JPS6031868A - class sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a class sorting device for sorting fruits by size, for example.

This type of grade sorting device generally includes a conveying member that is formed to be able to tilt horizontally in the conveying direction in order to place and convey objects to be sorted such as fruits, and to discharge the fruits and other objects to be sorted, and this conveying member. a moving distance measuring device such as a pulse encoder that measures the moving distance of the conveyor, a placing section that places objects to be sorted such as fruits on the conveying member, and detecting the appearance of the objects to be sorted such as fruits conveyed by the conveying member. For example, an appearance detecting means such as a COD camera and the size of the fruit or the like to be sorted detected by the appearance detection means such as a COD camera are used to classify the fruit or the like to be sorted into a preset class (for example, 31.2m). ,L,
It has a classification section that sorts the fruit into M, S, etc.), and a class-specific take-out section that discharges the fruit and other materials that have been sorted and sorted by the classification section into predetermined classes. When classifying and sorting with this class sorting device, the number of conveying members to be tilted is set in advance for each class,
By shifting the solenoid activation signal with a width corresponding to the number of conveying members according to the distance from the detection section to the class-based take-out section, the objects to be sorted, such as fruits, which have been sorted in the sorting section, are taken out according to the predetermined class. It was discharged to the department. Therefore, when classifying and sorting, temporarily 31. Ftl 31
When a different object is stepped on, there are 4 sheets, and when a 21- class object is conveyed, 3 sheets are conveyed.If it is predetermined that the conveying member will be tilted one step at a time, it will be conveyed. 3. Even if the object to be sorted, such as fruit belonging to the upper class, can be discharged by tilting the two conveying members according to the loading posture in A, the three conveying members must be tilted 1! The Rukoto. Therefore, there is a risk that even the fruit to be sorted belonging to the S class placed on the transport section +Ll- of the three sheets to be conveyed and tilted adjacent to the fruit to be sorted may be discharged. Cows are rising. This kind of thing also occurs due to a difference in synchronization between the drive signal of the solenoid and the movement of the conveying member.

Also, to avoid the above-mentioned situation I! If it were to be covered, there would be a problem in that when placing objects to be sorted, such as fruits, a certain distance would have to be left on the LJ, which would seriously impede the efficiency of the sorting work.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to improve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to determine the conveying member to be tilted in accordance with the relative position of the conveying member on the conveying member to be sorted, such as fruits, To provide a class sorting device capable of preventing discharge of objects to be sorted such as fruits that do not belong to a class-based take-out section.

A feature of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is that a substantially flat conveying surface is arranged in parallel in the conveying direction, and the objects to be sorted placed on this conveying surface and conveyed are discharged. A conveyor member 4 is formed so that an appropriate number of adjacent objects selected according to the size of the objects to be sorted can be tilted laterally in the conveyance direction, and an appearance detection device that detects the appearance of the objects to be sorted on this conveyor member. Means 3
and correction means 1 for detecting the relative positional relationship between the front and rear ends of the objects to be sorted in the running direction and each conveyance member, and correcting the number of conveyance members to be selected for tilting operation based on the detection result given from the detection means. There is a class sorting device having means 2. The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1(A) is a plan view of a class sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(B) is a sectional view of a class sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(C) is a 3 - Partial enlarged view of Figure 1 (A) from the direction, Figure 1 (D)
is a sectional view of FIG. 1(c), FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the correction means, that is, a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3(a) is a diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention. J to class sorting device
Figure 3 (B) is a diagram showing the relationship between the conveying member on which objects to be sorted such as fruits are placed and the solenoid activation signal in the prior art; Figure 4 (A) and (b) are diagrams showing the relationship between the signals of the conveyance section 4 on which objects to be sorted such as fruits are placed according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in Figures 1 (a) to 4, see ? Numbers 1 and 1 with the same symbol indicate the same thing.

