JP5016293B2 - Tea leaf color sorter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a tea leaf color sorting device for sorting out and removing those having a predetermined color such as white stems in tea leaves.

An example of a color sorting device that sorts a detected object such as tea leaves or rice grains into a non-defective product and a defective product based on the color is disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example. In such a color sorting device, a plurality of chutes are arranged side by side while being inclined so as to be continuous in the vertical direction, and the object to be detected is flowed and dropped from the top to the bottom of the chute while being dropped. By detecting the color of the object to be detected sequentially by the color detection unit (two times at the upper detection site and the lower detection site), and instantaneously ejecting air from the air nozzle to a predetermined color in each detection The selection was made multiple times.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-180195

  However, in the above conventional tea leaf color sorting device, a plurality of chutes are arranged so as to be continuous in the vertical direction, so that the height of the device becomes large and the upper detection part and the lower detection There was a problem that the condition of dropping tea leaves was different from that of the part, and it was difficult to perform sorting accurately. That is, the tea leaves that flow through the chute gradually increase in speed, and the tea leaves that flow through the upper detection parts to the lower detection parts cause a jump, etc. In this case, the drop conditions are different, and the ejection timing of the air nozzle is shifted, which may deteriorate the sorting accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a tea leaf color sorting device that can keep the height of the device small and improve the sorting accuracy.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of shoots that are inclined in a predetermined angle and are provided in parallel with respect to the width direction of the apparatus and that can flow tea leaves from the upper part to the lower part of the apparatus, and tea leaves that fall from the lower part of the chute Imaging means for obtaining an image, determination means for determining whether or not the object to be imaged has a predetermined color based on the color of the image obtained by the imaging means, and the determination means having the predetermined color An air nozzle that blows away what has been determined to be a thing, and drops it with a trajectory different from the trajectory of falling by the chute, and by flowing tea leaves sequentially with the plurality of chutes, a plurality of those having a predetermined color in the tea leaves in color sorting apparatus of the tea leaves to remove by sorting times, in order to supply successively tea leaves on the plurality of chutes, while aligning the drop conditions substantially uniformly over each chute In conjunction with can not drop the tea leaves, and a supply means for supplying path is formed of a plurality of tea leaves corresponding to each chute, corresponding to the respective supply channel of the plurality of tea leaves in said supply means, for transporting the tea leaves to each supply passage A plurality of conveying paths for forming the conveying path , and the conveying means includes a single vertical bucket and a single green tea feeder, each of the vertical bucket and the green tea feeder. The conveyance path is divided into a plurality of sections so as to correspond to the supply path of the supply means .

According to a second aspect of the invention, the color sorting apparatus of the tea leaves according to claim 1, together with the receiving tea leaves after being screened while flowing one chute chute bottom of the one, said conveying means and the received tea leaves It is possible to switch between a first route to be sent to the predetermined transport path and a second route to be sent to the outside of the transport path.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the tea leaf color sorting apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the invention, the supply means comprises a single vibration feeder, and the conveyance surface of the vibration feeder is partitioned into a plurality of sections. A plurality of supply paths are formed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the tea leaf color selecting apparatus according to the third aspect, a vertical wall surface formed of a predetermined separate member is formed on a partition portion and an upper portion of the conveying surface of the supply means. It is characterized by that.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of chutes are provided in parallel to the width direction of the apparatus, and the top of each chute is arranged with the fall conditions substantially uniform so as to sequentially supply the tea leaves onto the plurality of chutes. Since the supply means capable of dropping the tea leaves is provided, the height of the apparatus can be kept small, and the sorting accuracy can be improved.

Moreover , since the supply means is provided with a plurality of tea leaf supply paths corresponding to the respective chutes, the dropping conditions on the chutes can be more reliably and substantially uniform.

Furthermore , since it has the conveyance means in which a plurality of conveyance paths for conveying the tea leaves are formed in each supply path corresponding to each of the supply paths of the plurality of tea leaves in the supply means, The tea leaves can be transported to the supply means more easily and reliably.

