JPH10202205A - Receiving tray for sorter and agricultural product sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to prevent the leaking of disturbance light into a transmitted light passage and to evaluate and decide internal quality by the detection of the high-sensitivity transmitted light with high accuracy by engaging agricultural products with the upper receiving seats of receiving trays in contact therewith and pushing down the agricultural products by pressing means, thereby assuring the elastic seating states with the receiving seats. SOLUTION: The agricultural products P, such as apples, placed on the respective receiving trays 1 of a rectangular shape in plane connected to a chain conveyor are subjected to image pickup of their appearance by an image pickup camera 603 and are then irradiated by illumination lamps 702 in external light shielding boxes 701. The transmitted light thereof is detected by the photodetecting members 703 of transmitted light detecting sections 705. In such a case, the pressing elements 721 of the agricultural product pressing means 720 disposed in the illumination sections 704 are lifted to push down the agricultural products P while these elements are turned in synchronization with the receiving trays 1, by which the light shieldability by the engagement with the upper receiving seats formed at the receiving trays 1 is enhanced. The agricultural product pressing means 720 change the postures of element carriers 732 according to the orbits of guide grooves 761, thereby oscillating the pressing elements 721.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention can be suitably used for sorting agricultural products such as citrus fruits (Satsuma mandarin orange, orange, etc.), kiwis, persimmons, apples, pears, etc., particularly, based on transmitted light information of lobular agricultural products. The present invention relates to a sorter tray that can be used, and a sorter having a transmitted light information detection function using the tray.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, the trade price of agricultural products in the market is affected by the quality thereof. Therefore, agricultural products are usually sorted and sorted according to predetermined quality items at a sorting place and then shipped. The quality items of sorting are generally class elements such as size and weight, and class elements such as scratches, color, sugar content and ripeness. These elements are automatically determined without visual inspection by the operator. In order to perform the evaluation and determination, a means for mechanically detecting the evaluation information is required. Recently, optical means have been frequently used for detecting the evaluation information.

As optical means for detecting the evaluation information of agricultural products, there are known an imaging means such as a camera for detecting appearance information of the agricultural products and a transmitted light detecting means for detecting information inside the agricultural products such as sugar content. I have. The optical information detected by these is subjected to computer processing such as image processing, arithmetic processing such as spectral analysis, comparison processing, determination processing, and the like, and is evaluated and determined for a predetermined quality item. The appearance information and the transmitted light information are common in that they are optical information, but the optical means for detecting the information is significantly different. That is, since the amount of transmitted light detected as transmitted light passes through the inside of the agricultural product, the illumination light is attenuated to, for example, 1/100 to 100/100, but very small, depending on the type of agricultural product. It is said that detection is much more difficult than appearance information.

[0004] A method and means for detecting the transmitted light known from the prior art are as follows. The principle configuration of the transmitted light detection is explained by placing an agricultural product on a mounting table provided in a test box and transmitting the agricultural product. Detecting light (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-84740)
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-25345), which detects a transmitted light of an agricultural product placed in a through-hole by using a turntable having a through-hole provided in the circumferential direction and separated from each other (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-25345). (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-83148), detecting transmitted light of agricultural products using a rubber light shielding material and a rubber disturbance light shielding material (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 3-83148). And a sorting device using a transport tray, which includes placing the agricultural product on a flat, plate-shaped, perforated tray having an opening vertically penetrated in the center, stopping the agricultural product. A method of detecting transmitted light by vertically moving an optical fiber forming a light receiving system into the opening from below (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-288903). Similarly, a perforated pan on which agricultural products are placed is stopped, and the sugar content sensor is turned on. Upward proximity It was of a type that detects the sugar content information (JP-A-7-253397) are known.

In an actual apparatus, in order to accurately perform evaluation judgment using light information of transmitted light having a very small light amount as described above, it is important that the light information can be detected with high accuracy and sensitivity. In recent years, it is required that detection can be quickly performed to continuously sort and sort a large number of agricultural products, and that detection can be performed during the transportation without stopping transportation of a conveyor or the like. Conventional proposals are not suitable for detecting transmitted light information of each agricultural product without stopping the line. For example,
JP-A-6-28 for contacting or approaching a light receiving system with agricultural products
The methods of 8903 and JP-A-7-253397 are excellent in detecting weak light, but it is extremely difficult to detect while moving the tray connected to a conveyor chain.

However, in sorting and sorting agricultural products,
Due to the development of various related devices (for example, computer technology such as an evaluation information detecting device, a sorting / discharging device, a box packing device, and a control device), extremely rapid processing has been performed. As for detection, it has become essential to enable detection during continuous operation of the line.

A proposal for detecting transmitted light while continuously moving the transport line is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-8055.
No. 7, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 7-26709, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-7
No. 2712, Japanese Patent Publication No. 3-80557.
In the publication, only transmitted light is listed as one of the information to be evaluated, but no specific means for detecting transmitted light with high accuracy and sensitivity is disclosed. The proposal of Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-26709 merely discloses the light receiving system conceptually, and the proposal of Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-72712 discloses the principle of reducing the influence of noise by lock-in amplification synchronized with the chopping frequency. There is no specific proposal for detecting transmitted light, which is a very small weak light, with high accuracy and sensitivity only by disclosure.

[0008]

As described above, it has recently been strongly required to be able to detect the transmitted light of agricultural products, which is optical information extremely attenuated compared with the illumination light, without stopping the transport line, with high sensitivity. However, it is not easy to provide an apparatus for realizing this, and a method that enables high-sensitivity detection while continuously transporting, as described above, is proposed.
In fact, there is no suitable device.

[0009] The present inventor has more of a variety of problems, such as, i.e., is not easy to detect a weak transmitted light with high sensitivity, agricultural products size for self Shikamono, a natural product, shape Is not always constant, which makes high-sensitivity detection of the weakly transmitted light more difficult, and realizes high-sensitivity detection of the weakly transmitted light while continuously moving agricultural products without stopping for productivity improvement. We worked hard on research and development while taking into account the fact that the problem was more difficult.

[0010] In order to solve these problems, when detecting transmitted light that has passed through agricultural products and has been attenuated to extremely weak light, the transmitted light to be detected is overwhelmingly large in amount (normally transmitted light). It is necessary to solve the problem of being buried in disturbance light of tens of thousands times or more in the case of leakage light, and more than one million times in the case where illumination light leaks in. For this purpose, the light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product is separated from the illumination light and extracted, that is, for the sorting machine that effectively prevents the illumination light from leaking into the detection side that receives the agricultural product transmitted light. The present invention has been made for the purpose of providing a saucer and an agricultural product sorting device having a transmitted light information detecting function using the saucer.

An object of the present invention is that in an actual agricultural product sorting apparatus, the size (grade) and the appearance quality (grade) such as shape, coloring, etc. are measured together and sorted according to the appearance quality by grade. The tray of the sorting machine protrudes upwards from the upper seat provided at the center of the tray so that both types of measurement can be performed, and places the periphery of agricultural products (vegetables, etc.) exposed from the equator to the lower side. It is an object of the present invention to provide an agricultural product sorting apparatus formed as described above and capable of measuring the internal quality and the external quality of agricultural products.

