JPH1062251A - Bottle color determination method, bottle color determination device, and glass bottle automatic color sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (With correction) [Problem] To perform a bottle color judgment with high accuracy by excluding a label, a dirt, a lid, etc. even if the shape and size of the bottle are not constant. A transparent screen (6) is provided on the way of transporting the bottles (1) to a collection box (11) of different colors, light is applied to the bottles (1) on the transparent screen (6) by illumination (5), and the transmitted light of the bottles (1) is photographed by a camera (7). . A luminance distribution in the bottle length direction is obtained from the image obtained by the camera 7 by the image processing device 8, and a luminance threshold h is provided for the luminance distribution 8A in the bottle edge length direction. Is defined as the existence range in the length direction of the bottle 1, and then, of the luminance distribution 8 B in the length direction of the center portion of the bottle 1,
The ranges L1, L2, and L3 having the maximum luminance in the existing range L in the length direction of the bottle 1 are determined as the color determination target areas, and the luminance values of the RGB color components in the areas L1, L2, and L3 are obtained. This is given to the color determination unit 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic color sorting apparatus for glass bottles, and more particularly to a technique for judging bottle color.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the case where used glass bottles are collected and reused, the bottles are sometimes sorted by their colors.

Heretofore, color sorting of collected glass bottles has been mainly performed manually. However, in the case of manual work, sorting sensitivity and sorting speed vary depending on the mental state of the worker, the degree of fatigue, environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, unusual odor, unsanitary, noise), etc. Not suitable for In the case of manual work, the operator directly touches the glass bottle.However, the collected glass bottle is used once. May be in a sanitary condition.

[0004] Recently, an apparatus has been disclosed that automatically performs color selection by judging color using image processing technology.

As a method of judging a bottle color by image processing,
A method of irradiating the collected glass bottle with light, photographing the transmitted light with a camera, and determining the color from the luminance values of the R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color components of the obtained image, or R,
The luminance value of each of the G and B color components is further converted to another coordinate system (X, Y, Z).
And a method of judging the bottle color by converting into a bottle system or a Lab system, etc., and some of them have been put to practical use.

In the bottle color determination method or the glass bottle automatic color selection device using the above-described conventional image processing, color selection is performed in order to avoid erroneous determination of the bottle color due to the influence of stains, labels, lids, etc. attached to the bottle. In many cases, bottle color determination is performed only for a target bottle having a specific shape or size.

The reason is as follows (1) to (4). (1) Labels, dirt, lids, and the like are attached to the collected glass bottles, so it is necessary to perform bottle color judgment at a position excluding these. (2) However, the shape and size of the recovered glass bottles are generally not constant.
If you try to determine the bottle color by removing dirt and lids,
Since these positions are not constant, the accuracy of bottle color determination is reduced. (3) Further, when a short bottle is photographed, there is a part where the camera directly photographs the illumination light. However, since the luminance value of each of the RGB color components in this part is a photograph of the direct light, the luminance value of the color component is different from that of the transparent glass. There is no significant difference, and therefore, the bottle color is easily erroneously determined to be transparent. (4) Further, in order to distinguish between the direct light and the light transmitted through the transparent glass, it is necessary to increase the aperture of the camera. However, if the aperture is too large, the amount of light incident on the camera decreases, and the color becomes brown or green. It is difficult to determine other bottle colors such as black.

[0008] Therefore, in order to apply a conventional bottle color judgment method or a glass bottle automatic color sorting device using image processing, an operator sorts bottles in advance by shape or size, and further sorts bottles to be sorted. It was necessary to change the sensitivity of the bottle color determination each time the shape and size of the bottle differed.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention provides a method for producing labels, stains, and the like even if the shape and size of the bottles are not constant.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle color determination method, a bottle color determination device, and a glass bottle automatic color selection device that can perform a bottle color determination with high accuracy by excluding a lid and the like.

[0010]

A bottle color determination method according to the present invention, which achieves the above object, captures the transmitted light of a glass bottle and obtains a luminance distribution in the bottle length direction from the obtained image.
The existence range in the length direction of the bottle is determined from the luminance distribution in the length direction of the bottle edge and the threshold value of the luminance. The range is defined as a color determination target area, and the color of the bottle is determined using color information in the color determination target area.

