JPS6242036A - Yellowing degree detecting device for leaf tobacco - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain yellowing degree correctly by irradiating the light to the leaf of the leaf tobacco, detecting the strength of the wavelength of the prescribed area of the reflected light, comparing the detected output with the reflected strength of the dry white paper which is the reference, obtaining the absorbancy and measuring the yellowing degree from the size. CONSTITUTION:After the light focused by a lens 1c is discontinued by a light chopper 1f rotating at the constant speed, the light passed through a lens 1d is irradiated to a leaf tobacco hung in a drying room, and the reflected light is focused through natural lighting lenses lg1 and lg2 to the spectral part 2. After the focused light is passed through filters 2a1 and 2a2 of the prescribed reflected light wavelength, the strength of respective lights is changed by detecting devices 3a1 and 3a2 to the electric signal and sent to an arithmetic measuring part 4. The measuring part 4 inputs the electric signal to an arithmetic circuit 4b by a tuning amplifying circuit and synchronizing adjusting circuits 4a1 and 4a2, and outputs the calculating result to an output part 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION r Industrial Application Field This invention relates to a device for detecting the degree of yellowing of leaf tobacco in a drying chamber.

[Conventional technology]

As is well known, drying of leaf tobacco in a drying room requires
It usually takes 100 hours. During this time, the degree of yellowing and dryness of the leaf tobacco was observed by the operator's eyes, and the temperature and humidity inside the drying chamber were adjusted as necessary based on the observation results. However, there are individual differences in such visual observation by workers, and even in the case of the same person, observation errors occur depending on the physical condition of the day, and temperature and humidity adjustment differs depending on the type of leaf tobacco. There were problems that could only be solved by experts with many years of experience. Therefore, in order to solve these problems,
Inventions disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-34999, Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-15220, etc. were proposed. The gist of these inventions is to detect the degree of dryness of leaf tobacco based on the weight change of leaf tobacco, that is, the moisture removal rate in leaf tobacco, and to control the temperature and humidity in the drying chamber based on the detection results. Although such a detection device can detect the degree of dryness with some degree of accuracy, it is not possible to accurately detect the degree of yellowing during the yellowing period, which is the most important point in controlling the temperature and humidity of leaf tobacco, as well as the degree of dryness. In other words, since the degree of yellowing is the degree of change in the color of tobacco leaves, it is not necessarily proportional to the water removal rate (in the end, it must rely on the visual sense of the operator. For this reason, the above-mentioned publication In the invention described in et al., the complete automation of the leaf tobacco drying process is insufficient, and in order to compensate for this insufficiency, the temperature and humidity are adjusted based on the results of visually observing the degree of yellowing by the operator. Even in such cases, there is a problem in that errors occur when observing subtle color changes, making it impossible to obtain leaf tobacco of uniform quality.

[Means for solving problems]

In view of the above circumstances, the present invention aims to continuously detect the degree of yellowing, which is the most important point along with dryness in controlling the temperature and humidity of leaf tobacco during drying, by measuring the reflection spectrum of leaf tobacco. The specific technical means for this purpose is to irradiate light emitted from a light source lamp onto a predetermined area of the leaf tobacco, and to collect the reflected light into a lighting detection section, and to collect the light from the lighting detection section. a spectroscopy section that spectrally spectra; a photodetection section that detects the intensity of a wavelength in a predetermined region of the light separated by the spectrometry section and converts it into an electrical signal; and a purpose of the electrical signal from the photodetection section. It consists of an arithmetic and measuring section that amplifies the signal and performs necessary calculations, and an output section that outputs the results of the calculations performed by the arithmetic and measuring section.

[For production]

According to the present invention having the above configuration, light from the light source lamp is irradiated onto the leaf tobacco through the illumination detection section, and the reflected light is collected and input to the spectroscopic section. In this spectroscopy section, the reflected light from the leaf tobacco is divided into spectra, and only the intensity of the necessary wavelength is converted into an electrical signal by the photodetection section and sent to the calculation measurement section. The calculation and measurement section performs necessary calculations based on these input values, and then the output section outputs the degree of yellowing. The operator controls the temperature and humidity inside the drying chamber based on this output value.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the invention will be described below based on the drawings.

The first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes an illumination detection section 1,
It is composed of a spectroscopic section 2, a light detection section 3, an arithmetic measurement section 4, and an output section 5.

The illumination detection unit 1 detects light emitted from a light source lamp 1b that is illuminated by a current supplied from a power source 1a.
The light is focused by C, the light is interrupted by a light chopper 1f which is rotated at a constant speed by a motor 1e, and the light that has passed through a second lens 1d is irradiated onto leaf tobacco A suspended in the drying chamber, and this reflected light is The light is condensed into the spectrometer 2 via the daylight lenses IgL and 1g2. The reason why the light chopper 1f was provided is that the light emitted from the light source lamp 1b belongs to the near-infrared region and is therefore susceptible to the effects of temperature and thermal radiation, so by intermittent light, this effect can be eliminated. be. When quartz halogen is used for the light source lamp 1a, it emits a continuous spectrum in the visible and near infrared regions, and
This is optimal because it has excellent stability and long life, but it is not limited to this.

The spectroscopic section 2 is equipped with a first filter 2as and a second filter 2a2, which pass the light collected by the illumination detection section 1 with reflected light having wavelengths of 660 nw and 900 n-, respectively.

The photodetector 3 converts the intensity of the light of each wavelength that has passed through the first filter 2al and the second filter 2a2 into an electric signal using the respective detectors 3al and 3a2, and performs calculation II.
It is sent to the I-registration section 4. As a specific example of the detectors 3al and 3a2, silicon photodiodes are suitable.

