KR20090020426A - Hopper scale apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A hopper scale apparatus is provided to obtain information on producers, current states and measurement values of agricultural products in real time when grains are measured in a hopper scale. A hopper scale apparatus includes a hopper scale gauge(4) for measuring the weight and moisture rate of grains, a remote display part(10) mounted outside a grain conditioning plant, and a central control part(8) controlling the hopper scale gauge and controlling the remote display part to display information relating to agricultural products including the total weight and mean moisture rate of the measured grains, which are calculated according to the weight and moisture rate measured by the hopper scale gauge, and corresponding producers and the like.

Description

Hopper scale device {HOPPER SCALE APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an agricultural product processing device, and more particularly, to a hopper scale device for processing and guiding agricultural product information related to a hopper scale.

The rice processing complex is a facility that jointly processes rice in the state of the product.The whole process of rice is carried out from import, selection, weighing, quality inspection, drying, storage, and milling to product shipment, sale, and by-product processing. Refers to a facility that processes them. The Migok Comprehensive Treatment Plant is used as a facility to solve the labor shortage of farmers, reduce management costs, and improve the quality and distribution structure of rice.

Within agricultural processing facilities such as rice flour processing plants and other rice processing facilities, there are devices used for processing grain grains such as rice, rice, and brown rice, and among them, a hopper scale. Hopper scale is a device that simultaneously measures the moisture content as well as weighing grains such as rice.

The measured weight and moisture content values of rice, measured by Hopperscale, are important information for both producers and managers of rice plants. To explain the reason, the government and certain companies require water content (e.g. about 15%) corresponding to dry rice when purchasing rice. Therefore, the measured weight and moisture content of rice measured at Hopperscale is the basic data that is converted into the grain weight when dried at the moisture content in dry rice state required by the government or a specific company. Since the converted rice weight is an important factor in determining the price of rice purchased along with the grade of rice, the measured weight and moisture content of rice measured at Hopperscale is very important for both agricultural producers and managers.

However, these hopper scales could not know the current state of grain processing and related information outside the grain processing plant and the results could be confirmed after a long time. Therefore, the producers or officials who were waiting outside the grain processing plant were boring and uncomfortable. In addition, there is a lot of inconvenience because the wheat grain weight measured at the current Hopper scale is not immediately known when converted to the water content required at the time of purchase.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a hopper-scale device that can provide real-time information on agricultural products when grain receipt to a grain processing plant equipped with a hopper scale.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a hopper scale device that allows the grain weight measured in the hopper scale to be converted into the required moisture content upon purchase, as well as the final purchase amount.

The present invention for achieving the above object, in the hopper scale device, a hopper scale meter (4) for measuring the weight and moisture content of the grain, a remote display unit 10 provided outside the grain processing plant (2), It controls the hopper scale meter (4), and provides information on agricultural products including cumulative weight, average moisture content, and the name of the producer of the agricultural product, calculated on the basis of the weight and moisture content measured by the hopper scale meter (4). And a central controller 8 for controlling to be displayed on the remote display unit 10.

The present invention has the advantage that can provide in real time to the producer information, the current state and the measured value of the producer when the grain is measured in the hopper scale of the grain processing plant.

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

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hopper scale apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the hopper scale apparatus of the present invention includes a hopper scale meter 4, a central control unit 8, and a remote display unit 10.

The hopper scale meter 4 is installed in the interior of the grain processing plant 2, and the central control unit 8 is located in one control chamber 6 of the grain processing plant 2. The central control unit 8 transmits and receives data with the hopper scale meter 4 and controls the hopper scale meter 4, and controls the agricultural products related information to be displayed on the remote display unit 10. The remote display unit 10 is installed outside the gate 12 of the grain processing plant 2 to visually inform agricultural producers or related parties of agricultural products related information including the cumulative weight and average moisture content of the weighed grains and the name of the agricultural producer. Do it.

FIG. 2 is a detailed block diagram of a specific device and circuit block of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the remote display unit 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, the hopper scale meter 4 is composed of an auxiliary tank 20, a metering hopper 22, and a discharge hopper 24, a mechanical part and a sub-control part 40, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Consists of a circuit part, one side of the auxiliary tank 20 located on the upper side of the mechanical part is installed an input lift 27 for inputting grain.