The bottle color judging device according to the present invention comprises: photographing means for photographing transmitted light of a glass bottle; and image processing means for image-processing the image obtained by the photographing means to determine the bottle color. In the bottle color determination apparatus, the image processing means obtains a luminance distribution in a bottle length direction from the image, and determines a luminance distribution in a bottle edge length direction and an existence range in a bottle length direction from a luminance threshold value. Area determination means for determining from the luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction of the bottle center the brightness range within the existing range in the longitudinal direction of the bottle and a bright range as a color determination target area, and the area determining means. Color determination means for determining a bottle color using the color information in the color determination target area.

Further, a glass bottle automatic color sorting apparatus according to the present invention, which achieves the above object, has a conveying means for conveying a glass bottle, a photographing means for photographing the transmitted light of the bottle being conveyed, and a photographing means for photographing the transmitted light. Image processing means for performing image processing on the image to be determined to determine the bottle color, and color selection means for performing color selection on the bottles conveyed by the conveyance means according to the bottle color judgment result of the image processing means. In the automatic glass bottle color sorter, the image processing means obtains a brightness distribution in the bottle length direction from the image, and determines the presence in the bottle length direction from the brightness distribution in the bottle edge length direction and the brightness threshold. An area determining unit that determines a range and determines a bright range within the existing range in the longitudinal direction of the bottle and a bright area from the luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction of the bottle as the color determination target area; Color And having a determining color determination means for bottles color using the color information in the constant target area.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS When a glass bottle is photographed by a camera using a transmitted light method, the edges (sides) of the bottle apparently increase in the thickness of the glass and the refraction of light, etc., so that the central portion of the bottle is lost. It looks darker. Therefore, when the luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction of the bottle edge is obtained from an image obtained by photographing the bottle by the transmission light method, the luminance is large (bright) in a place where there is no bottle, that is, a part where the illumination light is directly photographed. In other words, the brightness is smaller (darker) in a place where there is a bottle than in a place where there is no bottle. For this reason, the presence or absence of a bottle and the length of the bottle can be determined from the luminance distribution in the length direction of the bottle edge and the threshold value of the luminance. That is, the existing range in the length direction of the bottle can be determined.

Next, when the luminance distribution in the length direction of the central portion of the bottle is obtained and observed, in addition to the portion having no bottle and the portion having the information of the bottle color, there are a portion having a stain on the bottle, a portion having a label, and a lid. Parts are mixed. Of these, where there is no bottle,
The determination can be made from the existence range in the length direction of the determined bottle from the luminance distribution in the length direction of the bottle edge described above. When viewed from the luminance distribution, the label, dirt, lid, and the like attached to the bottle have a smaller luminance value than the portion having the bottle color information.
Therefore, the portion having the bottle color information is a portion (within the existing range in the length direction of the bottle) excluding the portion without the bottle in the brightness distribution in the length direction of the central portion of the bottle, and has relatively large brightness (bright). ) Range. When this range is set as a color determination target area and bottle color determination is performed using color information in the same area,
The effects of labels, dirt, lids, and the like can be eliminated, and the bottle color can be determined with high accuracy even when the shape and size of the bottle change.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example of an image of a short glass bottle taken by a transmitted light method. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a glass bottle automatic color sorting apparatus. FIG. 3 shows a V-shaped rail for transporting bottles.

(Bin Color Judgment Method) A bottle color judgment method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. On the left side of the figure, when the short glass bottle 1 is photographed by the transmitted light method,
An example 8A of the luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction at the bottle edge portion (side portion) A is shown, and since the illumination light is directly photographed at a portion above the upper end a of the bottle, the luminance value (luminance level) is obtained. Has a high value of h1, but when approaching below the upper end a of the bottle, since the edge of the bottle 1 is exactly photographed, the luminance value increases from h1 due to the increase in the apparent glass thickness and the refraction of light. h2, and when the label 2 reaches the start end b of the label 2 or less, the amount of transmitted light is further reduced by the edge of the bottle 1 and the label 2, and the luminance value becomes
2 to h3, and after the end c of the label 2, it becomes only the edge of the bottle 1 and the brightness value increases from h3 to h4 which is almost equal to h2. Below the bottom end d of the bottle, the brightness becomes only illumination light. The brightness value has further increased from h4 to h5, which is approximately equal to h1.