[0012]

The above object is achieved by the invention described in each of the claims set forth above.

The invention of the agricultural product sorting device according to claim 1 of the present application is
The transmitted light is detected by a conveyor having a sorting and discharging mechanism in which agricultural products are placed on a large number of trays conveyed endlessly, and the transmitted light is continuously detected to measure the internal quality of the agricultural products. The area is divided into an illuminating section above the conveyor and a transmitted light detecting section below and the lower transmitted light detecting section is made a dark section, and the transmitted light radiated by a plurality of illumination lamps and passing through the inside of the agricultural product is sent to the tray. In the agricultural product sorting apparatus configured to receive the transmitted light receiving means disposed in the transmitted light detection unit through the provided transmitted light passage, the saucer,
A single or concentric multiple light-blocking elastic annular upper seat which is annularly elastically engaged with the mounted agricultural product, and the upper end of the transmitted light passage faces the agricultural product inside the annular upper seat; In the lighting unit, a large number of pressing elements that land on the transport upstream side and release the landing on the downstream side so as to press the agricultural product on each pan that moves are depressed in synchronization with the pan on the transport line. An endless rotating agricultural product holding means is provided.

According to the present invention, the upper receiving portion of the tray is elastically engaged with the agricultural product, and the agricultural product is pressed down by the holding means, so that the elastic receiving state without a gap with the upper receiving portion is ensured. Also, the tray is horizontally slidably driven without vibration, and the outlet of the transmitted light at the lower part of the tray and the transmitted light detector are made as close as possible to prevent the disturbance light from entering. A sliding part that protrudes into the tray and a receiving tray guide rail that receives the sliding part are provided to reliably prevent disturbance light from leaking into the transmitted light path, and separate out light transmitted through the agricultural product from illumination light and extract it. It was configured to be able to. Further, since the lower transmitted light detecting section divided vertically by the receiving tray of the transport line is a dark portion, it is possible to prevent disturbance light from entering even at a portion where the transmitted light enters the light receiving system. Therefore, highly sensitive transmitted light detection can be realized by these.

The agricultural product sorting apparatus having the above-described structure includes optical means such as an imaging camera on the same transport line, in addition to detecting transmitted light in the middle of the transport line for rotating the receiving tray. And appearance quality can be measured.

The receiving tray of the above construction has a transmitted light path which can guide the light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product placed on the lower side of the transport line, and can optically partition the upper and lower portions of the transport line and transmit the light. What is necessary is just to be able to prevent leakage of the illumination light into the light path. In order to make the transmitted light detection section formed below the transport line a dark section, the section is shielded from the outside, and the illumination light may be prevented from leaking into the lower dark section through the transport surface of the transport line, The light blocking of the transfer surface can be performed by blocking the tray and, if necessary, the gap around the tray or between adjacent trays with a light shielding sheet or the like. The light-shielding elastic annular upper seat in the above configuration (hereinafter sometimes referred to as an "annular seat") contacts the outer periphery of the agricultural product to be placed without a gap, and the illumination light leaks from the contact portion into the inner transmitted light path. It is generally formed of an elastic material such as rubber or plastic so as to have elastic deformability suitable for preventing light from entering and to stably support the mounted agricultural products. Generally, the shape of the annular seat is generally circular, but the invention according to claim 2 is configured so that it can be attached and detached and replaced, so that it is oval and elliptical according to the shape of agricultural products. A shape such as a shape can be appropriately selected. The annular seat may be single, but for example, the same apples to be sorted are large and small in size. In order to achieve this, it is preferable to provide double or multiple multiplexes. The structure of the annular seat is not particularly limited as long as it can engage with agricultural products and can shield light. In the case of a double or more multiple seats, the inner and outer seats may have different structures.

As the transmitted light receiving means provided in the transmitted light detecting section in the above configuration, those known as optical light receiving means can be used. For example, a light receiving element such as an image pickup tube, a CCD, a spectral diffraction grating, a filter, etc. (E.g., a filter for spectral analysis), a lens, an optical transmission body such as an optical fiber, a mirror, and the like can be appropriately combined and used as needed.

As the agricultural product holding means in the above configuration, as will be described in an embodiment to be described later, a holding element provided so as to be attached to the agricultural product on the upstream side of the transport and to be released from the downstream side is moved. It is preferable to adopt a method of independently pressing agricultural products on each tray. Each of these holding elements is rotated endlessly in synchronization with the tray on the transport line. "Synchronizing with the receiving tray on the transport line" means that the agricultural product placed on the receiving tray connected at a predetermined pitch is moved at a timing at which the agricultural product can be hit and pressed down and is moved (transported) at the same speed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, each tray has a flat rectangular shape, has a fulcrum at one lower side in the traveling direction, and combines the fulcrum with a bracket provided on the conveyor chain such that the fulcrum can be rotated and tilted by a fulcrum pin. The tray is horizontally held by an engagement hook provided in connection with the combination and transported, and the tray travels in a state where the upper and lower sides of the transport surface are shielded from light by the tray, and is engaged at a predetermined position. When the engagement is released, the tray is tilted to the side, and even if the tray on the transport line moves at high speed, the holding means is synchronized and the darkening of the transmitted light detector is ensured. So
Highly reliable processing can be realized.

Incidentally, a light-shielding flexible sheet may be provided between the connecting trays to secure the light-shielding property of the transport line.

According to the invention of claim 4 of the present application, a projecting sliding portion is provided at the lower portion of the tray, the sliding portion is received by a guide rail, and a gap between the exit of the transmitted light passage of the tray and the transmitted light detecting portion is provided. It is characterized by being arranged as close as possible so that disturbance light does not enter.

This is based on the following. That is, in the receiving tray connected to the conveyor chain, it is difficult to avoid dimensional deviation due to allowances in production and some tolerance caused by the mechanism and structure, so that the holding angle of the receiving tray usually slightly varies. However, leaving such variations may lead to the possibility of leakage and intrusion of disturbance light. In the present invention, the transmitted light measuring unit adjusts all the trays to a horizontal and constant height and detects the light from the transmitted light outlet. The emission angle to the unit is kept constant, and the transmitted light exit and the transmitted light detection unit are arranged as close as possible to prevent disturbance light from entering. The measurement of high accuracy was realized by eliminating the variation in the production and enabling the measurement under a certain condition.

The endlessly rotatable pan may be provided with a light-shielding elastic annular upper receptacle detachably provided on a receptacle attached to a pan body connected to a conveyor. With this configuration, a tray suitable for different types of agricultural products can be provided only by replacing the upper seat, and the cost can be reduced by using a common apparatus.

According to the invention of claim 6 of the present application, the receiving body of the receiving tray connected to the conveyor chain is provided with an upper receiving part protruding from an upper part having a raised central part. As it is inclined downward, the agricultural products placed on the upper pedestal have a high-shape shape from below, and are exposed from the equator part with the largest diameter to the lower side, and the light source of the illumination lamp from the surroundings is more effective. And the amount of transmitted light to the inside of the agricultural product can be increased. In addition, when measuring the appearance quality such as coloring of agricultural products, FIG.
As shown in (1), a wider range can be measured.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the holding means is configured to independently press each holding element made of, for example, a parallel two-line or curved elastic material corresponding to each of the agricultural products to be conveyed. Therefore, even if the sizes of the agricultural products are adjacent to each other, it is possible to surely press the agricultural products according to the size. The pressing means is characterized in that it has a switching means for switching between a posture for hitting (pressing) each holding element to the agricultural product and a posture for releasing (pressing release) the hitting element.

