KR102431960B1 - Egg quality sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention creates a darkroom environment at the stop of a transfer device for transferring eggs, captures images for detecting defective eggs in the darkroom, analyzes the captured images, and selects them according to the results. It relates to a device for screening.
The egg quality sorter according to the present invention has an inlet on one side, an outlet on the other side, and a main body installed on a transfer line including a conveyor in a state in which a dark room is formed, and installed on the inlet side of the main body to the inside. Including a sensor unit that detects an egg entering, a plurality of machine vision cameras installed inside the body unit to photograph eggs passing through a darkroom and generating an egg image, and a lighting unit installed below the body unit to illuminate for shooting. characterized in that it is composed.

Description

Egg quality sorter

The present invention relates to a device used for the purpose of inspecting the quality of eggs, and more particularly, by creating a darkroom environment at the stop of a transfer device for transferring eggs, and detecting defective eggs in the darkroom It relates to a device for sorting, which takes an image to be used, analyzes the captured image, and selects the image according to the result.

Since ancient times, farmhouses and factories that ship eggs in large quantities have selected and excluded defective eggs from products such as blue eggs with cracked or cracked surfaces and blood eggs with egg white coagulated with blood, and packaging only eggs in good condition. Although considerable labor and time were consumed for the operation, this problem is gradually being resolved as egg sorting machines that automatically sort bad eggs have been developed and distributed.

Such an egg sorter is a sorting device that aligns eggs transported from a cage by a transport device such as a roller conveyor with a predetermined number of hot water, aligns the direction in the same direction, and performs at least one of crack detection or weight measurement. , the configuration or method may be variously configured according to the type, such as configured to further include a process of washing and drying the transferred eggs.

In this regard, conventional inventions related to the egg sorter include “vision system including software control for detecting contaminants and other defects on the surface of eggs” of Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-2010-0121638 and Korean Patent Publication No. Inventions such as “an egg sorting device for detecting defective eggs and sorting eggs” of No. 10-2192613 have been proposed and disclosed.

First, in the “vision system including software control for detecting contaminants and other defects on the surface of eggs” of Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2010-0121638, a high-resolution camera and a non-linear diffuser for uniform illumination are used. to generate a number of high-resolution images for each of a plurality of eggs that are continuously transported along the egg processing device, and classify eggs with defects detected in the images into acceptable and rejected eggs. An invention related to a system for selectively shipping has been proposed.

In addition, the “egg sorting device for detecting and classifying defective eggs” of the Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2192613 includes a defective sorting unit for sorting defective eggs and a weight sorting unit for sorting the weight, thereby effectively detecting broken eggs. An invention related to a device that can classify fertilized eggs and unfertilized eggs separately and individually package them by having a fertilized egg reading unit that can quickly classify by weight at the same time as fertilization and additionally detects conception has been proposed.

However, conventional egg sorting machines may have problems in the reliability of sorting, such as inability to detect minute cracks or blood in the process of sorting eggs. Various problems may occur, such as inconvenient or the shock generated in the process of sorting the quality of the egg, causing the egg to break.

Therefore, it is configured to have high reliability in selecting eggs that are defective as products such as blue, which are in a state where the surface is cracked or cracked, or blood eggs in which the egg white is coagulated with blood. There is a need for an invention related to a device or system configured to solve all of the various problems of the existing egg sorters, such as being configured to prevent and simplify the installation and management of a camera for capturing images.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2010-0121638 (2010. 11. 18.) Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2192613 (2020. 12. 11.)

The present invention is an invention proposed to solve the problems of the prior inventions as described above,

Previous egg sorters may have problems in the reliability of sorting, such as problems in detecting microscopic cracks or blood in the process of sorting the quality of eggs.

Since various problems may occur, such as inconvenient installation and management of the camera for taking images, or the impact that occurs in the process of selecting the quality of the egg, causing the egg to break, it is not recommended to suggest a solution. The purpose.

