JPH01310778A - Sorting machine partition plate control device - 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] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a sorting plate that separates a mixture of paddy and brown rice supplied onto its upper surface into paddy and brown rice as it moves, and this sorting plate. Regarding the partition plate control device for a sorting machine, which is equipped with a partition plate for separately taking out the separated materials from the brown rice, in detail, it is possible to increase the amount of paddy contained in sorted brown rice by automatically adjusting the position of the partition plate. The present invention relates to a device for suppressing.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, there has been a device configured as described above, such as the one shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 130284/1984. The system is configured to count and adjust the position of the partition plate based on this result.

In other words, in this reference, the paddy in the brown rice grains sent out from the sorting plate is detected by an optical sensor, and when the number of detections increases, the area into which the brown rice grains are taken is narrowed, and when the number of detections decreases, the area where the brown rice grains are taken is narrowed. By moving the divider plate to expand the intake area, regardless of the amount of brown rice contained in the mixture,
Even if the mixing ratio of the mixture changes during sorting, the amount of paddy contained in the sorted brown rice grains is suppressed from increasing.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Here, when considering the sorting situation on the sorting plate, there are
Alternatively, with a structure that separates the mixture on the sorting plate using kinetic force such as vibration, there are areas where only brown rice is sent out, areas where brown rice and paddy are sent out in a mixed state, and areas where only paddy is sent out. Three types of areas are formed at the end of the sorting plate on the sending side, and ideally, the partition plate is located at the boundary between the area where only brown rice is sent out and the area where brown rice and paddy are sent out in a mixed state. It is desirable that the

However, in the case of a structure in which the number of paddy grains is counted using an optical sensor as in the above-mentioned example, it is difficult to position the partition plate at the boundary as described above from the viewpoint of accuracy, and there is room for improvement.

Therefore, it is conceivable to use image processing technology, which has been rapidly progressing in recent years, to determine the above-mentioned boundary and to adjust the position of the partition plate.

Specifically, a TV camera is attached to the partition plate, and the border is determined after identifying brown rice and paddy based on the images from this TV camera. The partition plate will be moved so that it is in a predetermined position.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, when a TV camera is attached to the partition plate, the control target is uniquely determined, ie, to what position in the image the determined boundary should be moved, so the advantage is that control can be performed relatively easily. There is.

However, when trying to attach a TV camera to the partition plate,
Since television cameras are relatively large and heavy, it is necessary to prevent the movement of the sorting plate, increase the capacity of the drive system that adjusts the position of the partition plate, or improve the strength of the partition plate. This may cause some inconveniences, such as having to try to do so.

An object of the present invention is to control a control device that adjusts the position of a partition plate based on image information based on the partition plate in a state that does not interfere with the movement of the sorting plate, and to control the drive system of the partition plate or The point is that the support system of the partition plate is constructed in a state where it is difficult to cause any inconvenience.

[Means to solve the problem]

A feature of the present invention is that the partition plate is configured to be movable in the direction in which paddy and brown rice are separated, and a light guide is provided on this partition plate, and optical information sent through the light guide allows The light guide body is configured as a mirror, and the light guide body is configured as a mirror. The point that the guide body is configured as an optical fiber mirror,
The top surface of the sorting plate is illuminated by a light beam incident on a light splitter interposed between the light guide and the image pickup means, and a television camera as an image pickup means is attached to a system that moves in synchronization with the sorting plate. A television camera as an imaging means is attached to the stationary system, and information from the television camera is extracted at predetermined timings synchronized with the movement of the sorting plate.The functions and effects are as follows.

[For production]

In other words, the light guide can be configured to be lightweight compared to a television camera, such as a mirror or an optical fiber mirror, and by using a light splitter, a lamp can be placed near the partition plate. does not require a light source such as
In addition, by attaching a television camera to a system that moves in synchronization with the sorting board, or by installing a television camera to a stationary system, this information can be retrieved from the television camera at a predetermined timing in synchronization with the sorting board. Regardless of the information obtained from the board, processing in the position adjustment means that processes the image and moves the partition board is simplified.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Therefore, the control device that adjusts the position of the partition plate based on image information with the partition plate as a reference does not interfere with the movement of the sorting plate, and is unlikely to cause any inconvenience to the drive system or support system of the partition plate. A control device has been constructed that can obtain images in the same state, improve accuracy by providing illumination, and improve processing speed by simplifying image processing.

