JPH0827237B2 - Gel coated seed inspection device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gel-coated seed, which contains a nutritional substance and a bactericidal agent and is coated with a gel having an elastic force. The present invention relates to a gel-coated seed inspection device for detecting abnormalities such as the presence or absence of seeds, the number and type of seeds.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, seeds are generally sown without being coated, but the seeds are coated to protect the seeds from animal feeding damage and to be subjected to pretreatment such as sterilization and germination promotion treatment before sowing the seeds. There are coated seeds.

Conventional coated seeds are those in which clay or fine sand or a mixture of sugars is sprayed onto the seed surface by spraying a binder such as CMC, and a fungicide, oxygen generator, etc. are added to the coating agent. In some cases.

These are relatively hard coatings, but there are also soft coatings in which the seeds are coated with a gel or gelatinous substance that swells when hydrated.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

By the way, in the conventional coating technology, there was no example of coating seeds with an aqueous gel that hardens only the surface layer. We are developing a seed gel-coating processing device that drops seeds onto the top and coats the seeds with a gel film to make them into large-diameter spheres.

In this device, gel coating is performed as shown in FIG. 8, for example. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the gel g is press-fitted between the tubular plunger a and the nozzle b to raise the plunger a, and the gel is discharged from the tip of the nozzle b to form the gel film G ′. Form. Since this gel film G ′ hangs down by its own weight, the seed S is dropped and supplied through the plunger a into the gel film G ′ as shown in FIG. 7B, and flows out from the nozzle b as shown in FIG. The seed S is wrapped by the gel g to be applied. Then, the gel pressure is lowered to lower the plunger a, and as shown in FIG.
The gel-coated seed G is formed by dropping it by its own weight,
In the next step, surface hardening treatment and cleaning treatment are performed. In the gel-coated seed G thus formed, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, the seed S is enclosed in a spherical nucleus-like light semi-transparent gel coating G1.

However, in the gel-coated seed processed as described above, there are cases where the seed is not enclosed inside the gel-coated seed, or a predetermined number (usually one) or more of seeds are enclosed. Therefore, there is a demand for the development of a detection device that can detect abnormal gel-coated seeds by detecting the presence or absence of seeds inside the gel coating and the number of seeds inside the gel coating.

It should be noted that it is possible to check the presence or absence of such seeds using a CCD camera or the like, but not only the apparatus becomes expensive, but also image processing and the like are required, which complicates the configuration.

An object of the present invention is to make it possible to detect an abnormal gel-coated seed by detecting a state inside the gel-coated body with a simple configuration.

[Means for solving the problem]

The gel-covered seed inspection device of the present invention made to solve the above problems is a gel-covered seed inspection device that detects an abnormality in the gel-covered gel-covered seed having a light-transmissive gel coating as an outer layer. There is a transport means for transporting a gel-coated seed as a sample along a certain transport path, and a light receiving element that receives light from a certain light receiving range including the transport path and has a sensitivity peak at a preset wavelength. When,
Pattern detection means for sequentially detecting the light receiving output of the light receiving element when the gel coated seed passes through the light receiving range and detecting an output pattern in which the position of the gel coated seed in the transport path and the light receiving output are associated with each other. And an abnormality in the gel coating is detected based on a deviation between the output pattern detected by the pattern detection means and a preset reference output pattern.

[Work]

In the gel-covered seed inspection apparatus of the present invention, the gel-covered seed as the sample is transported along a constant transport path by the transport means, but since this transport path passes through the light receiving range sensed by the light receiving element, When the gel-coated seed passes through the light-receiving range, the light-receiving output of the light-receiving element changes according to the position of the gel-coated seed with respect to the light-receiving element.

Further, since the gel coating is light-transmissive, the output pattern that associates the position of the gel coated seed with the light receiving output of the light receiving element changes according to the internal state of the gel coated seed.

