JPH10197217A - Method and device for detecting thickness of unpolished rice - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform crop inspections with accuracy by performing 100% inspections on all sampled grains of unpolished rice by automating the measurement of the thickness of unpolished rice in a crop inspection process. SOLUTION: A thickness computing section 128 computes the thickness of unpolished rice from the data on the laser light received by means of a laser light receiving device 124. In this computation, the known thickness of a sample table is subtracted from a size (the interrupting width of the laser light) based on the data. Therefore, the thickness of the unpolished rice can be obtained. The thickness computed by means of the computing section 128 is inputted to a data setting section 58 and utilized as a parameter for classifying unpolished rice 100 used for computing a crop index at every prescribed thickness. Namely, the degree of ripeness and crop index of rice can be discriminated more accurately including the thickness of unpolished rice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for detecting the thickness of brown rice by irradiating the brown rice with parallel light to detect the thickness of the brown rice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art
When inspecting the degree of ripening of rice ears, it is necessary to cut a unit area of a sample field.

[0003] The harvested rice ears are subjected to threshing, drying, preparation (hulling, sorting), and weighing steps, and are used as basic data of the crop index. The basic data includes the number of ears per plant, the number of plants per unit area, the projected area of paddy, the measurement time, environmental conditions, and the like.

[0004] Based on the obtained basic data, the cropping pattern of paddy rice at the same time as the sample field is predicted.

[0005] In the above-mentioned conventional sampling method, the size of brown rice varies, and even if the degree of ripening is good, small grains have a large effect on the crop index. Therefore, the thickness of brown rice is an important parameter. .

However, the thickness dimension of the brown rice is such that the operator visually judges or inspects it by sieve sorting in terms of work efficiency.

[0007] In consideration of the above facts, the present invention can automate the measurement of the thickness of brown rice in the process for inspecting the cropped rice so that all the sampled brown rice can be measured and the pattern inspection can be performed accurately. It is an object to obtain a brown rice thickness dimension detection method and apparatus that can be used.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, brown rice as a sample is placed on a sample table whose thickness is known in advance, and the brown rice is placed along the thickness direction of the sample table. By irradiating the vertical streak-like parallel light, when receiving the parallel light, determine the dimension in the vertical streak direction blocked by the sample table and brown rice, and from the length in the vertical streak direction, calculate the thickness dimension of the sample table. The thickness of brown rice is obtained by subtraction.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the streaked parallel light is emitted while the brown rice is placed on the sample table. This light has a portion blocked by the sample table and the brown rice, and the length of the shaded vertical streak direction is recognized in a light receiving state. Here, the thickness of the sample table is known, and the thickness of the brown rice can be obtained by subtracting the thickness of the sample table from the length of the recognized light in the vertical streak direction. By measuring the thickness of brown rice, taking into account the thickness of this brown rice,
Further, the ripening degree and the crop index can be determined with higher accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sample positioning means for positioning brown rice, which is a sample, at a predetermined position on a sample table whose thickness is known in advance, and the brown rice is positioned on the sample table by the sample positioning means. In a region including brown rice, and a parallel light output unit that outputs parallel light narrowed down in a direction perpendicular to the sample stage, and disposed to face the parallel light output unit,
A light receiving unit that receives the parallel light range, a non-light receiving region extracting unit that extracts a non-light receiving region generated by being positioned on the optical path of the sample table and brown rice when the light is received by the light receiving unit, and the non-light receiving region Based on the data extracted by the extracting means, a non-light receiving area size calculating means for calculating the size of the non-light receiving area along the thickness direction of the sample table, the non-light receiving area size calculating means, Brown rice size calculating means for calculating the thickness of brown rice from the thickness dimension.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the brown rice is positioned at a predetermined position on the sample table by the sample positioning means. At this predetermined position, parallel light narrowed down in a direction perpendicular to the sample stage is emitted from the parallel light output unit, and the light receiving unit receives this light. At this time, since the brown rice and the sample table are present on the optical path, the light receiving section does not receive light at a portion corresponding to the brown rice and the sample table (a non-light receiving area exists). The non-light receiving area extracting means extracts the non-light receiving area, calculates the total height of the sample table and the brown rice, and then
The thickness of the brown rice is obtained by subtracting the known thickness of the sample table. Since the thickness of the brown rice can be measured only by positioning the brown rice at a predetermined position in this way, automation can be easily achieved. Further, if the degree of ripening of brown rice can be inspected together with the otherness measurement of brown rice, automation can be further developed.

