JPS59143943A - Device for measuring moisture content rate wherein judgement of kind of grain is automated - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To exclude erroneous operation accompanied by manual switching operations, by correlating the measured data of inputted water contents and loads with associated tables in a memory part, judging the kind of sample grain, and automating the switching operation of equipment in correspondence with the kind of the grain. CONSTITUTION:Sample grain is mounted on a central part 6a of a lower electrode part 6. An upper electrode part 4 is lowered, and a load is applied to compress the sample. The load is detected and measured by a load sensor 42 comprising a gage 18. The load value and the water content value of the sample, which is measured by the upper and lower electrode parts 4 and 6, are sent to a multiplexer 32 and further sent to a CPU36 through an A/D converter circuit 34. The grain A, B... correspond to the measured data M of the inputted water contents. The measured data Wa, Wb... of the loads for the kinds of grains are compared with the actually measured load data W. For example when W=Wa, the measured data M of the water content is converted into the water content value Ma of the grain A. By the series of operations described above, the result that the sample to be measured is the grain A and the water content value is Ma is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improvement in a moisture content measuring device, and more particularly to a moisture content measuring device that automates grain type discrimination.

Generally, in a moisture content measuring device that crushes and clamps a sample grain between a pair of electrodes and detects the electrical resistance value generated between the electrodes to measure the moisture value of multiple types of grain, the electrical resistance value and the moisture value are The correlation with grains differs depending on the type of grain and is not the same.

For this reason, resistance type moisture meters have conventionally required hardware processing or software processing in order to be able to measure different types of grains with the same device. In the nodeware processing, a selection switch 50 arranged on the operating surface of the moisture meter switches the circuit elements of the measuring circuit according to the type of grain, as shown in FIG. That is, the constants of the resistor Ra inserted in series with the sample and the resistor Rb inserted in series with the diode of the feedback circuit are switched, and the linearization circuit is switched to obtain a moisture value suitable for each type of grain. There is.

On the other hand, in rough 1-ware processing, the grain type data set by the selection switch is read into a microcomputer, etc. without switching the moisture measuring circuit, and the grain type data is read into a microcomputer etc. using a pre-stored conversion formula or conversion table. It is converted into a moisture value corresponding to the type.

However, with a moisture meter, the operation for selecting grains is manual and requires human intervention, so there is always the possibility of erroneous operation. If there is an error in the selection of grains, the moisture value of different types of grains will be displayed, and automatic moisture meters installed in grain dryers in particular will cause overdrying or underdrying, resulting in incorrect grain types. There was a drawback that it was not possible to obtain grains dried to the optimum condition.

Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, and to automate the switching operation of the equipment according to the type of grain when measuring the moisture value of different types of grains using the same equipment, thereby eliminating the erroneous operation caused by manual switching operation. The object of the present invention is to realize a moisture content measuring device that can perform

In order to achieve this objective, the present invention is a moisture content measurement method that measures the moisture content of multiple types of grain by crushing and sandwiching a sample grain between a pair of electrodes and detecting the electrical resistance value generated between the electrodes. The device includes a measurement circuit unit that measures the change in the electrical resistance value, a load sensor unit that measures the load applied to the sample grain between both electrodes, and an electrical Converting to digital measurement data A
/D conversion means, a storage unit storing a relationship table of measurement data between moisture and load for each type of sample grain determined in advance, and measurement data between moisture and load input from the A/D conversion means. and an arithmetic processing unit that determines the type of sample grain by associating it with the relational table in the storage unit, converts the moisture measurement data into a moisture value corresponding to the determined type of grain, and outputs the moisture value. It is characterized by

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail and specifically below based on the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, 2 is a measuring section that crushes and clamps a sample and measures the water content based on the electrical resistance value;
It mainly consists of an upper electrode part 4 and a lower electrode part 6 vertically opposed to the upper electrode part 4.