According to the present invention, since the holding state and the non-holding state of the agricultural product can be reliably switched at the predetermined position, the degree of freedom in designing the rotation track of the holding means can be increased easily.

[0027] The invention of claim 8 of the present application is characterized in that each of the pressing elements is configured to have a pressing force fluctuation alleviating means for mitigating a fluctuation of the pressing force of the wire portion to the agricultural product.

According to the present invention, the holding force for agricultural products having different sizes can be within a predetermined spring force range set in advance, so that the agricultural products can be stably supported while placing the agricultural products thereon. There is no damage by the holding means.

The invention of a tray according to claim 9 of the present application is a saucer used in the agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claims 1 to 8, wherein the tray has a flat rectangular shape, has a fulcrum portion on one lower side in the traveling direction, and has the fulcrum portion. It is attached to a bracket provided on the conveyor chain so as to be rotatable and tiltable by a fulcrum pin, and the tray is horizontally locked by an engagement hook provided in connection with the combination and transported. When the vehicle travels in a state where the upper and lower sides are shielded from light and the engagement hook is disengaged at a predetermined position, the tray is configured to be tilted to the side. The produce sorting device can function effectively.

[0030]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1 In the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 11, FIG. 1 shows an overall outline of an agricultural product sorting apparatus with a transmitted light information detection function to which the present invention is applied, and FIGS. The tray 1 of a flat rectangular shape whose structure will be described is connected to a chain conveyor, and is configured to be connected and endlessly rotated by a pair of sprockets 4 and 4 and a motor 5. At the left end of FIG. 1, for example, an agricultural supply P is supplied from an unillustrated alignment supply device so as to be placed on one tray 1. In this example, the saucer 1 on which the agricultural product P is placed is first placed on the exterior imaging stage 6 in a predetermined external light shielding box 601 with the illumination lamp 60.
2, the appearance is imaged by the imaging camera 603, and the appearance imaging information is sent to the signal processing device 8 including a computer. Details at the time of this appearance imaging will be described later with reference to FIG. Although the intervals between the large number of trays 1 in FIG. 1 are illustrated as having relatively large dimensions, this is for the convenience of illustration, and in practice, it is necessary to improve the light-shielding properties above and below the track surface and to improve the processing efficiency. It can be connected closely and closely.

Next, the tray 1 is moved to the transmitted light detection stage (transmitted light detection area) 7, and the agricultural products P placed on the tray are illuminated above the tray transport line formed in the predetermined external light shielding box 701. Irradiated by the illumination lamp 702 in the section 704, the transmitted light is emitted through the transmitted light path exit 112 of the tray bottom plate 110. The transmitted light is received by a light-receiving optical system arranged so that the lower surface of the ring packing 113 on the bottom surface 111 of the tray 1 can pass close to and above the transmitted light detector 705 formed below the transport line. The transmitted light information detected by the member 703 is sent to the signal processing device 8. The details at the time of detecting the transmitted light information will be described later with reference to FIG.

The signal processor 8 to which the signals of the above-mentioned appearance imaging information and transmitted light detection information have been sent, for example, determines the color, the presence or absence of flaws, the size, etc. based on the appearance imaging information, and determines the internal quality such as sugar content. Is determined on the basis of the transmitted light detection information, the sorting category of the agricultural product P is comprehensively determined, and the obtained sorting sorting signal is transmitted via the control device 9 to the discharge conveyor 10 installed for each sorting category. send to _{1-10 4} corresponding sorting ejection actuation device 11 ₁ to 11 _4. Thereby, for example, every time the tray 1 on which the agricultural products determined in the corresponding sorting section are moved to the corresponding position on the discharge conveyor 10 ₁ , the sorting discharge operation device 11 ₁ is operated to operate the same sorting. The agricultural products P of the category are discharged. The discharged agricultural products P are packed in boxes for each sorting by an appropriate boxing device (not shown).

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of a state in which the tray 1 is linked to the link of the chain conveyor 2 in a plane perpendicular to the conveying track.

In this figure, a receiving tray 1 of the present example on which agricultural products P are placed is a receiving member 101 having a shell wall structure made of black rubber.
And a bottom plate 110 made of black hard plastic which is assembled so as to form the bottom surface of the receiving body. As shown in the figure, the left and right (width direction) sides are provided symmetrically from the center of the conveyance track. Have been.

The seat body 101 having the shell wall structure includes a lower seat 102 and an upper seat 103.
02 is formed by a relatively thin rubber body into a shell wall type that can block light from entering from the outside from the outside, and in this example, is inclined at an angle of about 15 ° from both left and right sides. The tapered wall has a substantially trapezoidal shape continuing from the upper plane (see FIG. 11), and the upper seat 1 is located substantially at the center of the upper plane.
03 is to be assembled. As shown in FIG. 7, the upper seat 103 is attached to the lower seat 102 by an outer peripheral annular groove 1021 formed so as to rise upward from the tapered wall of the lower seat 102 and the lower end of the upper seat 103. This is performed by fitting the inwardly directed annular projection 1031 provided at the bottom.

Further, the upper seat 103 of the present embodiment has the agricultural product P
And a mortar wall having a tapered shape whose diameter gradually increases upward from the outer circumference of the inwardly directed annular projection 1031 and becomes thinner toward the upper end as shown in FIGS. Outer cylinder seat (seal lip) of mold 1
032 and the inner cylinder seat 1033 are provided in a double manner. The inner cylinder seat 1033 is provided slightly lower in height than the outer cylinder seat 1032, and further, a horizontal lip portion 1034 is provided horizontally inward from the base of the inner cylinder seat 1033. When light cannot be shielded by the seat 1033, a light-shielding elastic annular seat is formed. The outer cylindrical seat 1032, the inner cylindrical seat 1033, and the horizontal lip portion 1034 are made of a material and a shape that can maintain an engaging and contacting state with excellent light-shielding properties without gaps by being in contact as closely as possible when agricultural products are placed. Selected. Horizontal lip 103
The inside of 4 forms a transmitted light passageway entrance 107 through which the transmitted light passes below the tray 1.

At the left and right ends of the tapered wall of the lower seat 102, inward grooves 108 are provided so as to fit into edges of a flat rectangular bottom plate 110 described below. The front and rear surfaces of the receiver 101 in the transport direction are closed by vertical walls (see FIG. 11) that are continuous from the tapered wall.
The lower end of the vertical wall is also provided with an inward groove for fitting into the edge of the bottom plate 110. Although not shown in the present example, in order to prevent the receiver 101 from bending significantly downward when an agricultural product is placed on the receiver 101, a rib (book In the example, an internal vertical wall) can be appropriately provided.