[0012]

1 and 2 show a pattern inspection apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the sample to be inspected is brown rice 100. The brown rice 100 is harvested in advance, threshed, dried, and hulled, and stored in the hopper 102 of the crop inspection apparatus 10. Have been. At the discharge port 104 located at the lower end of the hopper 102, a lid 106 that can be opened and closed by opening and closing means (not shown) such as a solenoid valve is provided.

When the lid 106 is opened,
The brown rice 100 in the hopper 102 is guided on a transport slope 108. The transport slope 108 is
The vibrating means (not shown) vibrates finely. As the vibration means, various methods such as hitting the transport slope 108 with a rod that expands and contracts by driving a solenoid, vibrating with a cam mechanism, and ultrasonic vibration can be used.

Brown rice 1 guided on the transport slope 108
Due to the vibration of the transport slope 108, the position 00 moves from a high slope to a low slope. A sample feed roller 110 is provided at a middle portion of the transport slope 108. The sample feed roller 110 has a star-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axis, and is provided with a plurality of concave portions 112. The volume of the recess 112 is about 1 / the volume of one brown rice 100.
2, and the pointed portion between the recesses 112 rotates at a constant speed in the direction of arrow A (clockwise) in FIG. ing.

By the rotation of the sample feed roller 110,
The brown rice 100 is discharged to the lowest part of the transport slope 108 for each grain. A translucent sample stage 114 having a predetermined transmittance is provided at a position where the sample stage 114 falls from the transport slope 108. The sample table 114 has one end in the longitudinal direction
6 and is rotatable about the shaft 116.

The other end of the sample stage 114 is
8, the rotation of the cam plate 118 causes the sample stage 114 to move in two positions: a horizontal position (first position) and an inclined position (second position) which is lowered toward the other end. It is possible to move to the position.

Here, when one piece of brown rice 100 falls from the transport slope 108, the sample stage 114 is positioned at the first position.
Is arranged at a substantially central position of the sample stage 114 by inertia force at the time of drop.

When the sample stage 114 is positioned at the second position, the brown rice 100 arranged at this center position rolls along the slope, and the tray 12 moves from the left end of the sample stage 114 in FIG.
It is designed to fall to zero.

At the center of the sample table 114, a pattern inspection section 10 is provided. The crop inspection unit 10 can be classified into two box-shaped units.

One (lower in FIG. 1) unit is a light source unit 12, in which a bottom surface of a quadrangular pyramid-shaped casing 14 is opened, and a glass plate 16 is fitted into this opening. At the apex of the casing 14, a rectangular parallelepiped sub-casing 18 is attached to the casing 14. A lamp 20 as a light source and a lamp holder 2 for holding the lamp 20 are provided in the sub-casing 18.
2 are accommodated, and a controller 44 (see FIG.
), The lamp 20 is turned on.

A lens 26 is provided in the irradiation direction of the lamp 20. The lens 26 is an optical unit that deflects the light from the lamp 20 so that the illuminance is uniform on the surface of the frosted glass plate 16.

Therefore, when the ground glass plate 16 is viewed from the outside, the whole ground glass 16 is irradiated with light at the same illuminance.

The other unit (upper part in FIG. 1) is an inspection unit 27, like the light source unit 12, a quadrangular pyramid-shaped casing 28 and a rectangular parallelepiped sub-casing 3.
0 and the whole is covered.

The bottom of the casing 28 is open,
A glass plate 32 is fitted into this opening. Further, a CCD camera (two-dimensional image sensor) 34 is provided in the sub-casing 30. This CCD camera 3
4 can detect the amount of incident light by turning on a power supply from a controller 44 described later.

