JP7433044B2 - combine - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a combine harvester that includes a threshing unit that threshes harvested grain culms, and a sorting unit that sorts grains from the threshed material threshed by the threshing unit.

Conventionally, combines have been used that include a threshing unit that threshes grain culms that are harvested while traveling, and a grain tank that stores the grains threshed by the threshing unit. An example of such a combine harvester is one described in Patent Document 1.

The combine described in Patent Document 1 includes a placement plate for placing grains in a grain tank, two light sources that irradiate light toward each of both sides of the placement plate, and one of the two light sources. A first image of the grains on the mounting plate when light is irradiated from one side, and a second image of the grains on the mounting plate when the other of the two light sources is irradiated with light. and an imaging unit that captures an image of the image. The image processing means extracts an image showing a foreign object from the first image and calculates the number of foreign objects, and calculates the number of damaged rice grains and the number of stems from the second image.

JP2013-27340A

The technology described in Patent Document 1 includes an inspection device that calculates the number of foreign objects, the number of damaged rice grains, and the number of branches and stems on the inclined surface between the bottom and side surfaces of the inside of a grain tank. is provided. For this reason, it takes time from the threshing process and grain sorting process to the inspection, and it is not possible to quickly inspect the grains after the sorting process. In addition, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, since the inspection device is provided on the inclined surface on the bottom side inside the grain tank, there is a possibility that the inspection cannot be performed properly depending on the amount of grain stored in the grain tank. . Furthermore, since the inspection is carried out in the branching paths within the grain tank, there is a possibility that the inspection cannot be carried out properly depending on the scattering of foreign objects, damaged rice grains, and stems.

Therefore, there is a need for a combine harvester that can quickly and appropriately inspect grains during grain harvesting.

The combine harvester according to the present invention has a characteristic configuration including a threshing unit that threshes the harvested grain culm and discharges a threshed product, and a sorting unit that sorts grains from the discharged threshed product as a sorted product. , a grain tank in which the sorted material is transported and stored; a photographing section that captures a captured image of the inside of a conveyance route for transporting the sorted material from the sorting unit to the grain tank; a discrimination unit that discriminates the sorted material included in the image into normal grains that meet a desired quality and foreign substances other than the normal grains mixed in the sorted material, by image analysis; a calculation unit that calculates the ratio of the normal grains to the foreign substances in the sorted material included in the captured image based on the discrimination result by the discrimination unit; a parameter changing unit that changes a threshing parameter that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit and a sorting parameter that can set the sorting capacity of the sorting unit according to the ratio, and the sorted material is a bucket conveyor type The grains are transported to the grain tank by a transport device, and the photographing unit images the sorted material in a bucket, which is transported by the bucket conveyor type transport device.

With such a characteristic configuration, normal grains and foreign substances can be sorted out during transportation from the sorting unit to the grain tank. Therefore, it becomes possible to quickly and appropriately inspect grains during grain harvesting.

With such a configuration, the operator can easily grasp the ratio of normal grains and foreign substances stored in the grain tank.

With such a configuration, for example, when the ratio of normal grains and foreign substances is not the expected value, by changing the operating status of the threshing unit or the operating status of the sorting unit, normal grains and foreign substances can be separated. This makes it possible to bring the ratio closer to the desired value.

Further, it is preferable that the discrimination section inputs the image data generated from the captured image to a neural network that has been trained to discriminate the normal grains from the sorted material and makes the discrimination.

With such a configuration, it is possible to improve the discrimination accuracy. Therefore, it becomes possible to inspect grains more appropriately.

In addition, when learning image data generated from a captured image containing the normal grains is input as training data, the neural network determines that the normal grains are included in the sorted material. The learning is performed so as to output a discrimination result that is determined, and when learning image data generated from a captured image containing the foreign object is input as training data, it is determined that the object to be sorted contains the foreign object. Preferably, the learning is performed so as to output a determination result that is .

With such a configuration, the neural network of the discrimination section can perform learning suitable for grain discrimination.

It is a side view of a combine. It is a top view of a combine. It is a longitudinal side view of the threshing device with which a combine is equipped. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional unit that performs processing related to determination. This is an example of a captured image and marking.

The combine harvester according to the present invention is configured to be able to inspect the quality of grain during grain harvesting. The combine 20 of this embodiment will be described below.

