings show a quality evaluation device used in a work for collectively judging the quality of a large number of oranges as an example of fruit and vegetables. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the quality evaluation device 1 is
A large number of transport containers C brought in from the producer ...
Are sequentially conveyed to the discharge position set on the load receiving conveyor 2, and the two container containers C, C are horizontally laid down by the container rollover machine 3 arranged at the same position, so that the respective container containers C , C put into the dispersion conveyor 4 at once. The mandarin oranges A released from each of the transport containers C, C are dispersed forward and backward and left and right to be sequentially transported to the dust removing position set on the dispersing conveyor 4, and the mandarin oranges are disposed by the dust remover 5 arranged at the same position. A foreign material attached to the epidermis of A ... is removed. The mandarin oranges A ... Transferred from the dispersing conveyor 4 are sequentially conveyed to the image pickup position set on the feeding conveyor 6 while being separated from each other at appropriate front and rear intervals, and the feeding conveyor is arranged by the image reading device 7 arranged at the same position. 6
An appropriate number of each mandarin orange A placed on top is imaged, and each mandarin orange A is produced for each producer based on the imaged image data.
Determine the equal rank of. The mandarin oranges A ... Transferred from the feed conveyor 6 are aligned and conveyed by the aligning conveyor 8 to positions and intervals corresponding to the respective mounting cups 10 ... of the sorting conveyor 9, and are aligned by the aligning conveyor 8. Mikan A
Are sequentially transferred to the respective mounting cups 10 of the sorting conveyor 9 and sorted according to the equal rank.

In the above-mentioned load receiving conveyor 2, the respective transport containers C, into which a large number of mandarin oranges A have been loaded, are arranged in the same direction and sequentially transported to the discharge position set on the load receiving conveyor 2. A container rollover machine 3 for overturning each of the two transport containers C, C is arranged at the discharge position set on the cargo receiving conveyor 2, and the transport containers C, C are provided on one side of the discharge position. A large number of each mandarin orange released from…
Dispersion conveyors 4 for dispersing are orthogonally connected. That is, the two transport containers C, C are transported to the discharge position set on the cargo receiving conveyor 2, and the container overturning machine 3 arranged at the same position is driven to face the dispersing conveyor 4. Two transport containers C, C are overturned in the direction, and a large number of each mandarin orange A ... Injected into the transport containers C, C are collectively discharged onto the dispersing conveyor 4. It should be noted that the released empty transport containers C are sequentially returned to the collecting step (not shown) disposed on the rear side of the cargo receiving conveyor 2.

The above-mentioned dispersing conveyor 3 is constructed such that two mounting frames 11, 11 are laid on one side of the discharging position set on the cargo receiving conveyor 2 in parallel with the discharging direction. A large number of respective dispersion rollers 12 are laid between the facing surfaces of 11 at a predetermined equal interval in the discharge direction, and drum rolls 13 and 13 are axially supported on the lower part on the starting end side and the lower part on the terminal end side.
And a drive belt 16 is stretched between the driven pulleys 14, 14 and the drive pulley 15 which are axially supported on the lower part of the start end side, and the upper peripheral surface of the drive belt 16 is attached to the lower peripheral surface of each dispersion roller 12. The driven pulleys 14 and 1 are pressed against each other and driven by the driving force of the feed motor 17 with a reduction gear arranged at the lower portion of the starting end side.
4 through the drive pulley 15 and the drive belt 16, the dispersion rollers 12 are rotated in the feed direction, and the oranges A mounted on the dispersion rollers 12 are rolled in the feed direction. On the other hand, they are distributed in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction and are conveyed, and are sequentially transferred to the feeding conveyor 6 described later.

The above-mentioned dust remover 5 surrounds the entire dust removing position set on the dispersing conveyor 4 with the dust removing box 5a, and the inside of the dust removing box 5a is, for example, pressurized air, tap water, or a washing liquid. A cleaning unit that cleans and removes the foreign matter adhering to A, or a wiping unit that wipes and removes the foreign matter adhering to the orange A with a brush, sponge, or the like is provided. That is, a medium such as pressurized air or a cleaning liquid is sprayed on the outer peripheral surface of each mandarin orange A transported by the dispersing conveyor 4, or the outer peripheral surface of each mandarin orange A is wiped with a wiping body such as a brush or a sponge. Then, foreign matters such as large and small dust adhering to the epidermis of each mandarin orange A ...