As a result, in this example, in the luminance distribution 8A in the longitudinal direction of the bottle edge, the ranges a to d having a luminance value lower than the high luminance value h1 or h5 correspond to the existence of the bottle 1 in the length direction. Range.

Next, on the right side of FIG. 1, there is shown a luminance distribution 8B in the longitudinal direction at the center B of the bottle. In a portion above the upper end e of the bottle, the luminance value is a high value of only the illumination light. h6 (a value substantially equal to h1 or h5 in the brightness distribution 8A in the length direction of the bottle edge), but in the range from the top end e of the bottle to the start f of the stain 3, the brightness value is a value h7 based on the original color of the bottle 1. And the luminance value further decreases from h7 to h8 due to dirt 3 between the dirt start end f and the dirt end g. In the range from the dirt end g to the start end h of the label 2, the luminance value becomes the original color of the bottle 1. Is increased to a value h9 which is almost equal to h7 based on the luminance value h9 for the label 2 between the label start end h and the label end i.
From the end of the label i, the luminance value increases to a value h11 substantially equal to h7 based on the original color of the bottle 1, and below the lower end j of the bottle, the brightness becomes only illumination light, and the luminance value changes from h11. It has increased to h12 which is almost equal to h6.

As a result, the area showing the original color of the bottle 1 is from the top end e of the bottle to the start f of the stain, from the end g of the stain to the start h of the label, and from the end i of the label to the bottom j of the bottle.
Can be determined. Therefore, in this example, the brightness value is within the existing range a to d in the length direction of the bottle 1 determined from the brightness distribution 8A in the bottle edge length direction described above and in the brightness distribution 8B in the bottle center length direction. The ranges e to f, g to h, and i to j that indicate the substantially maximum values are determined as the color determination target areas.

The color determination target areas ef, g to h
The determination of the bottle color is performed using the luminance value information itself of each of the RGB color components in i and j or the color information obtained by performing coordinate conversion of these values to an XYZ system or a Lab system. Therefore,
Even if the shape and size of the bottle 1 are not constant, the bottle color can be determined with high accuracy by excluding the label 2, the stain 3, the lid, and the like.

Here, the luminance distribution 8 in the longitudinal direction of the bottle edge A is shown.
The reason that the existence range in the length direction of the bottle is determined by A is that only the brightness level distribution 8B in the length direction of the bin center portion B in the case of a transparent glass bottle has a brightness value h6 in a place where there is no bottle.
(Or h12) luminance value h7 based on the original color of the bottle
(Or h9, h11) cannot be obtained, and the length of the bottle 1 cannot be determined.

In FIG. 1, although the bottle 1 has no lid, even if the lid is present, it is treated in the same manner as the label 2 or the stain 3, and is excluded from the color determination target area.

(Bin Color Judging Apparatus and Glass Bottle Automatic Color Sorting Apparatus) Next, a bottle color judging apparatus and a glass bottle automatic color sorting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The automatic color sorting device for glass bottles in this example includes a transport device 4
, Lighting 5, transparent screen 6, video camera 7
, An image processing device 8, a color sorter control unit 10, a plurality of collection boxes 11, a plurality of gate driving motors 12, a bottle position detector 13, and a plurality of gates 14.

Here, the illumination 5, the transparent screen 6,
The video camera 7 constitutes a photographing unit. The image processing device 8 has a built-in color determination unit 9. The bottle color judging device is composed of photographing means (5, 6, 7) and an image processing device 8.
The color sorter includes a color sorter control unit 10 and a plurality of collection boxes 11.
And a plurality of gate driving motors 12 and a plurality of gates 1
4 The bottle position detector 13 is a video camera 7
When the position of the bottle 1 is detected, the detection signal is output to the image processing device 8.

