JPH1159875A - Article inspection equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an article inspection apparatus capable of accurately and reliably inspecting the entire peripheral surface of an article, and capable of performing an inspection operation and a sorting operation accurately. A fruit and vegetable product conveyed by a first conveyor is transferred between support rollers of a rotating machine, and the support roller on which the fruit and vegetable product is placed is rotated to remove the fruit and vegetable product placed between the support rollers. Rotate. The imaging camera of the determination device captures both front and back surfaces and both peripheral surfaces of the fruit and vegetable, and the determination device determines the grade of the fruit and vegetable based on the captured image data. Since the inspected fruits and vegetables placed between the support rollers are transferred to the second conveyor, and the fruits and vegetables conveyed by the second conveyor are sorted by grade based on the judgment by the judging device. Inspection and sorting operations can be performed accurately.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to fruit and vegetables such as oranges, apples, watermelons, pears, persimmons, peaches and potatoes, or substantially balls such as balls for tennis, soccer, baseball and table tennis. The present invention relates to an article inspection apparatus used for inspecting an article having a shape or a substantially elliptical shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method for inspecting fruit vegetables as in the above-described example, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, as shown in FIG. There is a method in which an image is taken from above at 42 and the outer peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is inspected based on the taken image data to determine an equal class.

[0003]

However, since the upper peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is imaged from above by the imaging camera 42 as described above, for example, discoloration, decay, damage, scars, and the like may occur in the lower part of the fruit and vegetable A. Even on the peripheral surface (back side), the lower peripheral surface (back side) of the fruit and vegetable product A cannot be imaged by the imaging camera 42, and it is difficult to find it. Cannot be inspected.

As another inspection method, as shown in FIG. 11, when the fruit and vegetable A is transferred from the front conveyor 43 to the rear conveyor 44, the upper peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is captured by the imaging camera 45. Image from above. At the same time, there is a method in which the lower peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is imaged by the imaging camera 45 via the mirrors 46 and 46 disposed between the opposite ends of the conveyors 43 and 44 and on both lower sides. Since the transfer speed of the object A is high and the imaging area of the lower peripheral surface is small, it is difficult to inspect the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A, and there is a problem that the inspection operation cannot be performed accurately.

In view of the above problems, the present invention rotates the article supplied to the inspection section by a rotating means to change the orientation to an arbitrary direction, so that the entire peripheral surface of the article can be inspected accurately and reliably. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article inspection apparatus capable of performing work and sorting work accurately.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention,
The present invention is characterized in that the inspection unit for inspecting an article is provided with a rotation unit for rotating the article supplied to the inspection unit in an arbitrary direction.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, there is provided an article inspection apparatus in which the inspection section and the rotating means are provided on a transport path for transporting the article. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the rotating means includes a plurality of supports arranged at intervals at which the articles are placed, and The article inspection apparatus is characterized in that it is provided with a rotation imparting means for imparting rotation to the support on which the direction of the article is changed with respect to the support on which is placed.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article inspection apparatus which supplies an article having a substantially spherical shape, such as fruit and vegetables, a ball, etc., to an inspection section by artificial means or mechanical means, and removes the article supplied to the inspection section. Rotation (for example, front / back inversion, horizontal rotation) is performed by a rotating means to change the orientation to an arbitrary direction, and, for example, the entire peripheral surface of the article is visually inspected by an operator's eyes, or the periphery of the article is Since the entire surface is imaged and the entire peripheral surface of the article is inspected based on the image data, the entire peripheral surface of the article can be inspected accurately and reliably, and the inspection and sorting work of the article can be performed accurately. Can be done. Alternatively, by irradiating an article with inspection light such as ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, X-rays, or the like, it is easy to find discoloration, decay, damage, scars, floating skin, and the like, thereby improving the inspection accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation of the first aspect, the article inspection apparatus sequentially transports a large number of articles to the inspection section on the transport path and rotates the articles transported to the inspection section by rotating means. Inspection is performed while rotating, so that the operation of inspecting a large number of articles can be performed continuously, and the efficiency of the inspection operation can be improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the operation of the first or second aspect, the article inspection apparatus places an article between supports such as rollers, spheres, and the like, and attaches the article to the support. For example, by applying the rotational force of a rotation applying means including a belt, a pad, a motor, and the like, and changing the article placed between the supports to an arbitrary direction, the placement position of the article is displaced. Can be prevented, and the inspection work of the article can be stably performed.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the article supplied to the inspection section is rotated by the rotating means to be changed to an arbitrary direction, and, for example, the entire peripheral surface of the article is visually inspected with the eyes of the operator. In addition, since the entire peripheral surface of the fruit or vegetable is imaged and inspected by the imaging camera, the entire peripheral surface of the article can be inspected accurately and reliably. In addition, discoloration, decay, damage, scars, and the like can be easily found even on a part of the peripheral surface of the article, and the inspection and sorting of the article can be performed accurately.

