JP7086367B2 - Processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a plant processing apparatus suitable for removing unnecessary leaves and stains attached to the roots of leafy vegetables such as garlic chives and leeks.

When shipping the harvested garlic chives and leeks, the work of removing unnecessary leaves and dirt such as dead leaves attached to the roots is generally performed. This work called adjustment may be performed manually or by an adjusting device.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus for making adjustments using compressed air. In the apparatus of Patent Document 1, a pair of nozzles for discharging compressed air are arranged so as to face each other vertically. The nozzle has a cylindrical outer cylinder and a cylindrical inner cylinder that is arranged inside the outer cylinder, is supplied with compressed air, and rotates inside the outer cylinder. A plurality of injection ports penetrating the side wall are formed in the outer cylinder along the axial direction. The inner cylinder is provided with at least one compressed air passage port having substantially the same arrangement as the injection port, penetrating the side wall.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-187925 Japanese Patent No. 4961555

In the adjusting device of Patent Document 1, compressed air is supplied from a pair of nozzles arranged so as to face each other vertically. Moreover, in the adjusting device of Patent Document 1, compressed air is supplied from a plurality of discharge ports formed in the axial direction of the nozzle. Therefore, the adjusting device of Patent Document 1 uses a large amount of compressed air. Further, in Patent Document 1, since the leafy vegetables pass through the supply of compressed air over a wide range, a considerable amount of compressed air ends without being involved in the adjustment. Therefore, it cannot be said that the adjusting device of Patent Document 1 has been adjusted according to the amount of compressed air to be supplied.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus capable of efficiently processing plants including preparation of vegetables while suppressing the amount of compressed air consumed.

The processing apparatus of the present invention acquires images of a transport unit that transports a plant to be processed, a gas discharge unit that discharges compressed gas toward the processing portion of the plant to be transported, and a processing portion. An image pickup unit, an operation unit that supports the gas discharge unit and operates the gas discharge unit in an arbitrary direction, and a control unit that controls the operation of the operation unit with respect to the processing portion based on the image acquired by the image pickup unit. Be prepared.

The control unit according to the present invention preferably operates the operation unit based on the collation result of the color pattern A relating to the pre-registered processing portion and the color pattern B generated from the image acquired by the image pickup unit. Control.

The control unit according to the present invention preferably has a color pattern A related to a pre-registered processing portion and a color pattern B generated from an image acquired by the imaging unit, based on a collation result from the gas discharge unit. Controls the start and stop of discharge of compressed gas.

The transport unit according to the present invention preferably includes a conveyor belt that carries the plant from the carry-in side to the carry-out side, and the gas discharge unit discharges compressed gas toward the processing portion of the plant mounted on the conveyor belt. do.

The conveyor belt according to the present invention preferably continuously conveys a plurality of plants from the carry-in side to the carry-out side, and the gas discharge unit discharges compressed gas from the preceding plant to finish the treatment, and then the preceding plant. It moves toward the following plants, which are transported upstream of the area, and discharges compressed gas.

In the conveyor belt according to the present invention, preferably, the surface on which the plant is placed is given a color different from the color contained in the treated portion.

The conveyor belt according to the present invention is preferably provided with a resistance element against misalignment of the plant on the surface on which the plant is placed.

According to the present invention, the compressed gas is discharged while the nozzle moves relative to the plant to be treated. Moreover, according to the present invention, the treated portion on the vegetable to be exposed to the compressed gas is captured by referring to the acquired image. Therefore, according to the present invention, even if there is only one nozzle, the compressed gas can be discharged toward the required processing site, so that the processing work of plants, for example, garlic, can be performed while suppressing the amount of compressed air consumed. The efficiency of shaving can be improved.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the vegetable processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the control part of the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the preparation procedure in the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process of the actual procedure in the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows with the image which acquires the flow of the preparation procedure and the actual procedure in the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the image acquired in the actual procedure in the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other image acquired in the preparation procedure in the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the captured original image and the image extracted from the original image in the procedure which performs the garlic chives shaving using the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the other example of the captured original image and the image extracted from the original image in the procedure of performing the garlic chives shaving using the processing apparatus of FIG. It is a figure explaining the tracking operation of the nozzle in the processing apparatus of FIG.

Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings by taking the garlic chives shaving operation as an example.
In the processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, compressed air is discharged while the nozzle 10 as a gas discharge unit operates relative to the continuously conveyed Nila V. Moreover, according to the processing device 1, by recognizing the image captured by the digital camera 31, the portion of the Nila V to be discharged from which the compressed air is to be discharged is captured. Therefore, according to the processing device 1, even if there is only one nozzle 10, the compressed air can be discharged to the required position of the chives V, so that the amount of compressed air consumed can be suppressed and the vegetables represented by the shavings can be suppressed. Can be processed in the same way.

[Overall configuration of processing device 1: see FIG. 1]
As shown in FIG. 1, the processing apparatus 1 includes a nozzle 10 that discharges compressed air, a supply unit 20 that supplies compressed air discharged from the nozzle 10 to the nozzle 10, and a Nila V that discharges compressed air. An image pickup unit 30 for acquiring an image of a part to be drilled is provided. Further, the processing device 1 includes a nozzle 10 and an imaging unit 30, an operating unit 40 for operating the nozzle 10 and the imaging unit 30, and a transport unit 50 for transporting the litter V to be processed. In addition, the processing device 1 includes a control unit 60 that controls the operations of the supply unit 20, the image pickup unit 30, the operation unit 40, and the transport unit 50.

The processing device 1 controls the operations of the supply unit 20, the image pickup unit 30, the operation unit 40, and the transport unit 50 by the control unit 60, and roughly performs the shaving as follows.
Compressed air is discharged from the nozzle 10 toward the shaving target portion of the Nila V that is continuously conveyed by the conveying unit 50. Based on the image of the target portion for shaving acquired by the image pickup unit 30, the moving unit 40 operates the nozzle 10 so that the compressed air from the nozzle 10 hits the portion where shaving is required. The operation of the nozzle 10 is performed in consideration of the movement of the Nila V by the transport unit 50. Hereinafter, after each element of the processing device 1 will be described, the shaving operation of the chives V by the processing device 1 will be described more specifically.

[Nozzle 10: see Fig. 1]
Although not shown, a simple structure having a tubular shape in which a flow path through which compressed air flows is formed can be applied to the nozzle 10 of the processing device 1. A discharge port is formed at the tapered tip of the nozzle 10, and compressed air is discharged from this discharge port toward the part to be squeezed by the chives V. As shown in FIG. 1, if the processing device 1 is provided with one nozzle 10 as the minimum configuration, it is possible to perform shaving with high efficiency.
The nozzle 10 is held by the moving unit 40 and is operated by the moving unit 40 at a position suitable for shaving. Also in the process of this operation, compressed air is discharged from the nozzle 10 toward the Nila V. In the present embodiment, the operation includes changing the direction of the nozzle 10 in addition to the linear or curvilinear movement of the nozzle 10 or the like.

[Supply unit 20: see FIG. 1]
The supply unit 20 supplies compressed air to the nozzle 10 based on an instruction from the control unit 60.
The supply unit 20 includes a compressor 21 and a pipe 23 in which a flow path for delivering the compressed air generated by the compressor 21 to the nozzle 10 is formed. Further, the supply unit 20 includes an on-off valve 25 that opens and closes the flow path of the pipe 23, a pressure reducing valve 27 provided on the downstream side of the pipe 23 from the on-off valve 25, and a signal line 29 that connects the on-off valve 25 and the control unit 60. And. In the supply unit 20, the upstream and downstream are determined with reference to the direction in which the compressed air flows. Further, in the supply unit 20, compressed air is exemplified as compressed gas, but for example, when oxidation is not allowed, an inert gas such as compressed nitrogen gas can be used as the compressed gas. ..

When the Nila V is being squeezed in the processing device 1, the compressed air is supplied to the nozzle 10 through the open on-off valve 25. The compressed air is reduced to a predetermined pressure by passing through the pressure reducing valve 27 on the way. As a result, the compressed air is discharged from the nozzle 10 at a stable pressure in the range of, for example, 200 to 300 kPa.
When stopping the chives V in the processing device 1, the on-off valve 25 is closed. The on-off valve 25 is opened to restart the chives V. The opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 25 is performed according to the instruction of the control unit 60.

[Image pickup unit 30: see FIG. 1]
Next, the image pickup unit 30 takes an image of the part to be squeezed by the Nila V to which the compressed air is discharged. This photographing is continuously performed while the Nira V is being squeezed in the processing device 1. That is, the image taken by the image pickup unit 30 is a so-called moving image, and the image data constituting the moving image is sequentially sent to the control unit 60. The control unit 60 moves the nozzle 10 and the image pickup unit 30 via the operation unit 40 based on the result of processing the transmitted image.

