JPH07128233A - Cucumber inspection device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To measure non-destructively the information on the taste such as sugar content of melons by measuring the light that has passed through the melons. [Structure] A light-shielding chamber 15 is provided in the middle of a transportation path of melons 11 placed on a pallet 12. The door 13 at the entrance is opened, the melon 11 is introduced into the light-shielding chamber 15 by the first conveyor 16, the pallets 12 are stopped by the solenoids 23 and 24, and the sugar content of the melon 11 is measured by the measuring device. The measuring device includes a light projector that projects light onto the melon 11 and a light receiver that detects light that has passed through at least a portion of the melon 11, and the melon using the detection output of the light receiver. Measures information about the taste of.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cucurbit inspection apparatus for irradiating cucurbits with light and measuring the light passing through the cucurbits to measure information on taste such as sugar content and ingredients.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various methods for nondestructively inspecting taste have been studied for the purpose of guaranteeing fruit quality and selecting fruits. For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 52-63397, by treating the transmitted light when citrus fruits are irradiated with visible light, the content of carotenoids in the skin and pulp of the citrus fruits is detected to detect the taste. Techniques for determining

[0003]

Conventionally, as such an inspection device for nondestructively inspecting the taste of fruits, it has been used in peaches and the like, and in a reflection system for measuring the light reflected by fruits, or in mandarin oranges and the like. There is a transmission method that is used and measures the light transmitted through the fruit. In each of these methods, since the light reflected by the fruit or the light transmitted through the fruit is strong, it is possible to install the inspection device without providing a special room.

However, since melons are hard on the skin, the light transmitted through the fruits is very weak. Further, in order to accurately measure the sugar content and the like, it is necessary to measure the light that has passed through a considerable distance. Therefore, when trying to nondestructively inspect a melon, there is a problem that the light to be measured is very weak, and a nondestructive inspecting device for a melon has not been conventionally proposed.

As a method for measuring the very weak light transmitted through the melon, the light projected onto the melon is modulated by a chopper, and the signal detecting the light from the melon is passed through a modulation filter and projected. A method of extracting the same frequency component as light can be considered. However, in this case, some of the components of external light are mixed in the light from the melon as noise, so that the measured light intensity is required to be above a certain level. However, in the case of melon, since the light that has passed through it does not have the intensity that satisfies the above requirements, nondestructive inspection of melon is difficult even by the method of modulating the projected light.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cucumber inspection device which measures the light passing through the cucumber and nondestructively measures the information regarding the taste such as the sugar content of the cucumber. It is in.

[0007]

A cucumber inspection apparatus according to claim 1 is provided in the middle of a transportation route of cucumbers, and has an inlet and an outlet that are opened and closed when the cucumbers pass therethrough. A light-blocking chamber that blocks external light when the outlet is closed, and a light projector that is provided in this light-blocking chamber and that projects light onto the melon and light that has passed through at least part of the melon. A measuring device for measuring taste information of melon using the detection output of the light receiver; and a first conveying means for conveying the melon and introducing it from the entrance into the light-shielding chamber. A second transport means for transporting the melons introduced into the light-shielding chamber by the first transport means from the inlet to the outlet, and a melon that is transported in the light-shielding chamber by the second transport means during measurement by the measuring device. Stop means for temporarily stopping the class at a position where measurement with a measuring device is possible. Those were example.

In this cucumber inspection apparatus, the cucumber is introduced into the light-shielding chamber by the first transporting means, is transported in the light-shielding chamber by the second transporting means, and can be measured by the measuring device by the stopping means. To be stopped. The measuring device is
Light emitted from the projector to the melon is detected, and the light detector detects the light that has passed through at least a part of the melon, and the detection output of this receiver is used to measure the taste information such as the sugar content of the melon. . After the measurement, the melons are carried out of the light-shielding chamber from the outlet by the second carrying means. In this way, the measurement is
It is performed in a light-shielded room in a state where external light is blocked.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting cucurbits according to the first aspect.
In the cucumber inspection device described above, further, before the measurement by the measuring device, a size measuring means for measuring the size of the cucumber measured by the measuring device, and a size measured by the size measuring means. And a positioning means for aligning the projector and the receiver of the measuring device with the central position of the melon to be measured.

