JPH10307105A - Light detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the screening accuracy of an object to be screened with a simple structure by focusing light from a light source by an optical fiber, applying light, as a spot beam, from an illumination body to the body to be screened that passes while being separated from a traveling path, and discriminating the shading of reflection light from the body to be screened being detected by a light reception body. SOLUTION: A body S to be screened such as tea leaves being supplied from a hopper 3 is supplied to the upper part of a plurality of travel path regulation bodies 5 at a constant ratio by an electromagnetic feeder 4, slides down while being aligned successively, and drops while being separated by an interval successively from a lower edge part onto a travel path M. Light that is applied from a light source 7 is focused by a light-transmitting means 8 consisting of, for example, an optical fiber, spot beams being applied from a lighting body 9 is applied to the body S to be screened that passes the travel path M with an interval, thus detecting the shading of reflection light being reflected from the body S to be screened accurately with a light reception body 10 and screening a non-conforming article from the travel path M due to the operation of a solenoid valve 13 for a compression air discharge being operated based on the discrimination result of a light detection device 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a photodetector using reflection of light, and more particularly to a photodetector suitable for a sorter for efficiently sorting the quality of a sortable object such as tea leaves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, in the case of shipping selected materials such as tea leaves, defective products such as white stalks, yellow leaves, green stalks, red sticks and the like mixed in the tea leaves are selected and removed. Shipped in a state where quality is maintained. And
A sorter is used to efficiently discriminate the quality of a large amount of tea leaves.

[0003] Briefly describing such a conventional sorter, a sorter such as tea leaves supplied from a hopper is formed at a constant rate by an electromagnetic feeder into a moving path regulating body having a substantially V-shaped cross section. Supplied to the top of
The selected objects slide down in the movement route regulating body while being sequentially aligned, and fall sequentially from the tapered lower end of the movement route regulating body on the movement route on the extension of the length direction of the movement route regulating body at intervals, and During the fall, the action of the solenoid valve for compressed air injection that operates defective products such as yellow leaves, white stalks, green stalks, red sticks etc. mixed in the tea leaves as the selected body based on the determination result of the light detection device The sorting is performed by separating from the moving route by the.

[0004] The photodetector used in such a conventional sorter uses a straight tube type fluorescent lamp as a light source,
The light emitted from the fluorescent lamp is applied to the object to be sorted on the moving path through the slit, and the color of the object to be sorted is detected by a light receiving element called a detection sphere, and the detected color of the object to be sorted is detected. Is determined by a control unit having a colorimetric unit.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional light detection device, the quality of the object to be selected is determined based on the color of the object to be detected detected by a light receiving element called a detection ball. Therefore, it is necessary to use a color-specific filter for the photoreceptor, and even if a color-specific filter is used for the photoreceptor, the detection accuracy of the color of the object to be selected is inferior. There was a problem that it could not be performed.

In the conventional photodetector, a fluorescent lamp is used as a light source. When the fluorescent lamp is turned on by an alternating current, the current increases and decreases every half cycle, and the luminous flux is twice as high as the power supply frequency. There is a problem that flickering occurs and high-precision sorting cannot be performed.

In order to improve the sorting accuracy of the objects to be sorted, for example, the sorting machine is made up of two stages of upper and lower stages for performing rough sorting and final sorting, and the sorting machines falling from the lower ends of the respective movement route regulating bodies. There has been proposed a configuration in which the body is separated from the moving path by the action of a compressed air injection electromagnetic valve that operates based on the detection of the light detection device. However, there is a problem in that a machine and a photodetector are required, which results in an increase in the size of the machine and an increase in economic burden.

Therefore, there is a demand for a photodetector which has a simple structure and which can easily improve the sorting accuracy of a sorting target.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a photodetector which has a simple structure and which can easily improve the sorting accuracy of an object to be sorted.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the features of the photodetector of the present invention described in claim 1 are a light source for irradiating light, and a light source for irradiating light. An optical fiber that transmits light, an irradiating body that irradiates a moving object to be sorted with light from a light source transmitted through the optical fiber, and a light receiving body that receives reflected light reflected from the object to be sorted. And a discriminating unit for detecting the brightness of the reflected light received by the photoreceptor. And, by adopting such a configuration, the light emitted from the light source is
The light is focused by an optical fiber and radiated as a spot light from an irradiating body, and the spot light is radiated to an object to be sorted that passes through a moving path at an interval, and the reflected light reflected from the object to be sorted is easily reflected by a light receiver. The brightness of the reflected light is easily detected by the discriminating unit, and as a result, the sorting accuracy can be easily improved.