〔Example〕

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

As shown in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, the brown rice sorting machine has a plurality of upper and lower sorting plates (1), and the processed material to be sorted after hulling (a mixture of brown rice and paddy). a supply unit (abbreviated as a mixture) for supplying the plurality of sorting plates (1);
A); and a recovery section (E) for recovering the processed material after sorting discharged from the end of the plurality of stages of sorting plates (1);
The base frame (F) is the main part.

The supply section (A) includes a supply hopper (2) supported by the base frame (F), and a retractable guide that guides the mixture from the supply hopper (2) to the starting end of each sorting plate (1). It consists of a tube (3). Although not detailed, each sorting board (1
) are supplied with the same amount of the mixture.

The multi-stage sorting plate (1) has a large number of protrusions on its upper surface for stopping the mixture receiver, and is connected to form an integral body. It is installed in a tilted position and is driven to rotate around a rotation axis (P) along the vertical direction, and the supplied mixture is divided into brown rice as shown in Fig. The rice is sorted into three areas: area (G), so-called mixed bed area (K) where paddy and brown rice coexist, and paddy area (M).

That is, the mixture is supplied to a position (Z) at the starting end of the sorting plate (1) and corresponding to the upper side of the inclination in the width direction. The main factor is that the frictional resistance between brown rice and paddy is greater for paddy, and as the sorting plate (1) is driven to rotate, it is sorted into the three areas as described above. .

To explain the rotational drive structure of the sorting plate (1), the support frame (4) that receives and supports the multiple stages of sorting plates (1) is
It is rotatably suspended by four suspension rods (5) that are swingably attached to the base frame (F). A drive shaft (6) rotatable around the rotation axis (P) along the vertical direction is provided below the support frame (4), and a disk-shaped drive shaft (6) is attached to the upper end of the drive shaft (6). A connecting pin (7) is attached to the body (6a) and extends in the vertical direction while being deviated from the rotational axis (P).
) is connected to the support frame (4). Further, an electric motor (8) for driving the sorting plate is operatively connected to the drive shaft (6) by a transmission belt (9). Therefore, as the electric motor (8) operates, the sorting plate (1) is moved at a radius corresponding to the deviation between the rotation axis (P) and the connecting pin (7).
is designed to be rotationally driven.

Note that (10) in the figure is a balance weight attached to the disk-shaped body (6a).

Incidentally, although not described in detail, the sorting plate (1) has one end, which is the lower end in the width direction, centered on the support frame (
4) can be oscillated. This swing adjustment is performed at the start of work depending on the wetness of the mixed rice. In other words, the inclination angle of the sorting plates (1) in the width direction can be adjusted so that the mixed rice is evenly distributed over the entire width direction of each sorting plate (1).

The recovery section (E) includes a recovery hopper (11) connected to the terminal end of the sorting plate (1), a first partition plate (12) that separates brown rice from the mixed bed, and a first partition plate (12) that separates the mixed bed and paddy. A second separating plate (13) is provided.

To explain, inside the collection hopper (11),
A rotating shaft (14) having a threaded portion (n) and a guide shaft (15)
) are installed in a parallel position and with their axes pointing in the width direction. A connecting portion (12a) attached to the first partition plate (12) is slidably fitted onto the guide shaft (15), and is connected to the threaded portion (n) of the rotating shaft (14).
It is provided so that it is screwed into the An electric motor (16) for sliding operation of the first partition plate (12) is interlocked and connected to the rotating shaft (14) by a transmission gear mechanism, so that the operation of the electric motor (16) causes the first partition plate ( 12)
It is designed for moving operations.

