JP3600908B2 - Onion root cutting device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an onion root cutting device that identifies a boundary position between a leaf sheath portion and a stem portion of a green onion harvested from a field based on a difference in transmitted light amount, and cuts and removes a stem portion and a root portion with high accuracy.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a root cutting operation for cutting and removing a stem portion and a root portion from a leek harvested from a field, if the leaf sheath portion is cut, a central portion of the green onion protrudes from a cut surface, thereby lowering the commercial value. Also, if roots remain when cut, peeling becomes poor when performing peeling work, and work efficiency is reduced. From the above, at present, most of the root cutting work depends on the manual work of skilled workers.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Relying on the manual work of the operator for the onion root cutting operation is a bottleneck for the onion mechanized continuous harvesting operation. In addition, the work efficiency will be reduced. Therefore, according to the present invention, when light is applied to the leaf sheath portion, the leaf sheath portion transmits light better than the root portion and the stem portion (portion commonly referred to as knot). Utilizing such characteristics, the boundary between the leaf sheath and the stem is identified by light, and the stem and root are cut at this boundary to enable high-precision cutting and removing work. It is an object of the present invention to provide an onion root cutting device which is also applicable.
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, an onion root cutting device according to the present invention has the following configuration.
[0005]
A. An onion root cutting device that cuts and removes the stem and root from the leaf sheath of the harvested onion,
By irradiating the leaf sheath with light and measuring the amount of transmitted light, the boundary position between the leaf sheath, stem and root is identified by the difference in the amount of transmitted light, and appropriate cutting for cutting and removing the stem and root is performed. The feature is that the position is determined.
[0006]
B. The amount of light applied to the leaf sheath is controlled in accordance with the thickness of the leaf sheath and the state of the surface.
[0007]
[Action]
With such a configuration, the onion root cutting device of the present invention performs the following operations.
[0008]
▲ 1 ▼. The appropriate root cutting position of the onion is the part where the root can be cut and removed, and the stem (kob) remains partially without cutting to the leaf sheath, and when the transmitted light amount is measured when the leaf sheath is irradiated with light, In comparison with the transmitted light amount of the leaf sheath, the transmitted light amount from the stem portion and the root portion is small, and the site that causes this difference matches the appropriate root cutting position, so that the difference in the transmitted light amount is identified and the position is identified. By deciding, the stem and root can be cut and removed at an appropriate position. The device can also be integrated into a green onion harvester to enable a mechanized series of operations from digging green onions to cutting and removing stems and roots.
[0009]
▲ 2 ▼. By controlling the amount of light applied to the leaf sheath in accordance with the thickness and surface condition of the leaf sheath, when the boundary between the leaf sheath and the stem is identified by transmitted light, the soil adheres to the thick green onion or the surface and the light If the amount of transmission is small, there will be a difference in the cutting position compared to the case where a large amount of light is transmitted. By controlling the amount of light to be applied so that the predetermined amount of light is transmitted, the boundary between the leaf sheath and the stem is determined at the same level of the amount of transmitted light, and errors due to thickness and surface conditions are corrected.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
3 to 5, reference numeral 1 denotes an onion root cutting device, which is driven by a pair of left and right sprockets 3, 3 and a tension sprocket 3a on a machine base 2 having a plurality of casters 2a for movement at the lower end. Endless chains 4, 4 are stretched. The endless chains 4, 4 are provided with a large number of leaf sheath holders 6 for inserting and holding (fixing) the leaf sheath portions 5a of the onion 5 at predetermined intervals in the length direction. Behind the endless chains 4, 4, the leaf blades 5 d are rotated and driven by a pair of left and right rotating wheels 7, and the leaf blades 5 d of the green onions 5 are placed and conveyed in synchronization with the leaf sheath holder 6. A partial conveyance band 8 is provided.
[0011]
On the front side of the central portion in the longitudinal direction of the onion root cutting device 1, a leaf sheath portion 5a of an onion 5, which is inserted / held in a leaf sheath portion holder 6 and conveyed, as shown in FIGS. A positioning portion 9 is provided for pushing the blade 5 rearward to move and cutting and removing the stem 5b and the root 5c from the leaf sheath 5a at an appropriate position. The positioning section 9 includes a light source section 10, a transmitted light sensor 11, and a positioning cylinder 12, and is controlled by a microcomputer (not shown).
[0012]
At the bottom of the leaf sheath holder 6, a light transmitting hole 6 a capable of irradiating only the leaf sheath 5 a of the green onion 5 set in the leaf sheath holder 6 at a position corresponding to the light source unit 10 is formed. Light from 10 is applied to the leaf sheath 5a. At this time, the transmitted light amount from the leaf sheath portion 5a is measured by the transmitted light sensor 11, and the irradiation light amount from the light source unit 10 is adjusted so as to be a predetermined transmitted light amount. Then, the plunger 12a of the positioning cylinder 12 is extended, and the plunger 12a is moved backward to a position where the transmitted light sensor 11 detects a difference in transmitted light amount between the leaf sheath 5a, the stem 5b, and the root 5c. The plunger 12a is contracted except when the transmitted light sensor 11 detects a difference in the amount of transmitted light between the leaf sheath 5a, the stem 5b, and the root 5c.
[0013]
On the other hand, when the cutting blade passage groove 6b formed in the leaf sheath holder 6 moves to the front position of the positioning portion 9 in the moving direction of the leaf sheath holder 6, the cutting blade passage groove 6b is inserted into the cutting blade passage groove 6b. A disc-shaped cutting blade 13 for cutting and removing the stem 5b and the root 5c at an appropriate position from the leaf sheath 5a held by the leaf sheath holder 6 and positioned by the positioning unit 9 is provided so as to rotate in the direction of the arrow. Have been.
[0014]