FIG. 1 is a side view of the combine 20, and FIG. 2 is a plan view of the combine 20. Moreover, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the threshing device 1 included in the combine harvester 20. Note that the combine harvester 20 will be described below by taking a so-called ordinary type combine harvester as an example. Of course, the combine harvester 20 may be a self-removal type combine harvester.

Here, for ease of understanding, in this embodiment, unless otherwise specified, "front" (the direction of arrow F shown in FIG. 1) means the front in the longitudinal direction (traveling direction) of the aircraft; The term "rear" (direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 1) means the rear in the longitudinal direction (running direction) of the aircraft. Furthermore, "up" (direction of arrow U shown in Figure 1) and "down" (direction of arrow D shown in Figure 1) are the positional relationships in the vertical direction (vertical direction) of the aircraft, and are shall indicate the relationship. Furthermore, the left-right direction or the lateral direction refers to the fuselage transverse direction (aircraft width direction) perpendicular to the aircraft longitudinal direction, that is, "left" (direction of arrow L shown in FIG. 2) and "right" (arrow R shown in FIG. 2). ) shall mean the left and right directions of the aircraft, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the combine 20 includes a body frame 2 and a crawler traveling device 3. A reaping section 4 for reaping the planted grain culm is provided in front of the traveling body 17. The reaping section 4 is equipped with a raking reel 5 for raking the planted grain culm, a cutting blade 6 for cutting the planted grain culm, and an auger 7 for raking the reaped grain culm.

A driving section 8 is provided on the right side of the front part of the traveling body 17. The driving section 8 is equipped with a cabin 10 in which a driver rides. An engine room ER is provided below the cabin 10, and the engine room ER houses the engine E, an exhaust purification device, a cooling fan, a radiator, and the like. The power of the engine E is transmitted to the crawler traveling device 3, a threshing unit 41, a sorting unit 42, etc., which will be described later, by a power transmission structure (not shown).

A threshing device 1 for threshing the harvested grain culm is provided behind the reaping section 4. A feeder 11 is provided between the reaping section 4 and the threshing device 1 to convey the harvested grain culm toward the threshing device 1. A grain tank 12 is provided on the side of the threshing device 1 to store grains after being threshed. The grain tank 12 is configured to be able to swing open and close around an axis extending in the vertical direction between a working position and a maintenance position. At the rear of the threshing device 1, a straw shredding device 13 equipped with a rotary blade 13a is provided.

The combine 20 is provided with a grain discharge device 14 that discharges grains in the grain tank 12 to the outside. The grain discharge device 14 includes a vertical conveyance section 15 that conveys the grains in the grain tank 12 upward, and a horizontal conveyance section 16 that conveys the grains from the vertical conveyance section 15 toward the outside of the machine body. is provided. The grain discharge device 14 is configured to be rotatable around the axis of the vertical conveyance section 15. The lower end of the vertical conveyance section 15 is connected to the bottom of the grain tank 12 . The end of the horizontal conveyance section 16 on the vertical conveyance section 15 side is connected to the upper end of the vertical conveyance section 15 and is supported so as to be able to swing up and down.

In this embodiment, the threshing device 1 is provided on a traveling machine body 17. The threshing device 1 includes the threshing unit 41 and the sorting unit 42 as described above. The threshing unit 41 threshes the harvested grain culm harvested by the reaping section 4. The grains threshed by the threshing unit 41 are discharged as processed grains. The sorting unit 42 sorts the threshed material discharged from the threshing unit 41 as a sorted material. Therefore, the threshing unit 41 and the sorting unit 42 are provided in the traveling machine body 17. The threshing unit 41 is arranged at the upper part of the threshing device 1, and the receiving net 23 is provided at the lower part of the threshing unit 41. The sorting unit 42 is arranged below the threshing unit 41 and is configured to sort grains from the threshed material leaking from the receiving net 23. The sorting unit 42 includes a swinging sorting device 24, a first item collection section 26, a second item collection section 27, and a second item return section 32.

The threshing unit 41 accommodates a handling drum 22 in a handling chamber 21 and has a receiving net 23 at the bottom of the handling drum 22. The handling room 21 is formed as a space surrounded by a front wall 51 on the front side, a rear wall 52 on the rear side, left and right side walls, and a top plate 53 covering the top. A supply port 54a through which the harvested material is supplied is formed at a lower position of the front wall 51 of the handling chamber 21, and a guide bottom plate 59 is disposed below the supply port 54a. Further, a dust exhaust port 54b is formed in the lower side of the rear wall 52 of the handling chamber 21.

