JP5519441B2 - Particle size distribution measuring system and diffusion device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a particle size distribution measuring system for measuring a particle size distribution of a material conveyed by a belt conveyor, and a diffusion device suitably used for the system.

  For example, in civil engineering work such as dams, a batcher plant that transports materials such as aggregates and earth and sand with a belt conveyor, a CSG (Cemented Sand and Gravel) mixing plant, and the like are employed to manufacture concrete materials. In these plants, it is necessary to know the particle size distribution of such materials for quality control. Conventionally, the particle size is regularly measured by conducting a manual sieving test (eg, once a day, once an hour, etc.). Although the distribution has been measured, since such a test is performed in a random manner, it is impossible to know the particle size distribution of all the materials, and since it is performed manually, it takes time and labor.

  In view of such circumstances, Patent Document 1 proposes that the material conveyed on the belt is photographed and the particle size distribution is measured based on the photographing result.

JP 2003-83868 A

  However, in the technique described in Patent Document 1, when the material conveyed on the belt is layered, the aggregate is buried in the earth and is not photographed, and the particle size distribution is accurately measured. I can't.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and provides a particle size distribution measuring system capable of suitably measuring the particle size distribution of a material and a diffusion device suitably used in the system. Is an issue.

In order to solve the above problems, the particle size distribution measurement system of the present invention includes a belt conveyor having a belt that conveys the material by traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side where the material is placed, and the material is contained therein. A material supply unit that discharges the stored material and supplies the material onto the belt, and a diffusion unit that is provided between the material supply unit and the belt and diffuses the material discharged from the material supply unit. And a background portion provided between the slope portion and the belt and exhibiting a color different from the material, and photographing the material diffused by the diffusion portion downstream of the diffusion portion and parts, based on the imaging result by the imaging unit, and a calculation unit for calculating a particle size distribution of the material, the diffusion portion includes a slope portion in which the material discharged from the material supply section flow down A plurality of diffusion protrusions that stand up from the slope portion and diffuse the material flowing down on the slope portion, and the background portion is integrally formed on the downstream side of the slope portion, The photographing unit photographs the material flowing down the upper surface of the background portion with the background portion as a background .

  According to this configuration, since the particle size distribution is calculated based on the imaging result of the diffused material, the particle size distribution of the material can be suitably measured.

Further, the diffusion device of the present invention includes a belt conveyor having a belt that conveys the material by traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side on which the material is placed, and the material that is accommodated and the material that is accommodated A material supply unit that discharges and supplies the belt to the belt, a diffusing device provided between the slope part where the material discharged from the material supply part flows down and the slope part, A plurality of diffusion protrusions for diffusing the material flowing down on the slope portion, and a background portion provided between the slope portion and the belt and exhibiting a color different from that of the material. And is formed integrally on the downstream side of the slope portion .

  The plurality of diffusion protrusions may be detachable from the slope portion.

  The plurality of diffusion protrusions may be arranged in multiple stages in the direction in which the material flows down, and may further be arranged so that the number increases as it goes downstream. .

  According to the present invention, the particle size distribution of the material can be suitably measured.

It is a mimetic diagram showing the particle size distribution measuring system concerning a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the spreading | diffusion part and background part which concern on 1st embodiment of this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a principal part enlarged view, (c) is a front view, (d) is (c) It is the sectional side view seen from the X1 direction. (A)-(d) is a figure for demonstrating the image processing in a particle size distribution measurement. It is a graph which shows the relationship between the particle size of material, and an accumulation passage rate. It is a figure which shows the spreading | diffusion part and background part which concern on 2nd embodiment of this invention, (a) is a perspective view, (b) is a principal part enlarged view, (c) is a front view, (d) is (c). It is the sectional side view seen from the X2 direction.

  Hereinafter, the present invention is applied to a batcher plant, a CSG (Cemented Sand and Gravel) mixing plant, etc., in which materials such as aggregate and earth and sand are conveyed by a belt conveyor in order to produce a concrete material. The case will be described as an example with reference to the drawings as appropriate. Similar parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<First embodiment>
As shown in FIG. 1, a particle size distribution measuring system 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a belt conveyor 10, a hopper 20, a diffusion unit 30A, a background unit 40, a photographing unit 50, and a computer 60. And comprising.

<Belt conveyor 10>
As shown in FIG. 1, the belt conveyor 10 conveys the granular solid material (henceforth material only) 2 containing the coarse particle material (aggregate etc.) 2a and the fine particle material (earth and sand etc.) 2b to a plant. A pulley (11, 11), a belt (endless belt in the present embodiment) 12 wound around the pulley (11, 11), and a motor that rotates the pulley (11) according to control by a control unit (63) described later. 13. In the belt 12, the upper belt 12 travels from the upstream hopper 20 to the downstream plant in a state where the material is placed, and thereby conveys the placed material to the plant. The lower belt 12 is a return side belt that travels from the downstream plant toward the upstream hopper 20.

