JPH01270984A - Grain sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the response of grain extracting operation and to facilitate the extraction control of grain by providing a grain extraction means along the under surface of a transfer plate in matching relation to a row of piercing holes and further providing a piezoelectric element responding to the detection signal of a grain judge means. CONSTITUTION:A row of piercing holes 5 having the same shape and size as grain particles to be sorted are formed to a transfer plate 4 and grain judge means 15, 15' are provided along said transfer plate 4 and a grain extraction means is arranged on the downstream side thereof. Piezoelectric elements 18, 18' responding to the detection signal of the aforementioned grain judge means are provided to the grain extraction means along the under surface of the transfer plate 4 in maching relation to a row of the piercing holes 5. As a result, the response of the grain extracting operation of the grain sorting apparatus can be enhanced and the extraction control of grain can be performed easily and certainly.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a grain sorting device, and particularly to a grain sorting device configured to sort grain while capturing and transferring grain particles to a row of through holes provided in a transfer plate. Related to sorting equipment.

[Description of prior art] There are various types of grain sorting devices, which irradiate falling grains with a beam of light, detect the reflected light and transmitted light to identify the grains, and classify the selected defective grain particles. Grains are individually captured and transported by a light line formed on a transfer plate, which is irradiated with a beam of light to distinguish grain particles and sort them. There are known methods in which the grain particles to be removed are removed by a jet of air, or by activating a solenoid and opening and closing a gate to cause the grain particles to fall and be removed from each hole.

[Problems to be solved by the invention] However, when air is injected as a means to take out the sorted particles,
Since air is a fluid, there is a considerable response delay, making it difficult to control the extraction of sorted particles, and gates that open and close have drawbacks such as abrasion of the sliding mechanism and noise.

The present invention has been proposed in an attempt to solve the drawbacks of the conventional grain sorting apparatus described above.

An object of the present invention is to provide a grain sorting device that improves the responsiveness of the grain extraction operation of the grain sorting device and makes grain extraction control easy and reliable.

[Means for Solving the Problem] According to the present invention, there is provided a transfer plate provided with a row of through holes of substantially the same shape and size as the grain particles to be sorted, a grain discrimination means provided along the transfer plate, The grain discriminating means has a sorting grain extracting means located downstream of the grain discriminating means and also provided along the transfer plate, and the sorting grain particles detected by the grain discriminating means are taken out and sorted by the grain extracting means. In the grain sorting device, the sorting grain extraction means includes a piezoelectric element that is provided along the transfer plate and aligned with the row of through holes, and that responds to a signal from the grain discrimination means. A grain sorting device is provided.

[Operation] With the configuration of the present invention as described above, grain particles to be sorted that are captured and transferred to the through holes of the transfer plate are discriminated as poorly sorted grain particles by the grain discriminating means. Grain identification means are
When grain particles to be sorted are determined, a determination signal is output. In response to this discrimination signal, the grain sorting means instantly deforms the piezoelectric element by applying a voltage to the piezoelectric element when the through hole in which the sorted grain particles are captured aligns with the piezoelectric element. Due to this deformation, the sorted grain particles are ejected from the trapping through hole and thrown into the extraction tube.

[Example] The present invention will be described in detail in the form of an example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the grain sorting device according to the present invention, reference number 1 indicates a base, and the upper surface 2 of the base 1 is inclined at about 30 degrees with respect to the horizontal. It is being Hereinafter, this upper surface will be referred to as the inclined surface 2. A rotating disk 4 fixed to the hub 3 is provided on the inclined surface 2 substantially parallel to the inclined surface 2.

The angle of the inclined surface 2 is such that grain particles are easily captured by the through holes 5 provided in the rotating disk 4, and grain particles that are not captured by the through holes 5 are dragged along by the rotating disk 4. It is set so that it falls smoothly without falling. In other words, the angle depends on the speed of the rotating disk and the type of grain, but the latter is particularly important. Incidentally, the above-mentioned inclination angle of 30 degrees is suitable for rice grains.

Note that the above-mentioned inclination angle can be changed by the angle adjustment mechanism 22.

The above-mentioned through-holes 5 are provided in a negative-line wide circle along the periphery of the rotating disk 4, and are arranged so that the circles are coaxial with the rotating disk 4. The planar shape and hole size of the through hole 5 are approximately the same as the planar shape and size of grains, that is, in the case of this embodiment, rice grains. The planar shape is made uniform in the cross-sectional depth direction of the rotating disk.