Specifically, the image pickup unit 30 includes a digital camera 31 and a signal line 33 that electrically connects the digital camera 31 and the control unit 60. As the digital camera 31, for example, a digital camera 31 having a CCD image sensor (Charge Coupled Device Image Sensor) and a CMOS image sensor (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor image sensor) can be used as a solid-state image sensor. The image of Nila V, which will be described later, is taken by, for example, a digital camera having a resolution of 640 × 480 (pixels) and a frame rate of 30 Hz.
The digital camera 31 takes a picture of the target portion to be squeezed according to the instruction of the control unit 60, and the taken image is sent to the control unit 60 through the signal line 33.

[Operating unit 40: see FIG. 1]
The moving unit 40 holds the nozzle 10 and the digital camera 31, and moves or changes the direction of the nozzle 10 and the digital camera 31. The whole movement such as moving and changing the direction is called a movement.
The operating unit 40 includes a manipulator 41, a hand 43 supported by the manipulator 41 and holding a nozzle 10 and a digital camera 31, and a signal line 45 connecting the manipulator 41 and the control unit 60.

The manipulator 41 is required to be capable of three-dimensional operation in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction, but the specific type thereof does not matter. For example, a linear manipulator that combines movable bodies driven in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction can be used. In addition, a manipulator having a link connected by a rotary joint or a linear motion joint can be used. For example, the manipulator 41 may have a fixed range of movement. In this case, when the manipulator 41 finishes the shaving from the start point to the end point of the movement, the manipulator 41 can return to the start point and perform the next shaving.
The operating unit 40 moves the nozzle 10 and the digital camera 31 following the transport of the chives V and the progress of the shaving, which is performed based on the instruction from the control unit 60.

[Transport section 50: see FIG. 1]
The transport unit 50 transports the chives V from the position (IN) where the processed chives V are carried in to the position (OUT) where the processed chives V are carried out. The route in which the chives V are carried in and out of the transport unit 50 is referred to as a transport path. In the process of transporting the Nila V through the transport path, compressed air is squeezed from the nozzle 10 and discharged toward the target portion, so that the shaving is performed.

A conveyor-type conveyor belt 51 is applied as the conveyor belt 50, and an electric motor that rotationally drives the conveyor belt 51, which is an infinite circulation zone, the drive pulley 53 and the driven pulley 55 on which the conveyor belt 51 is hung, and the drive pulley 53. The 57 is provided with a signal line 59 connecting the electric motor 57 and the control unit 60.
The drive pulley 53 is rotationally driven by the electric motor 57 being rotated at a predetermined rotation speed according to the instruction of the control unit 60, so that the conveyor belt 51 travels at a predetermined speed. Along with this, the Nila V mounted on the conveyor belt 51 is conveyed along the transport path at a predetermined speed. The predetermined speed is, for example, 3 to 10 cm / sec.
In order to clarify the difference in color from the root of the Nila V containing white, the conveyor belt 51 preferably exhibits a color other than white, for example, blue on the surface on which the Nila V is carried.

[Control unit 60: see FIGS. 2, 3, and 4]
The control unit 60 controls the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 25 of the supply unit 20, the moving operation of the manipulator 41 of the operating unit 40, and the rotational operation of the electric motor 57 of the transport unit 50. Further, the control unit 60 evaluates the progress of the shaving by collating the image of the shaving target portion acquired via the digital camera 31 with the image of the shaving portion acquired in advance, and also evaluates the progress of the shaving and the manipulator. The operating conditions required for 41 are calculated. The opening and closing of the on-off valve 25 and the operation of the manipulator 41 are based on this evaluation and calculation result. As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 60 that exerts the above functions includes a transmission / reception unit 61, a storage unit 63, an input unit 65, a display unit 67, and an evaluation / control unit 69 as constituent elements. .. The control unit 60 is composed of a computer device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, and the like.

The transmission / reception unit 61 sends control signals for opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 25, moving operation of the manipulator 41, and rotational operation of the electric motor 57 via the signal line 29, the signal line 33, and the signal line 59, respectively. Further, the transmission / reception unit 61 receives the image taken by the digital camera 31 through the signal line 45.