<Hopper 20>
The hopper 20 is provided above the upstream end of the belt 12, accommodates the material 2, discharges the material 2 in accordance with control by the control unit 63 described later, and supplies the material 2 onto the belt 12. It is.

<Diffusion part 30>
The diffusion unit 30 is provided between the hopper 20 and the upstream end of the belt 12 and diffuses the material 2 discharged from the hopper 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the diffusion portion 30 includes a slope portion 31, a pair of side walls 32, 32, and a plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,.

  The slope portion 31 is a plate-like member in which the material 2 discharged from the hopper 20 flows down due to natural fall on the upper surface thereof, and can diffuse the material 2 while maintaining the flow speed of the material 2 discharged from the hopper 20. Thus, it arrange | positions so that the inclination angle (theta) may become 40-50 degrees with respect to a horizontal surface (refer FIG. 1).

  The pair of side walls 32, 32 are walls erected from both ends in the width direction of the slope portion 31, and prevent the material 2 flowing down on the slope portion 31 from spilling sideways.

  The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,... Are fin-type (I-type) protrusions erected from the inclined surface portion 31, and have a posture that extends toward the downstream side (the downstream end of the diffusion protrusion 33A is The posture closer to the end in the width direction of the slope portion 31 than the upstream end portion The diffusion protrusion 33A provided at the center in the width direction of the slope portion 31 is a posture along the flow path direction of the slope portion 31. And is arranged in multiple stages (five steps in this embodiment) in the direction in which the material 2 flows down (up and down direction of the slope portion 31), and diffuses the material 2 flowing down on the slope portion 31. That is, it is for dispersing the material 2 widely and thinly. The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,... Are arranged so that the material 2 can pass through without clogging. The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,... Are 2 in the first stage, 3 in the 2nd stage, 4 in the 3rd stage, 5 in the 4th stage, and 6 in the 5th stage. The number is arranged so as to increase toward the downstream side.

  The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,... Are mounted by inserting the convex portion 33Aa formed in the lower portion thereof into the concave portion 31a formed in the slope portion 31. The diffusion protrusion 33A can be attached to and detached from the inclined surface portion 31, and the direction of the diffusion protrusion 33A at the time of mounting can be changed.

  In addition, the slope portion 31 and the pair of side walls 32, 32 have a flow path of the material 2 spreading toward the downstream side so that the material 2 diffused by the plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,. It is configured as follows.

<Background part 40>
Returning to FIG. 1, the background portion 40 is provided between the diffusion portion 30 and the upstream end portion of the belt 12, and exhibits a color different from that of the material 2. As shown in FIG. 2, the background portion 40 includes a slope portion 41 and a pair of side walls 42 and 42.

  The slope portion 41 is a plate-like member in which the material 2 discharged from the hopper 20 flows down on the upper surface, like the slope portion 31 described above, and the material 2 is maintained while maintaining the flow rate of the material 2 discharged from the hopper 20. It arrange | positions so that the inclination angle (theta) may become 40-50 degrees with respect to a horizontal surface (refer FIG. 1) so that it can diffuse. The slope portion 41 is integrally formed on the downstream side of the slope portion 31 of the diffusion portion 30 and has a background plate 41 a that exhibits a color different from that of the material 2, preferably a complementary color of the material 2.

  The pair of side walls 42, 42 are walls erected from both end portions in the width direction of the slope portion 41, and prevent the material from spilling sideways.

  In the present embodiment, the slope portion 31 and the pair of side walls 32 and 32 of the diffusion portion 30 and the portion of the slope portion 41 of the background portion 40 excluding the background plate 41a and the pair of side walls 42 and 42 use steel materials. Are integrally formed. These materials are not limited to steel materials, and may be any materials that can withstand the impact of the material 2. Moreover, colors other than the background board 41a of the background part 40 are not specifically limited.

  The combination of the diffusion unit 30A and the background unit 40 is an example of the diffusion device in the claims.

<Photographing unit 50>

  Returning to FIG. 1, the photographing unit 50 is a camera that photographs the material 2 that flows down on the background plate 41 a (see FIG. 2) of the background unit 40 and outputs the photographing result to the control unit 63 described later. As the photographing unit 50, a video camera or a digital camera can be preferably used.

  The particle size distribution measurement system 1A may be configured to further include an illumination unit that irradiates light to the background plate 41a.

<Computer 60>
The computer 60 includes an input unit 61 including a keyboard and a mouse, an output unit 62 including a display and a speaker, and a control unit 63 including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.

