JPS6126433B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a color sorting machine capable of sorting and separating specific, for example, defective products from grains such as rice, red beans, peanuts, etc. based on differences in surface color. The present invention relates to a sorting display device for displaying sorting status.

For example, if grains such as rice, red beans, and peanuts are contaminated with defective grains, their commercial value will decrease. Moreover, when such grains are powdered, if defective products are mixed in, it becomes impossible to remove them after the grains are powdered.

Therefore, various devices have been put into practical use that can sort out and separate defective products from grains. A color sorting machine that sorts and separates based on differences in color has been put into practical use.

Such a conventional color sorter is equipped with a reflector having a color that is approximately the same as the color of the surface of a grain serving as a reference. When grains pass along this reflector, light is emitted from the light source, and the reflected light from the reflector and grains is received by the sensor, which outputs a color signal with a level corresponding to the amount of light received. . A comparator amplifier supplied with this color signal compares this color signal with a reference signal at a level corresponding to the color of the surface of the grains to be sorted and separated. As a result, defective products and the like are sorted out from among the grains passing near the reflector based on the difference in color on their surface, and the grains are separated. The level of the reference signal can be adjusted by operating a level adjustment knob.

By the way, in conventional color sorting machines like this,
The sorting status is displayed on a cathode ray tube, making it possible to grasp the sorting status. That is, the color signal output from the sensor is supplied to the cathode ray tube, whereby a waveform (color signal) as shown by the bold line in FIG. 3, for example, is displayed on the cathode ray tube. A horizontal line in this waveform (color signal) indicates that the color of the grain is almost the same as the color of the reflector, and a line with a higher level than the horizontal line indicates that the color is darker than the color of the reflector. , indicates that the low level line is brighter than the color of the reflector. When the reference signal is at a level as shown by the thin line in Figure 3, when the color signal reaches a higher level than this reference signal, the corresponding grain is sorted out as a defective product, etc., and its separation is carried out. will be held. Therefore, the operator can grasp the grain sorting state by looking at the waveform (color signal) displayed on the cathode ray tube.

However, with conventional color sorting machines like this,
Since the grain sorting status is simply displayed on the cathode ray tube based on the color signal output from the sensor, for example, only the waveform (color signal) shown by the thick line in Figure 3 is displayed. Therefore, it was not possible to know what level the reference signal was at that time. For this reason, the operator cannot accurately grasp the extent of defective products that are separated at that point just by looking at the cathode ray tube, and there are also problems in that adjusting the level of the reference signal is complicated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting display device for a color sorter that can display a reference signal as well as a color signal on a cathode ray tube.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to examples.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a color sorting machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

In this color sorting machine, grains fed into a hopper 1 are introduced into a chute 3 via a feeder 2. A light source 4 and a sensor 5 are arranged on one side below the chute 3, and a reflection plate 6 is arranged on the other side. The grains flowed out from the chute 3 are connected to a light source 4, a sensor 5 and a reflector plate 6.
pass between. At this time, light from the light source 4 is irradiated toward the grains and the reflecting plate 6. The reflected light reflected by the grain and the reflecting plate 6 is received by the sensor 5, and a color signal of a level corresponding to the amount of received light is output. Comparison amplifier 7, which receives this color signal, compares this color signal with a reference signal at a level corresponding to the color of the surface of grains to be sorted and separated, and supplies the comparison signal to ejector 8. If the grains passing near the reflector plate 6 are defective, the ejector 8 is driven and the defective particles are separated.

FIG. 2 shows the main part of the electric circuit of the sorting and display device in this color sorting machine.

This sorting display device is equipped with a total of four switches 11 to 14 made up of integrated circuits. Of these, the first switch 11 is supplied with the already explained reference signal 15, and the second switch 12 is supplied with an inverted reference signal 17 obtained by inverting this reference signal 15 with an inverting amplifier 16. ing. First and second switches 11, 12
Only one of them is turned on by a switching signal 18 issued by an operator operating a switching button (not shown).

When the first switch 11 is on, the reference signal 15 is supplied to the fourth switch 14, and when the second switch 12 is on, the inverted reference signal 17 is supplied to the fourth switch 14. The signal will be supplied to the switch 14. On the other hand, the third switch 1
3 is supplied with a color signal 19 output from a sensor 5 (FIG. 1).