The storage unit 63 stores a color pattern necessary for evaluation, which will be described later. This color pattern is acquired and stored in the storage unit 63 in the preparatory procedure performed prior to the shaving work. The color pattern will be described in detail in the evaluation / control unit 69. The storage unit 63 can store various data in addition to the color pattern.

The input unit 65 includes an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a light pen for inputting data and instructions.
The display unit 67 includes a liquid crystal display for a monitor and other display devices. As this display device, a touch panel type can also be used. In this case, the input unit 65 and the display unit 67 are apparently integrated.

The evaluation / control unit 69 incorporates a computer program for executing the evaluation procedure described below. This program includes a procedure for inputting, storing, processing, determining data such as position information, and processing data storage, storage, and the like in the storage unit 63, centering on an image processing function.
Further, the evaluation / control unit 69 generates a control value so that the shaving is executed based on the evaluation result, and the on-off valve 25, the manipulator 41, and the electric motor 57 to be controlled via the transmission / reception unit 61. To instruct.

[Evaluation procedure]
The procedure in the evaluation / control unit 69 follows the disclosure in Patent Document 2, but the outline is as follows. Please also refer to FIGS. 3 and 4.
This procedure is divided into a preparatory procedure and an actual procedure. The preparatory work is performed prior to the shaving of Nira V, and the actual procedure is a procedure performed during the shaving of Nira V.
The preparation procedure includes a unique color selection step (FIG. 3 S101), a color element dualization processing step (S103), and a color pattern registration step (S105). The actual procedure includes a work area color element dualization processing step (FIG. 4 S201), a target portion position display step (S203), a target portion marking step (S205), a marking priority determination step (S207), and a composite sorting step (S209). ). Hereinafter, the preparation procedure and the actual procedure will be described in this order.

[Preparation procedure: Unique color selection step (FIG. 3, S101)]
In the unique color selection step, the data of the digitized all-color system color image of the root (hereinafter referred to as the shaving part) where the Nira V is squeezed is input to the display unit 67 and reproduced, and the reproduction thereof is performed. The yellow part, which is a characteristic color of the shaving part in the image, is selected as the desired unique color.
The data of this all-color system color image may be obtained from an image taken with a digital camera of the actual Nila V at the work site of the shaving, or an image obtained by reading a color photograph already taken with a scanner and digitizing it. May be obtained from.

[Preparation procedure: Color element binary processing step (S103)]
Next, in the color element dualization processing step, based on the color data of all the color systems of the selected yellow part, the color data of the two color elements excluding the color elements related to light and dark is converted by a computer program. , Obtain color space data A that can be displayed in color on the biaxial coordinate plane. Note that "A" is a symbol that distinguishes the color space data B and the color pattern B obtained in the actual process.
This color space data A does not display the shape of the chives V, but is data shown by the shape of the biaxial coordinate plane with the coordinates of the two color elements in the vertical and horizontal axial directions. At this stage, the color of the peripheral portion of the selected portion of Nila V is partially included.

[Preparation procedure: Color pattern registration process (S105)]
The color space data A obtained in the color element dualization processing step is the characteristic color data of the target part of the shaving, but this color space data A is further secondarily processed to form a color pattern in the next step. Allows comparison and narrowing down with data. Therefore, in the color pattern registration step, the color space data A obtained in the color element binary processing step is displayed on the display unit 67, and dark yellow is selected from the more characteristic yellow portion from the color image, and this dark color is selected. Yellow is stored in the storage unit 63 as the color pattern A of the target portion of the shaving.
In this image processing, the color pattern A is determined by selecting the block representing the most characteristic color in the color space data A displayed in the block shape, so that the unnecessary leaves of Nila V are surely identified. Become. A specific example of the color pattern A is shown in FIG.
By storing the data of the color pattern A of the target part in advance in the preparatory procedure, the color space data B and the color space data B which does not include the data on the lightness and darkness of the color of the target part of the shaving obtained at the next actual work site are obtained. It will be possible to compare and collate, and it will be possible to narrow down and identify the exact location of unnecessary leaves.
This completes the preparation procedure, and the actual procedure will be described below.

[Actual procedure: Work area color element dualization process (FIG. 4, S201)]
In the work area color element dualization processing process, the target part of the shaving including the periphery of the unnecessary leaf, which is the dead or dying leaf that is actually the target of the shaving work, is taken as a digital color image of all colors by a digital camera. Take a picture at 31. Using the computer program included in the evaluation / control unit 69 of the control unit 60, the color data of the entire color system is converted into the color data B of the two color elements excluding the color elements related to light and dark, and the colors are displayed on the biaxial coordinate plane. Obtain the displayable color space data B. The color space data B is stored in the storage unit 63, and the color pattern B is generated and stored in the storage unit 63 in the same manner as the color pattern A. A specific example of the color pattern B is shown in FIG. Note that "B" is for distinguishing from the color space data A or the like obtained in the preparation procedure.

