JPH10309539A - Grain separator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to decide whether grains are defective or nondefective with high accuracy by deciding whether the grains are defective or whether the grain groups contain defective units or not in accordance with the concn. values of respective pixels subjected to image pickup and the prescribed reference concn. value by each of the respective pixels and making sepn. in accordance with the results thereof. SOLUTION: The backgrounds of the regions for photographing to be photographed by front and rear cameras 20, 22 turn to colormetric plates 78, 80 affixed to red fluorescent lamps 70, 74. Since the reflectivity of these colormetric plates 78 is approximately the same as that of unpolished rice, the levels of the video signals of the images photographing the unpolished rice turn to be approximately the same as the levels of the video signals photographing the backgrounds and only the levels of the video signals photographing green kerneled rice fall. The threshold value is, thereupon, determined on the basis of the levels of the video signals photographing the backgrounds and the primary sepn. is executed by deciding whether the grain groups include the green kerneled rice or not by whether the signal levels are below this value or not. The secondary sepn. is executed by deciding whether the grains 90 are the unpolished rice or the green kerneled rice of the color different from the color of the unpolished rice.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a grain sorter. In addition, a grain means granular grains, such as rice, wheat, and soybeans.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a predetermined refining process after harvesting rice or the like, it is necessary to select good products that can be commercialized and defective products that cannot be commercialized. In particular, with regard to white rice, foreign matter or rice discolored to brown or black must be removed as much as a defective product beforehand as much as possible. Also, in many grains other than white rice,
If there is a defective product or foreign matter that has changed color due to damage, etc.,
There is a possibility that the commercial value will be reduced. Further, when brown rice is mixed with brown rice, it is necessary to sort them.

[0003] For this reason, there has been proposed a grain sorter that sorts grains of rice or the like based on surface reflectance to white light. The grain sorting machine includes a supply unit that supplies grains to a sorting unit, an imaging unit that captures grains under a predetermined amount of light, and a determination that determines whether the product is defective based on the captured image. 2. Description of the Related Art There is known a grain sorting machine including a sorting unit and a sorting unit that sorts out grains determined to be defective.

[0004] In this grain sorter, grains move in a predetermined groove formed in the supply section, and the grains fall down a predetermined path from the end of the supply section. The fallen kernel is imaged by the imaging unit at the inspection position in the middle of the fall path, and the density of the imaged image is compared with a predetermined threshold value regarding the density to determine whether the kernel is defective. Has been determined.

[0005]

However, for example, when both brown rice and brown rice having a lower maturity than brown rice are colored (brown rice is red and blue rice is blue), they are white. The reflectivity to light is the same (FIG. 20).
(B)). For this reason, when a good product such as brown rice and a defective product such as blue rice are mixed, these cannot be distinguished based on the reflectance to white light.

The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and has as its object to provide a grain sorter capable of determining with high accuracy whether or not a grain is defective. I do.

[0007]

The grain sorter of the present invention comprises:
An imaging means comprising a plurality of pixels under the irradiation light from a light source that emits light in a predetermined wavelength range including a wavelength of reflected light from a sorting target kernel, for a kernel or a kernel group moving on a predetermined movement path. Based on the density value of each imaged pixel and a predetermined reference density value for each pixel, whether or not the kernel is defective or defective is included in the kernel group Or not, and selecting the kernel or kernel group based on the determination result.

According to the present invention, when sorting the grains, a light source for irradiating light in a predetermined wavelength range including the wavelength of the reflected light from the grains to be sorted is used. The difference from the reflectance of the target grain increases. That is, when light of the same color as the target kernel is irradiated, a large amount of light is reflected from the target kernel, so that the reflectance of the target kernel increases. On the other hand, even if the same light is applied to a non-sorting target grain having a color different from that of the sorting target grain, a large amount of light is absorbed by the non-sorting target grain, and thus the reflectance is low.

For example, in the case of selecting brown rice from a group of grains in which brown rice and blue rice are mixed, irradiating the brown rice and the blue rice with the color of the brown rice or the red light close to the color of the brown rice will produce brown rice. In contrast, more light is reflected and the reflectivity increases, but for blue rice, more light is absorbed and the reflectivity decreases.
For this reason, when the brown rice and the blue rice are imaged, and the respective reflectances are converted into video signal levels according to the magnitude of the reflectance to perform sorting, the maximum value of the video signal level and the brown rice and blue rice are determined. The ratio of the difference between the video signal level (DRm and DRi, see FIG. 20A) is determined by the difference between the video signal level (DWm and DWi, FIG.
0 (B)) (DWi / DW).
m <DRi / DRm), these can be clearly distinguished.

[0010] Therefore, the difference in reflectance between non-defective and non-defective products colored differently like brown rice and blue rice is increased,
It is possible to clearly sort non-defective products and non-defective products based on the reflectance. This makes it possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the grain is defective.

The light source used here may be a light source that emits light in a predetermined wavelength range including the wavelength of the reflected light from the grains to be sorted, and preferably emits light in such a predetermined wavelength range. A fluorescent lamp is used.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a grain sorter according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the embodiment of the present invention, brown rice is regarded as a good product to be sorted and blue rice is regarded as a defective product which is not to be sorted. The light source includes the same wavelength range as the light reflected from the brown rice. An example in which a red light source that emits red light is used will be described.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a grain sorter 10 according to the present invention. The grain sorter 10 is housed in a casing 11, and a grain input port 12 </ b> A of a raw material supply hopper 12 that stores grains to be sorted and supplies the grain by a predetermined amount protrudes from an upper portion of the casing 11. I have. On the side surface of the housing 11, a dial 106B for the operator to specify various parameters such as a threshold rate to be described later, a button 106C for instructing start / stop of execution of various processes, etc. Display 106A for displaying processing status etc.
There is provided an operation unit 106 having

From the lower part of the housing 11, a non-defective product passage 26A through which kernels determined to be non-defective, ie, brown rice, pass through and a defective product, ie, a non-defective product, ie, kernels determined to be blue rice, pass. The non-defective product passage 26C is disposed obliquely downward, and a non-defective product storage box 97 is provided below the terminal portion of the non-defective product channel 26A, and a defective product storage box is provided below the terminal portion of the defective product passage 26C. 98 are provided respectively.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of the grain sorter 10. At the uppermost part of the grain sorter 10, there are provided a raw material supply hopper 12 and a reselection hopper 14 for storing grains to be re-sorted and supplying the grains one by one.

