JP7549800B2 - Optical sorting machine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an optical sorting machine that optically sorts granular materials such as grains and resin pellets based on color, etc.

Conventionally, optical sorting machines are known that separate raw materials consisting of grains such as rice, wheat, beans, and nuts, resin pieces such as pellets and beads, fine items such as pharmaceuticals, ores, and shirasu, as well as other granular materials, into good and bad products and remove foreign objects that may be mixed into the raw materials (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

The optical sorting machines described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are equipped with an inclined chute, and irradiate light from a light source onto granular material that falls from the bottom end of the chute in a fixed trajectory. A sensor receives the reflected light or transmitted light from the granular material to detect defective products and foreign objects, and an ejector blows away the detected defective products and foreign objects to separate them into good and bad.

However, in the optical sorting machine, some of the granular objects falling from the bottom end of the chute deviate from a fixed falling trajectory due to differences in shape, size, flying attitude in the air, etc. In such cases, defective products, foreign objects, etc. cannot be detected accurately, which creates a problem that affects sorting performance.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-252535 JP 2009-50760 A

The technical objective of the present invention is to provide an optical sorting machine that can accurately detect defective products and foreign objects in the items being sorted and improve sorting performance.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 comprises:
A chute arranged at an incline to allow the objects to be sorted to flow downward;
an optical detection means for detecting the object at a detection position;
An optical sorting machine comprising: an ejector means for selectively removing the objects to be sorted based on a detection result by the optical detection means,
The optical detection means includes:
An illumination means for illuminating the detection position and an imaging means for imaging the object at the detection position,
an optical detection slit is provided in the chute perpendicular to a flow direction of the objects to be sorted, and the optical detection means captures an image of the objects to be sorted flowing down the chute using the imaging means, with the position where the optical detection slit is provided being the detection position;
The chute is provided with an angle adjustment means so that the inclination angle of the inclined chute can be changed.
Furthermore, the system is provided with a discrimination means for discriminating whether the sorted object is a good or defective item based on the imaging signal of the imaging means, and for discriminating whether the sorted object flowing on the chute bounces along the surface of the chute as it flows down, and the discrimination means controls the angle adjustment means so as to suppress the amount of bouncing within a preset threshold range when the sorted object bounces along the surface of the chute as it flows down .

In the invention according to claim 2 , a discharge hopper is provided downstream of the ejector means for separating the sorted materials selected by the ejector means into good and defective products and recovering each of them, and a discharge flow path is provided downstream of the discharge hopper for discharging the separated good and defective products outside the machine, and the discharge hopper and the discharge flow path are connected by a flexible connecting sleeve so that the discharge hopper is freely movable.

In the invention according to claim 3, a temporary reservoir section is provided in the discharge hopper, the lower end of which is formed into a narrow flow passage for temporarily storing the objects to be sorted.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention , there is provided an optical sorting machine comprising: a chute arranged at an incline to allow objects to be sorted to flow downward; optical detection means for detecting the objects to be sorted at a detection position; and ejector means for sorting and removing the objects to be sorted based on a detection result by the optical detection means, wherein the optical detection means comprises illumination means for illuminating the detection position and imaging means for imaging the objects to be sorted at the detection position, and the chute is provided with an optical detection slit perpendicular to the direction in which the objects to be sorted flow downward, and the optical detection means detects the objects to be sorted at an angle to the chute so that the position at which the optical detection slit is provided is set as the detection position, and ejects the objects to be sorted from the chute. The sorted materials flowing down the chute are imaged by the imaging means, and the chute is provided with an angle adjustment means so that the inclination angle of the inclined chute can be changed.Furthermore, a discharge hopper is provided downstream of the ejector means for separating the sorted materials sorted by the ejector means into good and defective products and recovering each of them, and a discharge flow path is provided downstream of the discharge hopper for discharging the separated good and defective products outside the machine, and the discharge hopper and the discharge flow path are connected by a flexible connecting sleeve so that the discharge hopper is freely movable.