[Actual procedure: Target part position display process (S203)]
In the target partial position display step, the color data B of the color pattern B obtained in the work area color element two-dimensional processing step and the color data A of the color pattern A are collated. Then, only the portion where both the color data A and the color data B match is recognized as the existence position of the unnecessary leaf which is the target portion of the shaving. The data of the unnecessary leaves that match the two is displayed on the display unit 67 as the existing position of the unnecessary leaves.
That is, in the target portion position display step, the portion where the color data A and the color data B match is recognized as the existence position of the unnecessary leaf, that portion is displayed in the image of the display unit 67, and the existence position of the unnecessary leaf is visually recognized. Will be done. A specific example of the collation result is shown in FIG.

[Actual procedure: Target partial marking process (S205)]
In the target partial position display step, since the unnecessary leaves of Nila V are displayed in the image of the display unit 67, the operator can recognize the existence position of the unnecessary leaves, but at the stage until the evaluation / control unit 69 determines. There is no. Therefore, in the target portion marking step, for Nila V having a dark yellow color whose existence position is displayed in the image of the display unit 67, the size of the dark yellow part in the image to be recognized is adjusted to the size of the screen. Decide the range of the enclosure with. Then, the position data of the dark yellow portion displayed in the image of the display unit 67 in the target portion position display step that exists in a specific range is automatically identified, and the identification position is marked. To process. A specific example of the marking process is shown in FIG.

[Actual procedure: Marking priority determination step (S207)]
When a plurality of dark yellow parts are displayed in the image of the display unit 67 in the target part marking process, each dark yellow part is automatically set according to the program in which the priority condition is set by the evaluation / control unit 69. Mark in order of priority. This selects the target of the shaving.

[Actual procedure: Composite sorting step (S209)]
In the compound sorting process, the unnecessary leaves and the parts of the leaves used for food (edible leaves) are recognized.
As a premise of this composite sorting step, in the color pattern registration step (S105) of the preparatory procedure and the work area color element dualization processing step (S201) of the actual procedure, the color pattern A, the color data A, and the color pattern for the edible leaves are used. A and color data B are stored.
In this way, the color pattern and color data of the garlic V are stored and registered separately in the dark green part of the edible leaf (garlic body part) and the yellow part of the unnecessary leaf. Further, the dark green color pattern data is labeled and the yellow color pattern data is labeled, and both of them are simultaneously processed in parallel in the image of the display unit 67 in the actual shaving work and displayed on the same screen. Set so that it can be done. In addition, the position data other than the part where the dark green and yellow enclosure areas of Nila V whose existence position is displayed in the image of the display unit 67 in the target part position display step partially overlaps is discarded.
By doing so, the images that are mistakenly identified and incorporated for the edible leaves and the unnecessary leaves are erased, and the positions and ranges of the edible leaves and the unnecessary leaves are clarified.
Based on the coexistence state of the edible leaves and the unnecessary leaves obtained in this way and the position data thereof, the nozzle 10 is moved toward the unnecessary leaves and the compressed air is discharged.

[Examples of actual work: FIGS. 5 to 10]
Next, the results of the actual shaving work will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 10.
As shown in FIG. 5, the outline of the procedure in the evaluation / control unit 69 in this work is the color pattern A (FIG. 7) registered in the preparatory work and the color pattern B (FIG. 6) acquired and registered in the actual procedure. And are collated, and the part where both match is extracted. The data of the matching portion, that is, the image data indicating the unnecessary leaves to be scooped (collation result in FIG. 6) is displayed on the display unit 67. After that, the dimensions and positions of the matching portion are evaluated by applying the marking, labeling, and the like described above. The result is recognized as three-dimensional coordinates (x, y, z) as the shaving position.
In the color pattern B of FIG. 6, the background portion of the conveyor belt 31 is blue, and the main body portion of the garlic is dark green. Further, in the color pattern B of FIG. 6, the extracted portion to be removed and the collation result (matching portion) of FIG. 6 are shown in yellow.