Further, by inspecting the article conveyed to the inspection section while rotating the article by the rotating means, the trouble and time required for inspecting the article in a stopped state can be saved.
The work of inspecting a large number of articles can be performed continuously, and the efficiency of the inspection work can be improved. Furthermore, by rotating the plurality of supports on which the articles are placed and changing the articles placed between the supports to an arbitrary direction, it is possible to prevent the placement position of the articles from being displaced. Rotation work and inspection work can always be stably performed.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings show, as an example of an article, an article inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment used for sorting fruits and vegetables by equal rank, and FIG. 1 and FIG.
Is disposed in the inspection section B set between the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3, and transfers the fruit and vegetables A transported by the first conveyor 2 between the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4. Then, the support rollers 17 on which the fruit and vegetables A are placed are rotated, and the fruit and vegetables A placed between the support rollers 17 are rotated (upside down). At the same time, the imaging cameras 30 to 3 of the determination device 5
In step 3, the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is imaged, and the class of the fruit and vegetable A is determined by the determination device 5 based on the captured image data. The inspected fruit and vegetable product A placed between the support rollers 17 is transferred to the second conveyor 3, and the fruit and vegetable product A is transported to the sorting units a to g set on the second conveyor 3, and the judgment is made. Based on the determination by the apparatus 5, the fruit and vegetables A are sorted into the third conveyors 6 ... arranged in the sorting units a to g by grade.

Since the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3 have the same configuration, the configuration of the second conveyor 3 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, for example, an endless belt 10 composed of a chain, a belt, or the like is stretched on the side of the conveyance path in parallel with the feeding direction, and attached to the conveyance side edge of the endless belt 10. A receiving plate 12 is pivotally mounted on a side portion of the mounting member 11 so as to be vertically swingable in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction.
The receiving plate 12 is connected to the fruit vegetable A with respect to the entire length of the endless belt 10.
Are mounted at intervals in the front-rear direction where they are placed, and are arranged in a keyboard shape. And endless belt 1 constituting conveyors 2 and 3
Numeral 0 is independently or interlockedly rotated in the feed direction by a circulating motor (not shown) with a speed reducer, and orbits the receiving plates 12 attached to the endless belt 10 in the feed direction.

Locking lever 11 pivotally attached to mounting member 11
a is rotated in a direction in which it is locked and unlocked with respect to the pivot-side end of the receiving plate 12, and the locking lever 11 a is locked to the pivot-side end of the receiving plate 12. Then, the receiving plate 12 is swung and fixed in a horizontal posture in which the fruit and vegetable A is placed. When the locking is released, the receiving plate 12 is allowed to swing to a release posture in which the fruit and vegetables A are discharged obliquely downward. When unlocking the locking lever 11a, the sorting device 13 disposed in the sorting units a to g is operated based on the determination by the determination device 5 described later to release the locking by the locking lever 11a. Then, the receiving plate 12 is swung to the release position.