Upper and lower level gauges 26 for detecting grain input amount are installed at upper and lower positions in the auxiliary tank 20, and a supply gate 28 is installed at a lower outlet of the auxiliary tank 20. The metering hopper 22 installed under the auxiliary tank 20 is a component for measuring the weight and moisture of the grains supplied from the auxiliary tank 20. A plurality of load cells 30 are installed on the upper side of the weighing hopper 22 to measure the grain weight in the weighing hopper 22, and a moisture measuring device 32 in the form of an electrode plate is provided inside the weighing hopper 22. A discharge gate 34 is installed at the lower outlet of the metering hopper 22. Discharge hopper 24 is provided below the metering hopper 22 is a hopper for discharging the grain discharged from the metering hopper 22, the lower part of the fling 36, which is an automatic or semi-automatic discharge path with a normal discharge path It is also provided with a level gauge 38 is provided on the inner upper portion.

The hopper scale meter 4 also includes a sub-control unit 40 in communication with the main control unit 50 of the central control unit 8 in the control room 6. The level control value from the level gauges 26 and 38 of the auxiliary tank 20 and the discharge hopper 24 is applied to the sub-control part 40. The sub controller 40 controls the opening and closing of the supply gate 28 of the auxiliary tank 20 and the discharge gate 34 of the metering hopper 22 through the applied level detection values and the communication interface between the main controller 50. To control.

On the other hand, in the hopper scale 4, the weight detection value from the load cells 30 of the weighing hopper 22 and the water measurement value measured from the moisture meter 32 inside the weighing hopper 22 are stored in the control chamber 6. The main control unit 50 of the angular control unit 8 is directly transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the central control unit 8 in the control room 6 shown in FIG. 1 includes a main controller 50 communicating with the sub-control unit 40 of the hopper scale meter 4, and the main controller 50. And a host computer 58 connected by serial communication such as RS232C or RS422.

The main controller 50 remotely controls the hopper scale meter 4 through the sub controller 40 and processes and displays data so that an administrator can monitor the weighing operation state and various weighing information of the hopper scale meter 4 at a glance. Or print output. The main controller 50 is provided with a display unit 70 and an operation panel 72, and a small printer 52 is mounted. The small printer 52 mounted on the main controller 50 prints agricultural product-related information on a small print paper under the control of the main controller 50. In particular, at the end of the weighing in the hopper scale weighing machine 4, information on weighed agricultural products such as goods receipt information, agricultural producer information, average moisture and cumulative weight of weighed grains is immediately output.

The main control unit 50 is connected to the remote display unit 10 as shown in FIG. 3 installed outside the grain processing plant 2 with a communication cable 60, and communicates in a serial day communication method such as RS232C, RS485, RS422, and the like. As another embodiment, the main controller 50 and the remote display unit 10 may be implemented to communicate in a short range wireless communication method such as Bluetooth.

The remote display unit 10 installed outside the gate 12 of the grain processing plant 2 displays agricultural product-related information under the control of the main controller 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the remote display unit 10 includes a large display window 62 on the upper side, a cumulative weight display window 64 on the lower side, and an average moisture display window 66.

The large display window 62 displays guide information related to agricultural product processing, and the cumulative weight display window 64 displays the cumulative weight value of the produce producer grains encapsulated by the hopper scale meter 4, and the average moisture display window 66. Shows the average moisture value of farmers' crops.

Each of the display windows 62, 64, 66 of the remote display unit 10 is generally composed of a viewfinder having a large font and a display color of a single color or color, so that visible information can be easily checked even at a long distance. A sunshade loop 68 is preferably installed on the upper portion of the remote display unit 10 to prevent sunshade.

Although the remote display unit 10 preferably operates under the control of the main controller 50, the remote display unit 10 may be controlled to be controlled by the host computer 54.

Referring to FIG. 2 again, the main controller 50 will be described in more detail as follows.

The operation panel 72 of the main control unit 50 includes a plurality of operation-related keys, for example, a start key for starting the meter, a stop key for stopping the meter, a residual key for processing the remaining amount when the preset amount is less than the preset tank, and the auxiliary tank 20. End key for the completion of the remaining amount of discharge, and the total key memory or total memory of the current weighing grain is provided.