The evaluation / control unit 69 controls the operation of the manipulator 41 so that the compressed air is discharged from the nozzle 10 to the shaving position (x, y, z), and the compressed air is supplied from the compressor 21 to the nozzle 10. Open the on-off valve 25 so as to. The on-off valve 25 is kept open during the shaving, but when the shaving of the preceding Nira V is finished, the on-off valve 25 is closed until the shaving of the succeeding Nira V is started.

8 and 9 show an example of a shaving. In FIGS. 8 and 9, (A), (B), (C) and (D) both indicate a time series in the matching portion with the original image, and match with the original image with the same (A), for example. The part shows that the images have the same timing.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, at the timing of (A), the compressed air is not yet discharged from the nozzle 10, but the unnecessary leaves to be removed in the original image are surrounded by a white ellipse.
In FIGS. 8 and 9, when the matching portion is located in the central portion of the image, the evaluation / control unit 69 issues an instruction to open the on-off valve 25. In the example of FIG. 8, the timing of (C) corresponds, and in the example of FIG. 9, the timing of (B) corresponds.
The nozzle 10 awaits at the origin corresponding to the central portion of the image, and when the discharge of the compressed air is started, the nozzle 10 tracks the movement of the Nila V due to the transport and the movement of the lie-down portion as the shaving progresses. In the example of FIG. 9, the timing of (C) of the original image shows that the unnecessary leaves receive the compressed air and touch around, but the nozzle 10 tracks the unnecessary leaves that touch around and does not need the compressed air. Discharge to.

FIG. 10 shows an example of tracking. In FIG. 10, the direction of the white arrow indicates the transport direction of the chives V and the passage of time. Further, in the rightmost view of FIG. 10, the alternate long and short dash line P1 indicates the position where the discharge of the compressed air from the nozzle 10 has started, which indicates the same position P1 in the transport portion 50. As shown in FIG. 10, the nozzle 10 discharges compressed air while tracking unnecessary leaves while changing the position and inclination, and performs shaving.
Although the nozzle 10 shows a form in which the position and the direction in the horizontal direction change in FIG. 10, only the direction may change or the position in the vertical direction may change.

If the unwanted leaves that are the target of the shaving are removed and no longer exist, there will be no matching part. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, it is recognized that the matching portion disappears at the timing of (D) and the unnecessary leaves are not reflected from the original image because the unnecessary leaves are removed, and the digging is completed. To. Then, the evaluation / control unit 69 instructs the manipulator 41 to move so that the nozzle 10 returns to the origin.

[effect]
Hereinafter, the effects of the processing device 1 will be described.
In the processing device 1, since the nozzle 10 having one discharge hole can perform the shaving while tracking the unnecessary leaves, the compressed air can be discharged to the unnecessary leaves without waste.
Therefore, according to the processing device 1, it is possible to perform the shaving while suppressing the amount of compressed air consumed. In particular, since the processing device 1 can control the opening / closing operation of the on-off valve 25 depending on the presence / absence of the matching portion between the color data A and the color data B, the compressed air can be discharged only for the minimum necessary period. The consumption of compressed air can be suppressed. Further, the elements constituting the processing device 1 are also simple, and the cost of the device as a whole can be suppressed.

Further, the processing device 1 can track unnecessary leaves that need to be squeezed from the compressed air from the nozzle 10 by referring to the matching portion between the color data A and the color data B.
Therefore, according to the processing device 1, it is possible to finish the shaving without leaving unnecessary leaves. Moreover, since the start and end of the shaving can be specified by the presence or absence of the matching portion between the color data A and the color data B, the preceding shaving and the succeeding shaving can be stably repeated.

In addition to the above, as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated, the configurations listed in the above embodiments can be selected or appropriately changed to other configurations.

[Processing target / processing work]
Although the processing apparatus 1 has been described by taking garlic as an example, the processing apparatus of the present invention can be widely applied to vegetables other than garlic and other plants. For example, leaf stem vegetables such as green onions, spinach, and Japanese mustard spinach, and root vegetables such as burdock and carrot can be treated by the processing apparatus of the present invention.
Further, although the processing device 1 has been described by taking a shaving as an example, there is no limitation on the processing work performed by the processing device of the present invention, and the processing device 1 can be applied to the work other than the shaving. For example, the processing apparatus of the present invention can be used to remove substances that are required to be removed as commercial products, such as agricultural products, roots of flowers, soil adhering to depressions, and pests.