Now, it is assumed that the rotating disk 4 is rotated clockwise by the drive motor 1o (FIG. 2). An arc-shaped peripheral wall body 6 extends its lower edge slightly outward of the rotating disk 4, and surrounds and runs along the through hole 5 from about the 5 o'clock position to about the 10 o'clock position. , is fixedly supported on the base 1.

At approximately the 9 o'clock position, a support plate 13 having a lower edge suspended from a leaf spring 12 extending in the radial direction of the rotating disk slightly above the row of through holes 13 is fixed to the peripheral wall body 6 . The leaf spring 12 plays the role of repelling grain particles that are not completely caught in the through hole 5 and are brought up by the rotating disk.

Furthermore, a rotating brush device is attached to the above-mentioned peripheral wall body 6. This rotating brush device includes a motor 21 whose rotating shaft extends in the tangential direction of a rotating disk, and a rotating brush 14 fixed to the tip of the rotating shaft. rotating brush 1
4 is for stabilizing the grain particles captured in the through hole 5, and by its rotation, the tip of the brush moves the grain particles to match the shape of the through hole 5. It's like tracing.

As is clearly seen in FIG. 2, a horseshoe-shaped block 8 is provided on the base 1, having a top surface substantially in contact with the lower surface of the rotary disk 5 and aligned with the rows of the through holes 5. This horseshoe-shaped block 8 extends directly below and along the row of through holes 5 of the rotary disk 4 over 374 circumferences of the rotary disk 4 from the first o'clock position to the eleventh o'clock position. The grain particles captured in the through hole 5 in an orderly manner are held in the hole 5 and slide on the top surface of the horseshoe block 8 as the rotating disk 4 rotates.

Both ends of the horseshoe block 8 are located at the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions, and have horizontal end faces that are flush with each other. Attachment/detachment blocks 80 are removably provided at both ends. The upper surface of the detachable block 80 is smooth and flush with the upper surface of the horseshoe-shaped block 8, so that the grain particles captured in the through hole 5 can smoothly slide over the upper surfaces of both blocks.

This attachment/detachment block 80 is shown in FIG. 4, and is provided with two openings passing through it on the left and right sides. As shown in detail in FIG. 5, a transparent glass plate 81 is provided at the top of the opening so that the top surface is flush with the top surface of the detachable block 80.
is provided.

Now, optical detection sections 15.15' are provided along the rotating disk 4 at the 11 o'clock position and the 1 o'clock position.
and a light source 17.17' arranged opposite to this,
It consists of lenses 17a, 17a' and filters 17b, 17b' provided between them. In this embodiment, the optical sensors 16, 16' are provided above the rotating disk 4, and the rotating disk 4 and the detachable block 8
Lenses 17a, 17a', filters 17b, 1 are arranged so as to face the optical sensors 16, 16' with
7b' and a light source side consisting of light sources 17, 17' is provided. That is, the light from the light source 17, 17' passes through the opening provided with the glass plate 81 of the detachable block 80, passes through the through hole 5 of the rotating disk 4, and reaches the optical sensor 16.
, 16'.

The detection units is and is' detect the transmitted light of grain particles and determine which grain particles are to be sorted. By making the wavelength of the measurement light used in the detection section 15 different from the wavelength of the measurement light used in the detection section 15', it becomes possible to improve the reliability of measurement and also improve the selection ability. Because of this improvement, it is possible to sort out various types of defective grains. The detection unit 15.1a performs detection using transmitted light of grain particles, but in some cases it may be preferable to perform detection using reflected light from grain particles. The configuration of the detecting section in the case of the present invention can also be easily used.

Furthermore, at the 4 o'clock position along the rotary disk 4, a piezoelectric element 18,18' is embedded in the horseshoe block 8 such that its upper surface is flush with the upper surface of the horseshoe block 8. The piezoelectric elements is, is' are preferably made of piezoelectric ceramic, which is sold as a piezoelectric actuator, for example. That is, the detection unit 15.15'
In response to the detection signal, when a voltage (usually ioo v ) is applied, the piezoelectric element 18, 18' is distorted, and the grain particles captured in the through hole 5 that are directly above it are ejected from the through hole 5. It is fine as long as it has a function.