On the other hand, when the locking lever 11a is locked and fixed, for example, the receiving plate 1 is moved along a guide member (not shown).
2 is returned to the horizontal posture, and is locked and fixed to the pivot-side end of the receiving plate 12. Also, for example,
The receiving plate 12 may be returned to the horizontal posture by a spring, its own weight, or the like. Instead of the receiving plate 12, for example, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a receiving roller 14 formed substantially in the same shape as a support roller 17 described later may be attached so as to be able to swing up and down. Can be performed. In addition, the above-mentioned conveyor 2,
One or both of the three may be constituted by a conveyor means such as a belt conveyor, a thrust conveyor, or a conveyor with buckets or cups.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7, the rotating machine 4 is connected to an inspection section B set between the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3 by, for example, a chain or a belt. The endless belts 15, 15 are stretched on both sides of the conveying path in parallel with the feeding direction, and a hollow or hollow space is formed between the opposing surfaces of the bearing members 16, 16 attached to the opposing edges of the endless bands 15, 15. A solidly formed support roller 17 is mounted on a shaft so as to be freely rotatable in the feed direction, and the support roller 17 is spaced apart from the entire length of the endless band 15 by a distance before and after the fruit and vegetables A large and small are placed. Many are installed.

The endless belt 15 has sprockets 18 and 18 which are supported near the feed end of the first conveyor 2 and sprockets 19 and 19 which are supported near the start end of the second conveyor 3 on the feed side. It is stretched between. The circling motor 20 with a speed reducer disposed at the lower end on the end side is connected to the endless belt 1 via the sprockets 21 and 22 and the drive chain 23.
5 and 15 are rotated in the feed direction, and the support rollers 17 are circulated in the feed direction in synchronization with the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3.

The support roller 17 is formed in a shape (for example, a drum shape) having a large diameter from the outer peripheral surface at the center to the outer peripheral surface at both ends, and is formed on the outer peripheral surface with, for example, synthetic rubber (urethane rubber or sponge rubber). ), A member having a large contact resistance such as synthetic leather is coated or formed to provide a contact resistance necessary for rotating the fruit and vegetable A, thereby preventing the outer peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A from being damaged. Further, for example, on the outer peripheral surface of the support roller 17,
It is also possible to form a plurality or a plurality of stripes, lattices, meshes, or other ridges (not shown), so that the contact resistance and the contact area with the fruit and vegetable A are increased, and the fruit and vegetable A can be reliably rotated. . In place of the above-described support roller 17, for example, a support roller 17 formed to have the same diameter from the outer peripheral surface on one end side to the outer peripheral surface on the other end side may be used. Can be rotated (upside down) at the same position.

In the center of the lower part of the inspection section B, a support roller 17 is provided.
The rotation imparting belt 24 is stretched parallel to the feeding direction so as to face the lower peripheral surface of the free end side or the lower peripheral surface of the central portion. The press-contact-side peripheral surface of the rotation imparting belt 24 is covered or formed with a member having a large contact resistance, such as synthetic rubber or synthetic leather, for example, and has a width and a length that are pressed against the lower peripheral surface at the free end of the support roller 17. Formed. And a pulley 25 supporting the rotation imparting belt 24 at the start end and the end thereof.
25, and a central portion of the pressurizing side of the rotation imparting belt 24 is stretched on a belt guide 26 provided between the pulleys 25, 25. The rotation applying belt 24 is guided around the lower peripheral surface so as to be pressed against the lower peripheral surface.

A rotation motor 27 with a speed reducer disposed on the end side is directly connected to a pulley 25 which is rotatably supported on the same side, and rotates the rotation imparting belt 24 at a high speed in a direction coinciding with the circumferential direction of the support rollers 17. The support rollers 17 are rotated (at a feed speed or higher) or are rotated at a low speed or stopped in a direction opposite to the orbital direction, and are pressed against the rotation imparting belt 24.
Is rotated while rotating in the direction of the arrow, so that the large, medium and small fruit vegetables A are turned upside down in the front and rear direction in the same region due to the peripheral speed difference generated between the small diameter side outer peripheral surface and the large diameter side outer peripheral surface of the support rollers 17. For example, about 180 degrees).

As another rotation method, a rotation applying pad (not shown) formed of the same member as the rotation applying belt 24 is provided at a height position where the support roller 17 is pressed against the lower peripheral surface on the free end side of the support roller 17. The support rollers 17 are rotated in the feed direction while pressing the support rollers 17 on the upper surface side of the rotation applying pad, so that the support rollers 17 are rotated in the opposite direction to the above-described rotation direction. ... The fruit and vegetable product A placed in between can be turned upside down.