In addition, the operation panel 72 is provided with keys related to setting. Setting related keys include setting key, cancel key, increment / gaming key, left / right key. When the administrator presses the setting key, setting items such as member number, variety classification, wearing classification, transportation classification, date / time, delay time, and sampling are sequentially selected and displayed on the display unit 70. Can be performed. The member number setting item is for inputting the unique number assigned to the crop producer, and the varietal classification setting item is for setting the varieties of grains, and the wearing classification setting item is sent directly to the member, Nonghyup, agency, etc. Can be set. The transport classification setting item is used to set the transport type such as acquisition, storage, processing trust or others. Delay time is an item to set waiting time after weighing once.

In addition, the operation panel 72 may be provided with various selection switches for selecting whether to activate the water, the sample, each of the small printer (52). The moisture selection switch is switched on when measuring the moisture, the sample selection switch is set at the time of sampling, and the printer selection switch is used to select whether to print continuously after every weighing or to output the results after weighing all the grains of one agricultural producer. to be.

The main controller 50 may be operated in various states of the hopper scale meter 4, for example, during operation, supply, discharge, termination, printing, and zero operation, excessive, communication failure, grain in the auxiliary tank, no grain inflow, The machine inspection state such as the discharge elevator driving check or the like is checked by communication with the sub-control unit 40 and displayed on the display unit 70.

In addition, the main controller 50 counts the number of times that the hopper scale meter 4 is weighed and displays the count value on the display unit 70, and based on the weight sensing value from the load cell 30 of the hopper scale meter 4. To display the present weight of the grain being weighed on the display unit 70 and store it in the internal memory. In addition, by calculating the cumulative weight by accumulating the weight value each time by dividing the grains for the same agricultural producers by a certain weight unit (for example, 80kg, 100kg, etc.), the cumulative weight value is displayed on the display unit 70 And to internal memory.

In addition, the main controller 50 displays the current moisture value of the grain being weighed on the display unit 70 and stores it in the internal memory based on the moisture measurement value measured from the moisture measuring device 32 of the hopper scale meter 4. In addition, the average moisture value is displayed on the display unit 70 and stored in the internal memory by averaging the moisture values measured each time by dividing the grains of the agricultural producer by a predetermined weight unit.

The cumulative weight and average moisture calculated by the main control unit 50 are transmitted to the remote display unit 10 installed outside the grain processing plant 2 as agricultural product-related information along with agricultural producer information. Then, the small printer 52 mounted on the main controller 50 prints out a small print paper containing agricultural products-related information as shown in FIG. 4 under the control of the main controller 50 according to the print request of the administrator. The printed statement includes receipt bills, subtotals and totals.

On the other hand, the main controller 50 communicates with the host computer 54 in a serial communication method through a communication cable. Various data (date, member number, daily order number, present weight, cumulative weight, present moisture, average moisture, etc.) in the main control unit 50 are transmitted to the host computer 54.

The host computer 54 has a user interface 58 such as a keyboard and a monitor, and has a built-in memory section. The receipt management program is mapped to the memory unit of the host computer 54, and the administrator can perform the purchase price, the weight conversion index setting, etc., and the customer management registration based on the receipt management program.

When the goods receipt management program is executed, the goods receipt management initial screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed on the monitor of the host computer 54.

Operational information of the hopper scale is displayed on the initial receipt management screen of FIG. 5, input fields for inputting agricultural producer information are provided, and a click button for selecting a job start, job stop, and job end is displayed.

In the receipt management initial screen of FIG. 5, when the administrator selects the 'environment setting' menu as shown in FIG. 6, a corresponding list window including a purchase price, a weight conversion index, and the like is activated.

If the administrator clicks on the 'purchase price' item in the activated list window, the purchase price setting screen window as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed.

In the purchase price setting screen of FIG. 7, the item can be checked by clicking on the automatic payment of incentive items, the application of the rate of misappropriation, the automatic selection of the deductible items, the drying fee, the government purchase amount calculation setting, and the self purchase amount calculation setting. When the price setting completion button is clicked, the control unit of the host computer 54 calculates the purchase price based on the check item. As can be seen in Figure 7, the government purchase or self-purchase calculation 'set criteria' column, the administrator can directly enter the amount corresponding to each grade. It is also possible to check whether the application of miscellaneous goods, details of deductible items, and the terms of drying fee can be checked, and the purchase price can be set by clicking 'finish purchase price setting' button.