Further, the connecting portion (13a>) of the second partition plate (13) is slidably fitted onto the rotating shaft (14) and the guide shaft (15), and the second partition plate (13) is connected to the guide shaft. A fixing device (not shown) such as a bolt to be fixed to the connecting portion (13a) is provided on the connecting portion (13a).Therefore, the second partition plate 13) can be manually tightened while loosening the fixing device. The movement is adjusted by

As will be described later, the first partition plate (12) is automatically adjusted to move according to the boundary between the brown rice area (G) and the mixed bed area (K), and the second partition plate (12) (13
) will be adjusted as appropriate at the start of work.

Next, a control device that determines the distribution state of paddy on the upper surface of the sorting plate (1) and adjusts the position of the first partition plate (12) will be explained.

As shown in Figures 1, 3, 4, and 5, this control device consists of a plane mirror (17) attached to a first partition plate (12).
and an imaging means (D) consisting of a television camera (18) to recognize the separation state on the upper surface of the sorting plate by the optical information sent through the light guide (C).
) and a position adjustment means (IE) for moving the first partition plate (12) based on information from the imaging means (D), and the plane mirror (17) is moved through the bracket (19). It is attached to the first partition plate (12) so that the angle can be adjusted, and the television camera (18) has an imaging lens (18a), a color image sensor (18b), a lens It has an electronic shutter (20) interposed in the optical system of (18a), an image controller (21) for controlling the shutter (20), and is attached to a member that moves integrally with the sorting plate (1), Further, the position adjustment means (E) includes a color image sensor (18
b) an image processing unit (22) that determines the distribution state based on the three primary color information (R), (G), (E) and the luminance information (Y) from b); and processing from this image processing unit (22). It is configured to include a partition plate control section (23) to which the results are output, and an electric motor (16) operated by a signal from the partition plate control section (23).

In addition, an optical splitter (25) is interposed in the optical path (H) between the light guide (C) and the imaging means (D), and during control, the light from the light source (26) is transmitted to the optical splitter (25).
) and a light guide (C) to illuminate the upper surface of the sorting plate (1).

The color image sensor (18b) has a resolution capable of detecting a single grain of paddy, and has a pixel density capable of capturing an image of a grain of paddy and brown rice with several tens of pixels, and the color image sensor (18b) 22), the three primary color information (R) and (G).

(E), or quantization means for quantizing the luminance information (Y), storage means for storing quantized information, etc.;
It has calculation means, etc., and the shutter (20) operates at a high speed of about a few thousandths of a second at a set cycle.

Next, the determination of the distribution state will be explained according to the processing procedure shown in FIG.

First, imaging processing is performed, followed by quantization.

After that, when comparing brown rice and paddy, for example, brown rice has a stronger green color information (G) than paddy.
Utilizing the fact that there is a difference in color information, the value (A) of each pixel is determined using the following formula.

A=α(R-G) ten β(R-B) However, α and β are coefficients that are arbitrarily set.

Next, the obtained value (8) of each pixel is smoothed by filter processing or the like to remove noise.

After that, normalization is performed to remove brightness unevenness. That is, for example, the screen is divided into 16 parts, the average value of brightness in each divided screen is determined from the luminance information (Y), and the position of the pixel is calculated from the smoothed value (A) of each pixel. Normalization is performed by subtracting the average brightness value of the split screen.

Next, a binarization process is performed to extract pixels for which the value obtained by normalization is larger than the set darkness value.

Finally, noise removal processing is performed to remove, from among the binarized pixels, pixels other than those that are adjacent to each other and form an area corresponding to the size of the rice grain.

Through the above processing, pixels corresponding to paddy are extracted.

Next, partition plate movement control for adjusting the movement of the first partition plate (12) based on the binarized pixel information will be explained.

That is, since the light guide (C) is attached to the first partition plate (12), the imaging means (D) is attached to the first partition plate (12).
The terminal end of the sorting plate (1) near point 2) (the end in the sending direction of the sorted material) is imaged. And basically, FIGS. 6(a) and (b).