In the embodiment, the support rollers 17 forming the rotating machine 4 are formed to have the same outer diameter and the same shape, and the support rollers 17 are arranged at the same height in the feed direction. For example, the support rollers 17 having different outer diameters may be arranged at the same height in the feed direction, and the support rollers 17 formed at the same outer diameter may be arranged up and down in the feed direction. Since the transfer of the fruit and vegetable A is prevented by the step of ..., various fruit and vegetable A having different sizes can be surely rotated.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, the above-described determination device 5 is placed between support rollers 17 on an inspection section B set between the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3. An imaging camera 30 is arranged facing the upper peripheral surface (front side peripheral surface) of the fruit and vegetable A immediately before rotation, and an imaging camera 31 is arranged facing the left peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A. On the rear side, an imaging camera 32 is arranged facing the upper peripheral surface (back side peripheral surface) of the fruit vegetable A immediately after rotation placed between the support rollers 17. The camera 33 for image pick-up is arrange | positioned facing. The imaging cameras 30 and 32 are disposed substantially directly above or obliquely above the upper peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable product A, and the imaging cameras 31 and 33 are disposed substantially directly beside or on the left and right peripheral surfaces of the fruit and vegetable product A. It is arranged diagonally to the side. And an imaging camera 3
Opposite to the upper peripheral surface and the side peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A imaged by 0 to 33, a plurality of projectors 34, such as a halogen lamp and an ultraviolet lamp, are provided. The floodlight 34 irradiates the outer peripheral surface of the vegetable Vegetable A with, for example, inspection light such as ultraviolet rays, infrared rays, and X-rays, thereby facilitating the detection of discoloration, decay, damage, scars, floating skin, and the like.

The imaging cameras 30 to 33 are, for example, CC
It is composed of imaging means such as a D camera and a picture element (CCD),
As shown in FIG. 1, it is connected to an apparatus main body 5a for judging the rank of fruit and vegetable A and a monitor 5b for displaying an image of fruit and vegetable A. The apparatus main body 5a compares the image data of the whole fruit and vegetable A captured by the imaging cameras 30 to 33 with the previously stored grade data, and compares the grade data (e.g., color, sugar content, scratches, decay, Diameter, shape, height,
Width, volume, flatness, maturity, rotting, floating skin, non-equivalent grade) and, based on the determination, the third conveyor 6 arranged in the sorting units a to g. On the other hand, fruits and vegetables A are sorted by rank.

The sorting units a to g are provided with sorting devices 13 (for example, actuators such as solenoids, cylinders, motors, etc.) facing the locking levers 11a of the mounting members 11 constituting the third conveyor 4. ). The sorter 13 is activated based on the determination by the determination device 5, and when the fruit and vegetable A is transported to the sorting units a to g corresponding to the determination, the sorting unit a to g based on the determination.
The sorter 13 disposed on the receiving plate 12 is operated, and only the receiving plate 12 on which the fruit and vegetable A is placed is swung to the release position, and the receiving plate 12 is rotated.
... The fruit and vegetables A placed in between are discharged to the third conveyor 6. When a fruit vegetable A different from the determination is conveyed, the sorting device 13 is not operated, and the receiving plates 12 are moved around while keeping the receiving plates 12 in a horizontal posture. On the other hand, the receiving plates 12 that have been swung to the release position are returned to the horizontal position on the return path.

The above-mentioned third conveyor 6 is constituted by, for example, a conveyor means such as a belt conveyor, a thrust conveyor, and the like. , Boxing process). Note that instead of the third conveyor 6, a fruit vegetable A may be supplied and guided by a shooter (not shown).

The illustrated embodiment is constructed as described above, and the operation of inspecting and sorting the fruits and vegetables A by the article inspection apparatus 1 will be described below. First, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a large number of fruits and vegetables A brought in from the producer are sequentially transferred between the receiving plates 13 of the first conveyor 2, and as shown in FIGS. The fruits and vegetables A placed between the receiving plates 13 of one conveyor 2 are supplied to between the supporting rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4 disposed in the inspection section B. The fruits and vegetables A are transferred one by one from between the receiving plates 13 of the first conveyor 2 to the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4 and between the support rollers 17 just before rotation by the rotating machine 4. The front peripheral surface of the fruits and vegetables A placed on the surface is imaged by the imaging camera 30, the left peripheral surface of the fruits and vegetables A is imaged by the imaging camera 31, and the image data is determined by the apparatus main body 5 a of the determination device 5. To memorize.

