JPH0416172A - Apparatus for rejecting foreign material from laver raw material - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely remove foreign materials from laver raw material in high efficiency by flowing a laver raw material liquid through a trough, picking the image of the flowing liquid with a TV camera, outputting signals of primary colors from the obtained image signal to a foreign material detection apparatus and detecting and removing the foreign material. CONSTITUTION:A laver raw material liquid 2 stored in a tank 1 is pumped up to an over-flow vessel 3 with a pump 4 and allowed to flow down through a trough 6. The image of the flowing laver raw material liquid 2 is picked with a TV camera 13 and signals of three primary colors (red signal R, green signal G and blue-violet signal B) are outputted from the obtained image signal. The outputted signals of primary colors are inputted into a foreign material detector 15 and the foreign material is detected by judging whether the level of the signal exceeds a prescribed level or not. When a foreign material is detected, a foreign material detection signal is transmitted to a foreign material rejection apparatus 30 and the laver raw material liquid 29 containing the foreign material is discharged to a foreign material receiving pan 28.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Field of Application This invention detects foreign substances such as small shrimp, net waste, wall waste, rotten seaweed, etc. attached to or mixed with seaweed raw algae before making the seaweed into sheets using an automatic seaweed paper machine. This invention relates to a device for sorting out foreign substances from seaweed raw materials that are removed.

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional device for separating out foreign substances from seaweed raw materials is, for example, the one developed in Utility Model Opening in 1973-
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 139387, it has been proposed to provide a separation tank in the middle of supplying a liquid mixture of seaweed and water in a predetermined ratio to a paper machine to precipitate and separate foreign substances.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Although it is possible to separate sand with a heavy specific gravity using this method of separating foreign substances by sedimentation, it is difficult to separate foreign substances attached to seaweed such as small shrimp, waste nets, wood grains, rotten seaweed, etc. Floating foreign objects cannot be removed. For this reason, in the past, there was no effective method other than having workers visually inspect and sort each sheet of seaweed after it had been made and dried. If the seaweed is visually inspected and then manually removed to remove net waste and straw, the seaweed will be torn, and the price of seaweed contaminated with small shrimp will be nearly half the price.In particular, the main source of production in seaweed cultivation is floating from the support. As it moves to the sink, small pieces of plastic are attached to the anchor rope, the framework, and the net, and when they are picked with a piano wire picker or a speakeasy boat, they are blown off and mixed with the seaweed, which causes contamination. Removal of small shrimp has become a major issue for seaweed producers in terms of seaweed quality, and there has been a desire to develop a device that can automatically detect and remove foreign substances mixed into seaweed raw algae.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention provides a device for separating out foreign substances from seaweed raw materials that solves the above problems, and includes a seaweed raw material liquid flowing device that pumps up seaweed raw material liquid with a pump and flows it into a gutter, and A seaweed imaging device that outputs three primary color signals R, G, and B from an image signal obtained by imaging the seaweed raw material liquid, and whether or not the three primary color signals R2G and B output from the seaweed imaging device exceed a predetermined setting value. The present invention is characterized by comprising: a foreign matter detection device that detects foreign matter by determining whether the foreign matter is present, and a foreign matter discharge device that discharges flowing seaweed raw material liquid mixed with foreign matter into a foreign matter receiving tray based on a foreign matter detection signal from the foreign matter detection device. do.

The seaweed raw material liquid pumped up by the working pump and flowing through the gutter forms a band-shaped layer of uniform thickness and flows down at a constant speed.

Foreign matter is detected by imaging the flowing seaweed raw material liquid and determining whether the three primary color signals R, G, and B output from the seaweed imaging device exceed set values, so foreign matter attached to the seaweed raw material can also be detected in the raw material liquid. It is possible to reliably detect foreign matter floating in the seaweed, and the seaweed raw material liquid contaminated with foreign matter is discharged into a foreign matter receiving tray.