The above-mentioned feed conveyor 6 is a drum roll 1 which is axially supported near the feed end of the dispersing conveyor 4.
8, between the drum roll 19 that is rotatably supported in the vicinity of the feed-side starting end portion of the sorting conveyor 9 described later, and the drum rolls 20, 21, and 22 that are rotatably supported at the lower portion of the starting end side, for example,
While stretching the mounting belt 23 colored in blue or another color that makes the size, shape and hue of the oranges clear,
The mounting surface of the mounting belt 23 is formed in a size such that a large number of mandarin oranges A ... Are mounted in parallel in a state of being spaced at appropriate intervals in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, and arranged on the lower portion of the starting end side. By the driving force of the feed motor 24 with a reduction gear, the mounting belt 2 is passed through the sprockets 25, 26 and the drive chain 27.
Rotate 3 in the feed direction. That is, the feeding conveyer 6 is rotated in the feeding direction faster than the feeding speed of the dispersing conveyer 4 described above, and when the oranges A ... Are transferred from the dispersing conveyer 4 to the imaging conveyer 6, they are accelerated and conveyed appropriately. While being separated from each other at intervals, the mandarin oranges A ... Are conveyed in the feed direction while being separated from each other at appropriate intervals and transferred to each mounting cup 10 ...

The above-mentioned image reading device 7 surrounds the entire image pickup position set on the feed conveyor 6 with the light shielding box 28, and the left mounting surface of the feed conveyor 6 moved into the light shielding box 28. Facing the right mounting surface,
For example, two image pickup cameras 29, 29 each composed of a CCD camera or the like are arranged at a predetermined interval, and the feed conveyor 6 is moved within the image pickup range of each image pickup camera 29, 29. Opposite the left mounting surface and the right mounting surface, for example, a large number of respective illumination lamps 30 ... Composed of halogen lamps and the like are arranged at predetermined intervals, and from each of the imaging cameras 29, 29. Output 3 hues (red, green, blue)
, The shape, the hue of each mandarin A imaged by each imaging camera 29, 29 via the color processing device 31 which calculates the ratio of the analog signal of the above and converts the ratio value into a single chromaticity signal for output. , An image processing device 32 for determining the quantity,
The imaging cameras 29, 29 are connected to a monitor 33 for displaying the dispersed state of the oranges A ...

That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the dispersion state of each mandarin orange A ... which is picked up by each image pickup camera 29, 29 is displayed on the monitor 33, and three hues (red) output from each image pickup camera 29, 29 are displayed. , Green, and blue) analog signals are ratio-calculated by the color processing device 31, and the ratio value is digitally converted into a single chromaticity signal and output to the image processing device 32.
The digital signal output from the color processing device 33 is analyzed by the image processing device 32, and the color processing device 31
The real-time image data output from the image processing device 32 is compared with the equal-class data such as the size, shape, and hue stored in the image processing device 32, and each of the data is placed on the left and right placement surfaces of the feed conveyor 6. The equal rank of the oranges A ... Is individually determined, and the oranges of the oranges A ...

The above-mentioned aligning conveyor 8 is axially supported near each of the sprockets 34 and 34 which are pivotally supported near the feed-side end portion of the feed conveyor 6 and at the feed-side start end portion of the sorting conveyor 9. The orbiting chains 36 and 36 are stretched between the respective sprockets 35 and 35 to form the orbiting chains 3 and 3 respectively.
A large number of support rollers 37 ... Are rotatably supported between the facing surfaces of 6, 36, and are rotationally driven in the feed direction in conjunction with a sorting conveyor 9 described later. That is, the sorting conveyor 9
The alignment conveyer 8 and the sorting conveyer 9 are rotated in synchronization with the feed speed by the driving force of a feed motor with a speed reducer (not shown) disposed on the side, and are placed between the support rollers 37 of the aligning conveyer 8. Each of the placed oranges A is transferred one by one to each of the mounting cups 10 of the sorting conveyor 9.