According to the invention of claim 2 , the tea leaves after being sorted while flowing through one chute are received at the lower part of the one chute, and the received tea leaves are sent to a predetermined conveying path of the conveying means, Since it is possible to switch between the second route to be sent out of the conveyance path, by continuing to send the tea leaves to the outside of the conveyance route in the second route, the circulation operation of the tea leaves by the conveying means is avoided, and only one sorting is performed. Since it can be performed, multiple selections and one selection can be optionally performed.

According to the invention of claim 3 , the supply means is composed of a single vibration feeder, and a plurality of supply paths are formed by dividing the conveying surface of the vibration feeder into a plurality of parts. It is possible to use a single supply means for dropping, simplifying the device configuration, reducing the manufacturing cost and running cost, and facilitating maintenance.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the vertical wall surface made of a predetermined separate member is formed on the upper portion of the partitioning portion and the edge portion of the conveying surface in the supply means (vibration feeder). It is possible to reliably avoid the tea leaves flowing through the path from jumping and reaching other adjacent supply paths and supply means.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
The tea leaf color sorting device according to the present embodiment is for sorting out and removing those having a predetermined color such as white stems in tea leaves. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the first chute 1a and Second chute 1b, CCD camera 3 as imaging means, air nozzle 4, determination means 10 (see FIG. 5), vertical bucket 6 and tea feeder 7 as conveying means, and input feeder 8 as supplying means And a supply box 9 capable of storing a predetermined amount of tea leaves to be selected. Reference numeral 2 denotes a box-shaped detection / determination unit that houses the CCD camera 3 and the air nozzle 4.

  Each of the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b is inclined at a predetermined angle and can flow tea leaves from the upper part to the lower part thereof, and in the width direction of the apparatus (left and right direction in FIG. 1). In contrast, two are provided in parallel. Under the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b, as shown in FIG. 6, receiving members 5a and 5b are respectively arranged and flowed through the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b (that is, The tea leaves that have slid on the surface can fall into the receiving members 5a and 5b, respectively.

  The CCD camera 3 captures the tea leaves falling from the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b to obtain a digital image, and the imaging range is aligned in the width direction in the vicinity of the lower part of the first chute 1a or the second chute 1b. Is set. That is, among the images obtained by the CCD camera 3, a sensing range that is a color selection target is set as an imaging range. Note that an analog image in the imaging range may be obtained by the CCD camera 3.

  Further, since the CCD camera 3 holds the captured image as pixel data, a row of pixels in the width direction near the lower portions of the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b form the imaging range. It should be noted that the height at which the imaging range is set is determined as appropriate, and is preferably adjusted to the most appropriate height for color determination based on the position and orientation of the air nozzle 4.

  Further, the CCD camera 3 is electrically connected to the determination means 10 as shown in FIG. The determination means 10 is composed of, for example, a microcomputer, and based on the color of the image obtained by the CCD camera 3 (that is, the pixels in the imaging range), whether or not the captured tea leaves are white stems (the object to be imaged is Whether or not the color has a predetermined color). That is, it is sufficient if the white stem can be identified by image processing of the captured image, and binarization processing may be performed to determine black and white, or image processing that takes into account color tone (shading) may be performed.

  Specifically, the graph is shown with the input level of the image captured by the CCD camera 3 (the input level is large in white and the input level decreases as the color becomes black) on the vertical axis, and the position in the width direction in the imaging range is on the horizontal axis. A predetermined waveform is obtained when the signal is converted into a white stem. A portion of the waveform having an input level higher than a predetermined threshold is determined as a white stem, and a lower portion is determined not as a white stem.

  The determination unit 10 is also electrically connected to the air nozzle 4 and is configured such that the air nozzle 4 is controlled based on the color determination by the determination unit 10. Thereby, when the determination means 10 determines that it is a white stem, it can be selected by driving the air nozzle 4 and blowing it to make the fall trajectory different. That is, when the determination means 10 determines that the stem is not white stem (non-defective product), the air nozzle 4 is not driven, and the trajectory of the tea leaves from the first chute 1a or the second chute 1b is maintained as shown in FIG. On the other hand, when it determines with it being a white stem (defective product), the air nozzle 4 drives and the fall locus | trajectory is varied.