According to the invention of claim 1, the optical detection means is equipped with an illumination means for illuminating the detection position and an imaging means for imaging the sorted objects at the detection position, and the chute is provided with an optical detection slit perpendicular to the flow direction of the sorted objects, and the optical detection means images the sorted objects flowing down the chute using the imaging means, with the position where the optical detection slit is provided being the detection position, and further, the chute is provided with an angle adjustment means so that the inclination angle of the chute, which is arranged at an angle, can be changed.Therefore, unlike the conventional technology in which sorted objects falling from the bottom end of the chute are detected, it is possible to detect sorted objects that always flow down the chute in a constant trajectory. Furthermore, even if the objects to be sorted flowing up the chute bounce along the surface of the chute as they fall, changing the falling speed. This allows the angle of inclination of the inclined chute to be changed by the angle adjustment means provided on the chute, preventing the objects from bouncing as they flow down the surface of the chute. This prevents errors in detecting and removing defective objects or foreign objects, and allows defective objects and foreign objects to be accurately removed, thereby maintaining high sorting accuracy.

The system is also provided with a discrimination means which discriminates whether the sorted objects are good or bad based on the imaging signal of the imaging means, and which discriminates whether the sorted objects flowing on the chute are bouncing along the surface of the chute as they flow down, and the discrimination means is configured to control the angle adjustment means so that the amount of bouncing can be suppressed to within a preset threshold value when the sorted objects are bouncing along the surface of the chute as they flow down, and the angle adjustment means automatically changes the inclination angle of the chute, so that the amount of bouncing of the sorted objects can be accurately suppressed without relying on visual inspection.

According to the invention of claim 2 , a recovery hopper is provided downstream of the ejector means for separating the sorted materials selected by the ejector means into good and defective products and recovering each of them, and a discharge flow path is provided downstream of the discharge hopper for discharging the separated good and defective products outside the machine, and the discharge hopper and the discharge flow path are connected by a flexible connecting sleeve so that the discharge hopper can be moved. Therefore, the lower end side of the chute integrated with the optical detection means and the ejector means can be separated from the housing of the optical sorting machine, and the lower end side of the chute can be moved.

According to the invention of claim 3 , a temporary retention section is provided within the discharge hopper, the lower end of which is formed into a narrow flow path to temporarily retain the sorted materials.Therefore, when the sorted materials collide with the wall of the discharge hopper when they are recovered by the discharge hopper, the sorted materials retained in the temporary retention section act as a buffer member, thereby reducing wear on the connecting sleeve and increasing its durability.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional side view showing the internal structure of the optical sorting machine. FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view showing an embodiment of an angle adjustment means. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an optical sorting unit in the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a chute according to the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which defective products are selected and removed by an ejector device in the optical sorting unit of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic explanatory diagram of another modified example of the optical sorting unit of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic explanatory diagram of another modified example of the optical sorting unit of the first embodiment. 13 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of an angle adjustment means of an optical sorting unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a control method of an angle adjustment unit according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic explanatory diagram illustrating a temporary reservoir provided in a discharge hopper.

The following describes an embodiment of the optical sorting machine of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a schematic side cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the optical sorting machine 1 in this embodiment, and Figure 2 is an enlarged explanatory view showing one example of the angle adjustment means.

(Configuration of optical sorting machine)
As shown in FIG. 1, the optical sorting machine 1 comprises a granular material supplying section 2 that supplies raw granular material, a chute 3 that is arranged at an angle to allow the granular material to flow down, an optical sorting section 4 that detects the granular material flowing down the chute 3 and sorts it into good products and defective products based on the detection results, a discharge hopper 5 that separates the granular material sorted by the optical sorting section 4 into good products and defective products, an angle adjustment means 6 that can change the angle of inclination of the chute 3 that is arranged at an angle, and a discharge flow path 7 that discharges the good products and defective products separated by the discharge hopper 5 outside the machine.