[Improvement of digging efficiency]
In the embodiment described above, an example in which a pair of nozzles 10 and a digital camera 31 are provided for one transport unit 50 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. By providing a plurality of pairs of nozzles 10 and a digital camera 31 for one transport unit 50, it is possible to increase the number of chives that can be squeezed per unit time.

[Running speed of conveyor belt 51]
In the embodiment described above, it is assumed that the conveyor belt 51 travels at a constant speed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the conveyor belt 51 can travel at different speeds. For example, the conveyor belt 51 is run at a constant speed VL1 while the Nira V is being squeezed, but the speed VL1 is higher than the speed VL1 until the preceding Nira V is squeezed and the subsequent Nira V is confronted. The conveyor belt 51 can be run at a high speed VL2.

[Prevention of misalignment of Nira V]
As described above, it is sufficient that the Nila V is placed on the conveyor belt 51 while the shaving is being performed, and basically no member for fixing the Nila V is required. However, since compressed air of about 200 to 300 kPa is injected at the base of the Nila V, the Nila V, which is the target of shaving, may be misaligned. In the present invention, since the nozzle 10 tracks the target portion for shaving, in most cases, even if the Nila V causes a misalignment, it can be dealt with, but the nozzle 10 may not be able to track depending on the amount of the misalignment. Therefore, in order to suppress the displacement of the Nila V, it is preferable to provide a resistance element for restricting the movement of the Nila V on the surface of the conveyor belt 51 on which the Nila V is placed. Examples of the resistance element include protrusions provided at predetermined intervals, a recess for accommodating a part or all of Nila V, and the like. Since these resistance elements do not have to fix the Nila V, they do not increase the work load.

[Compressed gas]
Although it has been described above that the compressed gas contains not only air but also other gases such as an inert gas, the compressed gas in the present invention can contain a minute amount of liquid in this compressed gas. Examples of this liquid include liquid chemicals for the purpose of removing pests.
Further, in the present invention, the fluid form of the compressed gas includes both laminar flow and turbulent flow, and it is preferable that laminar flow or turbulent flow is selected depending on the treatment target.

1 Processing device 10 Nozzle 20 Supply unit 21 Compressor 23 Piping 25 On-off valve 27 Pressure reducing valve 29 Signal line 30 Imaging unit 31 Digital camera 33 Signal line 40 Operation unit 41 Manipulator 43 Hand 45 Signal line 50 Conveyor unit 51 Conveyor belt 53 Drive pulley 55 Driven pulley 57 Electric motor 59 Signal line 60 Control unit 61 Transmission / reception unit 63 Storage unit 65 Input unit 67 Display unit 69 Evaluation / control unit A, B Color pattern

Claims (7)

A transport unit that transports plants to be processed,
A gas discharge unit that discharges compressed gas toward the processing site of the plant to be transported, and a gas discharge unit.
An image pickup unit that acquires an image of the processed portion, and
An operating unit that supports the gas discharge unit and the image pickup unit and operates the gas discharge unit and the image pickup unit in an arbitrary direction.
A control unit that controls the operation of the operation unit with respect to the processing portion based on the image acquired by the image pickup unit is provided.
A processing device characterized in that the gas discharge unit and the image pickup unit move following the transfer of the plant by the transfer unit based on an instruction from the control unit . The control unit
The first aspect of the present invention is to control the operation of the moving unit based on the collation result of the color pattern A related to the processed portion registered in advance and the color pattern B generated from the image acquired by the imaging unit. The processing device described. The control unit has the compression from the gas discharge unit based on the collation result of the color pattern A related to the processing portion registered in advance and the color pattern B generated from the image acquired by the image pickup unit. The processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, which controls the start and stop of discharge of gas. The transport unit is provided with a conveyor belt that carries the plant from the carry-in side to the carry-out side.
The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the gas discharge unit discharges the compressed gas toward the processing portion of the plant mounted on the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt continuously conveys a plurality of the plants from the carry-in side to the carry-out side.
When the gas discharge unit discharges the compressed gas for the preceding plant and finishes the process,
The processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the processing apparatus is conveyed upstream of the preceding plant, moves toward the succeeding plant, and discharges the compressed gas. In the conveyor belt, the surface on which the plant is placed is given a color different from the color contained in the processed portion.
The processing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5. In the conveyor belt, a surface on which the plant is placed is provided with a resistance element against misalignment of the plant.
The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6.

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