The bottom plate 110 has a flat bottom surface 111 of a flat rectangular shape, and the tapered wall of the seat and the groove 108 of the vertical wall are fitted at the peripheral edge thereof so that they are integrated. In addition, a transmitted light passage exit 112 is provided immediately below the transmitted light passage entrance 107 to form a transmitted light passage that penetrates vertically in the center of the tray 1. In this example, the transmitted light passage exit 11
2, a ring packing 113 is assembled. Further, the bottom plate 110 of the present example has a fulcrum 114 projecting downward at one side in the width direction of the bottom surface 111.
14 is attached to a bracket 202 fixed to a link 201 of the chain conveyor 2 so that the pan 1 can be rotated and tilted by a fulcrum pin 211.
An engagement hook 203 rotatably mounted on the pin 2 by a pin 204 is engaged with a locking pin 115 provided at a fulcrum portion 114 at a lower portion of the pan to prevent the pan from tilting. The tray 1 is tilted by removing the engagement hook 203 for preventing tilting by the device. Further, a sliding portion 116 protruding downward is provided on the opposite side of the fulcrum portion 114 of the tray 1 in the width direction, and the sliding portion 116 is provided.
Is received by the tray conveying posture guide rail 3, the exit 112 of the transmitted light passage of each tray 1 connected in the traveling direction is adjusted to a certain level, and the exit angle from the exit 112 of the transmitted light passage 112 to the transmitted light detector 705. And the transmitted light detector 7
05 and the upper surface of the light receiving member 703 provided in the portion as close as possible to prevent disturbance light from entering (see FIG. 9).
It is made to run.

In the chain conveyor 2 described above, a roller 207 mounted on a pin shaft 205 protruding outside a link plate 206 runs on a running rail 208. Reference numerals 209 and 209 denote inclined guide walls extending on both sides of the traveling path of the tray 1, and the agricultural products P are supplied in an unstable posture from an unillustrated alignment supply device, and the agricultural products P fall from the tray 1 halfway. In this case, this is returned to the starting end side of the aligning and feeding device by the left and right return conveyors 210, 210.

FIG. 8 shows the appearance of the external light shielding box 6 at the time of external appearance imaging on the external appearance imaging stage 6.
01, a light-shielding curtain (not shown) is provided on the box-shaped shielding wall at the entrance and the exit of the conveyed tray 1, so that external light is prevented from entering the inside as much as possible. It has a slit opening 604. In addition, the receiving tray 1 of the present example has an upper receiving
As shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to take an image up to the lower surface of the spherical agricultural product P from the intermediate portion (equatorial portion) as shown in FIG. In order to perform this, a plurality of illumination lamps 602 are arranged in an arch shape, and a reflecting mirror 605 for guiding an appearance image of an obliquely lower portion to the imaging camera 603 is arranged. The tray 1 of the present embodiment has a flat rectangular shape as described above, and the connected trays 1 are connected to each other with as little gap as possible, so that the external light shielding box 6
01 is sufficiently prevented from entering outside light, whereby the influence of illumination unevenness due to the outside light is suppressed, so that accurate appearance imaging can be realized.

In the appearance imaging stage 6 having the above configuration,
The appearance can be imaged while the agricultural product P is continuously moved without stopping the transport of the saucer 1.

FIG. 9 shows a state in which transmitted light is detected by the transmitted light detection stage 7. As in the case of the external appearance imaging stage 6, the external light shielding box 701 prevents external light from entering as much as possible. A light-shielding curtain (not shown) is provided on the box-shaped shielding wall at the entrance and exit of the tray 1 to be conveyed. Also, as mentioned above,
In addition to the fact that the receiving trays 1 form a flat rectangular shape and that the receiving trays 1 connected to each other are continuous as closely as possible, the inside of the external light shielding box 701 is partitioned by a horizontal partition 706 to shield the area below the receiving tray transport line from light. Can sufficiently prevent the strong irradiation light from the illumination unit 704 from leaking from the orbital surface of the tray conveying line to the transmitted light detection unit 705 below, and the bottom surface 111 of the bottom plate 110 is connected to the chain conveyor 2 on one side in the width direction. The tray 1 is transported while supporting the tray 1 on the opposite side while being supported by the guide rail 3 on the opposite side and accurately maintaining the horizontal level of the track surface. The light-receiving member 703 can be disposed close to the light-receiving member 703, so that external light or illumination light can be prevented from entering the light-receiving member 703, and highly accurate transmitted light detection can be realized.
In order to further prevent leakage of illumination light from the joint portion of the connected trays 1, a flexible sheet may be provided to close between the trays. The light receiving member 703 of the light receiving optical system can be constituted by using a condensing lens, an optical transmission body such as an optical fiber, a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, and a spectral diffraction grating or a filter for spectral analysis. Can also be used. These light receiving optical systems can be configured using a known technique. The outline of the configuration is as follows: through a circuit that collects the transmitted light from the transmitted light passage exit, separates the collected light by various spectral means, and converts the light intensity for each spectral wavelength into an electric signal. The configuration is such that the electrical output for each wavelength is calculated and the internal quality information such as the sugar content is output as a numerical value to the signal processing device 8.

As another embodiment, when the light receiving optical system is difficult to be accommodated in a limited space below the conveyor, the light receiving member 703 shown in the figure is simply a condensing portion, and the conductor 801 is used as an optical fiber, and the light is dispersed. , A photoelectric conversion unit, an operation unit, and the like can be separated and the part can be incorporated in the signal processing device 8. Alternatively, it may be a separate housing. In consideration of the fact that the transmitted light is extremely attenuated and weakened as described above, it is preferable to install a large number of illumination lamps 702 within a range that does not hinder the conveyance of the saucer 1 and the agricultural product P. A case in which they are arranged in a horizontal arch shape on both sides in the width direction can be given.

In the transmitted light detection stage 7 of this embodiment, the agricultural product holding means 720 is provided in the illumination section 704, and the holding element 721 rotates on the receiving tray 1 in synchronization with the receiving tray 1. Of agricultural product P, and upper seat 1
03 is further ensured by the engagement with the outer cylinder seat 1032 or the inner cylinder seat 1033.
The agricultural product holding means will be further described later.

The transmitted light detection stage 7 Oite the above configuration, while continuously moving without stopping the transport of the agricultural products P saucer 1, transmitted through the internal agricultural and prevents the leakage light entering the irradiation morphism light Light can be detected.

FIG. 10 shows the sorting / discharging operation devices 11 _{1 to} 11.
₄ by indicates sorting unit for discharging the agricultural products to a predetermined discharge conveyor 10 ₁ to 10 _4, each predetermined sorting segment separately, the saucer 1 loaded with produce, which is determined in the classification comes moved, sorted ejection actuation any device 11 ₁ to 11 ₄ for discharging the agricultural products P in operation. That is, sorting ejection actuation device 11 ₁ to 11 _4, the projection 13 is depressed the lever 14 by the electromagnetic solenoid 12 is energized by a sorting signal,
When the lever 14 is depressed, the engagement between the engaging hook 203 and the locking pin 115 of the fulcrum portion 114 at the bottom of the tray is released, and the bracket 202 pivots around the fulcrum pin 211 from the solid line state to the two-dot chain line state in FIG. So that the tray 1 can be tilted. In this position, the tray conveying posture guide rail 3 extends obliquely downward as indicated by reference numeral 3 'in FIG. 10 so that the tray 1 can be tilted. Therefore, saucer conveyance posture guide rails 3 at each position corresponding to the four sorting ejection actuation device provided at positions 11 ₁ to 11 ₄ in this example is curved obliquely downward, each pan 1 is engaged in the discharge position When the engaging hook 203 is disengaged from the locking pin 115, the engaging hook 203 is tilted.
03 is not disengaged from the locking pin 115, so that it is conveyed while maintaining the horizontal posture. In addition, 1
Reference numeral 5 denotes a drop chute for guiding the agricultural products P to the discharge conveyors 10 ₁ to 10 ₄ .