As shown in FIG. 3, the raw material supply hopper 12 and the reselection hopper 14 are arranged side by side in the direction of arrow X (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 1). Both of these lower portions are configured so that the sectional opening area becomes gradually smaller, and a grain supply port 15 having an appropriate diameter for supplying a predetermined amount of grains is provided at the lowermost portion of the raw material supply hopper 12. At the lowermost part of the re-selection hopper 14, a grain supply port 15A having an appropriate diameter for supplying grains one by one is formed. A filter 14 is provided on the upper surface of the reselection hopper 14.
A is provided, and a transport pipe 30 (see FIG. 2) for transporting grains to be re-selected is inserted into a side surface of the hopper 14 for re-selection.

As shown in FIG. 2, immediately below the grain supply port 15, a rotary valve 16 for feeding grains to a belt conveyor 18, which will be described later, by a predetermined amount at predetermined time intervals.
Is installed. As shown in FIG. 4A, the rotary valve 16 is configured to rotate around a rotation axis V in the direction of arrow Q. The rotary valve 16 has a primary sorting supply section 16A and a secondary sorting supply section 16A. A portion 16B is provided.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the primary sorting supply section 16A has a regular hexagonal cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis V, and the blade is longer by a predetermined length than one side of the regular hexagon. 3
2 are fixed to each side of the regular hexagon. This allows
It is possible to store a predetermined amount of grains at a site indicated by an arrow P in FIG. 4B, and the predetermined amount of the stored grains can be stored at a predetermined timing by rotating the rotary valve 16 in the direction of the arrow Q. The grains can be supplied to the belt conveyor 18.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a total of four grain supply orbits L1 to L4 are provided at predetermined intervals along the rotation axis V in the cylindrical secondary sorting supply section 16B. 4 is set in each grain supply orbit Ln (n: 1 to 4).
As shown in (C), four holes 34 each having a size enough to accommodate one grain are formed at intervals of approximately 90 degrees. Thereby, it is possible to store one grain in each hole 34, and by rotating the rotary valve 16 in the direction of the arrow Q, the stored grains can be stored for each of the grain supply tracks at a predetermined timing. Can be supplied to the belt conveyor 18 one by one.

As shown in FIG. 2, below the rotary valve 16, a belt conveyor 18 is provided. As shown in FIG. 5, the belt conveyor 18 has rollers 38,
40 and a belt 42 wound around these rollers, and the rotation axes T1, T
2 is parallel. In addition, the belt conveyor 18
Primary sorting supply section 16 of rotary valve 16 described above
A is classified into a primary sorting transport path 18A and a secondary sorting transport path 18B corresponding to the secondary sorting supply section 16B. In the secondary sorting transport path 18B, five hard tubes 44 are arranged in the vicinity of the surface of the belt 42 at predetermined intervals in parallel with the transport direction, and transport paths R1 to R4 are formed. Each transport path Rn (n: 1 to 4) is a rotary valve 1
6 each grain supply orbit Ln of the secondary sorting supply unit 16B
(N: 1 to 4), and one grain from each grain supply orbit Ln corresponds to the corresponding transport path Rn.
It is configured to drop upward and be transported along the transport path Rn.

The hard tube 44 is supported by a supporting member 46 and a hanging member (not shown),
Even if the grain is transported along R4, the position does not shift. However, the hard tube 44 can be removed when cleaning to remove grain residue (for example, rice bran or the like) accumulated in the transport paths R1 to R4. In this manner, maintenance is facilitated for the convenience of cleaning.

The rotation speed of the belt conveyor 18 is
When the grains supplied from the primary sorting supply unit 16A of the rotary valve 16 at one time (that is, the grains stored in the portion indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 4B) drop onto the belt conveyor 18. The setting is made in accordance with the supply amount of the grain so that the particles are scattered substantially uniformly on the primary sorting conveyance path 18A.

As shown in FIG. 2, the belt conveyor 1
After being transported along the primary sorting transport path 18A or the secondary sorting transport path 18B, the grains 90 supplied to the tray 8 drop from one end of each transport path, and the falling direction ( In the lower left direction of the belt conveyor 18 in FIG.
An ejector 24 for changing the falling direction of the falling kernels and a sorting cylinder 26 in which various passages through which the sorted kernels pass are formed. Further, between the sorting cylinder 26 and the belt conveyor 18, the falling kernels are placed on the front and back 2.
A front camera 20 and a rear camera 22 for photographing from a surface are arranged.

The front camera 20 and the rear camera 22
Both are line sensor cameras having 512 pixels, and are predetermined linear regions (the photographing target regions 8 in FIG. 8 described later) wider than the width of the fall trajectory of the kernels falling from the belt conveyor 18.
4) Shoot.

As shown in FIG. 6, the central axis W1 of the visual field of the front camera 20 is substantially horizontal, and a lens 64 is provided along the axis W1. A cover 62 is provided so as to cover the field of view of the lens 64, and a slit 63 is formed at a position corresponding to an extension of the axis W1. A pair of red fluorescent lamps 70 and 72 are disposed at positions symmetrical with respect to the axis W1 at the end of the slit 63. In addition,
As the red fluorescent lamps 70 and 72, for example, Pure Color Red, FPL36ER (color twin fluorescent lamp) (trade name) (36 watts) manufactured by Matsushita Electric Works, Ltd. can be used. The spectral characteristics of the red fluorescent lamps 70 and 72 are shown in FIG.
9 Note that a white fluorescent lamp may be used instead of the red fluorescent lamp, and a filter having the spectral characteristic shown in FIG. 19 may be wound around the white fluorescent lamp to emit the same red light.