A lens 36 is provided so as to face the light receiving surface of the CCD camera 34. The lens 36 is a condenser lens having a focal position near the transparent glass plate 32. Thereby, the object located near the glass plate 32 is
An image can be formed on the light receiving surface of the CD camera 34.

The pattern inspection unit 10 includes the sample table 1
A laser light emitter 122 is provided on one end side in the width direction of 14.
A laser receiver 124 is provided on the other end side. The laser light emitter 122 and the laser light receiver 124 have a role of measuring the thickness of the brown rice 100.

The light emitted from the laser emitter 122 is
The light is a vertical streak parallel light, and a laser receiver 124 is provided in the extension direction of the parallel light. Here, the sample stage 114 and the brown rice 100 are arranged in the laser beam area,
As a result, in the laser receiver 124, the laser receiver 1 between the lower end of the sample stage 114 and the upper end of the brown rice 100
24, the total size of the thickness of the sample table 114 and the thickness of the brown rice 100 can be recognized based on the light receiving state of the laser receiver 124.
Since the thickness of the sample table 114 is known in advance,
The thickness dimension of the brown rice 100 can be easily obtained.

In the controller 44, the CCD camera 34
And the light receiving data received by the laser receiver 124 are processed.

The controller 44 includes a microcomputer, and stores a program for calculating the degree of ripening of the brown rice 100.

As shown in FIG. 3, the light amount data detected by the CCD camera 34 is input to the binarization conversion unit 48 via the image extraction unit 126, and is converted into binary data based on a predetermined threshold value. It is to be converted. Note that a threshold setting unit 50 is connected to the binarization conversion unit 48, and a plurality of thresholds are sequentially input from the threshold setting unit 50. Note that only the portion of the brown rice 100 extracted by the image extraction unit 126 is applied to the binarized data, and the data of the other portions (background, sample stage 114) is excluded.

The binarized data is input to the area ratio calculator 52 for each set threshold value.

The area ratio conversion section 52 classifies the whole area of the brown rice 100 into an external area and the area of the brown rice 100 that is opaque based on the binarized data. Area (area ratio) opaque to
Is calculated. Those with a large area ratio are good brown rice, and those with a small area correspond to poor brown rice (immature grains, dead rice).

The calculation result calculated by the area ratio conversion unit 52 is input to a ripening degree determination unit 54, and the ripening degree of the rice ear is expressed as a numerical value based on the area ratio and output to a crop index calculating unit 56. It is supposed to. A data setting unit 58 for setting other data (the number of spikes per plant, the number of plants per unit area, measurement time, environmental conditions) is provided in the crop pattern index computing unit 56.
Is connected, so that the crop index calculating unit 56 has data necessary for calculating the crop index, including the degree of ripening. The data setting unit 58 counts the number of samples that have passed through the pattern inspection unit 10 and sends it to the pattern index calculation unit 56 together with the above conditions.

The obtained crop index is displayed on a monitor 62 connected to the display control unit 60, and can be printed out by connecting an external output device as needed.

The display control unit 60 also receives light amount data from the CCD camera 34 and binary data from the binary conversion unit 48, and displays necessary intermediate data on the monitor 62, It can be printed out.

Further, all data input to the display control section 60 is stored in the memory 64.

The light reception data received from the laser light receiver 124 is input to the thickness calculator 128, and the brown rice 10
A thickness dimension of 0 is calculated. That is, the non-light receiving width obtained from the received light data is determined by the thickness of the sample table 114 and the brown rice 10.
Since the thickness of the sample table 114 is previously subtracted from the thickness of the sample table 114, the brown rice 10
A thickness dimension of 0 can be obtained (see FIG. 4).

The thickness calculating section 128 is provided with the data setting section 5
8, a predetermined thickness dimension of the brown rice 100 for calculating the crop index is input. By taking this thickness dimension into account, the ripening degree and the crop index can be determined with higher accuracy. You can do it.