In FIG. 2, a transporting device 4 transports the bottle 1 to a color sorter. For example, using a V-shaped rail 4a inclined as shown in FIG. The transport direction is adjusted so that the center line 1a is always at the same position.

Then, a transparent screen 6 is arranged in the middle of the bottle transport line, an illumination 5 for illuminating the bottle 1 on the transparent screen 6 is arranged on the back side of the transparent screen 6, and a transmitted light is photographed on the front side. A video camera 7 is arranged. The video camera 7 outputs an image signal to the image processing device 8. The illumination 5, the transparent screen 6, and the video camera 7 are set so that the largest one of the conveyed bottles can be photographed.

The image processing apparatus 8 has a function (area determining means) for determining a color determination target area, and a built-in color determining section 9, whereby an image signal is generated every time the video camera 7 captures an image of the bottle 1. The luminance distribution in the length direction of the bottle is obtained, and the bottle color is determined.

In the image processing apparatus 8 of this embodiment, a threshold value h of luminance is provided for the luminance distribution 8A in the length direction of the bottle edge A, and a range L having a luminance value equal to or less than the threshold value h is set in the bottle. 1 is determined to be a range in the length direction. In addition, bottle center B
From the luminance distribution 8B in the length direction of the bottle 1, the ranges L1 and L within the existence range L in the length direction of the bottle 1 and having the maximum luminance.
2, L3 is determined to be a color determination target area. And
The luminance values of the R, G, and B color components in the color determination target regions L1, L2, and L3 are output to the built-in color determination unit 9 as color information.
The color determination unit 9 determines the bottle color by using the given luminance value of each of the RGB color components or by performing coordinate conversion of the luminance value of each of the RGB color components into an XYZ system, a Lab system, or the like. The determination result is output to the color sorter control unit 10.

Here, the color sorter will be described. A plurality of collection boxes 11 are arranged in different colors along the transport line, and further, a gate 14 is connected to the transport line near the entrance of each collection box 11.
Is arranged. Each gate 14 is provided with a gate opening / closing drive motor 12. Color sorter control unit 10
Opens the gate 14 by operating the motor 12 of the collection box 11 of a predetermined color based on the bottle color determination result of the color determination unit 9.

Next, the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be described. When the bottle 1 is transported and reaches the transparent screen 6, it is illuminated by the illumination 5. The video camera 7 captures the transmitted light at this time, and outputs the image to the image processing device 8. The image processing device 8 determines a range L having a luminance value equal to or less than the threshold value h with respect to the luminance distribution 8A in the length direction of the bottle edge as the existing range in the length direction of the bottle 1, and then determines the length of the central portion of the bottle. In the luminance distribution 8B in the direction, the ranges L1, L2, and L3 having the maximum luminance within the existing range L in the length direction of the bottle 1 are determined as the color determination target areas. The luminance value of each of the RGB color components in the target areas L1, L2, and L3 is used, or the luminance value of each of the RGB color components is X.
-Determine the bottle color by performing coordinate conversion to a YZ system, a Lab system, or the like, and output the determination result to the color selector control unit 10. Based on the bottle color determination result, the color sorter control unit 10 operates the motor 12 of the collection box 11 of a predetermined color to open the gate 14. As described above, the bottle 1 enters the collection box 14 of a predetermined color from the opened gate 14, and the glass bottle color selection is automatically performed.

In the above embodiment, the bottle 1 is transported in the longitudinal direction using the V-shaped rail 4a so that the center line 1a is always at the same position. Thus, in the video taken of the bottle 1 with the video camera 7,
The central portion B of the bottle 1 is always at the same position, and the central portion B of the bottle can be easily and easily specified in the image. If the range of the diameter of the bottle to be sorted is checked in advance, the bottle edge A can be easily and easily identified in the image. Note that the information on the bottle edge A is used to know the length of the bottle 1 as preprocessing for specifying the color determination target regions L1, L2, and L3, and therefore includes some errors. Does not affect the color selection accuracy.

Further, the luminance distribution 8 in the length direction of the bottle edge portion A
The method of setting the threshold value h of the luminance for A is not particularly limited. For example, a luminance value of 90% of the high luminance value h1 (see FIG. 1) corresponding to the place where the bottle 1 is not present is taken as an example. A threshold may be used (however, whether it is 90% is determined by experiment or the like).