On the other hand, the center axis W2 of the field of view of the rear camera 22 is slightly inclined downward, and the lens 68 and the cover 66 are arranged around the axis W2 in the same manner as the front camera 20, and extend along the axis W2. Slit 67 at corresponding position
Are formed. A pair of red fluorescent lamps 74 and 76 are arranged at a position symmetrical with respect to the axis W2 at the end of the slit 67. The red fluorescent lamps 74 and 76 may be the same fluorescent lamps as the red fluorescent lamps 70 and 72 arranged with respect to the visual field center axis W1 of the front camera 20.

The red fluorescent lamp 70 is located on an extension of the axis W2, and the red fluorescent lamp 74 is located on an extension of the axis W1, and light from the red fluorescent lamp 70 is transmitted to the rear camera 22 and transmitted to the rear camera 22. The light from 74 is the front camera 20
To avoid direct insertion into the red fluorescent light 70,
Colorimetric plates 78 and 80 of a predetermined color are attached to the surface of 74, respectively. The colorimetric plates 78 and 80 have the same reflectance to red light as that of brown rice, which is considered to be non-defective, in the sorting of the present embodiment.

The grains 90 that have fallen from the belt conveyor 18 are photographed by the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22 when they reach the vicinity of the intersection F of the axes W1 and W2. At the position where the image is taken (the position corresponding to the intersection F in FIG. 6),
A reference plate 82 having a reference density (reference density) is provided in advance.

As shown in FIG. 7, the reference plate 82 is bent in an L-shape and cut out except for both ends in the direction of arrow H. Here, the tongue pieces 82A and 82B left by the notch are arranged at positions corresponding to the intersection points F in FIG. 6 described above, and the tongue pieces 82C are fastened to the cover 66. That is, the grains fall in the space 83 between the tongue pieces 82A and 82B, and under the same conditions as the falling grains,
The reference plate 82 having the reference density is photographed.

As shown in FIG. 8, a photographing target region 84 as a region photographed by the front camera 20 which is a line sensor camera is a predetermined portion of each reference plate 82 and a space sandwiched between both reference plates 82. This is an area on a predetermined virtual line in the area 83. The space area 83 is divided into 16 areas, and each of the divided areas is provided to 16 leaf springs 48 described later and a solenoid 50 for driving the leaf springs 48 (see FIG. 10A). Correspondingly, the grain sorting operation is controlled. When viewed in the height direction, the leaf spring 48 is located slightly below the imaging target area 84. A leaf spring 48 corresponding to each of the 16 divided areas and a solenoid 5 for driving the leaf spring 48 are provided.
In order to distinguish a device group such as 0, etc., it is referred to as one channel, two channels,..., 16 channels corresponding to each region, and is referred to as a three-channel solenoid 50, for example.

As shown in FIG. 6, the front camera 20 includes an image sensor 20B composed of a CCD image sensor and the like, and a drive circuit 20 connected to the image sensor 20B.
A is built in, and the driving circuit 20A
0B, a video signal of the video read at 0B, a trigger signal indicating the timing of capturing the video signal, a scan start signal (hereinafter, referred to as an ST signal) indicating starting capture of a video signal (scan operation) of the capturing target area 84, and capturing. An EOS (End Of Scan) signal indicating the end of video signal capture (scan operation) of the target area 84, etc., is subjected to a first control unit 100 (see FIG. 12) for performing sorting control, which will be described later.
Send to One rear camera 22 also has an image sensor 22B
And a drive circuit 22A.
Is a second control unit 100R (see FIG.
See).

As shown in FIG. 2, the sorting cylinder 26 contains a non-defective passage 26A for conveying the kernel determined to be brown rice and a kernel determined to be reselected in the primary sorting. A re-selection passage 26B for transporting, a defective product passage 26C for transporting grains determined as green rice in the secondary sorting,
The defective product passage 26C is formed only in a portion corresponding to the secondary sorting conveyance passage 18B of the belt conveyor 18 (that is, a portion on the near side when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 2). As described above, the non-defective passage 2
A non-defective product storage box 97 for storing grains dropped in the direction of arrow D1 in FIG. 2 is provided below the end of 6A (see FIG. 1).
However, below the terminal end of the defective product passage 26C, defective product storage boxes 98 (see FIG. 1) for storing grains that have fallen in the direction of arrow D3 in FIG. 2 are respectively installed.

The above-mentioned ejector 24 is installed on the upper side of the sorting cylinder 26 on the side where the grains fall. As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the ejector 24 includes 16 L-shaped leaf springs 48 and solenoids 50 corresponding to the respective leaf springs 48. Each solenoid 50 is fixed to a support member 56 such that the solenoid plunger 52 is perpendicular to one surface of the leaf spring 48 corresponding to the solenoid 50, and the leaf spring 48 is also supported on the other surface. 56 (arrow J in FIG. 10B). The supporting member 56 is fastened to a predetermined mounting base member 54 (arrow K in FIG. 10B).

As shown in FIG. 9, the space area 83 is classified into a fall area 86 for primary sorting and a fall area 88 for secondary sort. In the fall area 86, many grains 90 fall at once. On the other hand, in the falling area 88, one grain 90 at a time
Falls. On the other hand, the above-described front camera 20 and rear camera 22 photograph the photographing target region 84 (dotted line portion) at predetermined time intervals. Therefore, when the grain 90 falls in the space area 83 and passes through the shooting target area 84, the grain is shot by the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22.