Therefore, when the first switch 11 is in the on state, the reference signal 15 is switched to the fourth switch 14.
At the same time, the color signal 19 is supplied to the third switch 13. The third and fourth switches 13 and 14 are configured to be alternately switched at a predetermined period by the action of an oscillator 20 or the like. Therefore, the color signal 19 and the reference signal 15 are alternately supplied to a cathode ray tube (not shown) at a predetermined period. The period of the oscillator 20 is set to be faster than the sweep speed of the cathode ray tube and taking into consideration the afterimage phenomenon seen by the naked eye. Therefore, the color signal 19 and the reference signal 15 are visually displayed simultaneously on the cathode ray tube.

When the second switch 12 is in the on state, the inverted reference signal 17 is supplied to the fourth switch 14 and at the same time the color signal 19 is supplied to the third switch 13. Therefore, in this case,
The color signal 19 and the inverted reference signal 17 are visually displayed simultaneously on the cathode ray tube.

Here, if the grain is a rice grain, for example, the surface of the defective product will be darker than the surface of a normal rice grain. In this case, the reference signal 15 and the color signal 19
are alternately supplied to the cathode ray tube and displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. Among the color signals 19 displayed on the cathode ray tube, the waveform indicated by the symbol A has a higher level than the reference signal 15, indicating that the surface of the rice grain is considerably dark. The waveform indicated by symbol B is at a slightly lower level than the reference signal 15, indicating that the surface of the rice grain is slightly darker. The waveform indicated by symbol C is at a lower level than the standard level indicated by symbol D, indicating that the surface of the rice grain is brighter than the surface of a normal rice grain. Therefore, in this case, the rice grains corresponding to the waveform indicated by the symbol A will be separated. At this time, if the operator wishes to also separate rice grains corresponding to the waveform indicated by symbol B, he operates a level adjustment knob (not shown) for adjusting the level of the reference signal 15,
The level of the reference signal 15 is lowered, for example, as shown by the broken line in FIG.

On the other hand, when the grain is, for example, an adzuki bean, if the surface of the grain peels off and becomes a defective product, the surface becomes brighter than the surface of a normal adzuki bean. In this case,
The inverted reference signal 17 and the color signal 19 are alternately supplied to the cathode ray tube and displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, an inverted reference signal 17 obtained by inverting the reference signal 15 indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 is displayed on the cathode ray tube. In this case, the color signal 1 displayed on the cathode ray tube
Among the 9 beans, the azuki beans corresponding to the waveform shown by the symbol C are separated as defective products. Displaying the inverted reference signal 17 obtained by inverting the reference signal 15 on the cathode ray tube allows the color signal 19 to be displayed as is on the cathode ray tube regardless of the type of grain, so that the display state of brightness and darkness of the grain is always displayed on the cathode ray tube. This is to make the upper side dark and the lower side bright.

In addition, when the grain is a rice grain and it is desired to separate high-quality products from it, the inversion reference signal 17 and the color signal 19 are used.
It is also possible to alternately supply the light to the cathode ray tube to select and separate only relatively bright high-quality rice grains from among the rice grains.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the reference signal is displayed on the cathode ray tube along with the color signal, so it is possible to accurately grasp the degree of defective products etc. that are separated at that time just by looking at the cathode ray tube. Furthermore, the level of the reference signal can be easily adjusted while viewing the cathode ray tube.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a color sorting machine to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the main part of an electric circuit of a sorting display device in this color sorting machine.
Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the display state on a cathode ray tube when separating dark objects from grains;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display state on a cathode ray tube when bright grains are separated from grains. 1...Hopper, 2...Feeder, 3...Chute, 4...Light source, 5...Sensor, 6...Reflector, 7...Comparison amplifier, 8...Ejector, 11
~14...Switch, 15...Reference signal, 16...
...Inverting amplifier, 17...Inverting reference signal, 18...
Switching signal, 19...color signal, 20...oscillator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Light is irradiated onto a reflector plate that has a color that is almost the same as the surface color of the reference grain, and the grains that pass near the reflector plate, the reflected light from these is received, and the amount of light received is calculated. The color signal of the corresponding level is compared with the reference signal of the level corresponding to the color of the surface of the grain to be sorted and separated, and a specific grain is selected from among the grains passing near the reflector on that surface. In the color sorting machine, the color sorter is arranged to sort and separate according to the difference in color, the reference signal inverting means receiving the reference signal, inverting it, and outputting the inverted reference signal; a signal selection means for receiving a signal and selecting and outputting one of the signals; receiving the signal selected by the signal selection means and the color signal and outputting them at a predetermined period; The present invention includes a switch means for alternately outputting the signals, and a cathode ray tube receiving the signals alternately output from the switch means and simultaneously displaying these signals to display the grain sorting state. Characteristic sorting display device.