Embodiment A seaweed raw material liquid tank 1 stores a seaweed raw material liquid 2 which has been cut and washed by an automatic seaweed cutting and cleaning machine and mixed with seaweed raw material and water. Connect the flooder 3 and pump 4 installed above to the hose 5
These, the gutter 6, and the gutter 7 below the gutter 6 constitute a laver raw material liquid flowing device 8. As shown in Fig. 3, the gutter 6 is bent into a convex portion 6a so that the seaweed raw material liquid 2 overflowing from the overflow device 3 flows into three separate streams of uniform thickness, and the inner surface of the gutter 6 is black. It is colored or painted black. The lower gutter 7 contains seaweed raw material liquid (referred to as good raw material liquid) 9 that is free of foreign substances.
This is a gutter that guides the liquid to the good raw material liquid tank 10.

Above the gutter 6, there is a video camera (CCD camera) 11 for capturing an image of the flowing seaweed raw material liquid 2, and a light source 12 such as a fluorescent lamp for generating light to illuminate the seaweed raw material liquid 2 flowing down. A seaweed imaging device 13 is provided. The video camera 11 outputs three primary color signals R1G and B, including a red signal R1, a green signal G, and a blue-violet signal B, from image signals obtained by imaging the seaweed raw material liquid 2.

The foreign object detection device 15 is composed of a three primary color signal extraction circuit 16, a three primary color signal addition circuit 171, a division circuit 18, a comparison circuit 19, and a setting circuit 20, and is configured to detect foreign objects in each of the three branched streams of the gutter 6. ing. Three primary color signal extraction circuit 16
The input terminal of is connected to the output terminal of the video camera 11, the output terminal is connected to the addition circuit 17 and the division circuit 18, and the addition circuit 17 and the division circuit 18 are connected. The three primary color signals R, G, and B extracted by the three primary color signal extraction circuit 16 are added together by the addition circuit 17, and a three primary color sum signal T (=R+G+B) is sent to the division circuit. A dividing circuit calculates the relative chromaticity relative to the three primary color sum signal T, that is, the red relative chromaticity R/T.

Calculate the green relative chromaticity G/T and the blue-violet relative chromaticity B/T,
The inverting input terminal of the comparator circuit 19 is connected to the output terminal of the zero division circuit 18 which outputs the maximum value as the maximum relative chromaticity signal, and the non-inverting input terminal of the comparator circuit 19 is connected to the setting circuit 20.
is connected to and determines whether the maximum relative chromaticity signal X exceeds a predetermined setting value A of the setting circuit 20,
When the maximum relative chromaticity signal X exceeds the set value A (X>A)
A foreign object detection signal Y is output to.

Three discharge plates 21, each having a boss 21A of the discharge plate swingably supported on a shaft 22, are disposed between the gutters 6 and 7 so as to face the branch channel of the gutter 6. pin 23
A pin 26 protruding from an eccentric plate 25 attached to a rotary solenoid 24 is connected by a link 27. The rotary solenoid 24 rotates by a predetermined angle in response to the foreign object detection signal Y, then reverses, performs one forward and reverse rotation by a predetermined angle, and then stops.

Video camera 1 detects foreign objects in the seaweed raw material liquid flowing down gutter 6.
The inclination angle of the gutter 6 is set so that the timing from when the camera 1 takes an image to when the rotary solenoid 24 rotates coincides with the timing at which the seaweed raw material liquid 29 containing foreign matter (foreign matter mixed liquid) falls onto the discharge plate 21. As shown in FIG.
The foreign matter discharging device 30 is configured to discharge foreign matter.

31 is a pump that pumps the good raw material liquid 9 from which foreign substances have been removed from the seaweed raw material to the rotary sieve of the compounding machine, and 32 and 33 are detection rods that detect the amount of the seaweed raw material liquid 29, and the pump is activated by detection by the detection rod 33. 4 and the video camera 11 are controlled to turn on and off, and the automatic cutting and cleaning machine is turned on by detection by the detection rod 32.
, is controlled OFF. 34 is a pipe for returning the foreign matter mixed liquid 29 to the seaweed raw material tank 1 by opening a valve provided on the receiving tray 28 when the receiving tray 28, which also serves as a foreign matter mixed liquid tank, becomes full. When the foreign matter-contaminated liquid 29 is returned to the seaweed raw material tank 1 and diluted with several times the amount of water and the foreign matter separation process is repeated, the foreign matter-contaminated liquid 2 is obtained.
No. 9 is a mixed liquid with a trace amount of seaweed raw material and a high concentration of foreign substances.

