JPS62279875A - Class and grade automatic selecting method and device for vegetable and fruit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] 3. Detailed Description of the Invention C Industrial Application Field] The present invention simultaneously measures the shape and size of fruits and vegetables and the degree of injury (1) and the degree of coloration, automatically determines the grade (2), It concerns a method and apparatus for sorting fruit.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Conventionally, as shown in Figure 6, fruits and vegetables supplied from the pre-process are guided to a manual grading section, where a large number of workers are stationed to visually inspect the appearance quality of the fruits and vegetables, and then sort them into grades. After that, they are transported by grade, fed to grade sorting machines installed at different locations, sorted by grade, and then boxed and packaged.

Sorting equipment for sorting by size,
Automation has progressed considerably and has been put into practical use, such as weight sorters using electronic scales and shape sorters that measure size using cameras, but grading by appearance inspection has not yet been automated and requires a large amount of human labor. The reality is that large quantities of fruits and vegetables are sorted out by people using tactics.

In other words, the selection criteria for grading is as stated in the National Standards for Fruits issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Forestry Bureau's Fruit Trees and Flowering Division in April 1985.
Judgment criteria for inspection items specific to each product, such as pest damage, injury, floating skin, and peeling, are expressed in text, and are not expressed in fixed numerical values such as measurement scales or measured values, but are classified based on human senses and vision. It has not been automated yet because it has been determined as follows.

For this reason, they are sorted manually according to sorting standards, but manual sorting can vary due to individual differences.
Furthermore, human senses change depending on the environmental (surrounding) conditions and change with time, resulting in variations in quality from day to day or time of day (morning, noon, evening), resulting in products with inconsistent quality being shipped. This has led to a decline in market and consumer confidence and, in some cases, to a decline in prices.

On the other hand, regarding the measurement of the color and flaws of mandarin oranges, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-87081 filed by a group including the present applicant, and a practical test was conducted, but there were defects outside the field of view inspected by a camera. Unable to detect defective items other than color flaws.

Furthermore, it is not possible to judge the degree of coloration due to the endless changes in fruits and vegetables, or the size and number of damaged points, so it is desired to develop a sorting method and device that can further inspect these points.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and it is possible to measure the parts of the grading criteria that can be measured with a sensor, and to grade the parts that cannot be measured efficiently and evenly and accurately. The purpose is to provide a sorting method and device that can.

[Key points of the invention]

In the present invention, it is preferable to inspect the entire outer peripheral surface when determining the grade of fruits and vegetables, but since fruits and vegetables are soft and perishable, it is impossible to transfer them to inspect the entire outer peripheral surface, so the shape and dimensions are measured using a camera during transportation. At the same time, the color and scratches on the surface of the parts photographed by the camera are inspected and graded, and the parts are sorted into excellent, excellent, and good grades according to the size of the parts.

By discharging average grades side by side, on the conveyor, visual inspection is performed for defects in appearance in areas outside the field of view that were not inspected by the sensor camera, and for inspection items other than color and scratches. This system is designed to ensure accurate classification by correcting the items to adjacent grades, and to ensure accurate inspection by transporting items of the same size and classification to the delivery conveyor. It is.

(Structure of the Invention) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a fruit sorting conveyor of the same length with multiple strips arranged in parallel at predetermined intervals, and a predetermined position from the entrance of the fruit sorting conveyor is used as a measuring section. A mirror that reflects images of fruits and vegetables upward is installed on the side of the fruit sorting conveyor's conveyance path, and a color sensor camera is installed above the mirror.Many illumination lamps are placed around the mirror, and the color sensor camera selects fruits and vegetables through the mirror. Imaging means combined with an illumination device designed to irradiate each side of fruits and vegetables passing on a scanning line on the fruit conveyor with uniform illuminance are installed at different positions on the left and right sides of the fruit sorting conveyor, respectively. The apparatus is configured to take images from the left and right sides of fruits and vegetables being transported, and measure and calculate the shape, size, degree of coloration, and degree of injury.

