JPS6042992B2 - Counting method using a signal sorter - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention relates to a method for counting objects to be counted.

The number of objects to be counted can be calculated by sensing that the object to be counted blocks the light beam projected onto the sensor or changing the capacitance of the sensor, and by counting the number of times the object is blocked or changed using a counter. Counting methods have been widely used. However, this method is useful when counting a glass bottle or the like that irregularly blocks the light beam projected onto the sensor while the object to be counted passes through the sensor, or when the object to be counted is When the sensor emits noise signals due to vibration while passing through the sensor, it is difficult to distinguish between these noise signals and normal signals, and it is difficult to distinguish between the actual number of objects to be counted and the number counted by the counter. There was a problem that the numbers did not match, resulting in duplicate counting. By solving the above-mentioned problems, this invention enables counting of glass plates, etc.
The object of the present invention is to provide a counting method that is particularly effective when the object to be counted moves and stops repeatedly and therefore shakes violently. In other words, in the counting method according to the present invention, a detection unit including a plurality of sensors arranged side by side along the conveyance line of the objects to be counted is provided, and when these sensors sequentially emit sensing signals from the entrance side of the objects to be counted, A signal selector is interposed between the sensor and the counter, which only recognizes the detected signal as a normal signal and outputs one detection signal when all the sensors emit normal signals. This is a characteristic feature.

To recognize the sensing signals as regular signals only when the sensor sequentially emits sensing signals from the entry side of the object to be counted,
1, on the condition that all the sensors on the counting object entry side of the sensor 1 emit sensing signals and that they are stored.
It is sufficient to configure the signal selector to store the detection signals emitted from all the sensors, and in order to output one detection signal when all the sensors emit regular signals, the final stage The configuration is such that, on the condition that the memory circuit stores the sensing signal, the memory of all the memory circuits is canceled by the sensing signal from the last sensor, and the signal from the last stage storage circuit is released. This is achieved by making it an output signal. Note that the distance between the multiple sensors constituting the detection unit is set so that the first sensor will not sense the object again after the last sensor senses one object to be counted. is wider than the width of the detection target part of the object to be counted, and before the last sensor detects the first object to be counted, the first sensor senses the next object to be counted, and the sensing signal is treated as a noise signal. To avoid processing, the distance between the sensors at both ends is narrower than the minimum distance between one counted object and the adjacent counted objects, and at least one sensor is adjacent to one counted object. The distance between adjacent sensors is narrower than the minimum gap between the detection target part of one count object and the detection target part of two adjacent count objects so that the distance between adjacent sensors exists in the gap between the count target object and the count target object. Must be juxtaposed. The above-mentioned width, interval, etc. of the object to be counted must be set to values that take into account the amount of oscillation when the object to be counted swings. Therefore, the number of sensors constituting the detection section is determined by the width of the object to be counted, the minimum distance between adjacent objects to be counted, and the amount of oscillation of the object to be counted. Hereinafter, embodiments in which the number of sensors is two and three will be described based on drawings.

In FIG. 1, two sensors 1a and 1b are placed side by side with an interval e.

As mentioned above, the interval l is L<e<P and e<M when P, L, and M are taken as shown in the figure (strictly speaking, considering the width W of the light beam of the sensor, etc., L<
'-W,'+W<M.

Furthermore, when there is a possibility that the object to be counted may move to one side by an amount of m due to rocking, L+addition <'-W, '+W<M-addition must be applied). The signal selector 2 in this case is constructed as shown in FIG. In the figure, numeral 3 is a memory circuit composed of a flip-flop circuit, etc., 4 is an AND circuit, and 5 is a counter. When the objects 7a and 7b placed on the conveyor 6 advance to the left in the figure, and the sensor 1a senses the object 7a at its front end 8a, the sensing signal is stored in the memory circuit 3, and at the same time a detection signal is output to the counter 5. While the object to be counted continues to move, the sensor 1a may generate a second and third sensing signal due to the vibration of the object to be counted or the reflection or refraction of the light beam that occurs when the object to be counted is a glass bottle. However, as long as the sensing signals are stored in the storage circuit 3, these signals are not stored redundantly and therefore are not counted redundantly. The object to be counted moves further and the sensor 1b detects the object to be counted 7a.
is sensed at its front end 8a, this sensing signal is
An AND signal is created with the memory signal stored in the memory circuit, which releases the memory in the memory circuit 3, and ends the counting of 1 to be counted. At this time, because the sensor 1a is located behind the rear end 9a of the object to be counted 7a due to the above-mentioned conditions, the object to be counted 7a will not be sensed again, and the sensor 1a will not detect the object to be counted 7b. When the sensor 1b reaches the front end 8b of the object to be counted 7a, the sensor 1b is located behind the rear end 9a of the object to be counted 7a, so the sensor 1a senses the object to be counted 7b, and the sensor 1b
- There is no double counting by sensing a.
In the device shown in FIG. 3, the ratio P/L between the distance P and the width L of the objects to be counted is smaller than that shown in FIG. It is not possible to set j<M, and with only two sensors 1a and 1b where L<e,
After the sensor 1a senses the object to be counted 7b, the sensor 1b senses the object to be counted 7a, so that double counting may occur.