In the agricultural product sorting apparatus having the above-described configuration, it is natural that other necessary components are provided as appropriate, not shown. For example, the tilted receiving tray 1 is returned to the horizontal position, and the tilt preventing hook 203 is provided. And a return means for bringing the pin 115 into an engaged state.

Next, the agricultural product holding means 720 provided in the transmitted light detection stage 7 described in FIG. 9 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

The agricultural product holding means 720 of this embodiment is shown in FIGS.
And FIG. 9, which basically includes a plurality of holding elements 721 provided to be rotated in an endless track.
Is a tray 1 for detecting transmitted light in the external light shielding box 701
The agricultural product P is securely pushed down to the upper seat 103 in the moving range of the above, so that the outer cylindrical seat 1032 (or the inner cylindrical seat 1033 or the horizontal lip portion 1034) and the agricultural product can be tightly contacted without gaps and transmitted. it is those configured to prevent irradiation morphism light leakage light incident to the optical passage.

The agricultural product holding means 720 of this embodiment will be specifically described. In this embodiment, first, a pair of drive sprockets 7 are provided.
By rotating rollers 723 provided on a chain stretched around the peripheral edge of the driven sprocket 752 and the driven sprocket 752 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 2, a rail provided on a necessary track portion using a channel material as needed (see FIGS. 4 and 6). ) 724 so that a large number of holding element entrainment brackets 730 connected to the link run along an oval rail track indicated by a line 740 in FIG. is there. The bracket 730 is configured so that the entraining chain connected to the link is rotated by the driving sprocket 751 and the driven sprocket 752.

Secondly, as shown in FIG. 3, a holding element carrier 732 is rotatably mounted around a horizontal pin 731 at a predetermined position on the bracket 730 for entraining the holding element of this embodiment. The carrier 732 has a feature in which a spring wire 733 is carried via a pressing force variation alleviating means 770 to be described later to constitute the pressing element 721.

Third, as described above, the pin 731 of the bracket 730 for entraining the pressing element is rotated around the elliptical rail track 740 at a constant angle, and the end roller on one side of the element carrier 732 is rotated. By providing the 7321 so as to run in the guide groove 761 of the guide base 760 as shown in FIG. 3, the position of the element carrier 732 can be changed within a predetermined range by the trajectory of the guide groove 761. Particularly, in this example, in the range of the point a to the point b in FIG. The one end roller 7321 is formed in a roller shape suitable for traveling in the guide groove 761 of the guide base 760.

Agricultural product holding element 721 having the above configuration
Is provided so as to be addressed to one of the agricultural products P in the tray 1 to be transported, and the driving unit 901 rotates the entraining chain of the holding unit 720 in synchronization with the movement of the tray transporting conveyor line. By doing so, the agricultural product P
03, the agricultural product P can be pushed down by this pushing, and the agricultural product P is pushed to the outer cylinder seat 1032 and the inner cylinder seat 1033.
And the light shielding property is secured. That is, the holding element entrainment bracket 730 is moved along the fixed oval track 740 by the entraining chain, and the one-side end roller 7321 in the shape of the roller of the holding element 721 is thereby moved by the guide base 760. When the end roller 7321 reaches the point a in FIG. 2, the guide groove 761 is bent inwardly into an oval, so that the bracket 7 730 (in FIG. 4, the lower holding element swings counterclockwise), whereby the one end 732 is set.
The spring wire 733 on the side opposite to 1 presses the agricultural product P from above. This state corresponds to a to a of the guide groove 761.
It is maintained during the intermediate horizontal orbit portion between b, and this is the position where it passes over the light receiving member 703 for detecting transmitted light.
Next, the presser element 721 gradually escapes upward (clockwise) in FIG. 4, releases the pressing of the agricultural product P at point b, and returns to the normal state. The driving means 901 can be replaced with a mechanical interlocking device with the chain conveyor 2 of the tray 1 and the conveyor line.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the holding element carrier 732 is rotatably mounted around the horizontal pin 731 at a predetermined position on the holding element entrainment bracket 730, and the pressing force is applied to the holding element carrier 732. Fluctuation mitigation means 7
There is a feature in which the spring wire 733 is supported via the wire 70. Details of this configuration are shown in FIGS. That is, the holding element carrier 732 of the present example is provided in a box-shaped structure in which the upper part (the side of the bracket 730) and the front part (the side where the spring wire 733 comes out) are opened, and the above-mentioned end portion is attached to a shaft extending from the rear. A roller 7321 is provided. The spring wire 733 has a root portion fixed to a fixed plate 7331, and a side wall plate 7332 extending as a pair of left and right side walls from the fixed plate 7331 is rotatably pivoted to the pin 731. Drum 73 inserted in 731
One end of a torsion coil spring 7312 wound around 11 is engaged with a pin 7322 fixed to the pressing element carrier 732, and the other end of the coil spring 7312 is engaged with a pin 7333 fixed to the side wall plate 7332. Accordingly, the spring wire 733 is generated by the spring force of the coil spring 7312.
Are biased in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. Reference numeral 7334 denotes a backing plate provided at a portion where the side wall plate 7332 is engaged with the bottom surface of the holding element carrier 732.

The pressing force fluctuation reducing means 77 having such a configuration is described.
According to 0, even if the spring wire 733 is tilted slightly against the spring force with respect to the holding element carrier 732 by setting the spring force of the coil spring 7312, the spring wire 733 is
Can be reduced, and a substantially constant pressing force can always be applied to agricultural products having different sizes. Therefore, it is extremely effective for agricultural products in which it is not preferable to apply strong external pressure. In addition, agricultural products P of different sizes (P _{1 to} P
FIG. 4 shows the difference in the posture of the spring wire 733 of the pressing element 721 with respect to ₃ ).

According to the agricultural product sorting apparatus of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration, while the agricultural product is continuously transported while being placed on the saucer 1, imaging of the external appearance including the lower portion of the side surface of the agricultural product and transmission of the agricultural product transmitted light are performed. Both can be suitably performed.

It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment or the embodiment described below. For example, in this embodiment, the tray is formed by detachably combining a bottom plate, a lower seat, and an upper seat. Although shown as configured, it may be a combination of a bottom plate made of a rigid material and a seat made of an elastic material, or may be an integrated seat that cannot be attached or detached. In short, the upper part of the tray has an upper seat, the center of the seat has a vertically transmitted light passage, and the lower surface has an opening between the transmitted light passage and the light receiving member. What is necessary is just to be able to be installed in a state where it is infinitely close.