In other words, by installing a mirror on the side of the fruit sorting conveyor and placing a color sensor camera above it, the distance between the rows of the fruit sorting conveyor can be reduced, and multiple rows can be arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval to carry out mass processing. Makes up the crotch.

For measuring the shape and dimensions, the degree of coloration, and the degree of injury, publicly known techniques such as the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 59-87081 can be used. The value is the degree of coloring, and the degree of injury is determined by the total number of pixels of the injury point.The degree of injury is determined by the infinite variation and uneven coloring, and the grading that is complicatedly combined depending on the size and number of injury points. Since it is not possible to sort according to standards, the degree of coloring must be measured by measuring the uniformity of the color, its center value, and the proportion of uncolored areas, and setting the standard values.Only uniformly colored products are considered excellent products. Not only that, but also new and improved fruits and vegetables can be made into excellent products at certain times (early fruits in the season) even when some parts of the fruits and vegetables are colored and other parts are uncolored.

Regarding the degree of injury, it is not just the total number of pixels of the injury point, but also the damage point to determine whether the total number of pixels is the result of many small injury points being added together, or ■ or several large injury points. We will create measurement items for the size and number of flaws and set their standard values, and we will make new improvements so that we can grade them in arbitrary combinations based on the size, shape, and distribution number of flaws.

Next, the sorting section is set up so that the number of sorting outlets corresponding to the number of grades is placed adjacent to each grade. A carry-out conveyor is provided to carry out the fruits and vegetables of the same class and size, and fruits and vegetables of the same grade are carried out adjacently for each grade, and a work space is configured on the carry-out conveyor to serve as a grade correction section.

In this grade correction, when fruits and vegetables are measured, it is checked whether there are any defects in appearance that were not detected because they were outside the field of view of the color sensor camera, and those with defects that were overlooked are downgraded to the conveyance path of the corresponding grade. Correct the sorting.

The carry-out conveyor as a carry-out means has each strip passing through between the upper conveyance path of the fruit sorting conveyor and the lower return side to reduce the falling distance between the conveyance surface of the fruit sorting conveyor and the upper surface of the carry-out conveyor. The fruit and vegetables discharged from the discharge port are arranged in such a way that the fruits and vegetables discharged from the discharge port are combined into different grades and transported out of the machine.

The carry-out conveyor may be a wide conveyor with partitions in rows corresponding to the number of grades, and one conveyor may constitute a carry-out path for each grade in multiple rows, or a plurality of conveyors may be installed adjacent to each other for each grade. There are cases.

In other words, since the grade correction section is constructed in which one block has a number of discharge conveyors corresponding to the number of grades for one class, the interval between the discharge paths of the discharge conveyors for each grade is small, and the grade correction work is easy. .

At the exit of the carry-out conveyor, a conveyor is used to transport each sorted grade to a boxing and packaging device provided at a predetermined position for boxing and packaging.

As the boxing and packaging device, a known device such as an automatic weighing and boxing device or a semi-automatic weighing and boxing device using a pool box can be used. are provided so that the distance gradually increases from the exit of the carry-out conveyor.

〔Example〕

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the main parts of a fruit sorting facility showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a fruit sorting conveyor, 2 is a measuring section for measuring one grade of fruits and vegetables 9, and 3 is the number of grades for each grade. 4 is a carry-out conveyor that carries out the discharged fruits and vegetables by grade; 5 is a grade correction unit that corrects the grade of fruits and vegetables with defects to be carried out by grade; 6 is a transport conveyor , 7 is a boxing and packaging device, and 8 is a pre-process in which fruits and vegetables are separated and fed one by one to the fruit sorting conveyor 1.

The fruits and vegetables 9 that have been supplied to the conveyance path of the fruit sorting conveyor 1 from the previous process 8 one by one at intervals are placed in the measuring section 2 with a space long enough to stabilize the unstable sitting state due to transfer.
will be established.