1 and 2 show a first embodiment of the measuring section 2, in which the upper electrode section 4 includes a hollow cylindrical exterior section 8 and an interior section screwed into the hollow section of the exterior section 8. Consists of 10. Concave grooves are formed on the left and right side surfaces of the upper end of the exterior part 8, and the tips of the crush springs 12 are respectively inserted into the concave grooves, and the upper electrode part 4 is held by both crush springs 12 so as to be movable up and down. . For this reason, the upper surface of the other end of both the crush springs 12 is separated from the side walls 14-
1 by a spring presser 16. Then, a strain gauge 18 is attached to the upper and lower surfaces A of either one of the crush springs 12, and the upper electrode part 4
The load acting on the sample crushed and held between the upper and lower electrode parts 4.6 is detected by the displacement that occurs in the crush spring 12 that holds the . Note that the strain gauge 18 only needs to be able to detect the load acting on the sample, so the mounting location is not necessarily limited to the above position.
For example, the positions B and C may be used. On the other hand, the interior portion 10 rotates by +1 due to a driving force from a driving source (not shown).
It can be moved up and down.

Further, on the lower surface of the interior portion 10, a circular portion 4a is formed so as to protrude downward in a step-like manner from the center of the lower surface through the small interior.

The lower electrode part 6 directly places a sample extracted from inside the dryer (not shown), and together with the upper electrode part 4 constitutes a pair of electrode parts to be described later. In addition, by protruding the circular outer peripheral edge of the lower electrode part 6 and surrounding the central part 6a, the lower electrode part 6 with the sample placed on the central part 6a is located at a position facing the upper electrode part 4 in the vertical direction. This serves to prevent the sample from deviating from the lower electrode section 6 while the sample reaches the lower electrode section 6.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the measuring section 2, in which the exterior section 8 of the upper electrode section 4 is directly supported by side walls 14-2 protruding from the left and right sides. In addition, the lower electrode part 6 is directly attached to the mounting table 2.
Two plate-shaped elastic parts 22- support the mounting table 20 by the 0 and directly support the mounting table 20 with their upwardly bent ends.
1 are attached to the lower surfaces of the left and right side walls 14-2 using respective fasteners. The strain gauge 18 is attached to the upper and lower surfaces A of either one of the elastic parts 1J22-1. This attachment point does not need to be on the elastic member 22-1, and may be at position B, for example, as in the case of the first embodiment. The configuration other than the above is the same as that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows a third embodiment, in which the support state of the upper electrode part 4 is the same as in the second embodiment, but the lower electrode part 6
For example, a plate-shaped elastic member 22-2 is interposed between the mounting table 20 that supports the lower electrode section 6 and the support table 24 that supports the mounting table 20 from below. Although the strain gauge 18 is attached to the inside of the elastic member 22-2 at A, the position is not limited to this as described above (for example, it may be at the B position).

The point is that the position may be any position as long as it can detect the load acting on the sample held between the upper and lower electrode parts 4.6.

Note that both ends of the support stand 24 are attached to the lower surfaces of the both side walls 14-2 using fasteners. The configuration other than the above is the same as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the control mechanism of the present invention. Reference numeral 26 denotes a pair of electrodes for crushing and sandwiching the sample and detecting the salt air resistance between them.
．． 6, and is located within the measuring section 2. The second circuit is a conversion/amplification circuit that amplifies and converts the electrical resistance value generated between the pair of electrodes 26 into a voltage signal, and together with the measuring section 4 constitutes a measuring circuit section. 42 is the strain gauge 1 already mentioned.
8 constitutes a bridge, and a full bridge system is constructed with a diffused semiconductor type strain gauge 18.When no pressure is applied, the four pressure-sensitive resistors are equal, but when pressure is applied, the resistance balance of the bridge changes. collapses, the input voltage of the differential amplifier increases in proportion to the applied pressure, and the pressure can be detected. In addition, strain gauge 1
It goes without saying that 8 is not limited to the diffused semiconductor type, and the bridge configuration is not limited to the full bridge type, but may also have a configuration in which the strain gauge 18 is inserted on one or two sides of the bridge. 3o is an amplifier that amplifies the voltage generated in the load sensor 42; 32 is a multiplexer that commonly transmits the voltage signals sent separately from the conversion amplifier circuit 28 and the amplifier 3o by a method such as time division; and 34 is the multiplexer 32. A/A that inputs the voltage as an analog quantity sent from the
This is a D conversion circuit. 36 is a microcomputer (CPU) consisting of a main memory and a section that performs calculations and control based on the digital signal sent from the A/D conversion circuit.
, '38 is a read-only memory (ROM) that stores a control program in advance and supplies data to the CPU 36. Reference numeral 40 denotes a readable and writable data random access memory (RAM) consisting of a plurality of storage areas for temporarily storing calculation results of the CPU 36, input data, and the like. 41 is an arithmetic processing unit consisting of the CPU 36, ROM 38, and RAM 40.