The granular material supply section 2 includes a raw material tank (not shown), a raw material input trough 21 connected to the raw material tank, and a vibrating feeder 22 that supplies the raw material granular material to the chute 3.

The chute 3 has a predetermined width and is positioned at an incline below the tip of the vibrating feeder 22, allowing the granular material supplied from the vibrating feeder 22 to flow naturally.

The optical sorting unit 4 includes a pair of optical detection devices 41a, 41b arranged on the upper and lower sides of the chute 3, a discrimination device 42 that discriminates the granular materials into good and defective products based on the image signals of the optical detection devices 41a, 41b, and an ejector device 43 that removes the defective products and sorts the granular materials into good and defective products based on the discrimination results of the discrimination device 42.

The discharge hopper 5 includes a good product recovery hopper 51 and a defective product recovery hopper 52 that separate the granular materials selected by the ejector device 43 into good products and defective products and recover them.

(Configuration of angle adjustment means)
The chute 3 has a fulcrum shaft 30 at its upper end, and an angle adjustment means 6 is disposed below the chute 3. The angle adjustment means 6 is configured to enable adjustment of the angle of the chute 3 around the fulcrum shaft 30.

The lower end of the chute 3 is inserted into the optical sorting unit 4. The chute 3 and the optical sorting unit 4 are integrated to prevent the chute 3 from moving closer to or farther from the optical detection device 41a on the upper surface of the chute 3 or the optical detection device 41b on the lower surface of the chute 3, thereby preventing a change in the relative positional relationship (even a slight movement of the chute 3 would cause a shift in the observation position of the granular material flowing down the chute 3, a shift in the focal position, a shift in the optical axis, etc.). In other words, the chute 3 is inserted into a pair of sorting unit housings 44a, 44b that house the pair of optical detection devices 41a, 41b, and is fixed and integrated.

The driving source 61 of the angle adjustment means 6 can be an electric gear motor or a stepping motor that rotates to the desired angle. In addition, the driving source 61 can be a system in which the screw shaft is rotated using a hand-cranked handle or a manual hoisting chain (neither of which are shown in the figure).

As shown in the enlarged explanatory view of FIG. 2, a stay 62 is attached to the sorting unit housing 44b that is integrated with the chute 3. A long hole 64 is provided in the stay 62 for inserting a pin 63. The pin 63 passes through this long hole 64. A plate 66 having a nut 65 is connected to the pin 63. A gear motor 61 that serves as a driving source is fixed to the housing 11 side of the optical sorting machine 1 via a base 67, and a screw shaft 68 is attached to the motor shaft of the gear motor 61. By screwing the screw shaft 68 into the nut 65, the angle of the chute 3 (the chute 3 is integrated with the sorting unit housing 44b) can be adjusted and controlled.

(Configuration of the Discharge Flow Path)
The discharge flow path 7 (see FIG. 1) includes a good product discharge flow path 71 that communicates with the good product collection hopper 51 and discharges good products to the outside of the machine, and a defective product discharge flow path 72 that communicates with the defective product collection hopper 52 and discharges defective products to the outside of the machine. The good product collection hopper 51 and the good product discharge flow path 71, and the defective product collection hopper 52 and the defective product discharge flow path 72 are connected by flexible connection sleeves 73a and 73b. This is to separate the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b from the discharge flow path 7 (the housing 11 of the optical sorting machine 1) so that the lower end side of the chute 3 integrated with the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b can be moved freely. As the material of the flexible connection sleeves 73a and 73b, hemp cloth, canvas, synthetic resin such as plastic, and the like can be adopted. As an example, a bellows tube commercially available at a home improvement center may be used.

The flexible connecting sleeves 73a, 73b tend to deteriorate due to wear when colliding with granular material after long-term use. For this reason, it is advisable to provide a temporary storage section 53 for granular material with a narrow flow path at the bottom as shown in FIG. 10 inside the good product recovery hopper 51 and the defective product recovery hopper 52, and to supply the next batch of granular material into this temporary storage section 53. This provides a cushioning effect when granular material collides, reducing wear on the connecting sleeves 73a, 73b and improving durability. A similar configuration for the temporary storage section 53 can be found in FIG. 2 of Utility Model Publication No. 61-11147.