  The control unit 63 controls the driving of each component of the particle size distribution measurement system 1A, and functions to open and close the bottom of the hopper 20 according to the operation of the input unit 61 by the user (material on the belt 12). 2 and the function of controlling the drive of the motor 13 (running or stopping the belt 12).

  The control unit 63 is a calculation unit that acquires the imaging result of the imaging unit 50 and calculates the particle size distribution of the material 2 based on the acquired imaging result. The control unit 63 stores the calculation result and outputs the calculation result. 62, a function of stopping the discharge of the material 2 from the hopper 20 according to the calculation result, a function of stopping the driving of the belt conveyor 10 according to the calculation result, and the like.

  Here, a method of measuring the particle size distribution of the material by the control unit 63 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown to Fig.3 (a), the imaging | photography part 50 image | photographs the material 2 on the background board 41a as a background. The material 2 contains a coarse particle material 2a made of aggregate or the like and a fine particle material 2b made of earth or sand. In this embodiment, the particle diameter of the coarse-grained material 2a is larger than a predetermined value (for example, 2.5 mm), and the particle diameter of the fine-grained material is not more than a predetermined value (for example, 2.5 mm).

  The control unit 63 stores the color of the background plate 41a in advance, and removes the portion of the background plate 41a from the photographed result based on the stored content (in other words, the material 2 part is extracted). In the present embodiment, it is desirable to set the luminance of the background plate 41a so that [the luminance of the background plate 41a]> [the luminance of the fine grain material 2b]> [the luminance of the coarse grain material 2a]. By doing in this way, the control part 63 removes the part of the background board 41a by binarizing the imaging | photography result using the threshold value between the brightness | luminance of the background board 41a and the brightness | luminance of the fine grain material 2b. can do.

  Subsequently, the control unit 63 extracts the portion of the coarse grain material 2a from the photographing result from which the portion of the background plate 41a has been removed (see FIG. 3C). In the present embodiment, the control unit 63 extracts a portion of the coarse grain material 2a by binarizing the imaging result using a threshold value between the brightness of the fine grain material 2b and the brightness of the coarse grain material 2a. can do. Subsequently, the control unit 63 calculates the long diameter and the short diameter of the coarse particle material 2a based on the extraction result, and calculates the volume of the coarse particle material 2a based on the calculation result. As a method for calculating the volume of the coarse particle material 2a, it is possible to calculate the volume of the coarse particle material 2a on the assumption that the coarse particle material 2a is a sphere having an average value of a major axis and a minor axis as a diameter.

  Subsequently, the control unit 63 calculates the volume of the fine-grained material 2b from the remaining photographing results (portions other than the background plate 41a and the coarse-grained material 2a, see FIG. 3D). As a method for calculating the volume of the fine-grained material 2b, the fine-grained material 2b having a known volume is poured into the background portion 40 in advance, and the thickness is calculated from the area at that time, and the calculated thickness ( The average thickness in a plurality of operations may be stored in the control unit 63, the area of the fine-grained material 2b is calculated from the remaining photographing results, and the calculated area is multiplied by the stored thickness. Can be calculated.

  Subsequently, the control unit 63 calculates the particle size distribution of the material based on the calculated volume of the coarse material 2a and the volume of the fine material 2b, stores the calculation result, and outputs it to the display as the output unit 62. To notify the user.

  In addition, the control unit 63 compares the calculated particle size distribution with the threshold values (upper limit value and lower limit value) stored in advance, and when the calculated particle size distribution is within the threshold value range, the discharge of the material 2 and When the conveyance is continued and the calculated particle size distribution deviates from the threshold value, that is, when the composition ratio of the coarse material 2a is too large or too small, the discharge of the material 2 from the hopper 20 and the belt While the drive of the conveyor 10 is stopped, the fact that these are stopped is output and displayed on the display which is the output unit 62, or an alarm is sounded by the speaker which is the output unit 62.

  FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the particle size of the material and the accumulation passage rate. The upper curve represents the coarse-grained material 2a, and the lower curve represents the fine-grained material 2b. In the present embodiment, the control unit 63 stores in advance the relationship between the particle size and the accumulation passage rate of the coarse particle material 2a and the fine particle material 2b shown in the graph of FIG. When the calculated passing rate of the material 2 is within the range surrounded by the upper and lower curves (distribution curves), the material 2 is continuously discharged and transported. When the accumulated passing rate of the material 2 deviates from the range surrounded by the upper and lower curves, the discharge of the material 2 from the hopper 20 and the driving of the belt conveyor 10 are stopped and the output unit 62 is provided. A message indicating that these have been stopped is output and displayed on the display, or an alarm is sounded by the speaker as the output unit 62.