By the way, since blue rice regarded as defective has a different color from brown rice, the light reflectance is lower than that of brown rice, so that an image of such blue rice is dark and the video signal of the image is dark. Is lower than the level of the video signal of the image of brown rice.

The front camera 20 and the rear camera 2
The background of the photographing target region 84 photographed by 2 is colorimetric plates 78 and 80 attached to the red fluorescent lamps 70 and 74. Since the reflectance of these colorimetric plates 78 and 80 is substantially the same as that of brown rice, the level of the video signal of the image of the brown rice is substantially the same as the level of the video signal of the image of the background, and blue rice is photographed. Only the level of the video signal of the resulting image is reduced.

Therefore, the threshold value is determined based on the level of the video signal of the image of the background, and in the primary sorting, the kernel group 90D is determined depending on whether the signal level is lower than the threshold value. Is determined whether or not contains brown rice 90C, in the secondary sorting, whether the grain 90 is brown rice 90A,
It is determined whether the brown rice 90B has a different color from the brown rice 90A.

As will be described later in detail, when it is determined that the video signal level of the image obtained by capturing the kernel 90 is lower than the predetermined level, or when the video signal level of the image obtained by capturing the kernel group 90D becomes the predetermined level. If it is determined to be lower than this, a voltage of about 36 volts is instantaneously applied to the solenoid 50 of the channel corresponding to the area where these images were taken. By this application, the solenoid plunger 52
However, the leaf spring 48 corresponding to the solenoid 50 is instantaneously hit, and the falling grain 90 or the group of grains is repelled by the leaf spring 48 in the direction of arrow M in FIG. Thereby, the grain 90 or the grain group is re-selected in the sorting cylinder 26 through the reselection passage 2.
6B or the defective product passage 26C.

As shown in FIG. 2, below the end of the reselection passage 26B, the kernels dropped in the direction of arrow D2 are collected, and the collected kernels are re-selected for secondary sorting. An injector 28 is provided for sending the fuel to the air. The injector 28 has a funnel-shaped receiving portion 28B for collecting the kernel dropped in the direction of arrow D2 and a pair of spray nozzles 2 for blowing high-pressure air to the collected kernel.
8A (only one is shown in FIG. 2), and a transport unit 28C for transporting kernels. A high-pressure blower 58 shown in FIG. 11 is provided at one end of the blowing nozzle 28A indicated by the arrow C1, and the blowing nozzle 28A is connected to each of a pair of discharge ports 60 from which high-pressure air is discharged. .

The outlet on the side where the air is discharged from the blowing nozzle 28A and the intermediate portion (the portion indicated by the arrow C2) in the conveying section 28C are formed so that the cross-sectional area of the cross section perpendicular to the direction of the air flow becomes small. ing.

One end of the above-mentioned transport pipe 30 is connected to the transport section 28C, and the grains pass through the transport pipe 30 and reach the reselection hopper 14 by the injector 28.

Next, the configuration of the first control unit 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The first control unit 100 includes a video signal input terminal 116 for inputting a video signal, a trigger signal, an ST signal, and an EOS signal from the drive circuit 20A built in the front camera 20, a trigger signal input terminal 118, a start signal Signal input terminal 128, EOS
A signal input terminal 130 is provided.

The video signal input terminal 116 and the trigger signal input terminal 118 are connected to the sample and hold circuits 108 and 110, of which the trigger signal input terminal 118 is also connected to the counter 122.

The counter 122 has a trigger signal input terminal 1
Each time a trigger signal indicating the timing of capturing the video signal of each pixel transmitted from the pixel 18 is received, the count value N is counted up one by one, and the count value N is transmitted to the extraction timing circuit 114. Extraction timing circuit 1
14 is the count value N from the counter 122 and the CPU 10
The switch 112 is turned on when the pixel number M is compared with the pixel number M required from Step 2. At this timing, the sample hold circuit 108 sends a video signal of an image captured by the pixel of the pixel number M to the CPU 102.

In this way, the CPU 102
A video signal of an image captured by each of the pixels is sequentially received.

In the received video signal, the CPU 102 sets a rising part (arrow Z1 in FIG. 14A) and a falling part (arrow Z in FIG. 14A) of the signal level.
2), the start point S1 and the end point S2 of the space area 83 are detected, and the start point S1 and the end point S2 are detected.
The space region 83 sandwiched between the divided regions is divided into 16, and a predetermined number (for example, 20 bits) of pixels are allocated to each divided region (that is, each channel). Then, information on pixel assignment to each channel is stored in an S-RAM (Static RAM) 134.

In a threshold setting process described later, the CPU 102 calculates threshold data for each pixel based on the received video signal, and stores the threshold data for each pixel in the S-RAM 124.

As will be described later, when a change occurs in the signal level of the video signal with respect to the reference plate 82, it is determined that the change is not a change due to shading of the light source but a change due to a voltage change or the like. Then, the set threshold value is uniformly shifted to and adjusted to a high or low band signal level according to the variation. The adjustment of the threshold value according to the fluctuation of the signal level of the reference plate 82
It is always implemented during operation, and can cope with signal fluctuations other than shading.

At the time of grain sorting, the threshold data read from the S-RAM 124 is converted into a D / A signal by a D / A converter.
The converted analog threshold data and the video signal from the video signal input terminal 116 are compared by the comparator 120.

When the level of the video signal from the predetermined pixel is lower than the level of the analog threshold data, the comparator 120 converts the predetermined detection signal to the multiplexer 13.
6 and the multiplexer 136 outputs the S-RAM 13
4, the output terminal 1 of the channel corresponding to the predetermined pixel based on the assignment information of the pixel to each channel stored in
The detection signal is output to 37.

The start signal input terminal 128, EO
Based on the operation of the reset circuit 132 based on the signal from the S signal input terminal 130, the count value of the counter 122 is reset after one scan.

