JPH10170456A - Method and device for determining lifting rind of fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the correct determination of lifting rind of fruits, to eliminate the need for skill and labor required for the determination, and to shorten the time required for the determination by irradiating a fruit with electromagnetic waves and comparing a detected pattern of electromagnetic waves transmitted through the fruit with a comparison pattern. SOLUTION: After a position detecting sensor 15 detects the arrival of a fruit 11 being transferred and the time when the fruit 11 reaches the irradiation area of an X-ray generating device 12 is clocked, the fruit 11 is irradiated with X-rays (electromagnetic waves) from the X-ray generating device 12, and an X-ray receiving part 13 receives X-rays transmitted through the fruit 11 and outputs detection signals. In the case that a gap is formed in the boundary part between a rind and fresh to make a lifting rind, the amount of X-ray transmission through this gap part increases more than through a closely adhered part and high detection output appears. Therefore, by comparing a detection pattern outputted from the X-ray receiving part 13 with a comparison pattern detected from a normal fruit 11 and read out from a storage unit, the presence or absence of high output is determined and lifting rind is determined in the case of the presence of high output. By this, it is possible to mechanically determined a lifting rind.

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 judging the floating skin of a fruit, which judges whether or not a gap is formed at the boundary between the fruit skin and the flesh to form a floating skin.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case of fruits, for example, citrus fruits, if a gap is formed at the boundary between the pericarp and the pulp to form a floating skin, the grade is lowered. For this purpose, it is necessary to determine whether or not the skin is floating. This determination is performed by a person visually, and furthermore, since the determination is made by touching the hand, skill, labor and time are required. Therefore, for example, at present, it is impossible to judge all the citrus brought in by one producer, and it is only possible to judge thinly.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a mechanical judgment can be made, an accurate and stable judgment result can be obtained, and the skill and labor required for the conventional judgment by a person can be eliminated, and the judgment time can be reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for determining a floating skin of a fruit which can be shortened.

[0004]

The present invention provides an electromagnetic wave irradiating means for irradiating fruits with electromagnetic waves such as X-rays and infrared rays, an electromagnetic wave receiving means for receiving electromagnetic waves transmitted through fruits and outputting a detection pattern thereof. Storage means for storing a comparison pattern for determining the floating skin; and determining means for determining the presence or absence of the floating skin by comparing the detection pattern output by the electromagnetic wave receiving means with the comparison pattern read from the storage means. A fruit floating skin determination method and apparatus for irradiating fruits with electromagnetic waves such as X-rays or infrared rays and comparing the detection pattern of the electromagnetic waves transmitted through the fruits with a comparison pattern to determine the presence or absence of floating skin of the fruits It is characterized by.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the amount of transmission of electromagnetic waves such as X-rays and infrared rays to the skin and pulp is reduced, but if there is a void at the boundary between the skin and pulp,
In this portion, the amount of transmitted electromagnetic waves increases. Therefore,
The presence / absence of floating skin can be determined by comparing the detection pattern of electromagnetic waves transmitted through the boundary between the skin and the flesh with the comparison pattern of normal fruits or floating skin that has been taken out in advance, and it is also possible to make a mechanical determination Therefore, the conventional manual judgment can be completely eliminated, and accurate and reliable judgment can be made.

[0006] Furthermore, since the irradiation of electromagnetic waves, the extraction of the detection pattern of the electromagnetic waves, and the comparison processing between the detection pattern and the comparison pattern can be performed at high speed, the judgment processing can be performed in a short time, and as a result, the fruit can be removed. Since the determination is made while transporting, a large amount of fruit can be determined in a short time.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawing shows an apparatus for determining the floating skin of a fruit. In FIG. 1, the apparatus for determining the floating skin 10 generates an X-ray as an example of an electromagnetic wave and irradiates the fruit (in this embodiment, tangerine) 11 with an X-ray generator 12. An X-ray receiving unit 13 that receives X-rays transmitted through the fruit 11 and outputs a detection signal, and a transport band 14 that transports the fruit 11 at a constant speed and is formed of a material that does not hinder the transmission of X-rays. And a position detection sensor 15 for detecting the arrival of the fruit, and when the position detection sensor 15 detects the arrival of the fruit 11, after measuring the time required for the fruit 11 to reach the irradiation range of the X-ray generator 12, the X X-rays are emitted from the ray generator 12 to the fruit 11, and the X-rays that have passed through the fruit 11 are received by the X-ray receiving unit 13 and a detection signal is output.