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the measuring unit 2 includes a mirror 201 that reflects the image of fruits and vegetables 9 upward on the side of the conveyance path 101 of the fruit sorting conveyor 1, and a mirror 201 that reflects the reflected image upward. A color sensor camera 202 is installed above the mirror 201, and an illumination lamp 203 is placed around the mirror 201.
The color sensor camera 202 illuminates each side of the fruits and vegetables 9 passing on the scanning line scanned on the fruit sorting conveyor 1 through the mirror 201 with uniform illuminance. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the sorting section 3 is provided with discharge devices 301 of a number corresponding to the number of classes adjacent to each class.

The carry-out conveyor 4 uses a wide conveyor 401 that is wide enough to receive fruits and vegetables 9 discharged according to the number of grades, and partitions 402 are provided in rows corresponding to the number of grades to form a carry-out path 403 for each grade. Each strip passes through the lower part of the conveyance path 101 of the fruit sorting conveyor 1, and the fruits and vegetables 9 discharged from the discharge device 301 are merged and carried out.

In addition, in the embodiment, a belt-type wide conveyor 401 is used as the unloading conveyor 4, and partitions 402 are provided in rows corresponding to each grade.
A conveyor such as a roller conveyor can also be used. Still another method, for example, may be to use small and medium-sized conveyors with a width for receiving fruits and vegetables discharged for each grade, adjacent to each grade.

The grade correction unit 5 adjusts the carry-out path 40 for each grade of the carry-out conveyor 4.
This is a work space for checking the presence or absence of defects in the appearance of the fruits and vegetables 9 discharged onto the surface of the fruit and vegetables 3 and correcting the grade thereof, and is provided with a length determined based on the number of workers who will be correcting the fruits and vegetables.

The transport conveyors 6 are provided so as to receive fruits and vegetables 9 on the transport path 403 from the transport conveyor outlet 404 in a number corresponding to the transport path 403, and to gradually widen the interval toward the boxing and packaging device 7.

The transport conveyor 6 can be configured with various mechanisms, such as a small and medium belt conveyor for conveying small and medium belts, or a chain conveyor with a tray wide enough to receive the fruits and vegetables 9.

With the above configuration, while the fruits and vegetables 9 that have been supplied from the previous process 8 to the fruit sorting conveyor 1 at intervals are conveyed, the color sensor camera 202 in the measuring section 2 measures the shape, size, and color from the left and right sides. The color and flaws on the surface within the field of view of the sensor camera 202 are imaged, analyzed by an arithmetic processing unit (not shown), and graded into 9 classes.

In other words, for color (degree of coloration), we measured the uniformity of color, its central value, and the proportion of color unevenness, where some parts are colored and other parts are uncolored, such as in early season seeds. Regarding scratches (injury degree), measurement items are provided for the size and number of scratches, and the size, shape, and number of distribution of scratches are measured.

Next, the arithmetic processing unit assigns the class 1 and outputs a signal for sorting into the corresponding class 2, which is then sent to the discharge device 301.
Activate.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fruits and vegetables 9 discharged from the fruit sorting conveyor 1 by the operation of the discharge device 301 are transferred to each output path 403 (for example, excellent, excellent, In the grade correction section 5, a correction worker checks for defects in appearance that were not detected because they were out of the field of view of the color sensor camera 202, and if there are defects, they are checked. Each grade is corrected and reliably sorted to the carry-out path 403 of the grade, and then conveyed by the conveyor 6 toward the boxing and packaging device 7 for boxing and packaging.

〔Effect of the invention〕

The present invention uses a color sensor camera to measure the shape and dimensions of fruits and vegetables during transportation and to grade them.The color sensor camera also inspects the color and flaws on the surface of fruits and vegetables within its field of view and ranks them accordingly. The grade correction department checks for external defects that were not detected, and downgrades and corrects items with overlooked defects to adjacent grades, ensuring reliable grade sorting, resulting in uniform packaging without variations. This has the effect of gaining the trust of the market and consumers and increasing the product value.

Furthermore, in conventional manual grading, the grades are determined from among the fruits and vegetables on the grading machine, so the fruits and vegetables at hand change over time, causing variations in the criteria for sorting, but with the present invention. Since the standard value of the degree of coloration is set and determined by measuring with a color sensor camera, it does not change depending on the time of day. Since it is only necessary to inspect parts that are outside the field of view and have been overlooked, correction work is simplified and streamlined.