Further, the CPU 102 has a display 106 of the operation unit 106 via the I / O controller 104.
A, a button 106C and a dial 106B are connected. For example, parameter information such as a threshold rate designated by an operator through the dial 106B is stored in the CPU 102.
Sent to

On the other hand, the configuration of the second control unit 100R for controlling the rear camera 22 is the same as the configuration of the first control unit 100. Note that the operation unit 106 is provided by the first control unit 10.
0, shared by the second control unit 100R, and also connected to the second control unit 100R. That is, by operating the operation unit 106, the operator can instruct the first control unit 100 or the second control unit 100R, or both, to specify various processes and specify parameters and the like.

As shown in FIG. 13, the output terminal 137 from the first control unit 100 provided for each channel and the second
The output terminal 146 from the control unit 100R is connected to the solenoid 5
It is connected to a solenoid drive unit 144 for driving the zero. The solenoid driving unit 144 includes a solenoid driving circuit 138 that performs a logical OR operation and sends a timing signal for driving the solenoid, a photocoupler 140 for insulation,
And a triple voltage boosting circuit 142 for amplifying the voltage of 2 volts three times when the solenoid is driven. The solenoid driving circuit 138, the photocoupler 140, and the triple voltage boosting circuit 142 are provided for each channel. . An output terminal 137 and an output terminal 146 of each channel are connected to a solenoid drive circuit 138 for the channel, and a solenoid drive circuit 138, a photocoupler 140, a triple voltage multiplier 142, and a solenoid 50 provided for each channel are provided. Are connected in order.

As shown in FIG. 18A, the triple voltage multiplier 142 includes a capacitor 148 set so that a voltage of 36 volts can be applied. In the triple voltage multiplier 142, when the photocoupler 140 is turned on, a current flows in the direction of the arrow U1, and the transistor 154 is turned on. As a result, the circuit between the terminal 156 and the ground 158 is closed, and the electric current accumulated in the capacitor 148 causes a current to flow in the direction of the arrow U2.
It is configured to apply a voltage of volt.

By setting the capacitors 150 and 152, the voltage applied to the solenoid 50 as described above is about 20 milliseconds as shown in the time-voltage characteristic shown in FIG. It is configured to step down to 12 volts. With such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the solenoid 50 from being deteriorated or damaged due to the high voltage (36 volts) being applied to the solenoid 50 for a long time.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. In order to perform grain sorting in the grain sorter 10, a teaching process for initial setting is performed at the time of initial introduction of the grain sorter 10 or at a predetermined time.

Hereinafter, the teaching process will be described. When the operator instructs the start of the teaching process by a predetermined button operation or automatically at a predetermined time, first, the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22 shoot the shooting target area 84, and the video signal of the shot image is driven. The signals are sent to the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R via the circuits 20A and 22A, respectively.
In addition to the video signal, an ST signal is input from the drive circuits 20A and 22A to the start signal input terminal 128 at the start of one scan of the imaging target area 84.
At the end of each scan, the EOS signal is input to the EOS signal input terminal 130, and the trigger signal is input to the trigger signal input terminal 118 at the timing at which the video signal is to be captured by each control unit.
To each other.

In each of the control units receiving these signals, a teaching process shown in FIG. 16 is executed. Hereinafter, the first
The teaching process in the control unit 100 will be described as an example.

When the scanning of the photographing target area 84 is started and the ST signal is received via the start signal input terminal 128, the count value N of the counter 122 is reset. Thereafter, as the scanning progresses, the video signal is continuously input to the video signal input terminal 116 and is held in the sample and hold circuit 108.

Then, when the timing to capture the video signal comes and the trigger signal is received via the trigger signal input terminal 118, the count value N of the counter 122 is incremented by 1 and the count value N becomes "1". .

On the other hand, the CPU 102 executes step 2 in FIG.
At 00, a request signal for capturing the video signal of the first pixel from the start is extracted as an extraction timing signal 11.
4 In the extraction timing signal 114, C
Pixel number M requested by PU 102 and counter 122
And the switch 112 is turned on when they match.

When the switch 112 is turned on, the video signal held in the sample and hold
02. Thus, the CPU 102
The video signal of the first pixel in the scan can be captured.

Thereafter, the video signals of the second and subsequent pixels are also captured by the CPU 102 in the same procedure as described above, and finally the video signals of all 512 pixels are captured by the CPU 102.

The position in the photographing target area 84 photographed by each pixel and the signal level of the video signal fetched as described above have characteristics as shown in the diagram of FIG. In the diagram of FIG. 14A, the arrow Z1 portion where the signal level fluctuates rapidly corresponds to the boundary S1 between the reference plate 82 and the space area 83 in FIG. This corresponds to the boundary portion S2 in FIG.

Therefore, in step 202 of FIG. 16, by specifying the arrows Z1 and Z2 in the diagram of FIG. 14A based on the signal level, the boundaries S1 and S2 are specified. Spacing, ie, spatial region 83
(Hereinafter, referred to as an actual detection width L) is measured.

In the next step 204, the actual detection width L is set to 1
A predetermined number (for example, 20) of pixels is allocated to each of the divided regions, that is, each channel. In the grain sorting process described below, the solenoid 5 is used for each channel.
Control such as driving of 0 is performed. Further, in the next step 206, the result of pixel assignment to each of the 16 channels in total is stored in the S-RAM 134.

By the way, as is apparent from the diagram of FIG. 14A, the boundary portion S1 indicating the density of the background (ie, the density of the image obtained by photographing the colorimetric plates 78 and 80 having the same reflectance as brown rice).
Between S2 and S2, the density should be uniform, but the signal level varies due to the shading of the red fluorescent lamps 70 to 76.

Therefore, in the next step 208, the maximum value _Lmax is specified from the signal level of the fetched video signal (vertical axis in the diagram of FIG. 14A). In the next step 210, to the maximum value L _max of the signal level of the video signal, the alpha (shading coefficient indicating a degree of i.e. shading) ratio of the detected signal level at each pixel is calculated for each pixel.