Therefore, if a request is made to calculate how much the actual purchase price is in the state of inputting the weight and water content of the weighed grain, the control unit of the host computer 54 can receive the actual producers of agricultural products based on the purchase price setting conditions. Calculate the settlement price of the settled grain. The calculated grain purchase price is transferred to the main controller 50 and may also be displayed on the remote display unit 10 under the control of the main controller 50.

If the administrator clicks the 'weight conversion index' in the 'environmental setting' menu of FIG. 6, the weight conversion index table setting screen window is displayed as shown in FIG. 8.

A weight conversion index table setting screen window of FIG. 8 is provided with an input field for changing a self-conversion index or a government conversion index, and when a user inputs a reference moisture value and clicks a setting completion button, the weight conversion index table setting is completed.

The control unit of the host computer 54 converts the weight and moisture content of the rice grains measured by the hopper scale meter 4 based on the weight conversion index table of FIG. Convert to the corresponding rice grain weight. The converted rice grain weight and the water content information upon purchase request may be transmitted to the main controller 50 and may be displayed on the remote display unit 10 under the control of the main controller 50.

On the other hand, when clicking the 'customer management' button in the receipt management initial screen window of Figure 5 is displayed a customer management window for a receipt trader as shown in FIG. Receiving trader customer management window of FIG. 9 is organized in the list of the incoming trading customers, such as customer number, date, customer name, address, telephone number, sorting, adding new customers, saving and modifying additional registered customers, cancellation and transfer Buttons for deleting registered customers and printing customer information are formed on the screen window.

The manager can make customer management clear at a glance using the customer management window.

When the hopper scale meter 4 is operated, the power switch installed in the main control unit 50 is turned on, and the selector switch of the water, collecting, or printer provided in the operation panel 72 is moved to a desired stage.

After that, when the manager presses the start key on the operation panel 72 of the main controller 50, the start command data is transmitted to the sub controller 40.

The sub-control unit 40 opens the supply gate 28 so that the approximate amount to be put into the metering hopper 22 is supplied based on the level gauge 26 and then closes the supply gate 28. Thereafter, the weight of the grains is measured using the load cells 30 of the measuring hopper 22, and the moisture content of the grains is measured using the moisture meter 32.

The measured data are transmitted from the sub-control unit 40 to the main control unit 50 of the control room 8, and the main control unit 50 processes the data into various data and transmits the data to the remote display unit 10 and the host computer 58. do. Accordingly, the remote display unit 10 installed outside the grain processing plant 2 displays cumulative weight, average moisture information, and agricultural producer information.

The agricultural producer information may be a customer name provided from the host computer 54 by matching the member number or the receipt number, the operation of how many times the weighing is currently performed on the grain of the agricultural producer on the remote display unit 10 Status can also be displayed. The agricultural product information such as the customer name or the weighing cycle is preferably displayed on the large display window 62 of the remote display unit 10.

Since the weighing of the grain of the agricultural producer is measured in a predetermined weight unit, the weighing may be repeated several times. When the corresponding weighing is completed in the weighing hopper 22, the discharge valve 34 is controlled based on the control of the sub-control unit 40. Since the grain is measured in the metering hopper 22 is discharged to the outside through the discharge valve 34 and the discharge hopper (24).

Metering operation for the grain of the agricultural product producer is repeated in the process of the supply-metering-discharging, and when the last weighing expires, the main controller 50 displays the metering expiration on the display unit 70.

Accordingly, when the administrator presses the job termination key on the operation panel 72 of the main control unit 50, the main control unit 50 issues a job termination command to the sub-control unit 40 so that the auxiliary tank 20 or the weighing hopper 22 Alternatively, the remaining amount remaining in the discharge hopper 24 is controlled to be processed automatically. Thereafter, when the sub control unit 40 is notified that the automatic remaining amount processing has expired, the main control unit 50 issues a receipt weighing slip as shown in FIG. 4 through the small printer 52 mounted thereon.