Embodiments 2 and 3 FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) show a tray of a type in which an upper tray of a tray is removably combined with an upper tray which is removably assembled to a lower tray. It shows a different shape of the seat. In addition, in these saucers 1 of this example,
The lower seat is configured to have a flat plate portion along a bottom plate (not shown) and a straight cylindrical portion extending upward from the center thereof, but is otherwise the same as the first embodiment.

In the example of (a), the upper receiving seat 31 has a cup-shaped peripheral wall 33 serving as a first light-shielding elastic annular receiving seat (seal lip portion) and a portion around the transmitted light passage entrance 36 at the bottom of the cup. The flat horizontal lip portion 34 is configured to form a second light-shielding elastic annular seat (seal lip portion). Reference numeral 35 denotes a peripheral groove for attaching to the upper end of the straight cylindrical portion 39 of the lower receiving seat 38.

In the example of (b), the vicinity of the distal ends of the outer cylindrical seat 43 and the inner cylindrical seat 44 of the upper seat 41 is described in the first embodiment.
An example is shown in which the outer cylindrical seat 1032 and the inner cylindrical seat 1033 are provided with a structure that is bent and bent outward more than the outer cylindrical seat 1032 and the inner cylindrical seat 1033. Reference numeral 45 denotes a peripheral groove for attaching to the upper end of the straight cylindrical portion 49 of the lower receiving seat 48, and 46 denotes an entrance of the transmitted light passage.

By using the receiving pan having such a structure in place of the receiving pan 1 in the apparatus of the first embodiment, similarly to the above, the illuminating light is transmitted through the transmitted light passage entrances 36, 46 of the receiving pan.
From the light passing through the transmission light passage is reliably prevented.

[0062]

As described above, according to the invention of each claim of the present application, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the upper receiving seat of the tray comes into contact with the agricultural product, and the agricultural product is pressed down by the pressing means, so that the state of elasticity with the receiving seat is reliably ensured. Prevents disturbance light from leaking into the transmitted light path, allowing light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product to be separated and extracted from the illumination light, and detecting transmitted light below the upper and lower compartments by a tray conveyor belt. Since the part was dark,
Even at a portion where the transmitted light enters the light receiving means, it is possible to prevent disturbance light from entering the light receiving means. Therefore, highly sensitive transmitted light detection can be realized by these.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by providing the light-shielding elastic annular seats in a single or concentric multiple manner,
The light-shielding property of agricultural products having variation in size is further improved. In addition, one kind of saucer can be shared for different types and different sizes of agricultural products, for example, Kodama Unshu oranges and large sweet summer oranges.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a large number of trays having a flat rectangular shape are attached to one side of the conveyor so as to be tiltable, and are endlessly rotated in a connected state with the upper and lower surfaces of the transfer surface being shielded from light and the endless rotation of the transfer conveyor line. Even if it is moved at high speed, the holding means synchronizes to ensure the darkening of the transmitted light detection section, and after performing a highly reliable measurement process, it proceeds without changing to another conveyor and proceeds to the tray at a predetermined position. Can be sorted by tilting.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the sliding portion at the lower portion of the tray is received by the guide rail to prevent running vibration, to allow the vehicle to run horizontally and stably, and to make the space between the light receiving member of the transmitted light detecting portion as much as possible. Since it was made close so that disturbance light did not enter,
Highly reliable measurement processing can be realized.

According to the invention of claim 5 of the present application, the tray body connected to the conveyor and the seat body having a light-shielding elastic annular seat which can be attached to and detached from the tray body can be constructed. Thus, the agricultural product selection device suitable for different types of agricultural products can be dealt with only by replacing the seat, and the cost can be reduced by using a common device.

According to the invention of claim 6 of the present application, the upper catch is provided on the trapezoid with the center of the tray raised, so that the produce is held high, so that the agricultural product is in contact with the upper catch. Since it is uniformly irradiated with a large amount of irradiation light from the entire periphery except for the portion, there is an effect that more transmitted light can be more effectively guided to the transmitted light passage. In addition, it is possible to realize the imaging of the appearance inspection to inspect the surface even obliquely downward.

According to the invention of claim 7 of the present application, the pressing means has a switching means for switching between a posture in which the wire portion is impacted (pressed) on the agricultural product and an attitude in which the impact is released (depressed). Therefore, it is possible to reliably switch between the holding state and the non-holding state of the agricultural product at the predetermined position, so that the rotation path of the holding means can be designed easily and without great restrictions.

According to the invention of claim 8 of the present application, it is possible to alleviate the variation in the pressing force of the pressing force of the agricultural product by the pressing means, so that the pressing force for the agricultural products having different sizes is set by the predetermined spring. Within the power range, stable support of the mounted agricultural products and prevention of damage to the agricultural products can be achieved at the same time.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, since the tray having a rectangular shape in a plane is mounted on one side of the chain conveyor so as to be tiltable sideways, there is no obstacle such as a chain on the other side, and the tray is not used in the measuring section. The distance between the transmitted light passage exit at the bottom and the light receiving member of the transmitted light detection unit can be adjusted to a minimum, and the vehicle can run stably horizontally. At the sorting unit, agricultural products can roll out with a small head. .

According to the present invention, according to the present invention, it is possible to detect the transmitted light passing through the inside of the agricultural product with high sensitivity in response to the fact that the size and shape of the agricultural product are not always constant. In addition, it is possible to provide a sorting device with a transmitted light information detection function using this pan, and to evaluate and judge the internal quality by highly sensitive transmitted light detection, and to continue the transfer line suitable for exhibiting high productivity. Movement can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an overall outline of an agricultural product sorting apparatus using a saucer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the entire agricultural product holding mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view for explaining the movement of a holding element of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a holding element of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the agricultural product pressing mechanism for illustrating the pressing force fluctuation reducing mechanism according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of a transport track surface of a transport conveyor in the agricultural product sorting device using the tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the transport track surface in the agricultural product appearance imaging step of the transport conveyor of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a transport track surface in the agricultural product transmitted light detection step of the transport conveyor of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a conveying track surface in the agricultural product discharging step of the conveying conveyor according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the saucer of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a partial vertical sectional view of a saucer according to the second and third embodiments of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Receiving tray 101 ... Receiving body 102 ... Lower receiving seat 1021 ... Groove part 103 ... Upper receiving seat 1031 ... Annular protrusion 1032 ... Outer cylinder seat 1033 ... Inner cylinder seat 1034 ... horizontal lip 107 ... transmission light passage inlet 108 ... groove 110 ... bottom plate 111 ... bottom surface 112 ... transmission light passage exit 113 ... ring packing 114 ···································································································································・ ・ Pin shaft 206 ・ ・ ・ Link plate 207 ・ ・ ・ Roller 208 ・ ・ ・ Traveling rail 209 ・ ・ ・ Inclination guide wall 210 ・ ・ ・ Return conveyor 211 ・ ・ ・ Support pin 3 Force guide rail 4 ... Sprocket 5 ... Motor 6 ... External imaging stage 601 ... External light shielding box 602 ... Illumination lamp 603 ... Imaging camera 604 ... Slit opening 605 ... Reflecting mirror 7: transmitted light detection stage 701: external light shielding box 702: illumination lamp 703: light receiving member 704: illumination unit 705: transmitted light detection unit 706: horizontal partition 720: Agricultural product holding means 721: Holding element 723: Roller 724: Rail 730: Bracket 731: Pin 7311: Drum 7312: Coil spring (torsion coil spring) 732・ Pressing element carrier 7321 ・ ・ ・ End roller 7322 ・ ・ ・ Pin 733 ・ ・ ・ Spring wire 7331 ・ ・ ・ Fixing plate 7332 ・ ・ ・ Side Plate 7333 ··· Pin 7334 ··· Pull plate 740 ··· Rail track 751 ··· Drive sprocket 752 ··· Followed sprocket 760 ··· Guide base 761 ··· Guide groove 770 ··· Relieves pressure fluctuation Means 8 ... Signal processing device 801 ... Conductor 9 ... Control device 901 ... Driving means 10 ₁ to 10 ₄ ... Discharge conveyor 11 _{1 to} 11 ₄ ... Sorting discharge operation device 12 ..Electromagnetic solenoid 13 Projection 14 Lever 15 Falling chute

