JPH08327555A - Method and device for detecting damaged fruit and vegetable - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily detect damaged fruits or vegetables by surrounding the contour of each fruit or vegetable with an enclosure made of an ultraviolet- cutting transparent member, applying ultraviolet radiation to the fruit or vegetable inside the enclosure, and detecting coloring (emission of light). CONSTITUTION: A box-shaped enclosure 13 surrounding a contour involving the sides and upper face except the bottom face opposite to fruits or vegetables 12 is formed out of an ultraviolet-cutting transparent member 11, and an ultraviolet light emitter 14 is mounted inside the enclosure 13 to constitute this detecting device 10. The device 10 is mounted on the upper surface of a roller conveyor 16 with a space secured so that the fruits or vegetables 12 can be taken out, and when ultraviolet radiation is applied to the fruits or vegetables 12 conveyed on the conveyor 16, the damaged parts of the fruits or vegetables 12 are colored (emit light) because they have increased in fluorescence intensity more than other normal parts, so that by viewing this coloring through the enclosure 13, the damaged fruits or vegetables 12 (e.g. citrus fruits such as mandarin orange) can be detected easily.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting damaged fruits and vegetables for detecting damage caused by decay of fruits and vegetables such as fruits and vegetables.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inspector has directly detected and visually detected the damage of a fruit or vegetable, but since it is a visual inspection by a person, it requires skill and the individual difference of the inspector. In some cases, the smaller the damage, the more difficult it becomes to detect the damage, and, in citrus fruits and vegetables, the hindrance of the skin makes it difficult to detect especially external damage. The inspector used nerves in particular and had a serious problem of fatigue.

[0003]

Even if the inspector makes a judgment, the present invention can easily judge the damage of a fruit or vegetable by irradiating the fruit or vegetable with ultraviolet rays and judging the damaged fruit or vegetable by its coloration. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of detecting a damaged fruit and vegetable and a device therefor that can be detected by the method.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a transparent member for cutting off ultraviolet rays surrounds an outer periphery of a transparent member excluding a portion facing a fruit and vegetable with a surrounding body, and the inside of the surrounding body. The method for detecting damaged fruits and vegetables is characterized by irradiating the fruits and vegetables with ultraviolet rays from an ultraviolet light emitting device provided in 1. to judge damaged fruits and vegetables based on their color development.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a transparent member for blocking ultraviolet rays is used to form a surrounding body which surrounds the outer periphery except for the portion facing the fruit and vegetables, and the ultraviolet rays are cultivated inside the surrounding body. It is a device for detecting damaged fruits and vegetables, which houses an ultraviolet light emitter for irradiating an object.

[0006]

According to the present invention, when a fruit or vegetable is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the damaged portion of the fruit or vegetable produces fluorescence (or luminescence) with increased fluorescence intensity as compared with other normal areas. The damage is judged by detecting it over. For example, when the relationship between the number of damaged oil bubbles in citrus fruits and the fluorescence intensity is shown by a difference spectrum with respect to normal citrus fruits, a wavelength of 5
Since the fluorescence intensity having a maximum at 65 nm increases with the number of broken oil bubbles, the damaged part of the citrus fruit develops (or emits light) with high brightness, which can be confirmed very easily by the inspector's eyes. The above-mentioned ultraviolet rays at the time of visual inspection by the inspector are cut by the surrounding body, so that it is possible to avoid injuring the inspector.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the difference between the normal portion and the damaged portion of the fruit and vegetables is clearly shown by the presence or absence of color development (or luminescence), so that the visual judgment of the damaged fruit and vegetables is extremely easy and reliable. Moreover, it does not give fatigue to the inspector. In addition, since the ultraviolet rays are cut by the surrounding body, it is possible to avoid harming the inspectors by the ultraviolet rays.
You can work safely.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a device for detecting damaged fruits and vegetables. The detection device 10 is a transparent glass plate 11 that cuts ultraviolet rays (UV cut) ... A box-shaped surrounding body 13 that surrounds is formed, and two ultraviolet light emitters 14 and 14 that irradiate the fruit and vegetables 12 with ultraviolet rays are housed and attached inside the surrounding body 13.

The detecting device 10 thus constructed has a roller conveyor 1 formed by arranging a plurality of rollers 15 in parallel.
In addition to the gap where the lower end of the detection device 10 conveys the fruit 12 on the upper surface of 6, the fruit conveys by the roller conveyor 16 with a gap provided so that the damaged fruit 12 can be taken out. From 12 (for example, citrus fruits such as Satsuma mandarin orange), ultraviolet rays are emitted from the ultraviolet light emitters 14 and 14 to the fruits and vegetables
To irradiate.

When the fruits and vegetables 12 are irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the fruits and vegetables 1
In the damaged part of No. 2, the fluorescence intensity is increased more than in other normal parts to develop the color (or to emit light), and thus the damage is determined by detecting the color (or light emission) with high brightness through the surrounding body 13. For example, when the relationship between the number of damaged oil bubbles of citrus fruits such as Satsuma mandarin and the fluorescence intensity is shown by a difference spectrum with respect to normal citrus fruits, the fluorescence intensity having a maximum at a wavelength of 565 nm increases with the number of damaged oil bubbles. Therefore, the damaged portion of the citrus fruits develops (or emits light) with high brightness, which can be very easily visually confirmed by the inspector. Since the ultraviolet rays at the time of the above visual inspection by the inspector are cut by the surrounding body 13, it is possible to avoid damaging the inspector.

The UV cut by glass is about 95%.
This is enough to avoid harm to the human body, but a spray for UV protection is also used for the enclosure 1.
By applying to No. 3, 100% UV cut can be obtained.

Further, when the inspector takes out the damaged fruit and vegetables 12 from the inside of the surrounding body 13 by hand, gloves having a UV-cutting function, for example, rubber gloves are applied to the hands to avoid damage to the hands. it can.

In the above embodiment, the surrounding body 13
May have a cylindrical shape with its upper surface closed, a prone bowl shape, or another shape. Instead of the roller conveyor 16, another conveyor may be used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a damaged fruit and vegetable detection device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Detection device 11 ... Transparent glass plate 12 ... Fruit and vegetables 13 ... Enclosure 14 ... Light emitter 15 ... Roller 16 ... Roller conveyor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A transparent member for cutting off ultraviolet rays is used to surround the outer periphery of the fruit except for the portion facing the fruit and vegetables, and the fruit and vegetables are irradiated with the ultraviolet rays of an ultraviolet light emitting device provided inside the enclosure. A method for detecting damaged fruits and vegetables for judging damaged fruits and vegetables based on their color development. 2. A transparent member that cuts ultraviolet rays, forms a surrounding body that surrounds the outer periphery excluding the portion facing the fruit and vegetables, and houses an ultraviolet light emitter that irradiates the fruit and vegetables with ultraviolet light inside the surrounding body. For detecting damaged fruit and vegetables.