In this melon cucumber inspection device, the size of the melon is measured by the size measuring means before the measurement by the measuring device, and the positioning means determines the light projector of the measuring device based on the measured size. And the receiver is centered on the melon.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cucumber inspection apparatus.
In the melon inspection device described above, the light-shielding chamber is formed to have a size to accommodate two or more melons, the size measuring means is arranged upstream of the measuring device in the light-shielding chamber, and the melon is stopped. The size of the melon is measured before reaching the stop position by the, and the positioning means performs positioning before the melon whose size is measured by the size measuring means reaches the stop position.

In this melon melon inspection device, the size measuring means measures the size of the melon and the positioning means uses the size measuring means before the melon reaches the stop position where the measuring device can measure. Positioning is performed before the melons whose size is measured reach the stop position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for inspecting cucurbits according to the first aspect.
In the cucurbit inspection device according to any one of 1 to 3, the light receiver has a means for bringing the light-receiving portion into close contact with the melon.

In this melon squirrel inspection apparatus, since the light receiving portion of the light receiver is in close contact with the melon, it is possible to receive only the light that has passed through the melon.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a schematic structure of the melon and cucumber inspection apparatus of this embodiment. In the actual sorting field, for visual inspection and subsequent measurement of dimensions and weight,
Cucurbits 11 are manually placed on the pallet 12 and sent to a fruit sorting device for measuring dimensions and weight. The cucumber inspection apparatus of the present embodiment is provided in the middle of the transportation route for sending the cucumbers to the fruit sorting device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cucumber inspection apparatus has an entrance door 13 and an exit door 1 which are opened and closed when the melon 11 passes.
4 is provided, and a light-shielding chamber 15 that shuts out external light when these doors 13 and 14 are closed is provided. The conveyors for transferring the melons 11 include a first conveyor 16 for transferring the melons 11 to the front of the light shielding chamber 15, a second conveyor 17 for transferring the melons 11 in the light shielding chamber 15, and a light shielding chamber 15 It is separated into three third conveyors 18 that convey the melons 11 that have come out. The light-shielding chamber 15 is provided with a cylinder 19 for opening and closing the entrance door 13 and a cylinder 20 for opening and closing the exit door 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first conveyor 16
Is two belts 16 separated by a predetermined distance.
a and 16b. A solenoid 21 is provided between the belts 16a and 16b at a position near the end of the entrance on the door 13 side. This solenoid 21
As shown in FIG. 1, has a rod 21a projecting and retracting from the positions of the upper end surfaces of the belts 16a and 16b. Also,
A proximity sensor 22 that detects the position of the tip of the pallet 12 is arranged upstream of the solenoid 21. As the proximity sensor 22, for example, a reflection type photo sensor can be used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the light-shielding chamber 15 is formed in such a size that the two melons 11 are placed on the second conveyor 17 and accommodated therein. Like the first conveyor 16, the second conveyor 17 also has two belts separated at a predetermined interval, and has a solenoid 23 similar to the solenoid 21 at two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side, 24 are provided. These solenoids 23 and 24 have rods 23a and 24a protruding and retracting from the position of the upper end surface of each belt of the second conveyor 17, respectively. The proximity sensor 2 is provided on the upstream side of each solenoid 23, 24.
Proximity sensors 25 and 26 similar to those in No. 2 are provided.

With the solenoids 21, 23, 24 projecting the rods 21a, 23a, 24a, respectively,
The pallet 12 is stopped by the rods 21a, 23a and 24a. At this time, the conveyors 16 and 17 are still operating, and the pallet 12 and the conveyors 16 and 17 are still in operation.
It slips between the belt.

In the light-shielding chamber 15, a size measuring device 30 for measuring the size of the melons 11 on the pallet 12 stopped by the solenoid 23, and a guar 11 on the pallet 12 stopped by the solenoid 24. A measuring device 40 for measuring taste information such as sugar content is provided (both are not shown in FIG. 1).