The illustrated embodiment is constructed as described above, and a number of mandarin oranges A ...
The operation when sorting is performed according to equal classes will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a large number of respective transport containers C brought in from a producer are sequentially placed on the cargo receiving conveyor 2 and are placed at the discharge position set on the cargo receiving conveyor 2. While stopping the transportation of each of the transport containers C ... of the table, the container rollover machine 3 arranged at the same discharge position rolls over the two transport containers C ... in a horizontal posture to form each of the transport containers C. A large number of each of the mandarin oranges A ... Entered are collectively discharged onto the conveyor 4 for dispersion.

Next, each mandarin orange A ... Released from each transport container C.
The dust removal set on the conveyor 4 for dispersion is conveyed to the front and back and the left and right while being transferred onto the respective dispersion rollers 12 and each mandarin A mounted on the ... while rolling in the feeding direction. Each mandarin orange A ... is transported to the position in a state of being dispersed in the front and rear and left and right, and the dust remover 5 arranged at the dust removing position removes foreign matters such as dust and sprayed chemicals adhered to the epidermis of each mandarin A. .

Next, each mandarin orange A supplied from the dispersing conveyer 4 is accelerated and conveyed in the feeding direction by the feeding conveyer 6, and when each mandarin orange A is transferred from the dispersing conveyer 4 to the feeding conveyer 6. Are transported in the feed direction by acceleration and are separated from each other at an appropriate front-rear distance, and each mandarin orange A is conveyed to the imaging position set on the feed conveyor 6 while being separated in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction and disposed at the same imaging position Image reading device 7
The respective imaging cameras 29, 29 pick up images of the mandarin oranges A ... Mounted on the left side mounting surface and the right side mounting surface of the feed conveyor 6.

That is, each mandarin orange A, which is mounted on the left and right mounting surfaces of the feed conveyor 6, is illuminated by each illumination lamp 30 and is moved within the imaging range of each imaging camera 29, 29. Each mandarin orange A ... is imaged. An analog signal of three hues output from each of the imaging cameras 29, 29 is digitally converted into a single chromaticity signal by the color processing device 31 and output to the image processing device 32. As shown in FIG. 3, the dispersion state of each mandarin orange A ... which is imaged by each imaging camera 29, 29 is displayed on the monitor 33, and the color processing device 3 is also shown.
The image processing apparatus 32 analyzes the single chromaticity signal output from the image processing apparatus 1, and the real-time image data output from the color processing apparatus 31 and equal classes such as size, shape, and hue stored in the image processing apparatus 31. By comparing the data, the quality of each mandarin orange A ... Released from each of the two transport containers C, C is individually evaluated and determined, and each mandarin orange A is imaged by the imaging cameras 29, 29. Image analysis is performed on each ... individually to calculate the number of consignments received for each class.

Next, the mandarin oranges A ...
Of the respective placement cups 10 ... Are aligned at intervals and positions corresponding to each of the placement cups 10, and each mandarin orange A that is aligned by the alignment conveyor 8 is transferred one by one to each of the placement cups 10 of the sorting conveyor 9, Each mandarin orange A placed on each placing cup 10 of the sorting conveyor 9 is sorted according to an equal rank, and
Each mandarin orange A ... sorted into equal ranks is boxed by artificial work or mechanical work.

As described above, the respective imaging cameras 29, 29 are kept in a state in which a large number of the respective oranges A ...
The image pickup cameras 29, 2
Each mandarin orange A can be individually image-analyzed from the image data picked up in 9, and the quality such as size, shape, hue, damage, and rot can be individually evaluated with high accuracy. Moreover, the receiving quantity of each mandarin orange A ... can be accurately calculated from the image data analyzed by the image processing device 32, and a high reliability as an evaluation system can be obtained. Since the quality is collectively determined and the quality is fluidly determined, the efficiency of the evaluation work can be improved.