The present invention is to realize the above object,

a body portion having an inlet formed on one side, an outlet port formed on the other side, and installed on a transfer line including a conveyor in a state in which a dark room is formed; a sensor unit installed on the inlet side of the main body to detect an egg entering the inside; a plurality of machine vision cameras installed inside the main body to photograph eggs passing through the dark room and to generate egg images; and a lighting unit installed below the body unit to illuminate the photographing; It presents an egg quality sorter, characterized in that it comprises a.

At this time, the upper end of the lower body in a state in which an inlet is formed on one side, an outlet is formed on the other side, and both the upper and lower ends are open, and a straight through hole is formed at the upper end of the main body with a space formed therein. It is characterized in that it is configured in the form of a three-stage box consisting of a cover-shaped central body hinged to the side edge, and a cover-shaped upper body hinged to the upper edge of the central body.

In addition, according to the present invention, a plurality of egg images taken by the plurality of machine vision cameras are displayed on the screen in real time, and among the eggs displayed in each egg image, eggs in a poor state are selected by artificial intelligence, and the eggs are selected as defective. It is characterized in that it further comprises a selection unit for generating the position information of the egg.

Egg quality sorting machine according to the present invention,

Eggs that are rotated through a conveyor are illuminated in a dark room and photographed several times to generate multiple egg images, and the state of eggs displayed in each egg image is analyzed using artificial intelligence. There is an effect that can have high reliability in selecting

In addition, the present invention has an effect of minimizing damage to eggs due to impact by adopting an image capturing method using a plurality of machine vision cameras as a method for detecting defective eggs.

In addition, the present invention consists of a three-stage box shape consisting of a lower body, a middle body and an upper body of the main body in which the egg image is taken, and the middle and upper body are configured to be axially rotatable, respectively, and at the upper end of the middle body By installing a plurality of machine vision cameras, there is an effect that the installation and management of the cameras for capturing images can be simplified.

1 is a basic configuration diagram of an egg quality sorter according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is an exemplary view showing a state that the main body is installed on the transfer line.
3A is a front view of a body part;
Fig. 3b is a rear view of the main body;
4A and 4B are exemplary views showing a state in which the upper body of the main body rotates independently and is opened.
5 is an exemplary view showing a state in which a machine vision camera is installed on the upper end of the central body constituting the main body.
6A to 6C are exemplary views showing a state in which the lighting unit illuminates as the egg enters the body portion.
7 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration for detecting a defect in the egg entering the inside of the main body.
Figure 8a is an exemplary view showing a state that the egg is rotated and transported while seated on the top of the roller conveyor.
Figure 8b is an exemplary view showing a specific shape of the roller conveyor.
9 is a block diagram of the present invention in which a selection unit is added.
10A and 10B are exemplary views showing an embodiment in which an egg image is displayed on the screen of the sorting unit.

The present invention relates to a device used for testing the quality of eggs,

The inlet 101 is formed on one side, the outlet 102 is formed on the other side, the body portion 100 is installed in a transfer line including a conveyor in a state in which a dark room is formed; a sensor unit 110 installed on the inlet 101 side of the body unit 100 to detect an egg entering the inside; a plurality of machine vision cameras 120 installed inside the main body 100 to photograph eggs passing through the dark room and to generate egg images; and a lighting unit 130 installed under the main body 100 to illuminate for shooting; It relates to an egg quality sorter, characterized in that it comprises a.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, the main body 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a device installed for the purpose of photographing an image for inspecting the state of an egg before shipment, and as shown in FIG. It is installed and has a structure that can form a dark room therein.

At this time, the body part 100 is configured in the form of a box that can be easily transported and installed, and can be installed as needed at various positions of the transport line including the conveyor, but it should be installed in a flat state without inclination and , since a space of a certain size is required for the installation of the lighting unit 130 below it, certain restrictions may occur in the installation.

Specifically, the main body 100 may be configured as a single body, and as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B , an inlet 101 is formed on one side with a space formed therein, and an outlet 102 is formed on the other side. is formed and the upper and lower ends of the lower body 103 are open, and the central body in the form of a cover hinged to the upper edge of the lower body 103 with a straight through hole 104 formed at the upper end ( 105), and may be configured in the form of a three-stage box consisting of an upper body 106 in the form of a cover hinged to the upper edge of the central body 105 .