In the above embodiment, the foreign matter sorting device of the present invention was installed between an automatic seaweed cutting and washing machine and a blending machine. Also good. The purpose of the present invention can be achieved by detecting foreign substances in the seaweed raw liquid obtained by diluting the seaweed raw material with water before cutting the seaweed with a seaweed machine and discharging the seaweed raw liquid containing the foreign substances. It is not limited. For example, the gutter 6 may be screwed onto the flooder 3 via a rubber plate or the like to make the inclination angle freely adjustable, or the relative chromaticity R/T, G/ T.

The determination may be made by setting a set value for each of B/T, or the three primary color signals R, G, and B extracted by the three primary color signal extraction circuit 16 are converted into a luminance signal by a luminance signal generation circuit,
The foreign object detection signal may be output by making a judgment using a comparing circuit with a setting value of a luminance signal set in a setting circuit. Also gutter 6
When reducing the inclination angle of the discharge plate 21 (when the slope is gentle), it is preferable to swing the discharge plate 21 downward, and instead of the rotary solenoid 24, a solenoid that moves back and forth may be used.

Effects of the Invention The present invention provides three primary color signals R and G output from a seaweed imaging device by imaging a seaweed raw material liquid with a uniform thickness flowing down a gutter.
, B exceeds the set value, so foreign objects such as small shrimp, fishnet scraps, and wood grains can be reliably detected, and the seaweed raw material liquid contaminated with foreign objects can be discharged into the foreign object tray. Ru.

Therefore, a liquid mixture containing only seaweed raw materials from which foreign matter has been removed is made, and the seaweed that has been made and dried is free of foreign matter, so there is no need to perform a visual inspection with the naked eye. Visual inspection by workers must be carried out continuously over a long period of time, which can lead to inspection errors due to fatigue, and it is difficult to judge whether the seaweed is uniform due to individual differences in the judgment criteria of each worker. Since foreign matter is detected using predetermined set values, seaweed of uniform quality can be obtained at all times, which has the effect of improving the quality of seaweed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the present invention showing a foreign matter inspection device as a block circuit diagram; FIG. Figure 3 is the first
It is a sectional view taken along ■-■ in the figure. 2... Nori raw material liquid, 3... Overflow device, 4... Pump, 6... Gutter, 8... Nori raw material liquid flow down device, 11...
・Video camera, 13... Seaweed imaging device, 15...
Foreign matter detection device, 16... Three primary color signal extraction circuit, 17.
... Three primary color signal addition circuit, 18... Division circuit, 19.
... Comparison circuit, 20 ... Setting circuit, 21 ... Discharge plate, 24 ... Rotary solenoid, 28 ... Receiver,
30...Foreign object discharge device, R°°° red signal 1 Y...Foreign object detection signal

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. It is a device that detects and discharges foreign substances mixed in the seaweed raw material liquid, which includes a seaweed raw material liquid flow down device that pumps up the seaweed raw material liquid and flows it into the gutter, and a seaweed raw material liquid flowing down the gutter. A seaweed imaging device that outputs three primary color signals R, G, and B from an image signal obtained by imaging, and a determination as to whether or not the three primary color signals R, G, and B output from the seaweed imaging device exceed predetermined set values. A seaweed raw material comprising: a foreign matter detection device that detects foreign matter by detecting foreign matter; and a foreign matter discharge device that discharges flowing seaweed raw material liquid mixed with foreign matter into a foreign matter receiving tray based on a foreign matter detection signal from the foreign matter detection device. foreign matter sorting device.