Furthermore, as shown in the flowchart of the present invention in sorting and sorting fruits and vegetables in FIG.
This simplifies the fruit sorting facility, reduces the installation space, and is effective in reducing the number of fruit sorting workers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings are all explanatory diagrams showing embodiments of the present invention. Figure 1 is an overall plan view of a fruit sorting facility using the apparatus of the present invention, Figure 2 is a plan view of the measurement section, and Figure 3 is a diagram similar to that of Figure 2. A cross-sectional view connecting A-A, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the imaging device of the measuring section, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the sorting section and grade correction section, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart diagram showing an outline of a conventional fruit sorting facility. , FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an outline of a fruit sorting facility using the apparatus of the present invention. l...Fruit sorting conveyor 101...Conveyance path 2...Measuring section 201...Mirror 202...Color sensor camera 203...Illumination lamp 3...Sorting section 301...Discharge device 4...Export conveyor 401... Wide conveyor 402...
Partition 403... Carrying out path 404... Carrying out conveyor exit 5... Grade correction section 6... Transfer conveyor 7...
Boxing and packaging equipment 8...Pre-process 9...Fruits and vegetables

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A measurement section is set at a predetermined position from the entrance of the fruit sorting conveyor, which is arranged in multiple rows at a predetermined distance from each other, and a color sensor camera captures images of fruits and vegetables that are randomly conveyed to the measurement section at irregular intervals. , measure the shape, degree of injury, and degree of coloring simultaneously, compare the size class setting value, injury degree setting value, and coloring degree setting value, classify and grade them, and output a sorting signal to determine the class. In the sorting section on the downstream side from the measuring section, a grade correction section is formed for each grade by a conveyor with a number of sorting outlets and a conveyance path corresponding to the number of grades in one block. The grade correction section inspects for the presence of downgraded products, corrects the grade downgrades to adjacent grades, and reliably sorts the grade; 1. A method for automatically sorting fruits and vegetables according to their grade, characterized by comprising a step of packing and packaging them. (2) An imaging means provided in combination with an illumination device and a color sensor camera device, with a predetermined position from the entrance of the fruit sorting conveyor arranged in multiple rows at a predetermined interval as a measuring section, and fruit sorting by the imaging means. Images of fruits and vegetables that are randomly conveyed on a conveyor at irregular intervals are taken, and the shape and dimensions, degree of injury, and degree of coloring are calculated from the imaged signals, and the preset class setting value, injury degree setting value, and coloring degree setting value are calculated. There is a sorting means equipped with an arithmetic processing device that compares and judges each, classifies and grades, and outputs a sorting signal to the sorting section, and a sorting section downstream from the measuring section that corresponds to the number of grades for each class. A carry-out means is provided with several discharge devices, and the fruits and vegetables sorted and discharged from each row are conveyed to the outside of the machine with discharge paths for merging them according to grade and are adjacent to each other, and a grade correction section is provided in the section based on a visual inspection. , consists of a means for conveying to a boxing and packaging device installed at a predetermined position for each grade at the tip of the conveyance means, and detects surface defects that were not detected by the camera on the fruits and vegetables that have been graded by grade in the grade correction section. An automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device characterized by being configured to perform inspection and grade correction (downgrading). (3) In the apparatus according to claim 2, the color sensor camera device of the imaging means is provided with a mirror that reflects the image of fruits and vegetables on the fruit sorting conveyor upward, and a color sensor camera above the mirror, and the illumination device is provided with a color sensor camera above the mirror. An automatic fruit and vegetable sorting device characterized by having a large number of lamps arranged around a mirror so as to uniformly illuminate each side of the fruits and vegetables. (4) The carrying-out means of the device according to claim 2 is characterized in that partitions corresponding to the number of sorted grades are provided on the wide conveyor to form a carrying-out path for each grade, so that the grade can be corrected. An automatic fruit sorting device for fruit and vegetable classification.