In Fig. 1 (a) and (b), reference number 1 indicates the front and rear ends of the objects to be sorted such as fruits in the running direction and each conveyance section H, as described above.
Positional relationship detection means for detecting the relative positional relationship of #5CC
I] A camera, the CCD camera 1 comprises the object to be sorted such as fruit, a conveying member 4 on which the object to be sorted is placed, and a lock attached to the conveying member 4 to restrict the tilting movement of the conveying member 4. Bottle 5 (shown in Figure 1 (c) and (d))
4- Take a picture. Reference numeral 3 denotes an appearance detection means C for capturing an image of the shape and size of the object to be sorted, such as fruit, placed on the conveyance member 4 and conveyed.
OD camera, 4 is a conveying member, 6 is a placing part for placing objects to be sorted such as fruits on the conveying member 4, 7 is a detecting part equipped with the COD cameras 1 and 3, 8 is a fruit receiver, a chute 9 and A class-specific take-out section having a solenoid 44, numeral 9 is a chute for the fruit tray provided for each predetermined class gate of the class-separated take-out section 8 as described above, and 44 is a conveyance section for the predetermined class-separated gates of the class-separated take-out section 8 as described above. Solenoids are respectively provided on the starting end side, 11 is a driving pulley that drives the conveying member 4, and 12 is a driven pulley.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of the correction means 2, that is, the control device 2, according to an embodiment of the present invention, as described above. Second
In the figure, reference numeral 20 is the camera control
Controls the driving of D cameras 1 and 3. 27 is an A/D that converts and shapes the detection signals given from the CCD cameras 1 and 3 via the camera control 20 into digital signals;
, AGC smoothing, 28 is from A/D1AGC smoothing 27! j; Frame memory for storing detection information for A et al. 4';2')l; L71 memory 28
Figure 4 (a) is performed by calling the detected information stored in -
A computing unit that compares and calculates the image output (K) shown in Figure 1 and the timing signal ■ to determine the operating signal width ■ of the solenoid 4/I, 30 G, 1, Class-based extraction unit 8, that is, class-based gate 8 (A), 8 (B), 8 (C), 8 (D)...
a classification discrimination memory that sets a region of values related to the shape 1 degree and it'IIc's at a predetermined part of the object to be sorted for each class fFi in accordance with the above, and stores this as fixed data; 31 is a classification discriminator that compares the calculated value information provided by the calculator 29 with the fixed data provided from the classification discrimination memory 30 to determine which class the shape of the object to be sorted belongs to; 45 is a pulse Movement distance information of the conveying member 4 input from the encoder/IO and the corresponding progressive part shrine 4
A position detection signal generator 42 that detects the position of the object to be sorted above.
The timing device inputs the information given from the gate controller 35 and the frame memory controller 41, /IO is a pulse encoder, and 35 inputs the information given from the timing device 45 and the classification judgment. Vessel 31
A gate controller 36 controls the opening and closing of predetermined class gates 8(a), 8(b), 8(c), 8(d), etc. based on the classification judgment information given from the predetermined class. Gate setting devices 43(a), 43(b), . . . are class gates 8 (a) for setting the discharge gates for the classified and sorted materials.
, 8 (b), . . . a position detection signal generator installed on the transport start end side and detecting the position of the object to be sorted on the moving transport member 4 and supplying a position detection signal to the gate controller 35, respectively;
37 is a buffer relay that amplifies the drive command signal given from the gate controller 35 and supplies it to the solenoid 44 of a predetermined class gate.

The operation of the above structure will be explained below by comparing it with the prior art using FIGS. 3(a) to 4(b).

FIGS. 3(a) and 3(a) show the vertical projection of the fruit or the like depending on the orientation in which the fruit or the like belongs to the same class but is placed on the conveying member 4 in the mounting section 6. 7- indicates that the range covered by the image is different. In other words, the ones depicted on the far left and second from the left in this figure are the Satsuma mandarin oranges, which belong to the 3S class of anagisa.

This mandarin orange A on the back side is l
The oranges A are placed so that the center point, which is the intersection of the major axis and the minor axis, is on the boundary line between the two conveying members 4. Therefore, in order to discharge the tangerine oranges A in the above-mentioned loading position, it is only necessary to press a key with the solenoid 44 on the two transport members 4 that are covered by the vertically projected image. On the other hand, the second tangerine A from the left side is arranged so that its minor axis direction is approximately perpendicular so that the center point, which is the intersection of the major axis and the minor axis, is almost directly above the center of one conveying member 4. The vertically projected image of the tangerine A shown with diagonal lines because it is placed is the conveyance section +A on both sides of the single conveyance member 4.
Therefore, the mandarin oranges A cannot be discharged unless a total of three transport members 4 are tilted. Also, the ones drawn at the right end of the figure and second from the right are 1-1 in size, respectively.
It is Satsuma mandarin orange Δ which tills to 1-class. Of these, the right Mikan B is placed so that its major axis is approximately perpendicular and its center point, which is the intersection of its minor axis and major axis, is on the boundary line between the two conveying members 4, so it is indicated by diagonal lines. The vertically projected image of the oranges B shown only covers the two conveying members 4. Therefore, in order to discharge the tangerine oranges B placed in the above-mentioned loading position, the solenoid 44 may be used to press the two conveying members 4 that are covered by the vertically projected image. On the other hand, in the second tangerine B from the right side, the minor axis direction is approximately perpendicular, and the center point, which is the intersection of the major axis and the minor axis, is located at the boundary line between the two conveying members 4.
Because the oranges B are placed in such a way that they are placed in the opposite direction, the vertically projected image of the oranges B indicated by diagonal lines extends to the conveying members 4 on both sides of the two conveying members 4, and the total of four conveying members 4 are tilted. If you don't operate it, you won't be able to eject the mandarin oranges B.