Further, there may be a slight variation in the luminance values of the RGB color components in the color determination target areas L1, L2, L3. By specifying the position showing the maximum luminance, the color determination can be performed. In addition, the influence of the variation in the brightness value is not mixed.

[0034]

According to the bottle color judging method, the bottle color judging device and the glass bottle automatic color sorting device of the present invention, the existence range in the length direction of the bottle is determined from the luminance distribution in the length direction of the bottle edge, and the center of the bottle is determined. From the luminance distribution in the part length direction, the range in which the bottle exists in the length direction of the bottle and in which the luminance is bright is defined as the color determination target area, and the bottle color is determined using the color information in this color determination target area. effective. (1) Even if the shape or size of the bottle is not constant, highly accurate bottle color determination or highly accurate glass bottle automatic color sorting can be performed. (2) Even if the shape or size of the bottle is not constant, the sorting sensitivity initially set can be kept constant for a long time without the need for manual work by an operator, and long-term continuous bottle color judgment or glass Automatic bottle color sorting can be performed without changing processing speed. (3) Bottle color judgment or glass bottle automatic color sorting can be performed even if the shape or size of the bottle is not constant, so that there is no need for an operator to sort the bottles by shape or size in advance, and sorting is performed. The department does not require any workers, and there is no need to have workers near the apparatus, so that the workers can be released from unpleasant odors and unsanitary environments.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a bottle color determination method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an automatic color sorting apparatus for collected glass bottles according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a V-shaped rail for transporting bottles.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A Bottle edge B Bottle center h Luminance threshold L Existence range in bottle length direction L1, L2, L3 Color judgment target area 1 Bottle 1a Center line 2 Label 3 Dirt 4 Transport device 4a V-shaped rail for bottle transport 5 Illumination 6 Transparent screen 7 Camera 8 Image processing device 8A Luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction of bottle edge 8B Luminance distribution in the longitudinal direction of bottle center 9 Color discriminator 10 Color sorter controller 11 Collection box 12 Motor for gate drive 13 Bottle position Detector 14 gate

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Photographing transmitted light of a glass bottle, obtaining a luminance distribution in a bottle length direction from an obtained image, and determining a bottle length from a luminance distribution in a bottle edge length direction and a threshold value of luminance. The existence range in the direction is determined, and from the luminance distribution in the central part length direction of the bottle, a range in which the presence of the bottle in the length direction and the brightness is high is set as a color judgment target area, and the color information in the color judgment target area is used. Determining the color of the bottle by means of the method. 2. A bottle color determining apparatus comprising: a photographing means for photographing transmitted light of a glass bottle; and an image processing means for processing an image obtained by the photographing means to determine a bottle color. The image processing means obtains a luminance distribution in a bottle length direction from the image, determines an existence range in a bottle length direction from a luminance distribution in a bottle edge length direction and a threshold value of the luminance, and determines a bottle central portion length direction. Region determination means for determining that a range of high brightness within the existing range in the longitudinal direction of the bottle from the brightness distribution is a color determination target area; and in the color determination target area determined by the area determination means. A bottle color determination device comprising: a color determination unit that determines a bottle color using color information. 3. A conveying means for conveying a glass bottle,
Photographing means for photographing the transmitted light of the bottle being conveyed, image processing means for image-processing the image obtained by the photographing means to determine the bottle color, and according to the bottle color judgment result of the image processing means, In a glass bottle automatic color sorting apparatus, comprising: a color sorting unit that sorts the color of a bottle conveyed by a conveying unit, wherein the image processing unit obtains a luminance distribution in a bottle length direction from the image, and a bottle edge length. The existence range in the longitudinal direction of the bottle is determined from the luminance distribution in the vertical direction and the threshold value of the luminance, and the luminance distribution in the central direction of the bottle is used to color the bright range of the luminance within the existing range in the longitudinal direction of the bottle. A glass comprising: an area determining unit that determines an area to be determined; and a color determining unit that determines a bottle color using color information in the color determination area determined by the area determining unit. Bottle automatic color sorting Location.