44 is a display that simultaneously displays the type of grain and the measured moisture value, and displays 44a, 44b, and 44c that display the type of grain A (rice), B (wheat), and C (barley) and the moisture value. It consists of a display section 44d for displaying information. 46 is the arithmetic processing unit 4
This is a display drive circuit for displaying the moisture value data output from 1 on the display 44. Note that the automatic moisture needle reads the moisture value data processed by the arithmetic processing section 41 as information for controlling the grain dryer.

In addition, in FIG. 5, G and M indicate the transmission paths of the measured load value G and moisture value M, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the control program. This control program is stored in the ROM 38, and the measuring section 2 and the control mechanism, especially its input section and output section, are controlled by the control program and perform a series of operations.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it operates as follows.

First, sample grain to be measured is extracted from inside a grain dryer (not shown), taken into the center part 6a of the lower electrode part 6, transferred into the measurement part 2, and then transferred to the upper electrode part 4 in the measurement part 2. Seso 1- in the position opposite to the top and bottom. Next, the interior portion 1o of the upper electrode portion 4 is driven by a driving force from a driving source (not shown).
The inner part 10 is lowered by making a spiral movement. The circular part 4a formed on the lower surface of the lowered interior part 1'O comes into contact with the sample placed on the lower electrode part 6, and at the same time presses the sample and applies a load. At this time, the upper and lower electrode parts 4
．． 6 undergoes a reaction force equal to the load applied to the sample. In this case, in the first embodiment, the upper electrode part 4 is only held by the crush spring 12, so when it receives a reaction, it is displaced upward, and the crush spring 12 holding the upper electrode part 4 also moves upward. When deflected, the upper surface side of the crush spring 12 contracts, and the lower surface side expands. This is detected by a strain gauge 18 attached to the crush spring 12. At this time, the load W applied to the sample is W
There is a relationship of -dl+d2. Here, K is the elastic constant of the crush spring, dl is the distance between the upper and lower electrode parts, and d2 is a constant. Note that since the lower electrode section 6 is placed on the rigid bottom of the measurement section 2, displacement in the vertical direction is restrained. On the other hand, in the second and third embodiments, since the upper electrode part 4 is restrained from vertical displacement by the side walls 14-2, only the lower electrode part 6 receives the reaction and is displaced downward. In the second embodiment, the elastic member 22-1 supporting the lower electrode section 6 is bent downward, and the elastic member 22-1
The upper side of will expand and the lower side will contract. This is detected by strain gauges 18 attached to both the upper and lower surfaces. In the third embodiment, the plate-shaped elastic member 22-2 is compressed, and the amount of compression is detected by the strain cage 18. Although not mentioned in the examples, the ratio between the upper and lower electrodes in the above formula li! There is also a method of measuring 1 tdl with a displacement sensor or the like and using the above equation to find the load applied to the sample.