[0011] Further, a feature of the photodetector of the present invention described in claim 2 is that in claim 1, the light source is a halogen lamp which is turned on by a DC power supply. By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to prevent flickering of the luminous flux of the irradiation light due to increase and decrease of the current every half cycle caused by lighting the fluorescent lamp with AC.

The feature of the photodetector according to the present invention described in claim 3 is claim 1 or claim 2.
, The light emitted from the light source is formed so as to be transmitted to a plurality of irradiation bodies arranged in a line via a plurality of optical fibers. Then, by adopting such a configuration, it is possible to easily sort the objects to be sorted that pass through a plurality of movement routes at intervals.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a photodetector according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the light emitted from the irradiating body is emitted from the irradiating body. An absorption plate capable of absorbing the irradiation light is provided at a position on the irradiation path that is beyond the movement path of the object to be sorted. And, by adopting such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the photoreceptor from detecting the reflected light of the irradiation light other than the reflected light reflected from the object to be sorted, and thus the reflected light reflected from the object to be sorted. Can be more clearly detected by the photoreceptor.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of a sorting machine using a photodetector according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, a sorting machine 2 using a photodetector 1 according to the present embodiment has a hopper 3 to which a sorting object S such as tea leaves is supplied at the uppermost position. A known electromagnetic feeder 4 is provided below the hopper 3. Below the electromagnetic feeder 4, a plurality of moving path restricting members 5 having a substantially V-shaped cross section are provided in order to sequentially move the selected objects S falling from the electromagnetic feeder 4 while sequentially aligning them. (Only a part is shown) is provided. Further, below the moving path restricting body 5, the sorted objects that sequentially fall from the lower end of each moving path restricting body 5 on the moving path M on the extension of the length of the moving path restricting body 5 at intervals. The light detection device 1 for determining the quality of S and a known compressed air injection device 6 are provided.

The light detecting device 1 comprises a light source 7 comprising a halogen lamp which is turned on by a DC power supply, a light transmitting means 8 comprising a plurality of optical fibers capable of transmitting light emitted from the light source 7, A predetermined number of irradiators 9 (only some of which are shown) for irradiating the light transmitted by the transmission means 8 to the selected objects S on the moving path M, and the selected objects on the moving path M from these irradiating bodies 9. A known photoreceptor 1 for detecting the brightness of the reflected light illuminated on S and reflected from the sorted object S
A control unit 1 including a discriminating unit 11 for discriminating whether or not the selected object S is solid information based on a preset reference value based on 0 and the brightness of the reflected light detected by each light receiving body 10.
And 2.

The number of the radiating bodies 9 for irradiating the light of the light source 7 may be one as required according to the design concept or the like. The light source 7 is not limited to a halogen lamp,
Any one that is lit by a DC power supply that can prevent flickering of the illuminating light beam, for example, a bean ball, a bulb with a lens, or the like may be selected as needed according to the design concept or the like.

The control unit 12 includes at least a CPU,
It has a memory formed of ROM, RAM or the like having an appropriate capacity, and a controller (both not shown) for driving each unit. The memory has a program for determining whether the light reflected from the object S detected by the photoreceptor 10 is solid or not as solid information of the object S based on a preset reference value. Is stored. In the memory, a program for driving each part of the photodetector 1 and the sorting machine 2 and ON of the compressed air injected from the compressed air injection device 6 are stored.
A program for operating a solenoid valve 13 for controlling -OFF, which will be described later, as to whether or not the sorted object S is solid information based on the determination result is stored.

The program stored in the discriminating unit 11 may be a program that separates the brightness of the light reflected from the object S into three or more sections based on a preset reference value. Good. That is, not only the sorted object S may be classified into good or bad, but the non-defective product may be divided into a plurality of grades.

The compressed air injection device 6 is linked to a known solenoid valve 13 for controlling ON / OFF of the compressed air based on the determination result of the selected object S as solid information by the light detection device 1. have.

The irradiation light can be absorbed at a position on the irradiation path L of the irradiation light irradiated from the irradiation body 9 beyond the moving path M of the object to be sorted, that is, on an extension of the irradiation path L. A simple absorbing plate 14 is provided.

Below the light detecting device 1 and the compressed air injection device 6, a storage container 15A such as a detachable container for storing the selected non-defective selected objects S falling down the moving path M and a compressed air injection device. A storage container 15 </ b> B such as a detachable container for storing the sorted defective products S separated from the movement path M by the compressed air injected from the device 6 is arranged.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment having the above-described configuration will be described.