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of the size measuring instrument 30. The size measuring device 30 includes a light source 31 for irradiating the melon 11 with illumination light, an image forming lens 32 for forming an image of the melon 11 illuminated by the light source 31, and a combination of the image forming lens 32. And a line sensor 33 arranged at the image position. The measurement of the size of the melons 11 using the size measuring device 30 is performed as follows, for example.
That is, the image of the melon 11 is formed on the line sensor 33 by the image forming lens 32, and by the control device described later,
The diameter of the melon 11 is measured by binarizing the output signal of the line sensor 33 and counting the number of pixels that output a value corresponding to the image.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the measuring device 40, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the measuring device 40. As shown in these drawings, the measuring device 40 includes a base 41 and a cylinder 42 for moving the base 41 up and down. As shown in FIG. 4, on the base 41, a light projector 43 that projects measurement light such as near infrared light onto the melon 11 is provided. This projector 43
Is configured to project the parallel light 44 to the melon 11.
It should be noted that the light does not have to be strictly parallel light, but may be light that is close to parallel light that does not interfere with measurement. A motor 45 is mounted on the base 41 so that the output shaft is horizontal and faces the melon 11 side. This motor 45
A linear guide 46 having a groove 46a extending in a direction parallel to the output shaft is connected to the. As shown in FIG. 4, a ball screw 47 is provided in the groove 46a of the linear guide 46.
The ball screw 47 is connected to the output shaft of the motor 45. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a moving body 48 is attached to the linear guide 46. The moving body 48 is screwed into the ball screw 47, and the groove 46 a
The linear guide 46 as the motor 45 rotates.
It is designed to move along. A light receiver 49 for detecting the light projected by the light projector 43 and passing through at least a part of the melon 11 is mounted on the moving body 48. The light receiver 49 has a contact portion 50 made of a sponge or the like for bringing the light receiving end portion into close contact with the melon 11.
have.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, the photodetector 49 is arranged so that the photodetector 49 can detect as intense light as possible.
Is not on the opposite side of the projector 43, but the optical path length is short,
Moreover, they are arranged at an angle so that a necessary signal can be obtained.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control system of the cucurbit inspection apparatus of this embodiment. As shown in this figure, the cucumber inspection apparatus includes a control unit 51, and the control unit 51 includes
A conveyor motor 52 for driving the conveyors 16, 17 and 18, and a motor 5 connected to the output shaft of the motor 52.
An encoder 53 for detecting the rotational position of 2, proximity sensors 22, 25, 26, solenoids 21, 23, 24,
The cylinders 19 and 20, the line sensor 33, the light projector 43 of the measuring device 40, the light receiver 49, the cylinder 42, and the motor 45 are connected. The conveyor motor 5
2 and encoder 53 are provided for each conveyor 16, 17, 1
It is provided every eight.

The control section 51 includes, for example, a CPU (central processing unit), a ROM (read only memory), and a RAM.
It is composed of a microcomputer including a (random access memory) and an input / output port, and controls the overall operation of the cucurbit inspection apparatus by executing a program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a working area. ing.

Next, the operation of the cucumber inspection apparatus of this embodiment will be described.

The melons 11 placed on the pallet 12 are first conveyed by the first conveyor 16. When the proximity sensor 22 detects the tip of the pallet 12, the control unit 51
Is the output signal of the proximity sensor 22 and the first conveyor 1
Based on the output signal of the encoder 53 attached to the motor 52 for 6, the front end of the pallet 12 is the solenoid 21.
At a predetermined timing before reaching the position of the rod 21a, the solenoid 21 is turned on and the rod 21a is projected. As a result, the pallet 12 is temporarily stopped in front of the entrance of the light shielding room 15. Instead of the encoder 53,
A sensor for detecting the speed of the conveyor 16 may be provided, and the solenoid 21 may be turned on based on the output signal of this sensor instead of the output signal of the encoder 53.

Next, the control unit 51 operates the cylinder 19 to open the door 13 at the entrance of the light shielding chamber 15, turns off the solenoid 21 and lowers the rod 21a, and the pallet 1
The melon 11 placed on 2 is introduced into the light-shielding chamber 15, and then the entrance door 13 is closed. In the light-shielding chamber 15, when the proximity sensor 25 detects the tip of the pallet 12, the control unit 51 causes the output signal of the proximity sensor 25 and the encoder 53 attached to the motor 52 for the second conveyor 17.
Based on the output signal of the above, the solenoid 23 is turned on and the pallet 12 is temporarily stopped at a predetermined timing before the tip of the pallet 12 reaches the position of the rod 23a of the solenoid 23. Here, the size of the melon 11 is measured by the size measuring device 30. This measured melon 11
The control unit 51 determines the positions of the light emitter 43 and the light receiver 49 of the measuring device 40 so that the light emitter 43 and the light receiver 49 are aligned with the center of the melon 11 and controls the cylinder 42. , The light projector 43 and the light receiver 49 are moved to the determined positions.