The arithmetic measurement unit 4 converts the electric signals from the detectors 3al and 3a2 into a tuned amplifier circuit and a synchronous rectifier circuit 4al, respectively.
, 4a2 selectively amplify the target signal, convert it into a DC signal, input it to the arithmetic circuit 4b, perform necessary arithmetic operations, and output the result to the output section 5.

This calculation is performed as follows. That is, as shown in Figure 4, the absorbance is measured by measuring the light on a pre-dried white paper at the position of the leaf tobacco, and storing the reflection intensity value Io for each wavelength as a reference value. It is expressed as the inverse logarithm of the ratio of the reflection intensity value for each wavelength from leaf tobacco. When expressed in the formula, (1) Absorbance: -1ogT---.(1).

In the arithmetic and measurement unit 4, since such comparison calculations with dry white paper cannot be performed in real time, instead of the measured values of this dry white paper, the value of the intensity of light at a wavelength with no absorption, that is, 900 nm, is used. The standard value ■ is set to 0, and the value of the intensity of light at a wavelength of 660 nm in the absorption band of chlorophyll is set to respectively ■, and the above formula (1) is calculated to calculate the absorbance, that is, the degree of yellowing. ing. Note that the yellowing degree can be measured even if the wavelengths of these lights are slightly shifted back and forth, so the wavelengths are not limited to the above wavelengths.

The output section 5 includes a display 5a electrically connected to the arithmetic circuit 4b of the arithmetic and measurement section 4, a recorder such as a pen recorder, and the like. The display 5a is connected to the arithmetic circuit 4b.
The calculation result is the absorbance at a wavelength of 660 nm (yellowing)
This is to display and monitor numerically. Furthermore, with a recording needle such as a pen recorder, it is also possible to record changes over time on recording paper, as shown in FIG. If the arithmetic circuit 4b is also connected to a thermometer and a hygrometer in the drying room, these can also be monitored at the same time, allowing for centralized control.

As in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. By increasing the number of adjustment flow circuits, the lighting lens Ig3.1g4 and the third filter 2a
3.2a4, detector 3a3.3a4, tuned amplifier circuit, and tuned flow circuit 4a2.4a3, in addition to the above two specific wavelengths necessary for calculating the yellowing index, light at two other wavelengths can be obtained. It also becomes possible to measure strength. Therefore, these two
For example, the wavelength 1440 required for calculating dryness
By adjusting the wavelength to 1600 nm and 1600 nm, it becomes possible to simultaneously measure the degree of dryness, which is an important point in controlling the temperature and humidity of leaf tobacco, as well as the degree of yellowing.

According to the apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, light from the light source lamp 1b is irradiated onto the leaf tobacco A through the lens IC11d, and the reflected light is collected by the lighting lenses Igl and 1g2, and is incident on the spectrometer 2.

In the spectroscopy section 2, the reflected light from the leaf tobacco A is separated into spectra, and only the intensity of the necessary wavelength is converted into an electrical signal by the photodetection section 3 and sent to the calculation and measurement section 4. After the calculation and measurement section 4 performs necessary calculations based on these input values, the output section 5 outputs the degree of yellowing. The operator controls the temperature and humidity inside the drying chamber based on this output value.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the leaf tobacco yellowing degree detection device of the present invention contrasts light with the tobacco leaf, detects the intensity of the wavelength of this reflected light in a predetermined region, and detects the dry white color that serves as a reference. It outputs absorbance, which is the inverse logarithm of the reflection intensity of paper, that is, the ratio to the intensity of non-absorbing wavelengths, and the degree of yellowing is measured based on the magnitude of this absorbance. Therefore, it is not necessary for the operator to visually observe the degree of yellowing, and extremely accurate measurements can be made. Moreover, if you monitor it on the display, you can always know the current degree of yellowing, and it is also possible to output this as a graph over time, so you can quickly determine the temperature and humidity in the drying room based on this information. Adjustments can be made. Furthermore, by preparing data on the relationship between absorbance, or yellowing, and temperature and humidity conditions for each type of leaf tobacco, even an inexperienced worker can easily carry out the work and produce uniform, high-quality leaf tobacco. Obtainable. Furthermore, if the relationship between the degree of yellowing and the temperature and humidity conditions in the drying chamber is stored in advance for each type of leaf tobacco in the temperature and humidity control mechanism, each time the output information from the output section is input to the temperature and humidity control mechanism. Temperature and humidity control can be performed automatically.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the invention.
3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is an explanatory cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 shows absorbance and reflected light. Graph showing the relationship between wavelengths, No. 6
The figure shows a graph representing absorbance over time. 1-illumination detection section, 2-spectroscopy section, 3-photodetection section, 4-arithmetic measurement section, 5...-output section. Patent applicant: UNITSUKU Co., Ltd.
Fuji Kosanyo Co., Ltd. Patent Attorney Mihiko Watanabe Figure 1 Figure 3 Figure 5 Figure 6

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An illumination detection unit that irradiates a predetermined area of the leaf tobacco with light emitted from a light source lamp and collects the reflected light; and a spectroscopy unit that separates the light collected by the illumination detection unit; A photodetector section that detects the intensity of a wavelength in a predetermined region of the light separated by the spectrometer and converts it into an electrical signal, and amplifies the target signal of the electrical signal from the photodetector section and performs necessary calculations. What is claimed is: 1. A leaf tobacco yellowing degree detection device comprising: an arithmetic and measuring section that performs the following; and an output section that outputs the results calculated by the arithmetic and measuring section.