That is, the main body 100 configured in the form of a three-stage box can be installed at the middle of the transfer line including the conveyor so that a dark room is formed therein, and is seated on the upper end of the conveyor in the dark room therein. A plurality of machine vision cameras 120 that generate a plurality of egg images by photographing eggs that are rotated and transferred several times may be installed, and a plurality of eggs generated by the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 may be installed. A communication unit for transmitting an image to the outside may be installed.

At this time, the main body 100 is configured to open the inside of the lower body 103 by rotating the central body 105 and the upper body 106 together, and is shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B . As described above, it is characterized in that the upper body 106 is independently axially rotated to have a double open structure that can open the upper end of the middle body 105 .

Through the formation of such a three-stage structure, the present invention can easily install and install the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 and other accessories on the upper end of the central body 105 by rotating only the upper body 106 . A manageable effect occurs, and by rotating the central body 105 , the state in which a plurality of machine vision cameras 120 are installed is maintained as it is, and only the lens of the camera can be easily replaced or managed.

In addition, the through hole 104 is formed in the same direction as the width direction of the conveyor, and as shown in FIG. 5 , one of the through holes 104 may be formed alone in the central body 105 , but the plurality of machine vision cameras ( According to the configuration of 120 , two to three through-holes 104 may be formed in parallel to each other.

In addition, the sensor unit 110 is composed of sensors capable of detecting a surrounding object, such as an ultrasonic sensor or a proximity sensor, and passes under the inlet 101 side of the main body 100 in a state of being installed. It is configured to detect eggs.

At this time, the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 are interlocked with the sensor unit 110 so that only when an egg entering the interior of the body unit 100 is detected by the sensor unit 110, the machine vision camera 120 moves downward with a slight time difference. is configured to shoot continuously.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3b , on the outlet 102 side of the main body 100, a shield for the purpose of maintaining the inside of the main body 100 in a dark room is in the form of covering the outlet 102. In consideration of the maximum number of eggs that can be seated in a line on the top of the conveyor, it is preferable that the same number of screens are installed separately from each other.

In addition, the lighting unit 130 shown in FIG. 1 is a device for lighting purposes, and by illuminating upward in a state installed below the main body portion 100, the main body portion 100 is a dark room in a state seated on the upper end of the conveyor. ) so that the egg passing through the inside can be photographed by the machine vision camera 120 .

That is, a conveyor such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor is installed in the form of a belt having the upper and lower ends and rotates in a circulatory manner to transport eggs. can be formed, and the lighting unit 130 is installed to be inserted into a space of a certain size so as to illuminate from the lower side to the upper side of the egg being transferred while seated on the top of the conveyor.

At this time, the lighting unit 130 is composed of the same number of lighting means according to the maximum number of eggs that can be seated in a line on the top of the conveyor to illuminate vertically upward, and FIGS. 6A to 6C . As illustrated in FIG. 1 , by interlocking with the sensor unit 110 , it is configured to illuminate upward only when an egg entering the interior of the body unit 100 is detected by the sensor unit 110 .

In addition, since a transparent window made of a material such as transparent glass is provided above the lighting unit 130 , contamination of the lighting unit 130 by foreign substances falling from eggs of the conveyor can be prevented.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7 , the lighting unit 130 includes a first lighting unit 131 composed of a plurality of LEDs for illuminating main white or bulb-colored light or a plurality of LEDs for illuminating red light. It may be composed of any one or more of the configured second lighting units 132, and in connection with this, the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 may include a first camera unit 121 for photographing a color image or a first camera unit for photographing a black-and-white image. It may be configured to be divided into any one or more of the two camera units 122 .

However, the first lighting unit 131 may be composed of a plurality of incandescent lamps that illuminate light of a light bulb color instead of a plurality of LEDs.

Specifically, the first camera unit 121 configured as a normal camera is installed above the first lighting unit 131 , and main white or light bulb color light is illuminated by the first lighting unit 131 . By photographing the egg, foreign substances on the surface of the egg can be detected, the color of the surface or the inside of the egg can be detected, and the specific appearance of the egg can be photographed.