The handling cylinder 22 has a body 60 and a rotation support shaft 55. As shown in FIG. 3, the body 60 is integrally formed with a scraping part 57 at the front end and a handling part 58 located at the rear of the scraping part 57. The scraping part 57 includes a double-helix spiral blade 57b on the outer periphery of a tapered base part 57a whose diameter becomes smaller toward the front end of the handling cylinder 22. The handling section 58 includes a plurality of rod-shaped handling tooth support members 58a and a plurality of handling teeth 58b. The plurality of rod-shaped handling tooth support members 58a are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical body 60, respectively. Each of the plurality of handling teeth 58b protrudes from the outer periphery of each of the plurality of handling tooth support members 58a, and is attached at predetermined intervals along the rotation axis X in a front-back orientation.

The body 60 is coaxial with the rotation axis X and rotates integrally with a rotation support shaft 55 that penetrates the front wall 51 and the rear wall 52 in the front-rear direction. That is, the front end of the rotation support shaft 55 is rotatably supported by the front wall 51 via a bearing, and similarly, the rear end of the rotation support shaft 55 is rotatably supported by the rear wall 52 via a bearing. . In this threshing unit 41, a driving rotational force is transmitted from a rotational drive mechanism 56 to the front end of a rotational support shaft 55.

A plurality of plate-shaped dust feeding valves 53a are provided on the inner surface (lower surface) of the top plate 53 at predetermined intervals along the front-rear direction. The plurality of dust feeding valves 53a are provided in an attitude that is inclined with respect to the rotation axis X in a plan view so as to apply a force to move the processed material rearwardly as it rotates together with the handling cylinder 22 in the handling chamber 21. . In this embodiment, the dust feeding valve 53a is configured such that its mounting angle with respect to the top plate 53 can be changed. By changing this angle, the amount of feed of the material to be processed within the body 60 can be changed.

The receiving net 23 includes a plurality of vertical frames each having an arcuate axis of rotation when viewed from the X side and arranged at predetermined intervals along the front-rear direction so as to surround an area extending from the lower side to both sides of the handling cylinder 22. By combining the vertical frame with a horizontal frame in a forward-backward orientation supported by the vertical frame, a gap is formed that allows the material to be processed to leak.

In the combine harvester 20 of this embodiment, the harvested grain culm supplied to the handling chamber 21 is referred to as a harvested product, and the harvested product handled and processed in this handling chamber 21 is referred to as a processed product (corresponding to a "threshed product"). . The processed material includes grains, cut straw, and the like. In addition, the first product is a processed product that mainly contains grains, and the second product is a processed product that contains grains that have not been sufficiently singulated, cut straw, and the like.

In the threshing unit 41, the harvest from the feeder 11 is supplied to the handling chamber 21 via the supply port 54a. The supplied harvest is scraped into the rear of the handling cylinder 22 along the guide bottom plate 59 by the spiral blades 57b of the scraping part 57, and is supplied to the handling part 58. In the handling section 58, as the handling drum 22 rotates, the harvested material is handled by the handling teeth 58b and the receiving net 23, and as a result, threshing is performed.

When threshing is performed in this manner, the material to be processed rotates together with the handling drum 22, so that the material comes into contact with the dust sending valve 53a and is transported to the rear of the handling chamber 21, while the threshing process is performed. Grain and short pieces of straw obtained by the threshing process leak through the receiving net 23 and fall into the sorting unit 42. On the other hand, the processed materials (grain culms, long cut straw, etc.) that cannot leak through the receiving net 23 are discharged out of the handling chamber 21 from the dust exhaust port 54b.

As shown in FIG. 3, the sorting unit 42 includes a swinging sorting device 24 that sorts grains (first grain) from the processed material by swinging in an environment where sorting air is supplied from a winnow 25. It consists of Furthermore, a first item collection section 26 and a second item collection section 27 are arranged below the swing sorting device 24.

The winnower 25 is provided in the sorting unit 42 and generates sorting air along the conveyance direction of the processed materials. The winch 25 is configured by accommodating a winch main body having a plurality of rotating blades 25b inside a fan case 25a. An upper discharge port 25c for discharging the sorting air along the upper surface of the upper grain pan 61 and a rear discharge port 25d for discharging the sorting air rearward are formed in the upper part of the fan case 25a.