  As described above, the air nozzle 4 blows off what is determined to have a predetermined color by the determination means 10 (white stem in the present embodiment), and falls by the first chute 1a or the second chute 1b. It is to be dropped with a different trajectory. That is, a plurality of air nozzles 4 are arranged in parallel in the lower width direction of the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b, and are driven when the tea leaves falling by the judging means 10 are determined to be white stems (defective products). Then, the tea leaves can be blown off toward the collection box B1.

  The feeding feeder 8 supplies tea leaves to the top of each chute (the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b) while making the dropping conditions substantially uniform so as to sequentially supply the tea leaves to the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b. As shown in FIG. 3, two tea leaf supply paths 8a and 8b corresponding to each chute are formed. That is, the input feeder 8 is composed of a single vibration feeder, and the two feeding paths 8a and 8b are formed by dividing the conveyance surface (upper surface) of the vibration feeder into two in the conveyance direction. is there.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9, the vertical wall surface 14 comprised with predetermined | prescribed separate members, such as a vinyl sheet, is formed in the division part and edge part of the conveyance surface in the input feeder 8 (vibration feeder). . Specifically, as shown in the figure, a column body 12 is erected on the outer peripheral side portion of the input feeder 8 and a frame body 13 that connects the column bodies 12 is suspended, and the input feeder in the frame body 13 is suspended. The vertical wall surface 14 is formed by hanging a vinyl sheet from a position corresponding to the upper portion of the partition portion and the edge of the eight.

  By such a vertical wall surface 14, the tea leaves flowing through one supply path (8 a or 8 b) can be surely avoided from jumping out to other adjacent supply paths (8 a or 8 b) or outside the input feeder 8. Can do. The vinyl sheet constituting the vertical wall surface 14 is preferably provided with an antistatic function, or the vertical wall surface may be formed of another conductive material (metal or the like). .

  The vertical bucket 6 is capable of transporting the tea leaves conveyed by the supply box 9 and the tea leaves guided by the guide portion 6c to the upper side of the apparatus, and the first conveying path 6a and the second conveying path with respect to the conveying direction. Two conveyance paths of the path 6b are formed. That is, the tea leaves transported from the supply box 9 are transported upward by the first transport path 6a, while the tea leaves guided by the guide member 6c from the receiving member 5a are transported upward by the second transport path 6b. It is comprised so that.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the vertical bucket 6 has a plurality of accommodating portions 6f that can circulate from below to above, so that the tea leaves accommodated in the accommodating portions 6f are sequentially conveyed upward. It has become. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, two discharge ports 6d and 6e are formed in the upper part of the vertical bucket 6, and the tea leaves transported in the accommodating portion 6f of the first transport path 6a are one discharge port 6d. The tea leaves that are discharged from the second transfer path 6b and are transported by the storage portion 6f of the second transport path 6b are discharged from the other discharge port 6e.

  The green tea feeder 7 is composed of a vibrating conveyor, and its conveying surface is partitioned corresponding to the supply paths 8a and 8b of the input feeder 8, and as shown in FIG. 3, the tea leaves discharged from the discharge port 6d are input. It has the 1st conveyance path 7a which conveys to the 1st supply path 8a of the feeder 8, and the 2nd conveyance path 7b which conveys the tea leaf discharged from the discharge outlet 6e to the 2nd supply path 8b of the input feeder 8. . That is, the tea leaves discharged from the discharge ports 6d and 6e are transported by the green tea feeder 7 in the first transport path 7a and the second transport path 7b, respectively, and fall from the leading ends 7aa and 7ba of these transport paths, Each of them reaches the first supply path 8a and the second supply path 8b of the input feeder 8.

  As shown in the figure, the leading ends 7aa and 7ba of the conveying path in the green tea feeder 7 are formed to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the conveying direction of the feeding feeder 8, thereby the first supply path 8a and the first feeding path 8a. 2 The tea leaves are configured to drop substantially uniformly in the width direction of the supply path 8b. However, the tea leaves that have fallen on the first supply path 8a fall on the top of the first chute 1a, flow on the first chute 1a, and the tea leaves that have fallen on the second supply path 8b fall on the top of the second chute 1b. It falls and flows on the second chute 1b.