(Action of optical sorting machine)
In the optical sorting machine 1, the granular material stored in the raw material tank of the granular material supply section 2 is continuously supplied to the chute 3 by the vibrating feeder 22, and flows down naturally and continuously while spreading in the width direction over the surface of the chute 3.

The granular material flowing down the chute is imaged by the imaging means of the pair of optical detection devices 41a, 41b in the optical sorting section 4, and the signal levels of the light quantity, color components, etc. in the imaging signal of the imaging means are compared with threshold values in the discrimination device 42 to determine whether the product is good or bad. Based on the removal signal sent from the discrimination device 42, the ejector device 43 ejects air to remove the defective products, and the products are sorted into good and defective products.

The granular materials selected as non-defective products are discharged from the discharge hopper 5 through the non-defective product collection hopper 51 and the non-defective product discharge flow path 71, and the granular materials selected as defective products are discharged from the discharge hopper 5 through the defective product collection hopper 52 and the defective product discharge flow path 72.

[Example 1]
Fig. 3 shows a schematic explanatory diagram of the optical sorting unit in Example 1. Fig. 4 shows a schematic perspective view of the chute in Example 1. Fig. 5 shows an explanatory diagram of an example in which defective products are sorted and removed by an ejector device in the optical sorting unit in Example 1.
In the optical sorting unit 4 in the first embodiment, the chute 3 is provided with an optical detection slit 31 that opens continuously in the width direction of the chute 3 perpendicular to the flow direction of the granular material.
The chute 3 is disposed so that its lower end extends into the non-defective product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5 and the sorting and removal slit 32 is positioned above the non-defective product recovery hopper 51 .

In the optical sorting unit 4, the optical detection devices 41a, 41b incorporate a line sensor or area sensor such as a CCD that can handle granular material flowing down the chute 3 in a state where it spreads in the width direction, and are equipped with imaging means 411a, 411b such as a CCD camera that can receive light in wavelength ranges such as near infrared (NIR), visible light, or ultraviolet light, lighting means 412a, 412b such as an LED light source or fluorescent lamp that illuminates the detection position O on the chute 3 where the granular material flows down, and a background that serves as the background when the imaging means 411a, 411b images the granular material at the detection position O.

The ejector device 43, like the optical detection devices 41a and 41b, is capable of handling granular material flowing down the chute 3 in a state of spreading in the width direction, and is equipped with an ejector nozzle 431 that can selectively spray air from multiple nozzle holes formed in the width direction, and an ejector drive device (not shown) that sprays air from the ejector nozzle 431 based on a removal signal sent from the discrimination device.

The optical detection devices 41a, 41b are positioned so that the position where the optical detection slit 31 is provided on the chute 3 corresponds to the detection position O, and the granular material flowing down the chute 3 is illuminated from the upper and lower sides of the chute at the detection position O by the illumination means 412a, 412b, and is imaged by the imaging means 411a, 411b.

The ejector device 43 is arranged so that the tip of the ejector nozzle 431 abuts or is close to the underside of the chute 3 and the multiple nozzle holes of the ejector nozzle 431 directly or indirectly communicate with the sorting and removal slit 32, and removes any granular material determined to be defective from among the granular material flowing down the chute 3 by spraying air through the sorting and removal slit 32 onto the upper side of the chute 3.

Then, among the granular materials flowing down the chute 3, those determined to be good products are discharged through the good product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5, and those determined to be defective products are discharged through the defective product recovery hopper 52 of the discharge hopper 5.

Here, the imaging means 411a, 411b are assumed to have built-in line sensors or area sensors, but if they have built-in line sensors, they can detect defective products and the like with high accuracy compared to those with built-in area sensors even if the width of the optical detection slit 31 is reduced.