Therefore, the abnormality of the gel-coated seed can be detected by comparing the output pattern detected by the pattern detection means with the preset reference output pattern.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a sorting device equipped with a gel-covered seed inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the figure, 1 is a conveyor that conveys the gel-coated seed G in the direction of arrow A in the figure, 2 is a color sensor array disposed on the top of the conveyor 1, 3 is a photosensor, and the gel-coated seed G is not shown. It is supplied onto the conveyor 1 at regular intervals from the supply unit, and is conveyed below the photo sensor 3 and the color sensor array 2 by the conveyor 1.

4 is an amplification circuit for amplifying the output voltage of the color sensor array 2 and the photo sensor 3, 5 is a 12-bit high-speed A / D conversion board for converting the output voltage of the amplification circuit 4 into digital data, and 6 is an A / D conversion board A personal computer connected to 5, 7 is an actuator for discharging abnormal gel-coated seeds, and 8 is an actuator drive device for driving the actuator 7 by a relay, a solenoid valve, or the like. The A / D conversion board 5 and the personal computer 6 are connected by an I / O board (not shown), and the personal computer 6 receives the digital data corresponding to the light receiving output voltage of the photo sensor 3 and the light receiving output of the color sensor array 2. The digital data corresponding to the voltage is identified and read. The personal computer 6 also outputs an exclusion signal to the actuator drive device 8 via the A / D conversion board 5.

FIG. 2 is a view showing the color sensor array 2, showing a state of the gel-coated seed G as seen from the conveying direction.

In the figure, reference numeral 21 designates the center line L of the light receiving direction on the conveyor 1
The three color sensors are arranged at an angle of about 45 ° to the left and right and a right angle with respect to the conveyance surface of the. The three color sensors 21 receive light from a fixed light receiving range around each center line L, and the gel-coated seed G passes through this light receiving range. That is, the color sensor 21 has, for example, a directivity angle (θ) as shown in FIG. 5, and when the gel-coated seed is transported within this range, when the transport path is close to the color sensor 21, FIG. The output is as shown in FIG. 6A, and the output as shown in FIG. Therefore, when the distance from the color sensor 21 to the transport path is constant, the output pattern changes depending on the state of the gel-coated seed. The outputs of the color sensors 21 are combined and input to the amplifier circuit 4.

The color sensor 21 is composed of a first photodetector (PD ₁ ) having a sensitivity peak near 600 nm with respect to the light receiving wavelength and 870 nm.
The second photo-detecting element (P
It is a laminated semiconductor color sensor provided with D ₂ ), and the output voltage of PD ₁ on the short wavelength side is used for the inspection of the gel-coated seed G. The color sensor 21 is originally
This is for detecting the color of the object to be measured, and the wavelength of the received light can be obtained by logarithmic calculation of both outputs of PD ₁ and PD ₂ .

The gel-covered seed G conveyed on the conveyor 1 is irradiated with natural light, and the reflected light from the gel-covered seed G and the conveyor 1 enters the color sensor 21 and the output voltage of the PDP ₁ of the color sensor 21. Is input to the amplifier circuit 4. The voltage amplified by the amplifier circuit 4 is converted into digital data (numerical data) by the A / D conversion board 5, and the numerical data corresponding to the received light output of the color sensor 21 is read by the personal computer 6.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the output pattern of the color sensor 21 with respect to the normal gel-coated seed obtained as described above. In addition to the output pattern (I) of PD ₁ , PD ₂ similarly obtained (II) and the output pattern (III) with respect to wavelength are shown. In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the position of the gel-coated seed G in the transport direction with respect to the color sensor 21, and the vertical axis represents the light reception output (A / D conversion value) of the color sensor 21, PD ₁ and PD ₂
And the wavelengths obtained by Also,
As the gel-coated seed, one in which one radish seed is enclosed is used, and the case where the distance from the color sensor 21 to the top of the gel-coated seed is 3 mm is shown.

As shown in the figure, the output pattern of PD ₁ is
A V-shaped drop occurs near the position of the center line L of the color sensor 21 ("0" on the scale). For abnormal gel-coated seeds, for example, as shown in FIG. The output pattern of the part changes. Note that FIG. 4 shows the case where seeds are not enclosed, and the slight drop as shown in FIG. 4 is considered to be due to the influence of the bubble portion in the gel coating.