To avoid this, sensor 1c is placed next to sensor 1a, 1b.
The sensors 1a, 1c, and 1b are installed at positions such that the distances A and b between the objects to be counted are narrower than the gap M between the objects to be counted, and these signals are recognized as regular signals only when the sensors 1a, 1c, and 1b sequentially emit sensing signals. The signal selector is configured as shown in FIG. ) That is, the signal from the sensor 1a is stored in the storage circuit 3a, and the sensing signal from the sensor 1c is stored in the storage circuit 3b by the action of the AND circuit 4a on the condition that the storage signal in the storage circuit 3a exists. At the same time, a detection signal is outputted to the counter 5, and the sensing signal from the sensor 1b cancels the memory in the memory circuits 3a and 3b on the condition that the memory signal in the memory circuit 3b exists. If the gap M between the objects to be counted is narrower, the number of sensors may be increased until the sensors can be arranged side by side so as to satisfy the above-mentioned conditions.

The structure of the signal selector in this case is such that the AND circuit and the memory circuit are connected in sequence according to the one shown in FIG. 4, and the memory of all the memory circuits is cleared by the signal from the last sensor. In this way, there will be at least one sensor in the gap between the objects to be counted, and since there is no signal from that sensor, the signals from the sensors in the subsequent stages will be ignored, so as mentioned above, Duplicate counting can be avoided. As explained above, according to the counting method of the present invention, when the object to be counted is a glass bottle or the like that emits an irregular noise signal while passing through the detection section, or when the object to be counted is shaking violently, Even in such a case, it is possible to reliably perform one detection count for one object to be counted, and no counting errors will occur.

Furthermore, the device used consists of a simple circuit made of easily available parts, and there is no need to use special or expensive items.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention in which two sensors are used, with Figure 1 being a side view showing the positional relationship between the sensor and the object to be counted, and Figure 2 being used. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a device, particularly a signal selector. Figures 3 and 4 show the first case using three sensors.
FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1a, 1b, 1c
...Sensor, 7a, 7b...Object to be counted, 2...
... Signal selector, 3, 3a, 3b... Memory circuit, 4, 4a, 4b... AND circuit, 5...
Counter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The mutual spacing between the plurality of sensors along the passing direction of the object to be counted is the minimum gap between the detection target portion of one object to be counted and the detection target portion of the adjacent object to be counted. M, and the distance between the sensors at both ends is wider than the width L of the detection target part of the object to be counted, and narrower than the minimum gap P between one object to be counted and the adjacent object to be counted, and these The condition is that all the sensors on the entry side of the object to be counted of one of the sensors sense the object to be counted passing in front of it and emit a sensing signal that can be recognized as a regular signal. A signal selector that detects the detection signal of the object to be counted by the sensor 1 as a normal signal, and outputs the detection signal 1 when all of these sensors emit a detection signal that can be detected as a normal signal. , a counting method characterized in that the sensor is interposed between the sensor and the counter. 2. There are two sensors, and the signal selector stores the first sensing signal emitted from the first sensor and releases the storage by the first sensing signal emitted from the second sensor. A counting method according to claim 1, wherein the counting method is configured as follows. 3. There are N sensors, and the signal selector selects the first sensing signal emitted from the n-th sensor on the condition that the sensing signal emitted from the (n-1)th sensor is stored. On the condition that the signal is memorized and the sensing signal emitted from the (N-1)th sensor is memorized, all memories are cleared with the first sensing signal emitted from the Nth sensor. A counting method according to claim 1, which is configured to do so. However, N represents an integer of 3 or more, and n represents an integer of 2 or more and smaller than N.