In addition, the lighting means 412a, 412b are configured to use LED light sources, fluorescent lamps, etc., and when an LED light source is used, the light is less likely to disperse due to its characteristics. Therefore, when imaging the granular material flowing down the chute 3 at the detection position O with the imaging means 411a, 411b, a sufficient amount of light can be secured even if the width of the optical detection slit 31 is small.
Even when fluorescent lamps are used as the illumination means 412a and 412b, the same effect as that of an LED light source can be obtained by concentrating the light.

The width of the optical detection slit 31 provided in the chute 3 can be set taking into consideration the size of the sensor element, the amount of light received by the sensor, the inclination angle of the chute, the weight and size of the granular material flowing down the chute 3, etc. For example, in the case of rice grains, it can be set to 1 to 2 mm.

The width of the sorting and removal slit 32 provided in the chute 3 can be set to a width that allows defective granular products to be reliably sorted and removed.
Although the sorting and removal slits 32 are opened continuously in the width direction of the chute 3, they may also be opened intermittently in the width direction of the chute 3 in correspondence with the multiple nozzle holes of the ejector nozzle 431.

A cover can be provided on the surface of the chute 3 to prevent granular material from bouncing. By providing a cover on the surface of the chute 3, even granular material that tends to bounce, such as beans, can be made to flow down the chute 3 in a constant trajectory.

In the example shown in FIG. 5, the ejector device 43 is disposed so that the tip of the ejector nozzle 431 abuts against or is close to the underside of the chute 3, and defective products flowing down the chute 3 are removed by injecting air onto the upper side of the chute 3. However, instead, a suction device can be used as the ejector device, and defective products flowing down the chute 3 can be removed by sucking them through the sorting and removal slits 32 onto the underside of the chute 3.

FIG. 6 is a modified example of the optical sorting unit of the first embodiment, showing an explanatory diagram of another example in which defective products are sorted and removed by an ejector device.
5, the ejector device 43 has the ejector nozzle 431 disposed on the underside of the chute 3, but as shown in Fig. 6, by disposing the ejector nozzle 431 on the upper side of the chute 3 at a height position that does not interfere with granular matter flowing down on the chute 3, it is possible to remove defective products flowing down on the chute 3 by injecting air through the sorting and removal slits 32 to the underside of the chute 3. In addition, by using a suction device as the ejector device, it is possible to remove defective products flowing down on the chute 3 by sucking them to the upper side of the chute 3.

Fig. 7 is a schematic explanatory diagram of another modified example of the optical sorting unit of Example 1. In the example shown in Fig. 3, in the optical sorting unit 4, the chute 3 is disposed so that its lower end extends into the non-defective product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5, but as shown in Fig. 7, the lower end of the chute 3 may not extend into the non-defective product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5.
In the optical sorting section 4, even if the lower end of the chute 3 does not extend into the good product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5, products determined to be good products can be discharged outside the machine from the good product discharge flow path 71 via the good product recovery hopper 51 of the discharge hopper 5, and products determined to be defective products can be discharged outside the machine from the defective product discharge flow path 72 via the defective product collection hopper 52.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the optical sorting machine of Example 1, the chute 3 is provided with an optical detection slit 31 that opens continuously in the width direction of the chute 3 perpendicular to the flow direction of the granular material, and the optical detection devices 41a, 41b use the imaging means 411a, 411b to capture images of the granular material flowing down the chute 3, with the position where the optical detection slit 31 is provided being the detection position O. Therefore, unlike conventional optical sorting machines which detect granular material as it falls from the bottom end of the chute, it is possible to detect granular material flowing down the chute 3 in a constant trajectory.
Therefore, according to the optical sorting machine of Example 1, defective granular objects can be detected with higher accuracy than the conventional optical sorting machine, and therefore sorting performance can be improved.