FIG. 4 shows a dispersing conveyor 4 of a second embodiment for transporting a plurality of oranges A ...
A dispersion belt 43 is stretched between a drum roll 38 axially supported at the feed side start end portion, a drum roll 39 axially supported at the feed side end portion, and drum rolls 40, 41, 42 axially supported at the lower end of the start side. The feed motor 4 mounted on the lower part of the starting end side
By the driving force of No. 4, the dispersion belt 43 is rotated in the feeding direction via the sprockets 45 and 46 and the drive chain 47, and a vibration generator 48 for inducing vibration is provided in the lower portion of the dispersion belt 43 on the conveying side. are doing. That is,
Each mandarin orange A released from each of the transport containers C, C is transferred onto the dispersion belt 43 of the dispersion conveyor 4, and the vibration generator 48 is driven to mount each mandarin orange A on the dispersion belt 43. By conveying the mandarin oranges in the feeding direction while applying vibration, a large number of the mandarin oranges can be supplied to the feeding conveyor 6 while being separated from each other in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. Similarly, each imaging camera 2
Each orange A based on the image data captured in 9, 29 ...
Can be individually image-analyzed, and the quality of each mandarin orange can be individually judged.

In the correspondence between the constitution of the present invention and the above-mentioned embodiment, the fruit and vegetables of the present invention correspond to the mandarin orange A of the embodiment.
The fruit and vegetable separating means corresponds to the dispersing conveyor 4, the feeding conveyor 6, and the vibration generator 48, the front-stage conveyor corresponds to the dispersing conveyor 4, and the rear-stage conveyor feeds. Corresponding to the conveyor 6 for vibration, the vibration generating means,
Although it corresponds to the vibration generator 48, the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

In the above embodiment, a large number of each mandarin orange A ...
Although the quality judgment work is explained collectively, for example, it can be applied to the quality judgment work of fruit vegetables such as apple, pear, persimmon, cucumber, eggplant, carrot, and yam. It is not limited to the intended use.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an image pickup state of a mandarin orange by the quality evaluation device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a dispersed state and an image pickup state of oranges.

FIG. 3 is an image showing a dispersed state of oranges.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a dispersion state of mandarin oranges by the dispersion conveyor of the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing an imaging state of a mandarin orange by a conventional device.

FIG. 6 is an image showing a close-packed state of oranges.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A ... Mikan C ... Conveying container 1 ... Quality evaluation device 2 ... Conveyor conveyor 3 ... Container rollover machine 4 ... Distribution conveyor 5 ... Dust remover 6 ... Sending conveyor 7 ... Image reading device 8 ... Aligning conveyor 9 ... Sorting Conveyor 29 ... Imaging camera 30 ... Illumination lamp 31 ... Color processing device 32 ... Image processing device 33 ... Monitor 48 ... Vibration generator

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akitaka Hosomi 66 Takaoka-cho, Matsuyama-shi, Ehime Prefecture, Techno Techno Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A large number of respective fruits and vegetables are supplied to an imaging region set in an appropriate part, and each fruits and vegetables supplied to the imaging region are collectively imaged by an imaging camera and imaged by the imaging camera. A quality evaluation device for determining the quality of each fruit and vegetable based on image data, wherein a fruit and vegetable placing section for placing the plurality of each of the fruits and vegetables in parallel is provided in the imaging area, and the fruit and vegetable placing unit. A quality evaluation device, wherein a portion is provided with a fruit and vegetable separating means for separating a large number of respective fruit and vegetables placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section at appropriate intervals. 2. The quality evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein the placing surface of the fruit and vegetable placing section is set to a hue that makes it easy to identify each fruit and vegetable placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section. 3. The quality evaluation device according to claim 1, wherein the fruit and vegetable placing section is constituted by a supply conveyor for supplying the plurality of fruit and vegetables in parallel. 4. The fruit and vegetable separating means divides the supply conveyor into a front-stage side conveyor and a rear-stage side conveyor with respect to the feeding direction, and the feed speed of the rear-stage side conveyor is made higher than that of the front-stage side conveyor. Claim 1, which is set and configured
The quality evaluation device according to claim 2 or claim 3. 5. A vibrating means for applying a vibration to each of a large number of fruit and vegetables placed on the fruit and vegetable placing section is provided in the fruit and vegetable separating means. The quality evaluation device according to claim 3.