Subsequently, the support rollers 17 on which the fruit and vegetables A are placed are circulated in the feed direction while being pressed against the rotation imparting belt 24, and the support rollers 17 pressed against the rotation imparting belt 24 are moved in the direction of the arrow. The fruits and vegetables A placed between the support rollers 17 are rotated in the direction of the arrow (for example, about 180 degrees) to be turned upside down. At this time, the support roller 17
The large and small fruit vegetables A placed on the large-diameter side outer peripheral surface and the small-diameter side outer peripheral surface are turned over at substantially the same position.

Immediately after the rotation, the rear peripheral surface of the fruits and vegetables A placed between the support rollers 17 is imaged by the imaging camera 32, and the right peripheral surface of the fruits and vegetables A is captured by the imaging camera 33. The image is taken, and the image data is stored in the device main body 5a of the determination device 5. On the other hand, the image data of the entire peripheral surface (both front and rear surfaces and the left and right peripheral surfaces) imaged by the imaging cameras 30 to 33 are compared with the class data stored in the apparatus main body 5a, and are placed between the support rollers 17. Judgment of the rank of the placed fruit vegetables A ... is determined.

Next, the tested fruits and vegetables A are transferred one by one from between the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4 to between the receiving plates 13 of the second conveyor 3. When the fruits and vegetables A are transported to the sorting units a to g corresponding to the determination, the sorting unit 13 arranged in the sorting units a to g is operated based on the determination,
As shown in FIG. 4, the receiving plate 12 on which the fruit and vegetable A is placed.
Of the fruit and vegetables A placed between the receiving plates 12 is discharged to the third conveyors 6 arranged in the sorting units a to f for each grade. The non-standard fruit and vegetable A is discharged to the third conveyor 6 disposed in g. Similarly, fruit and vegetables A conveyed by the second conveyor 3
… Is sorted and processed for each class.

As described above, the fruits and vegetables A conveyed by the first conveyor 2 are sequentially transferred between the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4 disposed in the inspection section B and turned upside down. At the same time, the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is imaged by the imaging cameras 30 to 33 of the determination device 5, so that the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A can be inspected accurately and reliably. And an imaging camera 3
Since the grade of fruit vegetable A is determined based on the image data captured at 0 to 33, for example, discoloration, decay, damage, scars, etc. can be easily found even on a part of the peripheral surface of fruit vegetable A. The inspection work and the sorting work of the fruit and vegetable A can be performed accurately.

Moreover, since the fruits and vegetables A conveyed to the inspection section B are imaged by the imaging cameras 30 to 33 while being turned upside down by the rotating machine 4, it is possible to perform imaging and inspection while the fruits and vegetables A are stopped. The labor and time can be saved, and the operation of inspecting a large number of fruit and vegetables A can be performed continuously, so that the efficiency of the inspection operation can be improved. Further, the support rollers 17 on which the fruit and vegetables A are placed are rotated to support the support rollers 17.
The fruit vegetable A placed in between is turned upside down, so the fruit vegetable A
Can be prevented from being displaced, and the rotation work and the inspection work can always be stably performed.

FIG. 8 shows a single camera 3 for the front and back surfaces of the fruit and vegetable product A placed between the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4.
0, and sorts the fruits and vegetables A according to their ranks based on the image data of the images.
The supporting rollers 17 on which the fruits and vegetables A are placed are pressed against the rotation imparting belt 24 and rotated, and the fruits and vegetables A placed between the supporting rollers 17 are rotated while rotating the fruits and vegetables A. Fruits and vegetables A with imaging camera 30 arranged at the upper center
Continuously image both sides. At the same time, similarly to the first embodiment, the left and right peripheral surfaces of the fruit and vegetable A are imaged by the imaging cameras 31 and 33, and the class of the fruit and vegetable A is determined based on the image data of the whole fruit and vegetable A. Since the determination is performed by the determination device 5, as in the first embodiment, the operation of sorting the fruit and vegetables A according to the grade can be performed accurately. In addition, the imaging time required for imaging both front and back surfaces of the fruit and vegetable A is greatly reduced, and the efficiency of the inspection work and the sorting work can be improved.