  Even if the control part 63 is a structure which calculates the accumulation passage rate for every particle size on the assumption that it is uniform distribution below a predetermined value (for example, 2.5 mm) regarding the particle size of the fine granule material 2b. Well, a manual sieving test is periodically performed on the fine-grained material 2b, and the ratio of each particle diameter of the fine-grained material 2b is measured in advance and stored in the control unit 63. The structure which calculates the accumulation passage rate for every particle diameter by multiplying the volume of the fine granule material 2b may be sufficient.

  Since the particle size distribution measuring system 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention automatically measures the particle size distribution of the material 2, a manual sieving test becomes unnecessary (or the number of sieving tests can be reduced). It is possible to reduce labor and labor. In addition, 100% inspection of the material 2 is possible, and when an unspecified particle size distribution is measured, the system is quickly stopped, so that waste materials can be reduced. Moreover, since the measured particle size distribution is memorize | stored, quality control improves.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, the particle size distribution measurement system according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described focusing on differences from the particle size distribution measurement system 1A according to the first embodiment.

  The particle size distribution measurement system according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a diffusion unit 30B shown in FIG. 5 instead of the diffusion unit 30A. The diffusion portion 30B includes a plurality of diffusion protrusions 33B, 33B,... Instead of the plurality of diffusion protrusions 33A, 33A,. The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33B, 33B,... Are triangular pyramid type (Δ type) protrusions erected from the inclined surface portion 31, and have a posture in which one vertex of the bottom surface of the triangular pyramid faces the upstream side. The material is arranged stepwise in the vertical direction of the portion 31 (four steps in the present embodiment), and diffuses the material flowing down on the inclined surface portion 31, that is, for dispersing the material widely and thinly. The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33B, 33B,... Are arranged so that the material can pass through without clogging.

  The plurality of diffusion protrusions 33 </ b> B, 33 </ b> B,... Are mounted by inserting convex portions 33 </ b> Ba formed in the lower portions thereof into the concave portions 31 formed in the slope portion 31. The diffusion protrusion 33B can be attached to and detached from the slope portion 31.

  Since the particle size distribution measurement system according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes the triangular pyramid-shaped diffusion protrusions 33B, the material can be more suitably diffused.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A design change is possible suitably in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention. For example, the shape of the diffusion protrusion is not limited to the fin type (I type) or the triangular pyramid type (Δ type), but is a pin type (○ type) or a type with the bent portion of the folding plate facing upward (∧ Etc.), and a plurality of diffusion projections having a plurality of shapes can be used in combination. Further, the inclination of the diffusing portion and the height and direction of the diffusing protrusion can be appropriately changed according to the size of the material.

1A Particle size distribution measurement system 10 Belt conveyor 12 Belt 20 Hopper (material supply unit)
30A, 30B Diffusion unit (diffusion device)
31 slope part 33A, 33B diffusion projection 40 background part (diffusion device)
50 Shooting Unit 63 Control Unit (Calculation Unit)

Claims (5)

A belt conveyor having a belt for conveying the material by traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side where the material is placed;
A material supply unit for storing the material, discharging the stored material and supplying the material onto the belt;
A diffusion unit that is provided between the material supply unit and the belt and diffuses the material discharged from the material supply unit;
A background portion provided between the slope portion and the belt, and exhibiting a color different from the material;
A photographing unit that photographs the material diffused by the diffusing unit on the downstream side of the diffusing unit,
A calculation unit for calculating a particle size distribution of the material based on a result of imaging by the imaging unit;
With
The diffusion part is
A slope part where the material discharged from the material supply part flows down;
A plurality of diffusion protrusions that stand up from the slope and diffuse the material flowing down on the slope;
With
The background portion is integrally formed on the downstream side of the slope portion,
The particle size distribution measuring system , wherein the photographing unit photographs the material flowing down the upper surface of the background portion with the background portion as a background . A belt conveyor having a belt that conveys the material by traveling from the upstream side to the downstream side where the material is placed, and the material is accommodated, and the contained material is discharged and supplied onto the belt A diffusion device provided between the material supply unit and
A slope part where the material discharged from the material supply part flows down;
A plurality of diffusion protrusions that stand up from the slope and diffuse the material flowing down on the slope;
A background portion provided between the slope portion and the belt, and exhibiting a color different from the material;
With
The diffusion device according to claim 1, wherein the background portion is integrally formed on a downstream side of the slope portion . The diffusion device according to claim 2 , wherein the plurality of diffusion protrusions are detachable from the slope portion. The diffusion device according to claim 2 or 3 , wherein the plurality of diffusion protrusions are arranged in multiple stages in a direction in which the material flows down. The diffusion device according to claim 4 , wherein the plurality of diffusion protrusions are arranged so that the number increases as going downstream.

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