[0071] In the next step 212, it calculates a comparison ratio β of the maximum value L _max for detecting the signal level L _ST of the reference plate 82. Since the reference plate 82 is arranged at a position equivalent to the photographing position of the falling kernel, it is photographed under the same optical conditions as the falling kernel. Therefore, the comparison ratio β is
The grain sorter 10 is always constant, and when the grain sorter 10 performs the grain sort process later, the comparison ratio β does not change even if an error or variation occurs in the red fluorescent lamp or each camera. Can be considered.

In the next step 214, the calculated shading coefficient α, comparison ratio β, maximum signal level L _max , and detection signal level L _ST of the reference plate 82 are calculated by SR.
Store it in AM124.

The above teaching process is performed by the first controller 1
Similarly to the case of 00, the second control unit 100R is also executed based on the video signal from the rear camera 22 and the like.

Next, the processing for sorting the grains will be described. In the process of selecting the kernel, a threshold setting process for setting a threshold value for each pixel serving as a reference for the kernel selection, and a kernel is selected based on the set threshold value Cereal sorting process. Further, during the kernel sorting process, the threshold adjustment process for coping with the voltage fluctuation is performed based on the detection signal level of the reference plate 82 as described above. Hereinafter, these processes will be described in order.

When the operator designates a desired threshold rate γ with the dial 105 and then instructs the start of the threshold setting processing by operating a button, the threshold setting processing is started.

In the threshold setting process, first, similarly to the above-described teaching process, the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22 photograph the photographing target area 84, and the video signal of the photographed image is transmitted through the driving circuits 20A and 22A. These are sent to the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R, respectively.

In the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R, the video signal is transmitted to the CPU 102 at an appropriate fetch timing based on the trigger signal, as in the teaching process.
Is taken into.

Then, the CPU 102 starts execution of the control routine of the threshold value setting process shown in FIG. First, in step 232, the detection signal level L _ST ′ of the reference plate 82 is measured based on the fetched video signal.

In the next step 234, the current reference plate 8
And second detection signal level L _ST ', and a comparison ratio β of the signal level maximum value L _max for detecting the signal level L _ST of the reference plate 82 obtained by the teaching processing, the correction value of the signal level maximum value L _max L _max ', that is, a correction value _Lmax ' that corrects for the error and variation of the red fluorescent lamp and each camera and the influence of the voltage fluctuation of the light source.

In the next step 236, the calculated correction value L _max ′ is multiplied by the shading coefficient α for each pixel obtained in the teaching process. Thereby, a characteristic curve 172 of FIG. 14B is obtained. Furthermore, the result of this multiplication is multiplied by the threshold factor γ specified by the operator, the threshold L _TH (Fig. 14 corrected threshold L _TH, i.e. the effect caused by the shading of each pixel ( Characteristic curve 17 of B)
4) is calculated and stored in the S-RAM 124.

As described above, the threshold value L _TH for each pixel corrected for the error and variation of the red fluorescent lamp and each camera, the influence of the voltage fluctuation of the light source, and the influence of shading is set. The threshold setting process ends.

The threshold ratio γ for setting the threshold L _TH is almost the same every time, and the error and variation of the red fluorescent lamp and each camera and the influence of the voltage variation of the light source are within the allowable range. In this case, the threshold value setting process may be performed at the same time as the teaching process, and the threshold value L _TH for each pixel may be calculated and stored.

If the fluctuation of shading is large, it is desirable to calculate the shading coefficient α for each pixel periodically and frequently, and to update the previous shading coefficient α stored in the S-RAM 124 each time. .

Next, the grain sorting process will be described. First, grains to be sorted are loaded into the raw material supply hopper 12 by an operator or a predetermined grain loading machine. The introduced grains fall from the grain supply port 15 and rotate.
Between the blades 32 of the primary sorting supply section 16A (FIG. 4B).
(Arrow P).

On the other hand, the rotary valve 16 is rotating in the direction of arrow Q at a predetermined angular velocity. When the rotary valve 16 rotates by a predetermined angle or more from the position shown in FIG. Is supplied to the primary sorting conveyance path 18A. At this time, since the rotation angular speed of the rotary valve 16 and the transport speed of the belt conveyor 18 are appropriately set in advance, the grains are scattered substantially uniformly.

The grains supplied to the primary sorting conveying path 18A fall from one end of the belt conveyor 18 after a predetermined time, and correspond to the position indicated by the arrow F in FIG. When passing through the shooting target area 84, the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22
Will be taken by

Here, the following primary sorting process is performed on the grains 90 falling from the primary sorting transport path 18A.

The video signal for the image including the grain 90 taken by the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22 is sent to the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R via the drive circuits 20A and 22A, respectively.

The operation of the first controller 100 and the second controller 10
Since the operation of the first control unit 10R is the same as that of the first control unit 10R,
The process at 0 will be described as an example. Grain 9 photographed
A video signal for an image including 0 is input to the sample and hold circuit 110 via the video signal input terminal 116 and is temporarily held. The trigger signal from the drive circuit 20A is sent to the sample and hold circuit 110 and the counter 122 via the trigger signal input terminal 118. Note that the count value N of the counter 122 is initially reset by the operation of the reset circuit 132 that has received the ST signal from the drive circuit 20A.

When the trigger signal is received by the counter 122, the count value N is incremented by an increment “1”, and a signal indicating the count value N is sent to the S-RAM 124. Then, after the threshold data regarding the pixel corresponding to the count value N is D / A converted by the D / A converter 126 from the S-RAM 124, the comparator 12
Sent to 0.

On the other hand, when the trigger signal is received by the sample and hold circuit 110, the sample and hold circuit 11
0 sends the held video signal to the comparator 120.