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] February 26, 1998

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0023

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Further pan for moving said endless times, as described above according to claim 5, against the pan bottom member connected to the conveyor, is provided detachably seat having an upper seat of the light blocking elastic ring cage, with this configuration, a pan suitable for different types of agricultural products, can be provided only by replacement of the receiving seat body, it can be cheaper the cost by common equipment.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

In this figure, a receiving tray 1 of the present example on which agricultural products P are placed is a receiving member 101 having a shell wall structure made of black rubber.
And a black hard plastic bottom body 110 assembled to form the bottom surface of the seat body.
As shown in the figure, 01 is provided so that both sides (width direction) from the center of the transport track form a symmetrical structure.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0037

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

It should be noted the left and right ends of the tapered walls of the lower seat 102, inward of the groove 108 to fit is formed on the edge portion of the flat rectangular bottom member 110 Tsugiki. The front and rear surfaces of the receiver 101 in the transport direction are closed by vertical walls (see FIG. 11) that are continuous from the tapered wall.
The lower end of the vertical wall is also provided with an inward groove for fitting to the edge of the bottom body 110. Although not shown in the present example, when agricultural products are placed on the upper seat 103 , the lower seat 102 of the seat body 101 is prevented from being largely bent downward. Ribs (in this example, internal vertical walls) may be provided as appropriate.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0038

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The bottom body 110 has a flat bottom surface 111 of a flat rectangular shape. The tapered wall of the seat and the groove 108 of the vertical wall are fitted at the peripheral edge so that they are integrated. In addition, a transmitted light passage exit 112 is provided immediately below the transmitted light passage entrance 107 to form a transmitted light passage that penetrates vertically in the center of the tray 1. In this example, the transmitted light passage exit 11
2, a ring packing 113 is assembled. In addition, the bottom body 110 of the present example has a fulcrum 114 projecting downward at one side in the width direction of the bottom surface 111.
14 is attached to a bracket 202 fixed to a link 201 of the chain conveyor 2 so that the pan 1 can be rotated and tilted by a fulcrum pin 211.
An engagement hook 203 rotatably mounted on the pin 2 by a pin 204 is engaged with a locking pin 115 provided at a fulcrum portion 114 at a lower portion of the pan to prevent the pan from tilting. so that the tilting the pan 1 by disengaging the engagement hook 203 for tilting blocking by the device. Further, a sliding portion 116 protruding downward is provided on the opposite side of the fulcrum portion 114 of the tray 1 in the width direction, and the sliding portion 116 is received by the tray conveying posture guide rail 3, and each tray connected in the traveling direction. The transmitted light passage exit 112 is arranged at a constant level, the output angle from the transmitted light passage exit 112 to the transmitted light detector 705 is made constant, and the transmitted light detector 705 and the transmitted light detector 705 are provided in this portion. The vehicle travels as close as possible to the upper surface of the light receiving member 703 so that disturbance light does not enter (see FIG. 9).

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0042

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 9 shows a state in which transmitted light is detected by the transmitted light detection stage 7. As in the case of the external appearance imaging stage 6, the external light shielding box 701 prevents external light from entering as much as possible. A light-shielding curtain (not shown) is provided on the box-shaped shielding wall at the entrance and exit of the tray 1 to be conveyed. Also, as mentioned above,
In addition to the fact that the receiving trays 1 form a flat rectangular shape and that the receiving trays 1 connected to each other are continuous as closely as possible, the inside of the external light shielding box 701 is partitioned by a horizontal partition 706 to shield the area below the receiving tray transport line from light. Can sufficiently prevent the strong irradiation light from the illumination unit 704 from leaking from the track surface of the tray conveying line to the transmitted light detection unit 705 below, and the bottom surface 111 of the bottom body 110 is connected to the chain conveyor 2 on one side in the width direction. The tray 1 is transported while supporting the tray 1 at a position opposite to the tray receiving posture guide rail 3 to accurately maintain the horizontal level of the track surface, thereby moving the light receiving member 703 of the light receiving optical system with respect to the tray 1 moving. The light receiving member 703 can be disposed very close to the light receiving member 703, so that external light or illumination light can be prevented from entering the light receiving member 703, and highly accurate transmitted light detection can be realized.
In order to further prevent leakage of illumination light from the joint portion of the connected trays 1, a flexible sheet may be provided to close between the trays. The light receiving member 703 of the light receiving optical system can be constituted by using a condensing lens, an optical transmission body such as an optical fiber, a photoelectric conversion element such as a CCD, and a spectral diffraction grating or a filter for spectral analysis. Can also be used. These light receiving optical systems can be configured using a known technique. The outline of the configuration is as follows: through a circuit that collects the transmitted light from the transmitted light passage exit, separates the collected light by various spectral means, and converts the light intensity for each spectral wavelength into an electric signal. The configuration is such that the electrical output for each wavelength is calculated and the internal quality information such as the sugar content is output as a numerical value to the signal processing device 8.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0050

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The agricultural product holding means 720 of this embodiment will be specifically described. In this embodiment, first, a pair of drive sprockets 7 are provided.
51 and the roller 723 of the roller 723 provided in the chain stretched over the periphery is rotated in the arrow direction in FIG. 2 of the driven sprocket 752, rails provided appropriately required trajectory part with a channel member (Fig. 4, (See FIG. 6) 724 so that a number of holding element entraining brackets 730 connected to the chain link run along the oblong rail track indicated by the line 740 in FIG. There is a feature. The bracket 73
Numeral 0 indicates that the driving chain connected to the link is rotated by the driving sprocket 751 and the driven sprocket 752.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0057

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0057] Incidentally, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments set or below this embodiment is of course, for example, in this embodiment, the bottom body pan, the lower seat, detachably combine the three upper seat Although it is shown as being configured as such, it may be a combination of a bottom body made of a rigid material and a seat made of an elastic material, or may be an integrated seat that cannot be detached. In short, the upper part of the tray has an upper seat, the center of the seat has a vertically transmitted light passage, and the lower surface has an opening between the transmitted light passage and the light receiving member. What is necessary is just to be able to be installed in a state where it is infinitely close.