The operation of the present embodiment will be described below. Brown rice 100 that has been cut, threshed, dried, and hulled is stored in the hopper 102 at appropriate times from the start of ripening to the time of rice harvesting.

When the lid 106 is opened, the brown rice 100 in the hopper 102 flows out onto the transport slope 108, and gradually moves to a lower position due to the inclination and vibration of the transport slope 108. Here, the brown rice 100 is accommodated one by one in the recess 112 while the sample feed roller 110 is rotating, and is discharged to the lowest part of the transport slope 108 at a predetermined interval. The sample table 114 drops from the transfer slope 108 to the sample table 114. At this time, the sample table 114 is positioned at the first position (horizontal position), and is arranged at a substantially central position of the sample table 114 by the inertia force at the time of drop. You. In this state, the processing by the pattern inspection unit 10 described below is performed. After this processing is completed, the cam plate 118 is rotated, and the sample table 1 is rotated.
14 tilts (second position), and the inspected brown rice 100 falls into the tray 120. Thereafter, when the sample table 114 returns to the first position, the next brown rice 100 is fed.

When the brown rice 100 reaches the central position, that is, between the light source unit 12 and the inspection unit 27, the lamp 20 is turned on and the CCD camera 34 receives the light.
Although of course, CCD camera 34 performs advance so-called white balance, Oh Ru the light levels of white as a reference to set <br/> constant.

At the time of the light reception, a portion of the brown rice 100 has a low transmittance, so that the portion becomes dark, and in particular, its central portion is almost opaque. This light quantity data is stored in the harness 42
Is input to the controller 44 via the electric signal line of the above.

The brown rice 100 is provided with a laser light emitter 122.
The light is received by the laser receiver 124 in a state where the brown rice 100 and the sample stage 114 are blocked, and the received light data is input to the controller 44.

From the light amount data input to the controller 44, first, an image of only the brown rice 100 is extracted in the image extraction unit 126, and is input to the binarized data conversion unit 48. Here, the threshold value setting section 50 sets a first threshold value and sends it to the binarized data conversion section 48, where it is converted into binarized data based on the threshold value. Next, the second, third,...
Are sequentially transmitted, and binarized data is created based on the respective thresholds.

The plurality of binarized data thus created are sent to the area ratio calculating section 52, and based on the binarized data, the brown rice 1 is produced.
The total area of the brown rice 100 and the area represented as opaque in the brown rice 100 are calculated, and the area (area ratio) represented as opaque to the entire area of the brown rice 100 is calculated. That is, it is possible to recognize how large the area expressed as opaque with respect to the size of brown rice, and express this as a numerical value of the ripening degree in the ripening degree determination unit 54, and calculate the crop index. Output to the arithmetic unit 56.

In the crop index calculating section 56, the data setting section 5
The crop index is calculated based on other data (the number of spikes per strain, the number of strains per unit area, the measurement time, the environmental conditions, and the number of samples that have passed through the crop inspection unit 10) input from 8. The obtained crop index is displayed on a monitor 62 connected to the display control unit 60.
And stored in the memory 64. The crop index value is printed out together with each parameter as needed.

On the other hand, the thickness calculation unit 128 calculates the thickness dimension of the brown rice 100 from the received light data received by the laser receiver 124. This calculation is performed based on the dimensions based on the received light data (the width dimension where light is blocked) from the known sample stage 11.
4 minus the thickness dimension. Thereby, the thickness dimension of the brown rice 100 can be obtained.

The thickness dimension obtained by the thickness calculator 128 is
By inputting the data to the data setting unit 58 and taking into account the thickness of the brown rice 100, the ripening degree and the crop index can be determined with higher accuracy.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing the relationship between the binarization level and the detection level in the binarization conversion section 48. In FIG. 5, it can be seen that the rate of change of the mature grains is small, and the rate of change of the immature grains is large, and the degree of ripening can be easily recognized.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the sorting, which relies on a skilled person, in the work of directly cutting down the rice, threshing, drying, preparing (grinding, sorting), and weighing, is performed.
Since the weighing process can be automated, work efficiency can be improved.