[Example 2]
FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of the angle adjustment means of the optical sorting unit as the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the chute 3 and the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b are integrated, and the angle of the chute 3 can be adjusted around the fulcrum shaft 30 by the angle adjustment means 6. As shown in FIG. 8, when the gear motor 61 is turned on and rotated in one direction, the screw shaft 68 screws into the nut 65, and the plate 66 moves in the right direction R (threading direction). As a result, the chute 3 and the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b move in the right direction R. Conversely, when the gear gear motor 61 is turned on and rotated in the other direction, the screw shaft 68 screws out of the nut 65, and the plate 66 moves in the left direction L (the direction in which the screw is removed). As a result, the chute 3 and the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b move in the left direction L.
For example, assuming that the angle θ (∠ADE) between the lower end of the chute 3, the fulcrum shaft 30, and the vertical direction from the fulcrum shaft 30 is 30° as a reference, when the chute 3 and the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b move in the right direction R, ∠BDE becomes steeper by −5° from 30°, and is adjusted to an angle of, for example, 25°. Conversely, when the chute 3 and the sorting unit housings 44a and 44b move in the left direction L, ∠BDE becomes gentler by +5° from 30°, and is adjusted to an angle of, for example, 35°.
In this example, the adjustment range of the inclination angle of the chute 3 is set to a range of -5° to +5°, but it is not limited to this range and can be set to any adjustment range. A range of -10° to +10° is preferable, and a range of -5° to +5° is more preferable. If the adjustment range exceeds the range of -10° to +10°, the flow rate of the granular material flowing down the chute 3 changes, which has an adverse effect on the sorting performance, and is therefore not preferable.

[Example 3]
9 is a flow chart showing a control method of the angle adjustment means according to the embodiment 3. In this embodiment 3, the granular objects flowing on the chute 3 are monitored by the imaging means 411a, 411b, and it is also possible to monitor whether or not the falling speed of the granular objects changes when they flow down while bouncing on the surface of the chute.
FIG. 9 shows the control of adjusting the angle of the chute during warm-up operation before full-scale sorting operation. Control is started in step S100. Next, the vibration feeder 22 is driven to continuously supply the raw material granular material to the chute 3, and the granular material is held to flow down the chute 3 at a constant flow rate. At this time, the imaging means 411a and 411b monitor the amount (number of grains) of "jumping" that occurs when the granular material flows down the chute 3 for a predetermined time. Then, the amount of "jumping" actually monitored by the imaging means 411a and 411b is compared with the standard range of the "jumping" amount previously set in the discrimination device 42, and it is determined whether the actual amount of "jumping" is within the standard range (step S101). If the actual amount of "jumping" is within the standard range, there is no problem with the inclination angle of the chute 3, and the process proceeds to step S102, where full-scale sorting operation is started.

In step S101, if the actual amount of "bounce" is outside the reference range, the process proceeds to step S103. In step S103, it is determined whether the actual amount of "bounce" is above or below the reference range. If the actual amount of "bounce" exceeds the reference range, the process proceeds to step S104, in which the inclination angle of the chute 3 is controlled to be gentler. With reference to FIG. 8, the control to gentle the inclination angle of the chute 3 may be performed, for example, by moving the chute 3 from the reference position A to position C.

On the other hand, if the actual amount of "bounce" falls below the reference range, the process proceeds to step S105, where control is performed to steepen the inclination angle of the chute 3. With reference to FIG. 8, the control to steepen the inclination angle of the chute 3 can be performed, for example, by moving the chute 3 from the reference position A to position B.

[Other embodiments]
The optical sorting machine of the present invention has been described above based on various examples. However, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes, for example, the following modified examples.

The flow rate data of the sorted material may be calculated by using images acquired from the optical detection devices 41a and 41b, and the inclination angle of the chute 3 may be changed based on whether or not the flow rate data is related to the amount of "bounce." Such flow rate data is not necessarily limited to this. For example, in order to detect when the optical sorting machine 1 is nearing the end of operation, a sensor may be placed in a raw material tank installed upstream of the chute 3, and the flow rate of the granular material flowing down the chute 3 may be estimated from the amount of storage detected by the sensor.