Therefore, as in the conventional technology, the number of conveying members to be tilted is set in advance according to a predetermined class, and the detection unit receives a solenoid activation signal having a width corresponding to the class to which the conveyed objects to be sorted, such as fruits, belong. 7 to a predetermined gate of the class-specific take-out section 8 by the set number of pulses, the drive of the conveyance member 4 and the activation signal of the solenoid may be out of synchronization, or even if the synchronization is not deviated, unnecessary conveyance for ejection may occur. Even the member 4 may be tilted. On the other hand, there may be cases in which there are more conveyance units than the set number of sheets (i.e., υI cannot be delivered unless A is first produced at a 1 m diagonal).

In the class sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention, a CCD camera 1 is used to detect objects to be sorted, such as fruits, placed on each moving conveyance member 1 and the conveyance section ( 1
/I and the position of the locking bottle 5 attached to the transport member 4, and the position of the transport member 4 on the ground using the COD camera 3fffl (
S tlk The shape and size of the objects to be sorted, such as fruits, are each V6 image (]
l agoj! l'! The conveyance member 1 covered by the vertically projected image of the object to be sorted, such as Song Sil, is compared and calculated by the first correction stage 2, that is, the control device 2, to determine the conveyance member 4 to which the tilting operation should be performed.

Therefore, problems 1-- of the prior art can be improved.

Figures 2 (A), (1)) and (C) show a case in which a predetermined class gate can be freely set when discharging fruits, etc. depending on the mounting posture and position of the objects to be sorted, such as fruits, and conveyance. This shows that there are cases where it is necessary to set in a certain order from the direction starting end side. As is clear from the figure (
b) In the case shown in the figure, since the vertically projected images of two or more objects to be sorted, such as fruits, do not reach the same conveying member 4, the class gate can be set freely. On the other hand, in the case of Figure (C), since the vertically projected images of two or more objects to be sorted, such as fruits, reach the same conveying member 4, a class gate must be set to discharge items belonging to the smallest class first. It will not happen.

FIG. 3(b) is a diagram showing the relationship between the conveying member on which objects to be sorted such as fruits are placed and each signal in the prior art, as described above. The left side of FIGS. 3(b) and 3(a) is a diagram showing the relationship between the conveyance member 4 in the detection unit 7 where the CCD camera 3 is located and the object to be sorted such as fruit (here, mandarin oranges) A or B. , the right side of the drawing shows the relationship between the conveying member 4 and oranges A or B in the class-specific take-out section 8.

On the left side of the drawing, oranges A are placed on two transport members 4. Therefore, in order for the oranges A to be discharged at a predetermined class gate in the class-based take-out section 8, an activation signal of the solenoid 44 with a time width of 2XP corresponding to two sheets of the conveying member 4 is applied to the axp pulse. It's a minute [°
It must be sent out as J-Jino I-1.

This is because it is possible to tilt the conveying member 4 which requires a tilting operation only by pressing the locking pin 5 passing through the solenoid 44 during the activation time of the solenoid 44. Here, a: Distance P from the detection section 7 to the class-based extraction section 8: The number of set pulses corresponding to the width of one conveyance member. As shown in Figure C, the direction in which the conveyance member 4 moves is opposite to the time axis direction indicating the solenoid activation signal. In the above case, as is clear from the figure, the eight oranges can be discharged to a predetermined class gate. Similarly,
The size of tangerine B also corresponds to 2.5 pieces of the conveying member 4, but in this case as well, the activation signal of the solenoid 44 with a time width of 3XP, which corresponds to 3 pieces of the conveying member 4, is a.
If xp pulses are shifted and sent out, it can be discharged to a predetermined class game 12-. However, in the figure (b), since the placement position of the oranges A or B on the conveying member 4 is shifted, it is not always possible to discharge the oranges smoothly. Therefore, even if the fruit can be discharged, there is a fear that it may get caught in the conveying member and cause abrasions on the pericarp. Also, on the right side (b), the activation time of the solenoid 44 starts after the locking bin 5 fixed to the conveying member 4 at the right end, which is covered by the vertically projected images of the oranges A and B, has passed. Therefore, only the two conveyance members 4 adjacent to the left side of the conveyance member 4 are tilted by the drive of the solenoid 44.