FIG. 2 shows a control circuit block of the floating skin judging device 10. The CPU 20 drives and controls each circuit device in accordance with a program stored in a ROM 21, and also has a built-in timer for measuring an elapsed time. Stores data necessary for the operation.

The comparison pattern storage device 23 stores, for example, P
It is composed of a ROM and stores a comparison pattern as shown in FIG. The comparison pattern is obtained by moving a normal fruit (tangerine in this example) 11 at a predetermined speed, and
A horizontal axis represents time, and a vertical axis represents signal output.

The transport drive unit 24 is a drive unit that drives the transport belt 14 at a set speed.
5 is a reflection type photoelectric sensor, for example, and fruit 11
And outputs a signal. The X-ray receiving unit 13
For example, it is constituted by a PMT sensor and digitizes a signal proportional to the amount of received X-rays and outputs it as a detection pattern.
The display 26 displays the determination result.

The floating skin determination processing operation of the floating skin determination apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration will be described.
When the CPU 5 detects the arrival of the fruit 11, the CPU 20 irradiates the fruit 11 with X-rays from the X-ray generator 12 after measuring the time required for the fruit 11 to reach the irradiation range of the X-ray generator 12. The X-ray transmitted through the fruit 11 is received by the X-ray light receiving unit 13 and outputs a detection signal.

In the output of the comparison pattern shown in FIG. 3, a step A can be formed at the boundary between the pericarp and the flesh of the normal fruit 11 in the X-ray detection output. However, when a gap is formed at the boundary between the peel and the flesh to form a floating skin, the gap has a greater amount of transmission of X-rays than when it is in close contact, and as shown in FIG. The detection output B appears. Therefore, the detection pattern output by the X-ray light receiving unit 13 is compared with the comparison pattern read from the comparison pattern storage device 24 shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not there is a high output B. If there is a high output B, it is determined that the floating skin is present, and if the step A is normal, it is determined that it is normal, and the determination result is displayed on the display 26. .

According to the above-described embodiment, since the determination of the floating skin can be made mechanically, the conventional manual determination can be eliminated, and accurate and reliable determination can be made.

Further, since the X-ray irradiation, the extraction of the X-ray detection pattern, and the comparison processing between the detection pattern and the comparison pattern can be performed at a high speed, the judgment processing can be performed in a short time. Since the determination is made while transporting the fruit, a large amount of fruit can be determined in a short time.

In another embodiment, the comparison pattern stored in the comparison pattern storage device 24 is stored in the storage section of the personal computer, and the detection signal of the X-ray light receiving section 13 is input to the personal computer, so that the determination of the floating skin can be made. It can be executed by PC processing.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a floating skin determining apparatus 10 employing near-infrared rays as electromagnetic waves. Elements having the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and will be described in detail. Is omitted. The floating skin determination device 10 generates near-infrared rays (wavelength 770 to 1500 mμ) and outputs the fruit 1
A near-infrared ray generator 30 for irradiating the fruit 1; a near-infrared ray receiving section 31 for receiving near-infrared ray transmitted through the fruit 11 and outputting a detection signal; and conveying the fruit 11 at a constant speed to prevent transmission of near-infrared ray. And a position detecting sensor 15 for detecting the arrival of the fruit. When the position detecting sensor 15 detects the arrival of the fruit 11, the fruit 11 is After measuring the time to reach the irradiation range of the near infrared ray generator 30, the near infrared ray generator 3
From 0, near-infrared rays are applied to the fruit 11, and the near-infrared ray receiving section 31 receives near-infrared rays transmitted through the fruit 11, and outputs a detection signal thereof. Note that the near-infrared ray generator 30 may always be configured to generate near-infrared rays and to receive light from the near-infrared ray receiving unit 31 with the position detection sensor 15 described above.

FIG. 6 shows a control circuit block of the floating skin judging device 10. The CPU 20 drives and controls each circuit device in accordance with a program stored in the ROM 21, and also has a built-in timer for measuring the elapsed time. Stores data necessary for the operation.