In addition, in order to make it easier to eject grain particles, the rotating disk 4
Assuming that the gap between the upper surface of the piezoelectric element 18, 18', that is, the upper surface of the horseshoe-shaped block 8, is several microns, and that the rotating speed of the rotating disk 4 is one revolution per second, the operating time of the piezoelectric element is , 0.1 m5ec is used.

Reference numerals 19 and 19' are trumpet tubes that protrude upward from the inclined plate 2 and are bent into a U-shape. It is located directly above and acts to suck in the grain particles ejected from the through hole 5. In addition, trumpet tube 1
9. The end portion of 19' passes through the inclined plate 2 and passes through the base 1.
It is guided to a collection device (not shown) provided inside.

Now, the horseshoe-shaped block 8 is cut out at a position slightly before 6 o'clock, and a discharge chute 20 is provided. Further, a partition wall 7 extending toward the center of the rotating disk 4 is fixed to the peripheral wall body 6 at the 6 o'clock position, and the lower end of this partition wall 7 is
It is arranged in substantially contact relation with the upper surface of the rotating disk 4. The chute 20 described above is for dropping and storing high-quality grains that have been captured and transferred to the through-holes 5 without being sorted.

The operation of the above embodiment will be explained below.

Grains to be sorted, such as brown rice, are put into a portion of the peripheral wall 6 on the 7 o'clock side from the partition plate 7. When the rotating disk 4 is rotated by the motor 10, the brown rice particles are individually captured in the through holes 5 and transferred clockwise. The brown rice particles that are caught by the brown rice particles that have entered the through hole 5 and are dragged by the rotating disk 4 are flipped off by the leaf spring 12. The brown rice particles captured in the through-hole 5 are held in the through-hole 5 in the correct posture by a rotating brush device, and are further transferred and passed through optical detection units 15, 15', where particles are sorted by transmitted light. It will be done. When brown rice particles to be sorted (for example, cracked rice) are detected, the optical detection unit 15°1
5' issues a sorting signal to a control device (not shown), which determines when the through-hole 5, which captures the brown rice particles to be sorted, comes to the corresponding piezoelectric element 18, 18'.
A control signal is issued to the corresponding piezoelectric element 18.18', whereby the corresponding piezoelectric element 18.18' is distorted and ejects the sorted brown rice particles from the through hole 5 into the corresponding trumpet tube 19.19'. The trumpet tube 9 transports the flung brown rice particles to a collection container. Applying suction to the wrapper tube 19°19' is very effective in capturing and transporting the flung brown rice particles.

The high-quality grained brown rice particles that have not been sorted are transported as they are, and are finally discharged through the discharge sheet 20.

This is convenient because the detachable block 80 can be removed when the glass plate 81 of the detachable block 80 becomes dirty and requires cleaning, or when the glass plate 81 is damaged and needs to be replaced.

Although the present invention has been explained above in the form of examples, the present invention
The embodiments are not limited to the above embodiments, and can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims. For example, although the rotating disk 4 has been described as a means for transporting grains, it is also possible to use a transport plate such as an endless belt extending in the longitudinal direction within the scope of the present invention. Also, the detection unit 15.1
5' and the number of trumpet tubes 19 and 19' are two, but it is also possible to have one each.
It is also possible to do more.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a grain sorting device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the In-III line in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the grain sorting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. 6. 1... Base, 2... Inclined surface, 3... Hub, 4...
・Rotating disk, 5... Through hole, 6... Peripheral wall body, 7...
- Partition plate, 8... Horseshoe block, 9... Grain particles, 10... Drive motor, 12... Leaf spring, 13...
・Support plate, 14...Rotating brush, 15.15'...
・Optical detection unit, 16.16'... Optical sensor, 17
, 17'...Light source, 17a, 17a'...Lens, 18.18'...Piezoelectric element, 19.19'・
...Trumpet tube, 20...Discharge chute, 21...Rotating brush motor, 80...Detachable block, 81...
glass plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) A grain sorting device, comprising: a transfer plate in which a row of through holes having substantially the same shape and size as the grain particles to be sorted are formed; a grain discrimination means provided along the transfer plate; and the transfer plate. grain extraction means provided along a plate and located on the downstream side of the grain discrimination means, and the grains are sorted by extracting sorted grain particles detected by the grain discrimination means with the grain extraction means. In the sorting device, the grain extraction means is provided along the lower surface of the transfer plate and aligned with the row of through holes, and has a piezoelectric element that responds to a detection signal of the grain discrimination means. Grain sorting equipment.