  The supply box 9 is for storing a predetermined amount of tea leaves to be selected and for supplying the stored tea leaves to the first transport path 6a of the vertical bucket 6 sequentially. As shown in FIGS. It is mainly comprised from the accommodating part 9a which can accommodate the tea leaf which should be carried out, the screw 9b arrange | positioned in this accommodating part 9a, the leaf | plate spring S and the drive mechanism 11 for vibrating the accommodating part 9a. Yes. A supply port 9c that communicates with the first transport path 6a of the vertical bucket 6 is formed on one side surface of the accommodating portion 9a.

  The screw 9b is extended in the longitudinal direction of the accommodating portion 9a, and one end of the screw 9b is rotatable while being positioned at the supply port 9c. The tea leaves in the accommodating portion 9c are sequentially supplied by the rotational operation of the screw 9b. It is configured to be conveyed to the port 9c and supplied to the vertical bucket 6 therefrom. The accommodating portion 9a is configured to vibrate with respect to the frame F by the drive mechanism 11 and the leaf spring S, and the tea leaves inside are conveyed to the supply port 9c by the vibration.

  Usually, the screw 9b is rotationally driven to supply tea leaves sequentially to the vertical bucket 6, and after the tea leaves in the accommodating portion 9a are reduced and difficult to be transported by the screw 9b, the drive mechanism 11 is operated. The remaining tea leaves can be supplied to the vertical bucket 6 by driving and vibrating the housing 9a by the action of the driving force and the leaf spring S. Thereby, the tea leaves accommodated in the accommodating part 9a can be supplied to the vertical bucket 6 without leaving them.

Next, the operation of the tea leaf color sorting apparatus will be described.
When tea leaves are put into the accommodating portion 9a of the supply box 9 and the screw 9b is rotated in a state where a predetermined amount is accommodated, the tea leaves in the accommodating portion 9a sequentially reach the supply port 9c, from which the vertical bucket 6 Is fed to the first transport path 6a and transported upward. The transported tea leaves are discharged from the discharge port 6 d and reach the first transport path 7 a of the green tea feeder 7.

  The tea leaves that have reached the first transport path 7a are sequentially transported by the vibration action of the green tea feeder 7, fall from the tip 7aa, reach the first supply path 8a of the input feeder 8, and then vibrate of the input feeder 8. It is sequentially conveyed by the action, dropped from its tip, and supplied to the upper part of the first feeder 1a. Thus, in the process in which the tea leaves flow on the first feeder 1a and fall from the lower part, imaging by the CCD camera 3, determination by the determination means 10, and selection by the air nozzle 4 are performed, and the drop locus is changed by the air nozzle 4. Only the tea leaves (non-defective products) that have not been made reach the receiving member 5a. Thus, the first sorting operation is completed.

  Then, the tea leaves (non-defective products) reaching the receiving member 5a are guided to the second transport path 6b of the vertical bucket 6 by the guide portion 6c, and are transported upward again. The transported tea leaves are discharged from the discharge port 6 e and reach the second transport path 7 b of the green tea feeder 7. The tea leaves that have reached the second transport path 7b are sequentially transported by the vibration action of the powdered tea feeder 7, fall from the tip 7ba, reach the second supply path 8b of the input feeder 8, and then vibrate of the input feeder 8. It is sequentially transported by the action, falls from its tip, and is supplied to the upper part of the second feeder 1b.

  Thus, in the process where the tea leaves flow on the second feeder 1b and fall from the lower part thereof, imaging by the CCD camera 3, determination by the determination means 10, and selection by the air nozzle 4 are performed, and the fall locus is changed by the air nozzle 4. Only the tea leaves (non-defective products) that have not been made reach the receiving member 5b. The tea leaves that have reached the receiving member 5b fall as they are and are stored in the storage box B2. This completes the second sorting operation.