The comparison pattern storage device 23 stores, for example, P
It is composed of a ROM and stores a comparison pattern as shown in FIG. The comparison pattern was the same as in the previous example, ie normal fruit (tangerine in this example) 1
1 is moved at a predetermined speed, a near-infrared ray is radiated to this, and an output pattern in which the amount of transmission is detected is used as a comparison pattern.

The transport drive unit 24 is a drive unit that drives the transport belt 14 at a set speed.
5 is a reflection type photoelectric sensor, for example, and fruit 11
And outputs a signal. Near infrared receiving unit 13
Detects the amount of near-infrared light received through the fruit 11,
A signal proportional to the amount of received light is digitized and output as a detection pattern. The display 26 displays the determination result.

The floating skin determination processing operation of the floating skin determination apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration will be described.
When the CPU 5 detects the arrival of the fruit 11, the CPU 20 measures the time required for the fruit 11 to reach the irradiation range of the near-infrared ray generator 30, and then transmits the near-infrared ray from the near-infrared ray generator 30 to the fruit 11.
Irradiation. The near-infrared ray that has passed through the fruit 11 is received by the near-infrared ray receiving unit 31 and outputs a detection signal.

Therefore, the CPU 20 compares the detection pattern output from the near-infrared light receiving section 31 with the comparison pattern read from the comparison pattern storage device 24 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, it is determined whether or not a high output B is present in the appearing output step A. If the high output B is present, it is determined that the surface is floating, and if the step A is normal, it is determined that the output is normal. Is displayed on the display 26.

In the above-described embodiment, the determination of the floating skin can be made. Further, even if the electromagnetic wave transmitted through the fruit 11 is far-infrared (wavelength 1500 to 15000 mμ), the floating skin can be detected, and therefore, it can be constituted by infrared including near-infrared and far-infrared. Further, the electromagnetic wave may be another electromagnetic wave as long as the electromagnetic wave is transmitted through the fruit 11 and the amount of transmitted light can be detected.

Further, the comparison pattern stored in the comparison pattern storage device 24 is stored in the storage section of the personal computer, and the detection signal of the near-infrared light receiving section 31 is input to the personal computer.
The determination of the floating skin can be executed by the processing of the personal computer.

In correspondence with the configuration of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the electromagnetic wave irradiating means of the present invention is an X-ray generator 12, a near-infrared ray generator 30, and other electromagnetic wave generating means that transmits fruit 11. In the same manner, the electromagnetic wave receiving unit corresponds to the X-ray receiving unit 13 and the near infrared receiving unit 31, the storage unit corresponds to the comparison pattern storage device 24, and the determining unit has a determination processing function. Although the present invention corresponds to the CPU 20 and the personal computer determination processing, the present invention is not limited to only the configuration of the above-described embodiment, and is applied based on the technical idea of the invention described in the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a floating skin determination device.

FIG. 2 is a control circuit block diagram of the floating skin determination device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a comparison pattern based on normal fruits.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a detection pattern of a fruit of a floating skin.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a floating skin determination device according to another example.

FIG. 6 is a control circuit block diagram of a floating skin determination device of another example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Floating skin determination device 11 ... Fruit 12 ... X-ray generator 13 ... X-ray receiving unit 20 ... CPU 24 ... Comparison pattern storage device 30 ... Near-infrared light emitting device 31 ... Near-infrared light receiving unit A ... Output step unit B ... High output

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for determining the floating skin of a fruit, comprising irradiating the fruit with an electromagnetic wave transmitted through the fruit and comparing the detection pattern of the electromagnetic wave transmitted through the fruit with a comparison pattern to determine the presence or absence of the floating skin of the fruit. 2. An electromagnetic wave irradiating means for irradiating fruits with electromagnetic waves transmitted through fruits, an electromagnetic wave receiving means for receiving electromagnetic waves transmitted through fruits and outputting a detection pattern thereof, and a comparison pattern for judging floating skin. An apparatus for determining a floating skin of a fruit, comprising: a storing means for storing; and a determining means for determining the presence or absence of a floating skin by comparing a detection pattern output from the electromagnetic wave receiving means with a comparison pattern read from the storing means. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said electromagnetic waves are X-rays.
A method or apparatus for judging the floating of a fruit according to the above. 4. The method or apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said electromagnetic waves are infrared rays.