As shown in (C), by the above distribution state detection,
Virtual extension line (0) of the first partition plate (12) in the screen
If there is no paddy on the brown rice region (G) side and paddy is detected on the paddy region 0.1) side, the first partition plate (
12) is assumed to be located at the appropriate position, and if paddy is detected closer to the brown rice area (G) than the virtual extension line (D), the first partition plate (12) is If it is too biased towards the floor area (K), the brown rice area (G)
On the other hand, if no paddy is detected on the screen, it is assumed that the first partition plate (12) is too biased toward the brown rice area (G), and the mixed bed area is adjusted. Adjust the setting amount to the (K) side.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the present invention makes it possible to determine the distribution state without using a plane mirror or the like by configuring the light guide (C) with an optical fiber mirror (27). With this configuration, the imaging means (D) can be placed in a stationary system by utilizing the flexibility of the optical fiber mirror (27).

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the present invention attaches the imaging means (I) to a stationary member (28), and drives the sorting plate (1) to the sorting plate (1) only at a predetermined synchronized timing. 1
) may be provided with a sensor (29) for allowing the shutter (2D) to open when the drive shaft (6) reaches a predetermined phase so as to input information from the top surface of the shutter (2D).

[Another example]

In addition to the embodiments described above, the present invention may be applied to, for example, a sorter configured integrally with a huller, and the light guide (C) may be implemented in various ways such as a convex mirror, a concave mirror, or a prism. ,
Further, the imaging means may also have a structure that directly obtains an image by scanning a focused light beam such as laser light.

Furthermore, since the present invention is used in areas where dust is likely to be generated, for example, an air curtain can be formed near the optical system to prevent dust from adhering to the optical system, or to prevent the generation of static electricity. With such a configuration, it is possible to further improve the performance of the optical system.

Note that although reference numerals are written in the claims section for convenient comparison with the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the structures and methods shown in the accompanying drawings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the partition plate control device for a sorting machine according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a block circuit diagram of the control device, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the control device, and FIG. 3 is a plane view of the sorting plate. Figure 4 is a front view of the sorting machine, Figure 5 is a side view of the sorting machine, Figures 6 (a), (b), and (C) are diagrams showing control of the partition plate for the distribution state, and Figure 7 The figure shows a state in which the light guide is constituted by an optical fiber mirror, and FIG. 8 shows a state in which the imaging means is attached to a stationary system. (1)...Sorting board, (12)...Partition plate, (17)...Mirror, (18)...Television camera, (25)・・・・・・Optical splitter, (2
7)...Optical fiber mirror, (C)...
Light guide body, (D)...imaging means, (E)...
. . . Position adjustment means, (H) . . . Optical path.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A sorting plate (1) that separates a mixture of paddy and brown rice supplied onto its upper surface into paddy and brown rice as it moves, and a product separated from this sorting plate (1). Partition plate (12) to take out each part separately
A partition plate control device for a sorting machine comprising: a partition plate (12) configured to be movable in a direction in which paddy and brown rice are separated; (
C), and an imaging means (D) which recognizes the separation state on the upper surface of the sorting plate (1) by the optical information sent through the light guide (C), and an imaging means (D) which recognizes the separation state on the upper surface of the sorting plate (1), and the information from this imaging means (D). position adjustment means (for moving the partition plate (12) based on the
E) A partition plate control device for a sorting machine comprising: 2. The partition plate control device for a sorting machine according to claim 1, wherein the light guide (C) is constituted by a mirror (17). 3. The light guiding body (C) is composed of an optical fiber mirror (27), and the objective side of the optical fiber mirror (27) is set in the direction of the upper surface of the sorting plate (1). Partition plate control device for sorting machine. 4. An optical splitter (25) is interposed in the optical path (H) between the light guide (C) and the image pickup means (D), and the light beam incident on the optical splitter (25) is used to pass through the sorting plate ( 1) A partition plate control device for a sorting machine according to claim 1, which is configured to perform upper surface illumination. 5. A claim in which the imaging means (D) comprises a television camera (18), and the television camera (18) is attached to a sorting plate (1) or a member that moves in synchronization with the sorting plate (1). A partition plate control device for a sorting machine according to items 1, 2, 3, and 4. 6. The imaging means (D) consists of a television camera (18), and this television camera (18) is attached to a stationary member, and the television camera is activated at predetermined timing synchronized with the movement of the sorting plate (1). 5. A partition plate control device for a sorting machine according to claim 1, wherein the device is configured to take out information from (18).