  As described above, the tea leaves are circulated through the two shoots (the first shoot 1a and the second shoot 1b) in sequence, so that the tea leaves having a predetermined color can be selected and removed twice. Can be more reliably performed. In the present embodiment, two chutes are arranged side by side, but three or more chutes may be arranged side by side so that tea leaves are selected three or more times.

  According to the color sorting device for tea leaves, a plurality (two) of chutes are provided in parallel in the width direction of the device, and tea leaves are sequentially placed on the plurality of chutes (first chute 1a and second chute 1b). Since the feeding feeder 8 that can drop tea leaves on the upper part of each chute is provided so that the dropping conditions are substantially uniform to supply, the height of the apparatus can be kept small, and the sorting accuracy can be improved. be able to. That is, since the tea leaves are dropped from the same charging feeder 8 onto the first chute 1a and the second chute 1b provided in parallel, the dropping conditions are made substantially uniform.

  The feeding feeder 8 is formed with a plurality of tea leaf supply paths (first supply path 8a and second supply path 8b) corresponding to each chute (first chute 1a and second chute 1b). It is possible to ensure that the drop conditions at are substantially uniform. The feeding feeder 8 as a supply means is composed of a single vibration feeder, and a plurality of supply paths (a first supply path 8a and a second supply path 8b) are formed by dividing the conveying surface of the vibration feeder into a plurality of parts. Since it is formed, it is possible to use a single supply means for dropping tea leaves on a plurality of chutes, thereby simplifying the device configuration, reducing manufacturing costs and running costs, and facilitating maintenance.

In the present embodiment, the conveying means comprises a single or al vertical bucket 6 and a single diffuser tea feeder 7, a plurality of transport paths are formed by partitioned into a plurality (two) of the conveying surface and conveying portion Therefore, it is possible to use two conveying paths with one conveying means, and, like the input feeder 8, simplification of the apparatus configuration, reduction in manufacturing cost and running cost, and easy maintenance are achieved. be able to.

  Furthermore, it corresponds to each of a plurality of tea leaf supply paths (first supply path 8a and second supply path 8b) in the input feeder 8, and a plurality of transport paths (first in the vertical bucket 6) for transporting tea leaves to each supply path. Since the 1st conveyance path 6a, the 2nd conveyance path 6b, and the 1st conveyance path 7a in the green tea feeder 7 and the 2nd conveyance path 7b) were provided, the conveyance means (the vertical bucket 6 and the green tea feeder 7) was provided. It is possible to more easily and reliably carry the tea leaves to the input feeder 8 when performing multiple selections.

  Although the present embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, the first chute 1 a is disposed under the first chute 1 a and selected by the first chute 1 a. The first guide portion 5aa for guiding the tea leaves (good product) to the second transport path 6b of the vertical bucket 6 and the second guide portion 5ab for guiding the selected tea leaves to the outside of the transport path (for example, directly below) are formed. It is good also as what was done.

  The first guide portion 5aa and the second guide portion 5ab are switched by switching means (not shown) so that tea leaves can be selectively guided. That is, the tea leaves that have been sorted while flowing through one chute are received by the lower part of the one chute, and the received tea leaves are received by the operation of the switching means, and the predetermined conveying path (second conveying) of the conveying means (vertical bucket 6). It is possible to switch between a first route (route guided by the first guide portion 5aa) sent to the route 6b) and a second route (route guided by the second guide portion 5ab) sent outside the conveyance route. It has been done.

  Thereby, at the start of the sorting operation, it is possible to check the sorting accuracy by sending the tea leaves to the outside of the transport path through the second path, and thereafter, it is possible to switch to send the tea leaves to the predetermined transport path through the first path. By continuing to send tea leaves out of the conveying path in the second path, it is possible to avoid the circulation operation of tea leaves by the vertical bucket 6 and allow only one sort to be performed. Sorting can be optionally performed.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the input feeder 8 and the green tea feeder 7 are vibration feeders, but other conveying means (such as a belt conveyor) may be used instead . Also further, in the present embodiment, the supply means is a single-on feeder 8 with a first supply path 8a and the second supply path 8b, has a respective separate feed means (first supply path It is good also as a vibration feeder etc. which have a vibration feeder and a 2nd supply path.