The amount of light emitted from the light source unit 10 to the leaf sheath 5a is controlled in accordance with the thickness of the leaf sheath 5a and the state of the surface. That is, when the soil is attached to the thick green onion or the surface and the amount of transmitted light is small, a difference occurs in the cutting position as compared with the case where the transmitted light is large, but the thick one or the surface is dirty. When the transmitted light is small, the boundary between the leaf sheath portion 5a and the stem portion 5b is determined by the same level of transmitted light amount by increasing or decreasing the amount of irradiation so that a predetermined light amount determined in advance is transmitted. It corrects errors due to thickness and surface conditions. The transmitted light sensor 11 is not limited to a light receiving type sensor, and may be a camera type that captures transmitted light.
[0015]
Next, the operation of the onion root cutting device 1 of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. The green onions 5 harvested from the field are separated into one (1 strain), and the leaf sheath portion 5a is shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 at the transport start end of the leaf sheath holder 6 and the leaf blade transport band 8. As described above, the leaf portion 5d is placed on the leaf portion transporting band 8 so that the root portion 5c protrudes from the tip of the leaf sheath portion holder 6 and is held, and the leaf sheath portion 5a and the leaf portion 5d are Are transported in the direction of the arrow in synchronization with the leaf sheath holder 6 and the leaf blade transport band 8.
[0016]
When the leaf sheath 5a held by the leaf sheath holder 6 reaches the position of the positioning portion 9, light from the light source 10 is emitted to the leaf sheath 5a through the light transmission hole 6a. The amount of transmitted light from the leaf sheath 5a is measured by the transmitted light sensor 11, and the amount of light emitted from the light source unit 10 is adjusted so as to be increased or decreased so as to be a predetermined amount of transmitted light. Next, the plunger 12a of the positioning cylinder 12 is extended, and the plunger 12a is moved backward until the transmitted light sensor 11 detects a difference in transmitted light amount between the leaf sheath 5a and the stem 5b and the root 5c. Since the detection position of the difference in the transmitted light amount is set in advance to the position of the cutting blade passage groove 6b, the position where the difference in the transmitted light is detected is the appropriate position for cutting. At this point, the plunger 12a contracts and returns to its original position.
[0017]
When the leaf sheath portion 5a and the leaf blade portion 5d are further moved by the leaf sheath holder 6 and the leaf blade conveying band 8 and reach the position of the cutting blade 13, the green onion is inserted in a state where the cutting blade 13 enters the cutting blade passage groove 6b. The stem 5b of No. 5 is cut, and the stem 5b and the root 5c are removed from the leaf sheath 5a. The green onion 5 from which the stem portion 5b and the root portion 5c have been cut off is removed from the leaf sheath portion holder 6 and the leaf sheath portion holder 6 at the transport end portion of the leaf sheath transport band 8 to perform peeling work to form a container or the like. Will be accommodated. This peeling operation is performed smoothly because the stem 5b is cut at an appropriate position.
[0018]
Since the onion root cutting device 1 of the present invention includes the moving casters 2a at the lower end of the machine base 2, the entire device can be easily moved, and can be easily moved to the site where the root cutting operation is performed. In addition to the root cutting device alone, it is also possible to incorporate it into a green onion harvesting machine and continuously perform an integrated operation from excavation to root cutting.
[0019]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the onion root cutting device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
[0020]
▲ 1 ▼. By irradiating the sheath with light and measuring the amount of transmitted light, the boundary position between the sheath and the stem and the root is identified by the difference in the amount of transmitted light, and an appropriate cutting position for cutting and removing the stem and root. The boundary position between the leaf sheath, the stem, and the root can be accurately identified by light. By cutting the stem and the root at this boundary, the root can be cut and removed with high accuracy. be able to. The device can also be incorporated into a green onion harvester to enable mechanized integrated operations from leek digging to root cutting. In addition, since highly accurate root cutting work can be performed by mechanization, a skilled worker is not required and labor can be saved.
[0021]
▲ 2 ▼. The amount of light applied to the leaf sheath is controlled according to the thickness of the leaf sheath and surface conditions, so when the boundary between the leaf sheath and the stem is identified by transmitted light, thick green onions and soil adhere to the surface and light transmission If the amount is small, there will be a difference in the cutting position compared to the case where a large amount of light is transmitted. By controlling the amount of light to be irradiated so that a predetermined amount of light is transmitted, the boundary between the leaf sheath and the stem can be determined with the same level of transmitted light, and a malfunction due to the thickness or surface condition can be corrected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side view of a positioning portion of an onion root cutting device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the same operation state.
FIG. 3 is a partial side view of the onion root cutting device according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is an overall plan view of the same.
FIG. 5 is an overall front view of the same.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Onion root cutting device 2 Machine stand 2a Caster 3 Sprocket 3a Tension sprocket 4 Endless chain 5 Long onion 5a Leaf sheath 5b Stem 5c Root 5d Leaf blade 6 Leaf sheath holder 6a Light transmission hole 6b Cutting blade passage groove 7 Rotation Wheel 8 Leaf transport belt 9 Positioning unit 10 Light source 11 Transmitted light sensor 12 Positioning cylinder 12a Plunger 13 Cutting blade

Claims (2)

An onion root cutting device that cuts and removes the stem and root from the leaf sheath of the harvested onion,
By irradiating the leaf sheath with light and measuring the amount of transmitted light, the boundary position between the leaf sheath, stem and root is identified by the difference in the amount of transmitted light, and appropriate cutting for cutting and removing the stem and root is performed. An onion root cutting device characterized in that the position is determined. 2. The onion root cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the amount of light applied to the leaf sheath is controlled in accordance with the thickness of the leaf sheath and the condition of the surface.

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