As a result, the analog threshold value data of the pixel corresponding to the count value N and the video signal detected by the pixel are sent to the comparator 120 in synchronization with each other. Here, the comparator 120 performs a comparison operation between the received video signal and analog threshold data. Here, for example, in the signal level characteristics shown in FIG. 15, when the signal level of the video signal is lower than the threshold value 174 as indicated by arrows G1 and G2, a predetermined detection signal is transmitted to the multiplexer 136. I do. If the signal level of the video signal is higher, the detection signal is not sent.

On the other hand, the S-RAM 134 stores the SR
The same signal as the signal indicating the count value N transmitted to the AM 124 is transmitted, and the channel information to which the pixel corresponding to the count value N belongs is transmitted to the multiplexer 136.

The multiplexer 136 outputs the SR signal only when a predetermined detection signal is received from the comparator 120.
Based on the channel information from the AM 134, the detection signal is sent to an output terminal 137 corresponding to the channel. As described above, blue rice can be detected by detecting a pixel whose video signal level is lower than the set threshold based on the video signal of the image captured by the front camera 20. At this time, since there is a large difference in video signal level between brown rice regarded as good and blue rice regarded as defective, blue rice can be reliably detected. Further, it is possible to specify a channel to which the pixel belongs, that is, a channel corresponding to a region where blue rice falls.

[0095] Also in the second control unit 100R, the channel corresponding to the area where the blue rice falls can be specified in the same manner as described above. Although the case where the count value N is “1” has been described above, the counter 122
Increments the count value N each time the trigger signal is received, and thereafter, the above-described processing is sequentially performed on the video signal of the pixel corresponding to the incremented count value N.

Next, the solenoid driving unit 1 that receives the detection signals from the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R
The operation at 44 will be described.

The solenoid driving circuit 138 provided for each channel shown in FIG. 13 responds to the reception signals at the output terminals 137 and 146 of the corresponding channel.
OR operation is being performed. Therefore, when it is determined that at least one of the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 100R, the kernel group including blue rice has passed through the region corresponding to the channel, the solenoid driving circuit 138 determines "1" is set by the OR operation, and a timing signal for driving the solenoid is transmitted.

When this timing signal is sent,
8A, the photocoupler 140 is turned on, a current flows in the direction of the arrow U1, and the transistor 154 is turned on. As a result, the circuit between the terminal 156 and the ground 158 is closed, the electric current accumulated in the capacitor 148 causes a current to flow in the direction of the arrow U2, and a voltage of 36 volts is instantaneously applied to the solenoid 50 (see FIG. B)).

As a result, the solenoid plunger 52 of the channel determined to have passed the grain group including blue rice jumps out, and the leaf spring 48 of the channel is flipped in the direction of arrow M in FIG. 10B. Here, the spring 48
Repels a group of grains falling in a region corresponding to the same channel.
Falling to 6B.

On the other hand, the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 10
In any of the 0Rs, if no pixel whose video signal level is lower than the threshold is not detected, it can be determined that the falling kernels do not contain blue rice, so that the solenoid drive No detection signal is sent to the portion 144, and the leaf spring 48 is not repelled as described above.
Therefore, the falling kernels are not repelled by the leaf spring 48, but fall into the non-defective product passage 26 A of the sorting cylinder 26 and are stored in the non-defective product storage box 97.

Next, a description will be given of a secondary sorting process for a grain determined to be re-selected by the above-described primary sorting process (hereinafter, referred to as a re-selection target grain).

The grains to be re-selected, which have been repelled by the leaf springs 48 and dropped in the re-selection passage 26B, are received by the receiving portion 28 of the injector 28.
Store in B. At the lower part of the receiving part 28B, a high pressure blow 58
Is blown through the discharge port 60 and the spray nozzle 28A.

Therefore, the reselection target grains stored in the lower part of the receiving portion 28B are blown off in the direction of arrow F1 by high-pressure air, and are conveyed to the reselection hopper 14 via the conveying portion 28C and the conveying pipe 30. Since the tip of the spray nozzle 28A and the central part of the conveying part 28C are formed so as to have a small cross-sectional opening area, the moving speed of the air passing through this part is amplified and the re-election target grain is increased. The ability to transport the grains is enhanced.

The reselection target kernels conveyed to the reselection hopper 14 are supplied to the secondary selection supply section 16 B of the rotary valve 16.
Drops one by one from the grain supply port 15A corresponding to each row and enters the hole 34 of the secondary sorting supply section 16B.

On the other hand, the rotary valve 16 is rotating at a predetermined angular velocity in the direction of the arrow Q. When the rotary valve 16 rotates from the position shown in FIG.
The re-selection target grains that have entered are supplied to the corresponding transport paths Rn (n: 1 to 4) of the secondary sorting transport path 18B of the belt conveyor 18.

After a predetermined time, the reselection target grains supplied to the secondary sorting conveyance path 18B fall from one end of the belt conveyor 18, and during the dropping, the shooting target area 84
When passing through the camera, images are taken by the front camera 20 and the rear camera 22 while being irradiated with red light.

Here, the secondary sorting process is performed on the re-selection target grains falling from the secondary sorting conveying path 18B. In the secondary sorting process, substantially the same process as the above-described primary sorting process is performed, except that the target is a single reselection target grain or a group of grains.

That is, the first controller 100 sets the video signal higher than the set threshold value on the basis of the video signal of the image of the reselection target kernel when passing through the shooting target area 84 shot by the front camera 20. It is determined whether or not the signal level is low, and when the video signal level is lower than the threshold value, that is, when the re-election target grain is blue rice, the channel corresponding to the fall trajectory of the re-election target kernel is determined. Output terminal 137
A predetermined detection signal. Also, the second control unit 100
In R, the same processing is performed based on the video signal of the image of the reselection target grain when passing through the shooting target area 84 shot by the rear camera 22.