To supply sequentially tea leaves on a plurality of chutes, with can not drop the tea leaves at the top of each chute while aligning the drop conditions substantially uniformly, the supply means for the supply path of the plurality of tea leaves corresponding to each chute is formed And a conveying means corresponding to each of the supply paths of the plurality of tea leaves in the supply means and formed with a plurality of conveyance paths for conveying the tea leaves to each supply path, and the conveying means is a single vertical If it is composed of a bucket and a single tea feeder, and each of the vertical buckets and the tea feeder is divided into a plurality of transport paths and corresponds to the supply path of the supply means, the tea leaf color sorting device, The present invention can also be applied to ones having different appearance shapes or those having other functions added.

The front view which shows the color selection apparatus of the tea leaf which concerns on embodiment of this invention Side view of the tea leaf color sorter Top view showing the color sorting device for the tea leaves Side view showing a vertical bucket in the tea leaf color sorter Block diagram showing CCD camera (imaging means), determination means, and air nozzle in the tea leaf color sorter Explanatory drawing for showing the sorting operation of tea leaves in the color sorting device of the tea leaves Front view showing a supply box in the color sorting device for the tea leaves Side view showing the supply box Schematic diagram showing the positional relationship between the feeding means (feeding feeder) and the vertical wall surface in the tea leaf color sorting device. The schematic diagram which shows the color selection apparatus of the tea leaf which concerns on other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1a 1st chute 1b 2nd chute 2 Detection determination part 3 CCD camera 4 Air nozzle 5a, 5b Receiving member 6 Vertical bucket (conveyance means)
6a 1st conveyance path 6b 2nd conveyance path 7 Green tea feeder (conveyance means)
7a 1st conveyance path 7b 2nd conveyance path 8 Input feeder (supply means)
8a 1st supply path 8b 2nd supply path 9 Supply box 10 Judgment means 11 Drive mechanism 12 Column body 13 Frame body 14 Vinyl sheet (vertical wall surface)

Claims (4)

A plurality of chutes that are inclined in a predetermined angle and are arranged in parallel with respect to the width direction of the device, and can flow tea leaves from the upper part to the lower part,
Imaging means for capturing an image of tea leaves falling from the lower part of the chute, and obtaining an image;
Determination means for determining whether or not the object to be imaged has a predetermined color based on the color of the image obtained by the imaging means;
An air nozzle that blows away what has been determined to have a predetermined color by the determining means, and causes the air nozzle to drop on a trajectory different from the trajectory of falling by the chute;
In the tea leaf color sorting device for sorting and removing a plurality of tea leaves having a predetermined color by flowing tea leaves sequentially with the plurality of chutes,
In order to supply tea leaves sequentially on the plurality of chutes, the tea leaves can be dropped on the top of each chute while aligning the dropping conditions substantially uniformly, and a supply means in which a plurality of tea leaf supply paths corresponding to each chute are formed When,
Corresponding to each supply path of a plurality of tea leaves in the supply means, conveying means formed with a plurality of conveying paths for conveying tea leaves to each supply path;
And the conveying means includes a single vertical bucket and a single green tea feeder, and each of the vertical buckets and the green tea feeder is divided into a plurality of conveying paths to supply the supply means. A tea leaf color sorter characterized by corresponding to the road . A first path that receives the tea leaves that have been sorted while flowing through one chute at the bottom of the one chute, and that sends the received tea leaves to a predetermined conveying path of the conveying means, and a second path that sends the tea leaves outside the conveying path 2. The tea leaf color selecting device according to claim 1 , wherein the color selecting device is capable of switching between the two. 3. The tea leaf according to claim 1, wherein the supply unit includes a single vibration feeder, and a plurality of supply paths are formed by dividing a conveying surface of the vibration feeder into a plurality of parts. Color sorting device. 4. The tea leaf color sorting apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein a vertical wall surface made of a predetermined separate member is formed on a partitioning portion and an edge of the conveying surface in the supply means.

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