According to the sorting machine 2 of the present embodiment, the sorting object S such as tea leaves supplied from the hopper 3 is supplied to the upper part of the plurality of moving path regulating members 5 at a fixed rate by the electromagnetic feeder 4. Then, the sorted objects S slide down in the respective moving path regulators 5 while being sequentially aligned, and move on the moving path M on the extension of the length direction of the moving path restrictor 5 from the lower end of each moving path restricting body 5. , Fall sequentially at intervals, during the fall, yellow leaves and white stems, green stems, which are mixed in the tea leaves as the selected body S,
A defective product such as a red bar is separated from the movement path M by the action of the compressed air injection electromagnetic valve 13 that operates based on the determination result of the light detection device 1, so that sorting is performed. And, by having a plurality of movement route regulators 5, a large number of objects S to be sorted can be efficiently sorted.

Further, according to the photodetector 1 of the present embodiment, the light emitted from the light source 7 is emitted from the irradiation body 9 as spot light while being focused by the optical transmission means 8 composed of an optical fiber or the like. Since the spot light is spot-irradiated to the selected object S passing through the moving path M at an interval, it is possible to easily and accurately detect the brightness of the reflected light reflected from the selected object S with the photoreceptor. Can be.

Further, the light detection device 1 of the present embodiment
By roughly dividing the brightness of the reflected light reflected from the selected object S into two, that is, a clear bright color close to white and a dark color close to black, the solid information of the selected object S is clearly and accurately. Can be detected. By using the brightness of the reflected light reflected from the object S to be used for discrimination of the object to be sorted, a filter for each color used for the photoreceptor when the above-described conventional color is used for the object to be discriminated is not required. Thus, the economic burden can be reduced.

Furthermore, the light detecting device 1 of the present embodiment
Is a halogen lamp lit by a DC power supply.
Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent flickering of the luminous flux of the irradiation light due to the increase and decrease of the current every half cycle caused by lighting the conventional fluorescent lamp with AC,
As a result, the sorting accuracy of the sorting target S can be easily improved.

Further, since the light transmitting means 8 and the irradiating body 9 of the photodetecting device 1 of the present embodiment can simultaneously perform the sorting of the sorted objects S passing through the plurality of moving paths M,
It is possible to efficiently sort a large number of objects S to be sorted.

Since the absorbing plate 14 of the photodetector 1 of the present embodiment can easily absorb the irradiation light other than the reflection light reflected from the sorting target S, the light is irradiated from the irradiation body 9. Irradiation light can be reliably prevented from being reflected at a position beyond the movement path M of the sorting object S and detected by the light receiving body 10, and as a result, the brightness of the reflected light reflected from the sorting object S can be increased or decreased. Can be more clearly detected by the photoreceptor 10,
It is possible to easily sort the object to be sorted S with higher accuracy.

Further, the photodetecting device 1 of the present embodiment can sort the object S with high accuracy. Therefore, in the sorting machine 2 using the light detecting device 1, the object S In order to improve the sorting accuracy, it is not necessary to adopt a multi-stage configuration as in the conventional case described above, and it is possible to prevent the apparatus from being enlarged.

The photodetector 1 of the present invention is used not only for sorting tea leaves, but also for sorting beans, such as soybeans and red beans, and grains, such as wheat, for good or bad, and for sorting various industrial products. be able to.

Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as needed.

[0034]

As described above, according to the photodetector of the present invention, the light irradiated from the light source is focused on the optical fiber and spot-irradiated on the object to be sorted passing through the moving path at an interval. Therefore, the solid state information of the object to be sorted can be clearly and accurately detected by the brightness of the light reflected from the object to be sorted, so that the sorting accuracy of the object to be sorted can be easily improved. It works. Further, by using a halogen lamp which is turned on by a DC power supply as a light source, an extremely excellent effect that flickering of a light beam can be surely prevented can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an embodiment of a sorting machine using a photodetector according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Photodetector 2 Sorting machine 7 Light source 8 Optical transmission means 9 Irradiation body 10 Light receiving body 11 Judgment part 12 Control part 14 Absorbing plate S Sorted object M Moving path L Irradiation path

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A light source for irradiating light, an optical fiber for transmitting light emitted from the light source, and an irradiation for irradiating light from the light source transmitted via the optical fiber to a moving object to be sorted. A photodetector, comprising: a body; a photoreceptor for receiving light reflected from the object to be sorted; and a discriminator for detecting brightness of the reflected light received by the photoreceptor. 2. The light detection device according to claim 1, wherein the light source is a halogen lamp that is turned on by a DC power supply. 3. The light according to claim 1, wherein the light emitted from the light source is formed so as to be transmittable to a plurality of irradiation bodies arranged and arranged via a plurality of optical fibers. Detection device. 4. An absorbing plate capable of absorbing said irradiation light is provided at a position on an irradiation path of said irradiation light irradiated from said irradiation body beyond a moving path of said object to be sorted. The photodetector according to any one of claims 1 to 3.