The seeds of Japanese radish are brown, but the color of the seeds is generally in the range of black, brown, and yellow, and the color sensor 21 is also sensitive to these seeds, and the presence or absence of seeds in the gel coating. The difference in the output pattern as described above occurs due to the difference in the number and the number.

Therefore, each gel-coated seed G that is transported as a sample
The area of the depressed portion (triangle abc) in the output pattern of PD ₁ by using the personal computer 7 and comparing the area with a preset area value corresponding to a normal gel-coated seed, Is detected.

That is, the personal computer 7 causes the gel-covered seed G to be detected by the output of the photosensor 3 as the photosensor 3
When it detects that it has passed the position of, the data from PD ₁ is sampled at regular intervals and each sample data is sequentially stored in the memory, and when the preset number of data is sampled, the values of the stored sampling data are compared. Then, the area of the triangle abc similar to the above is obtained.

Then, this area is compared with the area (reference value) of the triangle abc previously obtained for normal gel-coated seeds, and if the difference exceeds a predetermined allowable range, it is determined to be abnormal,
Output the exclusion signal. However, the timing of outputting the exclusion signal is the conveyance speed of the conveyor 1 and the photo sensor 3
Is output in consideration of a delay time preset based on the distance from the actuator to the actuator 8.

The vertices a, b, c of the triangle abc can be respectively determined by, for example, sequentially comparing sampled data to obtain a maximum value and a minimum value, and each apex a, b,
The area of the triangle abc can be obtained from the coordinate values of the vertical axis and the horizontal axis of FIG. 3 for c.

In the above example, the light receiving element having a sensitivity peak near 600 nm is used, but the wavelength of this sensitivity peak is appropriately selected according to the color of the seed, etc., and the position of the gel-coated seed and the output voltage A gel-covered seed having an abnormality similar to the above can be detected by using a light-receiving element having a relationship such as the output pattern shown in FIG.

Further, it is possible to detect different kinds of seeds having the same size but different colors.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the gel-covered seed inspection apparatus of the present invention, the gel-covered seed is transported along the transport path by the transport surface means, and is transported by the light-receiving element having a sensitivity peak at a preset wavelength. Receiving light from a constant light receiving range including a path, obtaining an output pattern corresponding to the position of the gel-coated seed in the transport path and the light receiving output of the light receiving element, and this output pattern and a preset reference output pattern Since the abnormality of the gel-coated seed is detected based on the above, the state inside the gel-coated seed can be detected with a simple configuration, and the gel-coated seed having the abnormality can be identified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a sorting device equipped with a gel-covered seed inspection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a color sensor array according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is an output pattern of a color sensor according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an output pattern of the same color sensor with respect to the seeds coated with the abnormal gel, FIG. 5 is a diagram explaining a directivity angle of the same color sensor, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the same. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an output change based on a directivity angle, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a gel-coated seed according to the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a method for processing a gel-coated seed according to the present invention. 1 ... Conveyor, 2 ... Color sensor array, 4 ... Amplifier, 5 ... A / D conversion board, 6 ... Personal computer.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gel-covered seed inspection apparatus for detecting an abnormality in the gel-covered seed having a light-transmissive gel-coating as an outer layer, wherein the gel-covered seed as a sample is fed to a fixed transport path. Conveying means for conveying along, a light receiving element having a sensitivity peak at a preset wavelength while receiving light from a constant light receiving range including the above conveying path, and the above when the gel-coated seed passes through the light receiving range The light receiving output of the light receiving element is sequentially detected, and a pattern detecting means for detecting an output pattern in which the position of the gel-covered seed in the transport path and the light receiving output are associated with each other, and the output pattern detected by the pattern detecting means, A gel-covered seed inspection device characterized in that an abnormality in the gel-cover is detected based on a deviation from a preset reference output pattern.