In addition, the second camera unit 122 configured as a camera capable of photographing a black and white image is installed above the second lighting unit 132 , and a red light is illuminated by the second lighting unit 132 . By photographing an egg, cracks and potential cracks occurring on the surface of the egg, blood clotted in the egg white (blood egg), flesh spots or egg tangle, etc. can be detected.

That is, the one or more machine vision cameras 120 constituting the first camera unit 121 and the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 constituting the second camera unit 122 must be of different types. No, it may be configured of the same type, but in this case, the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 constituting the second camera unit 122 should be set to a mode capable of photographing black and white images.

At this time, the egg seated on the top of the conveyor is rotated and configured so that the entire surface can be photographed, rotated at an angle of about 120° and the first camera unit 121 and the second camera unit 122, respectively. may be configured to take three shots, but, as shown in FIG. 8A , the first camera unit 121 and the second camera unit 122 rotate by an angle of about 90° and take four shots by each of the first camera unit 121 and the second camera unit 122 . It is most preferably configured to occur.

Therefore, it is preferable that the conveyor is constituted by a roller conveyor, and as shown in FIG. 8B , a plurality of rollers constituting the roller conveyor have both end portions spaced apart from each other in a tapered shape, and both end portions thereof It is composed of a structure in which protrusions are formed along the periphery at the center of the cylindrical shape that connects, so that the egg is stably supported through both ends of the tapered shape and not separated, and the rotational force of the roller can be effectively transmitted to the egg through the protrusion. do.

Thereafter, the egg image generated by the configuration of the first camera unit 121 and the first lighting unit 131 may be used as data for detecting foreign substances, blood eggs or malformed eggs, and the second camera unit The egg image generated by the configuration of 122 and the second lighting unit 132 can be used as data for detecting blue or incontinence eggs thereafter. ), the effect of collecting all the various states of the egg occurs.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the present invention displays a plurality of egg images photographed by the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 in real time on the screen, It may be configured by including a sorting unit 140 that selects by artificial intelligence and generates location information of eggs selected as defective.

That is, the sorting unit 140 is a device installed for the purpose of analyzing an image for inspecting the state of an egg before shipment, a screen capable of displaying an egg image is provided, and an artificial intelligence program can be installed and operated. It is preferably configured as a computer, such as a laptop computer or desktop, capable of inputting and outputting information in a wireless or wired communication method, but may also be configured as a mobile device such as a tablet or a smartphone if necessary.

Specifically, a dedicated program for displaying a plurality of egg images generated by the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 on a screen should be installed in the sorting unit 140, and TensorFlow of Google, an open source (Tensor Flow), a dedicated program for the implementation of artificial intelligence functions may be installed.

Accordingly, the selection unit 140 may be configured to include a display unit 141 that displays a plurality of egg images generated by the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 on a screen, and analyzes the plurality of egg images. to detect foreign substances on the surface of the egg, detect the color of the surface or the inside of the egg, detect the appearance of the egg, and may include an artificial intelligence unit 142 for detecting cracks generated on the surface of the egg, The plurality of egg images may include a generator 143 for generating location information for specifying the location of the egg.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 10A , one or more areas in which a plurality of cells are arranged in a 3×4 arrangement may be displayed on the screen of the sorting unit 140 , and a photographed egg image may be displayed in each cell. In addition, the status of eggs detected through rapid analysis through artificial intelligence can be displayed separately in text.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 10B , a plurality of cells displayed in an arrangement such as 3×4 on the screen of the sorting unit 140 may be displayed in different colors depending on the state of the egg, and a plurality of cells in one egg When a defect is detected, each color corresponding to the type of defect may be displayed separately, and an analysis result of each egg along with the moving state of the egg may be displayed in text and color at the bottom of the screen.

On the other hand, the generating unit 143 generates position information for specifying the position of the eggs located in each compartment, so that the eggs selected as defective can be selectively removed in a subsequent processing process.

In addition, the present invention may further include a classification unit for selectively classifying eggs selected as defective according to types using the location information transmitted from the selection unit 140 .