Next, the control unit 51 turns off the solenoid 23, moves the melons 11 placed on the pallet 12, and when the proximity sensor 26 detects the tip of the pallet 12, the control unit 51 causes the proximity of the pallet 12. Output signal of sensor 26 and encoder 53 attached to motor 52 for second conveyor 17
Based on the output signal of the above, the solenoid 24 is turned on and the pallet 12 is temporarily stopped at a predetermined timing before the tip of the pallet 12 reaches the position of the rod 24a of the solenoid 24. Then, the control unit 51 controls the measuring device 40.
The motor 45 is operated to press the light receiving end of the light receiver 49 against the melon 11 so that the light receiving end is completely brought into close contact with the melon 11 via the close contact portion 50 made of sponge or the like. As a result, melon 11 without receiving noise
It is possible to measure the light passing through the inside. Since the projector 43 emits parallel light or light close to parallel light, the projector 43 and the melon 1 depend on the size of the melon 11.
Variations in the distance to the surface of 1 do not affect the measurement. In this state, the control unit 51 operates the light projector 43 to project the light on the melon 11 and causes the light receiver 49 to detect the light scattered through the melon 11. The output signal of the light receiver 49 is input to the control unit 51, and the control unit 51 measures information on taste such as sugar content.

As a method for measuring the sugar content and the like, for example, the method described in Japanese Patent Application No. 5-87341 by the present applicant can be used. This method projects measurement light onto an object to be measured (a melon in this embodiment), disperses the transmitted light from the object to be measured, receives the dispersed measurement light, and calculates the absorbance from the light reception result. However, the absorbance is standardized using two wavelengths near the absorption wavelength of the specific content of the object to be measured (sugar, acid, etc.), and the specific content is detected from the standardized absorbance. is there. The normalization of the absorbance is specifically performed by the following formula.

[0032]

## EQU1 ## S (λ) = {K (λ) −K (λ _L )} / {K
(Λ _H ) -K (λ _L )} or S (λ) = {K (λ _H ) -K (λ)} / {K (λ _H )-
K (λ _L )}

Here, S (λ) is the normalized absorbance,
K (λ) is the absorbance, λ is the wavelength, λ _H is the standardized upper limit wavelength near the absorption wavelength of the specific contents, and λ _L is the standardized lower limit wavelength near the absorption wavelength of the specific contents.

When the measurement by the measuring device 40 is completed, the control unit 51 separates the light receiving end of the light receiver 49 from the melon 11 and then turns off the solenoid 24 to turn off the pallet 12.
While moving the melons 11 placed on (1), the cylinder 20 is operated to open the exit door 14. The melons 11 placed on the pallet 12 are carried out of the light-shielding chamber 15 and carried downstream by the third conveyor 18. Downstream, measuring device 4
Based on the measurement result of 0, the melon 11 is selected in several stages.

While the measuring device 40 is measuring the melons 11, the pallet 12 on which the next melon 11 is placed is stopped by the solenoid 23, and the next pallet 12 is stopped by the solenoid 21. When 40 finishes the measurement, the movement is started respectively.

As described above, according to this embodiment,
Since the information about the taste such as the sugar content of the melon 11 is measured in the light-shielded room 15, there is no influence of outside light,
Accurate and non-destructive measurement can be performed. Further, by bringing the light receiving end of the light receiver 49 into close contact with the melon 11, only the light passing through the melon 11 can be measured, and the accuracy is further improved. Further, by emitting parallel light or light close to parallel light from the light projector 43, the influence of the variation in the distance between the light projector 43 and the melon 11 due to the difference in the outer diameter of the melon 11 is eliminated.