Further, since the size (thickness) of the brown rice 100 is measured at the same time, it is possible to obtain a more accurate ripening degree, crop index, and the like.

Since the display control unit 60 also receives the light amount data from the CCD camera 34 and the binary data from the binary conversion unit 48, it displays necessary intermediate data on the monitor 62. Can also be printed out.

Further, since the memory 64 of the controller 44 also stores data of last year, two years ago, etc., it is easy to compare these with this year, and it is easy to make plans for future measures.

In this embodiment, the brown rice 100 is fed by the sample feed roller 110 at a predetermined interval. However, this is suitable when the processing amount of brown rice is large, and FIG. 6 when the processing amount is small. As shown in FIG.
A so-called batch method in which 0 is inserted into the pattern inspection unit 10 may be employed. The sample dish 130 includes a translucent base plate 132 having a predetermined transmittance and a partition plate 136 provided with through holes 134 at predetermined intervals. A guide roller 138 is provided on the upstream side of the pattern inspection unit 10, and the sample dish 130 is placed on the guide roller 138.
By extruding in this state toward the pattern inspection unit 10,
The distal end is sandwiched between a pair of transport rollers 140 located downstream of the pattern inspection apparatus 10.

In the conveying roller 140, the through hole 134
It is possible to detect the transmission image and the thickness dimension of the brown rice 100 conveyed at every formation pitch and sequentially accommodated in the through hole 134. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, since the lower part of the brown rice overlaps with the partition plate 136, when calculating the thickness dimension of the brown rice 100, only the thickness dimension of the base plate 132 is subtracted.

[0057]

As described above, the method and the apparatus for detecting the thickness of brown rice according to the present invention include:
It has an excellent effect that the measurement of the thickness dimension of brown rice is automated, all the sampled brown rice are measured, and the pattern inspection can be performed with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a pattern inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a left side view of the pattern inspection apparatus according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a control block diagram of a controller according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a laser emitter and a laser receiver.

FIG. 5 is a binarization level-detection level characteristic diagram.

FIG. 6 is a pattern inspection apparatus according to a modification of the present invention;
(A) is a front view of the pattern inspection apparatus, (B) is a perspective view of a sample dish.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of a laser emitter and a laser receiver according to a modification of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 10 pattern inspection unit 44 controller 56 pattern index calculation unit 108 transport slope (sample positioning unit) 110 sample feed roller (sample positioning unit) 114 sample stage 122 laser light emitter (parallel light output unit) 124 laser light receiver (light receiving unit) 128 Thickness calculation unit (non-light-receiving area extracting means, non-light-receiving area size calculating means, brown rice size calculating means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A method in which brown rice, which is a sample, is placed on a sample stage whose thickness is known in advance, and is irradiated with parallel light in a vertical streak shape along the thickness direction of the sample stage. Receiving the sample table, determine the dimension in the direction of the vertical streak blocked by the sample table and brown rice, and obtain the thickness dimension of the brown rice by subtracting the thickness dimension of the sample table from the dimension in the vertical streak direction. Characterized brown rice thickness detection method. 2. A sample positioning means for positioning brown rice as a sample at a predetermined position on a sample table having a known wall thickness in advance, and an area including brown rice positioned on the sample table by the sample positioning means. A parallel light output unit that outputs parallel light converged in a direction perpendicular to the sample stage; a light receiving unit that is disposed to face the parallel light output unit and receives the parallel light range; Non-light-receiving area extraction means for extracting a non-light-receiving area generated by being located on the optical path of the sample table and brown rice when received at, based on the data extracted by the non-light-receiving area extraction means,
A non-light-receiving area dimension calculating means for calculating a dimension of a non-light-receiving area along a thickness direction of the sample table; a non-light-receiving area dimension calculating means; and a thickness dimension of brown rice from the thickness dimension of the sample table. A brown rice thickness detecting device, comprising: a brown rice dimension calculating means for calculating.