That is, the sorting unit is a sorting device, and by selectively classifying eggs selected as defective according to the type using the location information transmitted from the sorting unit 140, only eggs in good condition as a commodity can be packaged and shipped. and eggs that are in poor condition can be treated in different ways depending on the type of defect.

Specifically, a transfer conveyor for transferring a plurality of eggs supplied from the transfer line in a serial manner may be connected to a transfer line composed of a roller conveyor for transferring a plurality of eggs in a parallel manner, and on the side of the transfer conveyor is A number of packaging lines may be provided in which the discharge or packaging of eggs takes place.

At this time, the eggs transferred while seated on the upper end of the transfer conveyor are classified into each packaging line according to the type or weight, and the classification unit is a device that separates the eggs from the transfer conveyor by applying an external force to the eggs. It is configured to include a control unit for generating control of the device using the location information transmitted from the selection unit 140 .

That is, as described above, in the present invention, foreign substances on the surface of the egg can be detected by the artificial intelligence unit 142, the color of the surface or the inside of the egg can be detected, and the appearance of the egg can be detected. , a crack generated on the surface of the egg may be detected, and location information may be added by the generating unit 143 to each egg in which the bad state is detected by the artificial intelligence unit 142 .

Therefore, the sorting unit discharges each egg whose defective state is detected among the eggs that are seated on the top of the transfer conveyor to different discharge lines according to the type, so that only eggs in good condition can be packaged and shipped. and eggs that are in poor condition can be treated in different ways depending on the type of defect.

The embodiments introduced above are provided as examples so that the technical idea of the present invention can be sufficiently conveyed to those of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs, and the present invention is based on the embodiments described above. It is not limited and may be embodied in other forms.

In order to clearly explain the present invention, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted from the drawings, and in the drawings, the width, length, thickness, etc. of components may be exaggerated or reduced for convenience.

Also, like reference numbers refer to like elements throughout.

100: body → 101: inlet
→ 102: outlet
→ 103: lower body
→ 104: through hole
→ 105: middle body
→ 106: upper body
110: sensor unit
120: machine vision camera → 121: first camera unit
→ 122: second camera unit
130: lighting unit → 131: first lighting unit
→ 132: second lighting unit
→ 133: transparent window
140: sorting unit → 141: display unit
→ 142: Artificial Intelligence Department
→ 143: creation part
A: Roller Conveyor
B: Egg
C: protrusion

Claims (4)

In a state in which a dark room is formed therein, an inlet 101 is formed on one side, an outlet 102 is formed on the other side, and a lower body 103 having both upper and lower ends open, and a straight through hole 104 at the upper end are formed. It consists of a cover-shaped middle body 105 hinged to the upper edge of the lower body 103 in a state of being, and a cover-shaped upper body 106 hinged to the top edge of the middle body 105. The body portion 100 is configured in the form of a three-stage box to be installed on a transfer line including a conveyor;
a sensor unit 110 installed on the inlet 101 side of the body unit 100 to detect an egg entering the inside;
a plurality of machine vision cameras 120 installed inside the main body 100 to photograph eggs passing through the dark room and to generate egg images; and,
a lighting unit 130 installed below the body unit 100 to illuminate the photographing; Egg quality sorter, characterized in that it comprises a.
delete According to claim 1,
The lighting unit 130,
What is composed of any one or more of the first illumination unit 131 composed of a plurality of LEDs illuminating the main white or light bulb color or the second illumination unit 132 composed of a plurality of LEDs illuminating the red light characterized,
The machine vision camera 120,
Installed above the first lighting unit 131 and installed above the first camera unit 121 or the second lighting unit 132 to take a color image when the first lighting unit 131 illuminates the second lighting unit (132) Egg quality sorter, characterized in that it is composed of any one or more of the second camera unit (122) that takes a black-and-white image when illuminated.
According to claim 1,
A plurality of egg images photographed by the plurality of machine vision cameras 120 are displayed on the screen in real time, and among the eggs displayed in each egg image, eggs in a poor state are selected by artificial intelligence, and the eggs selected as defective are displayed in real time. Egg quality sorter, characterized in that it comprises a sorting unit 140 for generating location information.

Images