In this embodiment, the size measuring instrument 30 is provided before the melon 11 reaches the measurable position of the measuring device 40.
The size of the melon 11 is measured by the light projector 43 before the melon 11 reaches the measurable position of the measuring device 40.
Since the height of the light receiver 49 is adjusted to the center position of the melon 11, the measurement can be performed accurately regardless of the size of the melon 11. Further, the time when the pallet 12 is stopped for measuring the melon 11 by the measuring device 40 is
The operation of pressing the light receiving end of the light receiver 49 against the melon 11
Since only the time of three operations, that is, the actual measurement operation and the operation of moving the light receiving end of the light receiver 49 away from the melon 11 are sufficient,
The measurement can be performed very quickly, and a large amount of melon 11 can be continuously measured.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment,
For example, the size measuring device 30 may measure the size before the melon 11 enters the light-shielding chamber 15, for example, when it is stopped by the solenoid 21, or the melon 1
The size of 1 may be measured while being conveyed by the first conveyor 16 or the second conveyor 17. Further, the stop positions of the pallet 12 in the light-shielding chamber 15 may be increased, and a plurality of measuring devices 40 may be provided corresponding to each stop position.

[0039]

As described above, according to the cucumber inspection apparatus of the first aspect, the light shielding chamber is provided in the middle of the melon transportation route, and the measurement is performed in the light shielding chamber with the outside light blocked. Therefore, there is an effect that it is possible to measure the light that has passed through the melon and measure the information regarding the taste such as the sugar content of the melon, nondestructively.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the size of the melon is measured before the measurement by the measuring device, and the illuminator of the measuring device is measured based on the measured size. Since the light receiver is aligned with the center position of the melon, in addition to the above effects, there is an effect that accurate measurement can be performed regardless of the size of the melon.

According to the apparatus for inspecting melon and melon according to claim 3, the size of the melon and melon is measured before reaching the stop position where the melon and melon can be measured by the measuring device, and this size is measured. Since the transmitter and receiver of the measuring device are positioned before the cucumbers reach the stop position, in addition to the above effects, the time during which the cucumbers are stopped for measurement is shortened and a large amount of This has the effect of making it possible to continuously measure melons.

According to the melon inspection apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the light receiving portion of the light receiver of the measuring device is brought into close contact with the melon, only the light passing through the melon is measured. In addition to the above respective effects, there is an effect that the measurement accuracy is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a cucurbit inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a first conveyor, a solenoid and a proximity sensor in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the configuration of a size measuring device used in the melon and cucumber inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a measuring device used in the melon and cucumber inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a side view of the measuring device of FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system of the cucumber inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Cucurbits 12 Pallets 13 Entrance Doors 14 Exit Doors 15 Shading Chambers 16 First Conveyor 17 Second Conveyor 18 Third Conveyor 21, 23, 24 Solenoids 22, 25, 26 Proximity Sensor 30 Size Measuring Instrument 40 Measuring device 43 Emitter 49 Light receiver

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A light-shielding chamber which is provided in the middle of a melon transportation route and has an inlet and an outlet that are opened and closed when the melon passes, and shuts off external light when the inlet and the outlet are closed. And a light projector provided in the light-shielding chamber for projecting light to the melon and a light receiver for detecting light passing through at least a part of the melon, and using the detection output of the light receiver. Measuring device for measuring information on the taste of melon, first transport means for transporting the melon and introducing it into the light-shielding chamber from the entrance, and the melon introduced into the light-shielding chamber by the first transport means. A second transport means for transporting from the entrance to the outlet, and a melon that is transported in the light-shielding chamber by the second transport means at the time of measurement by the measuring device, to a position where the measurement device can measure temporarily. An apparatus for inspecting cucurbits, comprising: 2. Before the measurement by the measuring device, based on the size measuring means for measuring the size of the melons measured by the measuring device, and the size measured by the size measuring means, Set the transmitter and receiver of the measuring device
The cucumber inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: positioning means for adjusting the center position of the cucumber to be measured. 3. The light-shielding chamber is formed to have a size for accommodating two or more melons, the size measuring unit is arranged upstream of the measuring device in the light-shielding chamber, and the melon is the stopping unit. Characterized in that the size of the melon is measured before reaching the stop position, and the positioning means performs positioning before the melon whose size is measured by the size measuring means reaches the stop position. The cucurbit inspection apparatus according to claim 2. 4. The melon inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light receiver has a means for bringing the light receiving portion into close contact with the melon.