The constant value of the load detected by the load sensor 42 constituted by these strain gauges 1B is converted into a voltage and sent to the multiplexer 32 via the amplifier 30. On the other hand, the moisture value of the sample measured at the upper and lower electrode sections 4.6 is
It is converted into a voltage by the conversion amplifier circuit 28 and sent to the multiplexer 3.
Sent to 2.

Therefore, according to the control signal from the CPtJ36, both of the above signals are A/D converted by the A/D conversion circuit 34, and the CP'L
Send it to 136. When the load sensor section uses a displacement sensor, the displacement signal sent in is converted using the above formula before performing the following processing. The CPU 36 processes it according to the flowchart shown in FIG. That is, the CPU 36 performs the following processing. First, A/D
The measurement data M and W of moisture and load sent from the conversion circuit 34 are input. Next, grains A, B, C1, . . . corresponding to the input moisture measurement data M, load measurement data Wa, Wb, Wc, . . . for each type are read out from the table in FIG. Next, the measured data W of the actually measured loads are compared with each of the loads Wa, Wb, Wc, . . . .

For example, if W = W a, the moisture measurement data M is converted into the moisture value Ma of grain A. This is because, as already mentioned, the moisture measurement data M and the actual moisture value differ depending on the type of grain. Through the above series of calculations, the sample to be measured is grain A, and its moisture value is M
Multiply the result that a is 4. Finally, the grain type A and the moisture value Ma are displayed on the display windows 44a and 44d, respectively, and are handled as control information for the grain dryer in an automatic moisture meter.

Here, the table shown in FIG. 7 mentioned above will be explained using FIG. 8. FIG. 8 shows the relationship between the moisture measurement data M and the load measurement data W of the grain to be measured.

It was discovered that when a certain grain A is measured with an electrical resistance moisture meter, there is a one-to-one relationship between the moisture measurement data M and the load applied to the sample. This depends on the moisture content
This is because the hardness of the grain is determined. When measuring with the moisture needle constituted by the pair of electrode parts 26 described above, grains with low moisture have high hardness and are difficult to crush. Therefore, the distance between the upper and lower electrodes during clamping increases, and the load applied to the sample to be measured increases. Furthermore, this relationship differs depending on the type of grain, and this is graphed in Figure 8. Furthermore, since the slope differs depending on the spring constant of the springs supporting the electrode, it is necessary to experimentally determine the relationship. FIG. 7 is a graphical representation of FIG. 8 as a method for memorizing this relationship. In order to compare with the actually measured load measurement data W, the grain load measurement data Wa corresponding to the moisture measurement data M, Wb and Wc are read from this table. However, although the above explanation uses a table, there is also a method of storing the relational expression and calculating it each time a measurement is made.

As is clear from the above description, according to the configuration of the present invention, the type of grain can be determined by measuring the load applied to the grain and the moisture value of the grain at that time, so different types of grain can be distinguished. When measuring the moisture value of grain with the same device or controlling the drying of grain using the measured value, it becomes possible to automatically perform a switching operation according to the type of grain of the device. Therefore, there is no need to manually switch the type of grain as in the past, and there is no possibility of erroneous operation. Since the manual moisture meter automatically displays the type of grain and moisture value measured, the operator can perform subsequent grain drying operations without error based on the display. In addition, an automatic moisture meter can obtain the type and moisture value of the measured grain, and these values can be used to accurately control the grain dryer. As a result, it is possible to reliably obtain grains that have been dried in an optimal state according to the type of grains, which brings about extremely novel and beneficial effects.

An example of the recommended moisture content measuring device is shown in Figure 1.
2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side view of the measuring section of the second embodiment, FIG. 4 is a side view of the measuring section of the third embodiment, Figure 5 is a circuit diagram of the control mechanism, Figure 6
The figure is flowchart 1-1. Figure 7 is a table showing the relationship between moisture measurement data M and load measurement data W for each grain. Figure 8 is a table showing the relationship between moisture measurement data M and load measurement data W for each grain. This is a graph showing the relationship between FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the conventional technology.