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0058

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Embodiments 2 and 3 FIGS. 12 (a) and 12 (b) show a tray of a type in which an upper tray of a tray is removably combined with an upper tray which is removably assembled to a lower tray. It shows a different shape of the seat. In addition, in these trays 1 of this example, the lower seat is configured to have a flat plate portion along a bottom body (not shown) and a straight tube portion extending upward from the center thereof. Is the same as in the first embodiment.

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0067

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to the invention of claim 5 of the present application, the saucer body is connected to the conveyor, and the seat body has a light-shielding elastic annular seat and can be attached to and detached from the dish bottom body. Thus, an agricultural product selection device suitable for different types of agricultural products can be dealt with only by replacing the seat, and the cost can be reduced by using a common device.

[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Brief description of drawings

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view for explaining an overall outline of an agricultural product sorting apparatus using a saucer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the entire agricultural product holding mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional side view for explaining the movement of a holding element of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial plan view of a holding element of the agricultural product holding mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the agricultural product pressing mechanism for illustrating the pressing force fluctuation reducing mechanism according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a partial longitudinal sectional view of a transport track surface of a transport conveyor in the agricultural product sorting device using the tray according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of the transport track surface in the agricultural product appearance imaging step of the transport conveyor of the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a transport track surface in the agricultural product transmitted light detection step of the transport conveyor of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a partial vertical cross-sectional view of a conveying track surface in the agricultural product discharging step of the conveying conveyor according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the saucer of the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a partial vertical sectional view of a saucer according to the second and third embodiments of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Receiving tray 101 ... Receiving body 102 ... Lower receiving seat 1021 ... Groove part 103 ... Upper receiving seat 1031 ... Annular protrusion 1032 ... Outer cylindrical seat 1033 ... inner tubular seat 1034 ... horizontal lip 107 ... transmission light passage inlet 108 ... groove 110 ... bottom 111 ... bottom 112 ... transmission light passage outlet 113 ..・ Ring packing 114 ・ ・ ・ Support point 115 ・ ・ ・ Locking pin 116 ・ ・ ・ Sliding part 2 ・ ・ ・ Chain conveyor 201 ・ ・ ・ Link plate 202 ・ ・ ・ Bracket 203 ・ ・ ・ Engagement hook 204 ・ ・・ Pin 205 ・ ・ ・ Pin shaft 206 ・ ・ ・ Link plate 207 ・ ・ ・ Roller 208 ・ ・ ・ Running rail 209 ・ ・ ・ Inclination guide wall 210 ・ ・ ・ Return conveyor 211 ・ ・ ・ Support point pin 3 ..Receiving tray guide attitude guide rail 4 ... Sprocket 5 ... Motor 6 ... External imaging stage 601 ... External light shielding box 602 ... Illumination lamp 603 ... Imaging camera 604 ... Slit opening 605: Reflecting mirror 7: Transmitted light detection stage 701: External light shielding box 702: Illumination lamp 703: Light receiving member 704: Illumination section 705: Transmitted light detection section 706 ..Horizontal bulkhead 720 ... Agricultural product holding means 721 ... Holding element 723 ... Roller 724 ... Rail 730 ... Bracket 731 ... Pin 7311 ... Drum 7312 ... Coil spring (torsion coil spring) 732: Holding element carrier 7321: End roller 7322: Pin 733: Spring wire 7331: Fixing plate 7332 ... side wall plate 7333 ... pin 7334 ... backing plate 740 ... rail track 751 ... drive sprocket 752 ... driven sprocket 760 ... guide base 761 ... guide groove 770 ... · Pressing force fluctuation reducing means 8 ··· Signal processing device 801 ··· Conductor 9 ··· Control device 901 ··· Driving means 10 ₁ to 10 ₄ ··· Discharge conveyor 11 _{1 to} 11 ₄ ··· Sorting Discharge actuator 12 ・ ・ ・ Electromagnetic solenoid 13 ・ ・ ・ Protrusion 14 ・ ・ ・ Lever 15 ・ ・ ・ Drop chute

[Procedure amendment 12]

[Document name to be amended] Drawing

[Correction target item name] Fig. 6

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG. 6

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A transport conveyor having a sorting and discharging mechanism in which agricultural products are placed on a large number of trays conveyed endlessly, and transmitted light detection is continuously performed to measure the internal quality of the agricultural products. Divides the transmitted light detection area into an illuminating section above the conveyor and a lower transmitted light detecting section, forming the lower transmitted light detecting section as a dark section, and is illuminated by a plurality of illumination lamps and transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product. In the agricultural product sorting device wherein the light is received by the transmitted light receiving means arranged in the transmitted light detection unit through the transmitted light passage provided in the tray, the tray is elastically engaged with the mounted agricultural product in a ring shape. A single or concentric multiple light-shielding elastic annular upper seat is provided, and the upper end of the transmitted light passage is located inside the annular upper seat so as to face the agricultural product. Agricultural products on each saucer Agricultural product sorting, characterized in that a large number of holding elements for impacting on the upstream side of the transport so as to press the article and releasing the impact on the downstream side are provided with agricultural product pressing means that rotates endlessly in synchronization with the tray on the transport line. apparatus. 2. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tray is configured such that at least a single or concentric multiple light-shielding elastic annular upper seat including an elliptical shape can be attached and detached. 3. The plurality of receiving trays according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of receiving trays have a flat rectangular shape, and have a fulcrum at a lower portion on one side in the traveling direction, and the fulcrum is rotated by a fulcrum pin on a bracket provided on the conveyor chain. Attachable and tiltable combination,
The tray is horizontally held by an engagement hook provided in connection with the combination and transported, and the tray travels in a state where the upper and lower surfaces of the transport surface are shielded from light by the tray, and the engagement hook engages at a predetermined position. Wherein the tray is tilted to the side when is released. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A protruding sliding part is provided at the lower part of the tray, and the sliding part is received by the guide rail, and it is possible to prevent disturbance light from entering between the exit of the transmitted light passage of the tray and the transmitted light detector light receiving member. An agricultural product sorting device that is arranged as close as possible. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Each of the trays is a tray body connected to a conveyor,
An agricultural product sorting device, wherein a light-shielding elastic annular upper seat is detachably provided. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Each of the trays is configured such that the upper seat provided at the center is projected upward, and the seat is inclined downward at least to both sides from the center to expose the agricultural products to the lower side from the equator. An agricultural product sorting device, characterized in that: 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said holding means has a switching means for switching a posture between a posture in which each holding element is elastically pressed to each one of the agricultural products and a posture in which each elastic element is depressed, and a posture in which the elastic material is released. 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein each of the pressing elements is
An agricultural product sorting device comprising a pressing force variation alleviating means for alleviating a variation in pressing force applied to agricultural products. 9. A saucer used in the agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the saucer has a flat rectangular shape, has a fulcrum at a lower portion on one side in a traveling direction, and the fulcrum is provided on a bracket provided on a conveyor chain. A pin is attached in a rotatable and tiltable manner by a pin, and the tray is horizontally locked by an engagement hook provided in connection with the combination and transported. A tray for a sorting machine, wherein the tray is tilted to the side when the engagement hook is disengaged at a predetermined position.