Therefore, although it is possible to discharge tangerine A to a predetermined class gate by tilting the two transport members 4, for tangerines B, the discharge does not necessarily go smoothly and the transport members 4 Because it is driven at high speed, there is a possibility that it will be discharged to another class gate, and there is also the risk of abrasion of the fruit skin. The same can be said for Figure (C). On the other hand, FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) adjust the conveying member 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention, the objects to be sorted such as fruits placed on this conveying member 4, and the activation signal of the solenoid 44. However, the drawbacks of the prior art have been improved. The drawing IC side is the detection part 7
Mikan A or B and conveyance section + A/I and CCD
This shows the relationship between the signals given from the cameras 1 and 3 and the pulse generator 40 shown in FIG. , ■ is pulse-1 sea]-da7I
The encoder pulse l+:1Y:,■ given from O passes through the detection area of the CCD camera 1) and detects the position of each conveyance member 4 by the CCD camera ゛l'(: It knows()
Outputs "'H" level to the passing guide of each conveyed member.
The timing signal shown in FIG. When the detection unit 7 (CCD camera 13) detects the shape and size, it looks like ■! r nli! Outputs the garden signal. This image signal is clear from the figure. 1. The width corresponds to the width of the conveying member 4 for two sheets covered by the vertically projected image of sea urchin and tangerine A.

Next, the timing signal [) received from the CCD camera 1 is 'II' first after the image signal 'F' goes up from X'l.
Adjust so that the rise of the solenoid 44 operating condition [■] occurs when the level is increased. And image output signal■
Adjustment is made so that the fall of the actuation signal (2) of the solenoid 44 occurs after kxp has elapsed since the fall of the solenoid 44.

Here, k is a constant that exists in the region of 1<k<1.5 determined by the positional relationship between the CCD camera 1 and the CCD camera 3.

Thereafter, this operating signal (2) is shifted by Px (a-1) pulses and is discharged to the predetermined class gate on the right side. Note that the activation signal of the solenoid 44 is Px(a-1)
The reason for the shift by the pulse amount is that, as described above, the rise of the solenoid actuation signal ■ is adjusted in the detection unit 7 to the point where the timing signal ■ exhibits the first "H11 level" after the rise of the image signal ■.Reference number ■ '' is an image signal output according to the shape and size of the oranges B detected by the CCD camera 3, and ■' is the activation signal of the solenoid 44 when discharging the oranges B. Third
Figure (B) shows a case where the placement position of the oranges A or B on the conveying member 4 is different from that in Figure 3 (A). Even in such a case, it is possible to press the key on the conveying member 4 that covers the vertically projected image of oranges A or B, as in the case of Fig. 3 (a) = 15-15-Smell Explanation 1, so that it is possible to press the key on the conveying member 4 that covers the vertically projected image of oranges A or B. It is possible to solve the problem of not being able to smoothly discharge to one class gate or being discharged to another class gate.

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided a positional relationship detecting means for detecting the relative positional relationship between the front and rear ends of the objects to be sorted in the traveling direction placed on the conveying surface of the conveying member and each conveying section H. Since the present invention includes a correction means for correcting the number of transport members to be selected for tilting operation based on the detection result given by the detection means, the tilting operation is performed according to the relative positional relationship on the transport members of the objects to be sorted. It is possible to determine the transport member to be transported. Therefore, it is possible to provide a class sorting device in which objects to be sorted that do not correspond to the predetermined class-specific take-out portions are not discharged, and also do not require special control of the placement posture during classification.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is a plan view of a class selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1(b) is a sectional view of a class selection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. ) is shown in Figure 1 (a)
Figure 1 (D) is a partial enlarged view from six directions of Figure 1 (
C) is a sectional view, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the circuit configuration of a control device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 3 (B) is a diagram showing the relationship between the conveying member on which objects to be sorted such as fruits are placed and the solenoid activation signal in the conventional technology, and FIGS. 4 (A) and (B) are the diagrams according to the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the relationship between the conveying member on which objects to be sorted such as fruits are placed and each signal according to an embodiment. 4...Transportation member 3...Appearance detection means (CCD camera) 1...Positional relationship detection means (CCD camera) 2...Correction means (control device) Fig. 3 (3) Fig. 3 (Roll) ) Figure 4 C3) Figure 4 (Rono

Claims (1)

[Claims] A substantially flat conveying surface is formed by being arranged continuously in parallel in the conveying direction, and in order to discharge the objects to be sorted which are placed on this conveying surface and are conveyed, the phase shifters are selected according to the size of the objects to be sorted. a conveyor member formed to be able to tilt an appropriate number of adjacent objects laterally in the conveyance direction; an appearance detection means for detecting the appearance of the objects to be sorted on the conveyor member; Provided with a positional relationship detection means for detecting the relative positional relationship of the conveying members,
A class sorting device comprising a correction means for correcting the number of conveying members to be selected for tilting operation based on the detection result provided by the detection means.