In the figure, 2 is a measurement part, 4 is an upper electrode part, 6 is a lower electrode part,
8 is an exterior part, IO is an interior part, 12 is a crush spring, 14 is a side wall, 16 is a spring presser, 18 is a strain gauge, 20 is a mounting table, 22 is an elastic member, 24 is a support table, 2G is a pair of electrodes 28 is a conversion amplifier circuit, 30 is an amplifier, 32 is a multiplexer, 34 is an A/D conversion circuit, 36 is an arithmetic processing unit (CPU), 38 is a read-only memory (ROM), and 40 is a random access memory (
RAM), 42 is a load sensor, 44 is an indicator, 44a
, 44b, 44C1, . . . are display windows, 46 is a display drive circuit, and 50 is a selection switch.

Agent Patent Attorney Yoshimi Saigo 2- Fig. 6 Fig. 7 Closed Sword of Moisture “1 Constant Chi γM [
%] Figure 9 Procedural amendment motion June 14, 1980 Kazuo Wakasugi, Commissioner of the Patent Office1, Indication of the case 1982 Patent Application No. 174192, Name of the invention Water-containing automatic grain type discrimination Relationship between rate measuring device 3 and the case of the person making the amendment Patent applicant address: 4 Yamana-cho, Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture Name: Shizuoka Seiki Co., Ltd. Representative: Shigeo Suzuki 4, Agent: 105 1m 03- 438-2
241 (Representative) Address: 3-4-17 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo (Shipping date: May 31, 1988) 6. Subject of amendment (1) Detailed description of the invention in the specification (2) Specification Column for a brief explanation of the drawings in the document (3) Drawings (4) Appendix Table 7, contents of amendments (1) Page 2, line 14, “Figure 9” of the specification was changed to “Figure 8”
Correct to.

(2) "Figure 7" on page 13, line 8 of the specification is corrected to "Attachment."

(3) In the first line of page 14 of the specification, "Fig. 7" is corrected to "Attachment" and "Fig. 8" is corrected to "Fig. 7."

(4) Change “Figure 8” to “Figure 7” on page 14, line 2 of the specification.
Correct.

(5) "Figure 8" on page 14, line 13 of the specification is corrected to "Figure 7."

(6) On page 14, line 17 of the specification, ``Fig. 8'' is corrected to ``Fig. 1 7'' and ``Fig. 7'' is corrected to ``Table of attachment.''

(7) Page 16 of the specification, line 4, “Figure 8” was changed to “Figure 7”
Correct.

(8) Delete from page 16 of the specification, line 10, ``Figure 7...'' to line 11, ``The table shown...''.

(9) "Figure 8" on page 16, line 11 of the specification is corrected to "Figure 7."

(10) "Figure 9" on page 16, line 13 of the specification is corrected to "Figure 1, Figure 8."

(11) Figure 7 of the drawing will be deleted.

(12) Attach the drawing ``Figure 8''] Correct it to ``Figure 7'' as written in red on the drawing.

(13) The drawing “Fig. 9” was changed to “
Figure 8” is corrected.

(14) Submit the attached table.

[kg] ~ ~

Claims (1)

[Claims] A moisture content measurement device that crushes and clamps a sample grain between a pair of electrodes, detects the electrical resistance value generated between the electrodes, and measures the moisture value of multiple types of grains.Changes in the electrical resistance value are measured. a load sensor unit that measures the load applied to the sample grain between both electrodes, and an A/D that receives the outputs of the measurement circuit unit and load sensor unit and converts them into measurement data of electrical digital quantities. A conversion means, a storage unit storing a relationship table of measurement data of moisture and load for each type of sample grain determined in advance, and the measurement data of moisture and load inputted from the A/D conversion means as described above. Relationship Qi in the storage department
A grain type characterized in that it is equipped with an arithmetic processing unit that determines the type of sample grain in correspondence with the grain type and converts the measured moisture data into a moisture value and outputs it in accordance with the determined type of grain. A moisture content measuring device that automates discrimination.