If the manager converts the cumulative weight and average moisture content of the agricultural producers displayed on the remote display unit 10 into a water content desired to be purchased by the government, the host computer 54 and the main control unit may be displayed on the remote display unit 10. 50, the cumulative weight of the grains converted into the government purchasing water content rate based on the weight conversion index of the host computer 54 can be displayed on the large display window 62 of the remote display unit 10.

In addition, if the manager is to calculate the cumulative weight and average moisture value of the grains of the agricultural producers displayed on the remote display unit 10 as the purchase price and the host computer 54 and the main control unit 50 to be displayed on the remote display unit 10. When the control is performed, the purchase price calculated based on the purchase price setting condition of the host computer 54 may be displayed on the large display window 62 of the remote display unit 10.

The display of the cumulative weight of the grain converted into the government purchase function ratio and the purchase price that the agricultural producer can actually receive are displayed on the remote display unit 10 in response to many agricultural producers or related parties who are curious. Can get In addition, the information displayed on the remote display unit 10 may be issued through the small printer 52 mounted on the main control unit 50 as a product payment automatic payment slip.

When all the grain measurement for the produce producer is completed, the manager presses the memory key on the operation panel 72 of the main control unit 50. Accordingly, the main control unit 40 controls the remote display unit 10 for the produce producer. The display values of the cumulative weight display window 64 and the average moisture display window 66 are displayed as "0kg" and "0%", respectively.

When the manager presses the end key on the operation panel 72 of the main control unit 50, the metering process is finished after the remaining amount of water to the auxiliary tank 20 is completely discharged.

In the present invention, the use of the host computer 54 together with the status management (day, monthly, accounts, moisture content, varieties, output for each grade) is very easy.

In the above description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be defined by the described embodiments, but should be determined by the equivalent of claims and claims.

The present invention can be used for processing and processing agricultural products such as grain.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a hopper-scale agricultural product information processing and guide apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a concrete device and a circuit block of FIG. 1;

3 is a perspective view of the remote display unit of FIGS.

4 is an exemplary view of printing details of a small printer mounted on the main control unit of FIG. 2;

5 is an example of a receipt management initial screen on a monitor of a host computer;

6 is an example of the list window when setting the environment on the receipt management initial screen of FIG.

7 is an example of a purchase price setting screen window;

8 is an example of a weight conversion index table setting screen window,

Figure 9 is an example of a customer transaction window of the incoming customer.

 <Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

(2)-Grain Processing Plant (4)-Hopper Scale Weigher

(6)-Control room (8)-Central control unit

(10)-remote display (12)-gate

(20)-Supply Tank (22)-Weighing Hopper

(24)-Drain Hopper (30)-Load Cell

(32)-Moisture meter (40)-Sub control unit

(50)-Main control unit (52)-Compact printer

(54)-Host computer (72)-Control panel

Claims (5)

In the hopper scale apparatus, Hopper scale meter (4) for measuring the weight and moisture content of the grain, A remote display unit 10 installed outside the grain processing plant 2, It controls the hopper scale meter (4), and provides information on agricultural products including cumulative weight, average moisture content, and the name of the producer of the agricultural product, calculated on the basis of the weight and moisture content measured by the hopper scale meter (4). Hopper scale device characterized in that it comprises a central control unit (8) for controlling to be displayed on the remote display unit (10). The central control unit (8) according to claim 1, A main controller 50 which remotely controls the hopper scale meter 4 and processes and guides the weighing operation state of the hopper scale meter 4 and various weighing information; And a host computer 54 which communicates with the main control unit 50 and executes the receipt manager customer management registration, weight conversion index setting management, and purchase price setting management related to the hopper scale measurement using the receipt management program. Hopper scale device. The hopper scale apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit (8) and the remote display unit (10) are configured such that a communication cable communicating in a serial communication method is connected. The hopper scale apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the central control unit (8) and the remote display unit (10) are configured to be connected in a short range wireless communication method. According to claim 1 or 2, the main control unit 50 outputs weighing agricultural products related information including the receipt information, agricultural product producer information, the average moisture and cumulative weight of weighing grains at the end of the weighing in the hopper scale meter (4) Hopper scale device characterized in that the compact printer 52 is mounted.

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