In the correspondence between the structure of the present invention and the above-described embodiment, the article of the present invention corresponds to the fruit and vegetable A of the embodiment, and similarly, the transport path is the first conveyor 2, the second conveyor 3, corresponding to the conveyor 35, the rotating means corresponds to the rotating machine 4, the support roller 17, and the rotation imparting belt 24, the support corresponds to the support roller 17, and the rotation imparting means corresponds to the rotation imparting belt 24. Correspondingly, the present invention is not limited only to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, the fruit and vegetables A are transported by the first conveyor 2 and the second conveyor 3 which are independently disposed before and after the inspection section B. For example, as shown in FIG. The fruit conveyor A may be conveyed by the conveyor 35. The conveyor 35 is configured to transfer the feed belt 36 formed in a conveyance width on which the fruit vegetable A is placed, to the sprockets 18 of the rotating machine 4,
The feed belt 38 is stretched around rolls 37, 37 pivotally supported in the vicinity of 19 and rolls 38, 38 pivotally supported below the sprockets 18, 19, and the feed belt 38 is rotated by a rotation motor with a speed reducer (not shown). It rotates in the feed direction by bypassing the rotating machine 4.

The fruits and vegetables A placed on the feed belt 36 in front of the inspection section B are transferred between the support rollers 17 of the rotating machine 4.
After imaging the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A with the imaging cameras 30 to 33 of the determination device 5, the fruit and vegetable A placed between the support rollers 17 is transferred to the feed belt 36 at the rear of the inspection unit B. Therefore, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be achieved, and the transport conveyor 35 is driven alone, so that the first
Compared with the mechanism for individually driving the conveyors 2 and 3 as in the embodiment, the configuration and structure of the drive system can be simplified, and the control thereof can be easily performed. The first conveyor 2 or the second conveyor 3 may be used instead of the above-described conveyor 35.
May be stretched.

The front and back surfaces of the fruit and vegetable product A are imaged from almost right above by the imaging cameras 30 and 32, and the left and right peripheral surfaces are imaged from almost right beside by the imaging cameras 31 and 33. Both the front and back surfaces may be imaged obliquely from above by the imaging cameras 30 and 32, and the left and right peripheral surfaces may be imaged obliquely from the lateral sides by the imaging cameras 31 and 33, so that substantially the entire peripheral surface of the fruit and vegetable A is reliably imaged. The inspection and sorting work of the same class can be performed accurately.

Further, the supporting roller 1 constituting the rotating machine 4
7 may be divided into left and right portions, and the left and right ends may be independently rotated in opposite directions to horizontally rotate the fruit vegetable A placed between the support rollers 17.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an article inspection apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an imaging state of the article inspection apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a state in which a receiving plate constituting the conveyor is transported.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a swinging state of a receiving plate.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a transfer state and a swing state of a receiving roller.

FIG. 6 is a rear view showing the rotation operation of the support roller by the rotating machine.

FIG. 7 is a side view showing an imaging state of fruit and vegetables.

FIG. 8 is a side view illustrating an imaging state of the article inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another method of transporting fruit and vegetables.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a conventional method for imaging fruit and vegetables.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a method for imaging fruit and vegetables according to another conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Fruit vegetables B: Inspection unit 1: Article inspection device 2: First conveyor 3: Second conveyor 4: Rotating machine 5: Judging device 6: Third conveyor 12: Receiving plate 13: Sorter 14: Receiving roller 17 Support roller 24 ... Rotation imparting belt 30-33 ... Imaging camera 35 ... Conveyer 36 ... Feed belt

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An article inspection apparatus comprising: an inspection section for inspecting an article; and a rotating means for rotating the article supplied to the inspection section in an arbitrary direction. 2. An article inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said inspection section and rotating means are provided on a transport path for transporting said article. 3. A plurality of supports are arranged on the rotating means at intervals of the article, and the orientation of the article is changed with respect to the support on which the article is placed. The article inspection apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a rotation applying unit that applies rotation in a direction.