Although the above describes the embodiment of the present invention and some variations, the above-mentioned embodiment of the invention is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and does not limit the present invention. The present invention may be modified or improved without departing from its spirit, and the present invention includes equivalents. Furthermore, the components described in the claims and specification may be combined or omitted to the extent that at least part of the above-mentioned problems can be solved or at least part of the effects can be achieved.

1 Optical sorting machine 2 Granular material supply section 3 Chute 4 Optical sorting section 5 Discharge hopper 6 Angle adjustment means 7 Discharge flow path 11 Housing 21 Raw material input trough 22 Vibration feeder 30 Pivot shaft 31 Optical detection slit 32 Sorting and removal slit 41a Optical detection device 41b Optical detection device 411a Imaging means 411b Imaging means 412a Illumination means 412b Illumination means 42 Discrimination device 43 Ejector device 431 Ejector nozzle 44a Sorting section housing 44b Sorting section housing 51 Good product recovery hopper 52 Defective product recovery hopper 53 Temporary storage section 61 Drive source (gear motor)
62 Stay 63 Pin 64 Long hole 65 Nut 66 Plate 67 Base 68 Screw shaft 71 Good product discharge flow path 72 Defective product discharge flow path 73a Connection sleeve 73b Connection sleeve

Claims (4)

A chute arranged at an incline to allow the objects to be sorted to flow downward;
an optical detection means for detecting the object at a detection position;
An optical sorting machine comprising: an ejector means for selectively removing the objects to be sorted based on a detection result by the optical detection means,
The optical detection means includes:
An illumination means for illuminating the detection position and an imaging means for imaging the object at the detection position,
an optical detection slit is provided in the chute perpendicular to a flow direction of the objects to be sorted, and the optical detection means captures an image of the objects to be sorted flowing down the chute using the imaging means, with the position where the optical detection slit is provided being the detection position;
The chute is provided with an angle adjustment means so that the inclination angle of the inclined chute can be changed.
The optical sorting machine further comprises a discrimination means for discriminating whether the sorted object is a good or defective item based on the imaging signal of the imaging means, and for discriminating whether the sorted object flowing on the chute is bouncing along the surface of the chute as it flows down, wherein the discrimination means controls the angle adjustment means so as to suppress the amount of bouncing within a preset threshold range when the sorted object flows down the surface of the chute while bouncing . 2. The optical sorting machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a discharge hopper provided downstream of the ejector means for separating the sorted objects separated by the ejector means into non-defective and defective objects and recovering each of the separated objects; a discharge flow path provided downstream of the discharge hopper for discharging the separated non-defective and defective objects outside the machine; and a flexible connecting sleeve connecting the discharge hopper and the discharge flow path so that the discharge hopper is movable . 3. The optical sorting machine according to claim 2, wherein the discharge hopper is provided with a temporary reservoir section, the lower end of which is formed into a narrow flow passage and which temporarily stores the objects to be sorted. A chute arranged at an incline to allow the objects to be sorted to flow downward;
an optical detection means for detecting the object at a detection position;
An optical sorting machine comprising: an ejector means for selectively removing the objects to be sorted based on a detection result by the optical detection means,
The optical detection means includes:
An illumination means for illuminating the detection position and an imaging means for imaging the object at the detection position,
an optical detection slit is provided in the chute perpendicular to a flow direction of the objects to be sorted, and the optical detection means captures an image of the objects to be sorted flowing down the chute using the imaging means, with the position where the optical detection slit is provided being the detection position;
The chute is provided with an angle adjustment means so that the inclination angle of the inclined chute can be changed.
The optical sorting machine further comprises a discharge hopper provided downstream of the ejector means for separating the sorted objects separated by the ejector means into good and defective items and recovering each of the separated objects, and a discharge flow path provided downstream of the discharge hopper for discharging the separated good and defective items outside the machine, the discharge hopper and the discharge flow path being connected by a flexible connecting sleeve so that the discharge hopper is movable .

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