In the solenoid driving section 144, the first control section 100 or the second control section 10
When a detection signal is received from at least one of ORs,
A solenoid drive timing signal is sent from the solenoid drive circuit 138, and a voltage of 36 volts is instantaneously applied to the solenoid 50 corresponding to the channel.

As a result, the solenoid plunger 52 of the channel corresponding to the fall trajectory of the grain to be re-elected determined to be blue rice pops out, and the leaf spring 48 is flipped in the direction of arrow M in FIG. 10B. The repelled leaf spring 48 repels the reselection target grain determined to be blue rice, and the reselection target grain falls into the defective product passage 26C of the sorting cylinder 26,
It is stored in the defective product storage box 98.

On the other hand, the first control unit 100 and the second control unit 10
If no detection signal is received from any of the 0Rs, it is determined that the re-election target kernel is brown rice, and the leaf spring 48
It is not repelled, but falls into the non-defective product passage 26A of the sorting cylinder 26 and is stored in the non-defective product storage box 97.

According to the embodiment described above, since the signal level of brown rice and the signal level of blue rice are greatly different by irradiating red light, the distinction between brown rice and blue rice can be clarified. These can be reliably distinguished. This makes it possible to reliably detect (determine) brown rice and blue rice that have substantially the same reflectance in white light. In addition, the sorting accuracy of the grain sorter 10 can be improved thereby.

Further, even if grains having a color different from that of normal brown rice, such as dark brown rice, are mixed, the reflectance of such grains is lower than that of normal brown rice. It is lower and can distinguish normal brown rice.

Further, in the threshold value setting process, a threshold value L _TH corrected for the error and variation of the red fluorescent lamp and each camera, the influence of the voltage fluctuation of the light source, and the influence of the shading is set for each pixel. Therefore, the grain sorting process can be performed with extremely high accuracy.

According to the present embodiment, defective kernels are selected by electrically driving a solenoid and repelling a leaf spring, instead of selecting defective kernels by high-pressure air as in the prior art. Therefore, there is no need to provide an expensive and space-saving compressor for supplying high-pressure air to the grain sorter. Therefore, the price and size of the grain sorter can be reduced.

In this embodiment, a colorimetric plate is attached to the surface of the red fluorescent lamp arranged in the background of the photographing area.
The light from the red fluorescent lamp is prevented from directly entering the camera and the deterioration of the imaging device is prevented from progressing.

In the grain sorting process of the present embodiment, a primary sorting process for sorting a group of grains including blue rice and a secondary sorting process for sorting kernels determined to be blue rice one by one are performed. In the case where there are a large number of grains to be sorted, for example, in order to improve the processing efficiency of the sorting process, the process of sorting the grain group including blue rice is performed in multiple stages. Total 3
It may be more than a step.

In the present embodiment, the threshold value for grain selection is set for each pixel, but the threshold value may be set for each channel to perform grain selection processing.

[0119] In the embodiment of the present invention, non-defective green rice is removed while non-defective green rice is used as non-defective green rice while non-defective green rice is used as non-defective green rice. Other colors may be used, for example, even lightly colored rice, etc., the light of the same color as or close to the color of the grain to be sorted, that is, the wavelength of the reflected light from the grain to be sorted. By irradiating light in a predetermined wavelength range including the above, sorting can be performed in the same manner as described above.

[0120]

According to the present invention, when sorting kernels,
By irradiating light in a predetermined wavelength range including the wavelength of the reflected light from the grain to be sorted, the difference between the reflectance of non-sorted non-defective products and the reflectance of non-defective products to be sorted is increased. And the defective product can be reliably distinguished, and it can be determined with high accuracy whether or not the grain is a defective product.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a grain sorter of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a grain sorter.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a raw material supply hopper and a reselection hopper.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view of a rotary valve,
(B) is a cross-sectional view of a primary sorting supply unit of the rotary valve, and (C) is a cross-sectional view of a secondary selection supply unit.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a belt conveyor.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an arrangement of a camera, a red fluorescent lamp, a reference plate, a belt conveyor, and the like.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a reference plate.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the vicinity of a region to be photographed by a camera.

FIG. 9 is a diagram when a grain falls into a region to be photographed by a camera.

FIG. 10A is a perspective view of an ejector, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view of an ejector.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a high pressure blow.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a first control unit.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a solenoid driving unit.

14A is a diagram illustrating signal level characteristics in a teaching process, and FIG. 14B is a diagram illustrating signal level characteristics in a threshold setting process.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a signal level characteristic in a kernel sorting process.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a control routine of a teaching process executed by CPUs of the first and second control units.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a control routine of a threshold setting process executed by CPUs of the first and second control units.

FIG. 18A is a circuit diagram of a triple voltage booster circuit, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between applied voltage and time when a solenoid is driven.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing an example of spectral characteristics of a red light source used in a grain sorter.

FIG. 20 (A) is a video signal level based on the reflectance of non-defective products and defective products when irradiated with light in a predetermined wavelength range including the wavelength of reflected light from the sorting target, and (B) is irradiated with white light 7 is a graph showing video signal levels based on the reflectivity of good and defective products in the case of the above.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Grain sorter 20 Front camera (imaging means) 22 Rear camera (imaging means) 70, 72, 74, 76 Red fluorescent light (light source) 78, 80 Colorimetric plate 82 Reference plate 90 Kernel 102 CPU

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tsuneyoshi Goto 404 Oinomori, Tendo City, Yamagata Prefecture Inside Yamamoto Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of grains or a group of grains moving on a predetermined moving path are irradiated with light from a light source for irradiating light in a predetermined wavelength range including a wavelength of light reflected from the sorting target grains. Based on the density value of each imaged pixel and a predetermined reference density value for each pixel, whether or not the kernel is defective, or based on the kernel group, A grain sorter that determines whether or not a defective product is included, and sorts the grain or grain group based on the determination result.