The first item collection unit 26 collects the processed items as the first item. The processed material is configured to be guided to the first material collection section 26 by the first material guide section 62. The first product collecting section 26 is configured as a first product screw that transports the first product (first product grain) guided by the first product guide section 62 in the lateral direction. The first grain collected by the first grain collecting section 26 is transported (lifted) upward toward the grain tank 12 by the first grain collecting and transporting section 29 . Therefore, the sorted material sorted by the sorting unit 42 is transported and stored in the grain tank 12. The first grains transported by the first grain collection conveyance section 29 are transported to the right by a storage screw 30 and supplied to the grain tank 12. The first article collection and conveyance section 29 corresponds to a bucket-type conveyor.

The second product collection unit 27 collects the processed products that are not selected as the sorted products from among the threshed products as second products. The sorted material is grains sorted by the swing sorting device 24, although the details will be described later. Therefore, the processed materials that are not sorted as sorted materials include grains, grain culms, and long pieces of straw that were not sorted in the swing sorting device 24, and are referred to as second materials. Ru. Such a second item is configured to be guided to the second item collection section 27 by the second item guide section 63. The second object collection section 27 is configured as a second object screw that laterally conveys the second object guided by the second object guide section 63. The second item recovered by the second item collecting section 27 is transported obliquely forward and upward by the second item returning unit 32 and returned to the upper side (upstream side) of the swing sorting device 24 . The second product reducing section 32 corresponds to a screw type conveyor.

The first article collecting section 26 and the second article collecting section 27 are driven by the power of the engine E transmitted by a power transmission structure (not shown).

The power of the engine E is transmitted to the first article collection section 26 , from the first article collection section 26 to the first article collection and conveyance section 29 , and from the first article collection and conveyance section 29 to the storage screw 30 . The first item collection and conveyance unit 29 is provided on the right side of the threshing device 1 (outside the right wall).

The power of the engine E is transmitted to the second product collecting section 27, and from the second product collecting section 27 to the second product reducing section 32. The second material reducing section 32 is provided on the right side of the threshing device 1 (outside the right wall).

The oscillating sorting device 24 sorts out grains from the processed material. The oscillating sorting device 24 is disposed below the receiving net 23, and the processed material leaks from the receiving net 23. The swing sorting device 24 swings back and forth by an eccentric cam-type swing drive mechanism 43 using an eccentric shaft or the like, and includes a frame-shaped sheave case 33 that is rectangular in top view. There is.

The sieve case 33 is equipped with a first grain pan 34, a plurality of first sieves 35, a second sieve 36, a first chaff sieve 38, a second chaff sieve 39, a grain sieve 40, an upper grain pan 61, and a lower grain pan 65. .

A first chaff sheave 38 having a plurality of chaff lips 38A is arranged behind the upper grain pan 61, and a second chaff sheave 39 is arranged behind the first chaff sheave 38. Note that the plurality of chaff flips 38A are arranged along the conveyance direction (backward direction) in which the processed material is conveyed, and each of the plurality of chaff flips 38A is arranged in an inclined attitude toward the rear end, diagonally upward. . In this embodiment, the opening degree of each chaflip 38A is configured to be changeable. The ability to change the opening degree means that the inclination posture can be changed. Specifically, the closer the chaflip 38A becomes parallel to the front-rear direction, the smaller the opening becomes, and the closer the chaflip 38A becomes parallel to the up-down direction, the larger the opening becomes. The lower grain pan 65 is arranged below the front end of the first chaff sheave 38, and a grain sheave 40 made of a net-like body is arranged at a position continuous to the rear side of the lower grain pan 65. The second chaff sheave 39 described above is disposed below the rear end of the first chaff sheave 38 and on the rear side of the grain sheave 40.

The sieve case 33 has an air passage that supplies the sorting air supplied from the upper discharge port 25c of the winch 25 along the upper surface of the upper grain pan 61, and a wind path that supplies the sorting air supplied from the rear discharge port 25d of the winch 25 to the lower grain pan. A supply air path is formed along the upper surface of the air filter 65. A discharge section 28 is formed by the rear end of the swing sorting device 24 (the right end in FIG. 3) and the rear end of the receiving net 23.

In the swing sorting device 24 of this embodiment, the sorting air from the winnower 25 is supplied from the front side of the machine body to the rear side of the machine body, and the sheave case 33 is rocked by the swing drive mechanism 43, so that the inside of the sheave case 33 is Transport the processed material to the rear of the machine. For this reason, in the following explanation, the upstream side in the transport direction of the processed material will be referred to as the front end or front side, and the downstream side will be referred to as the rear end or rear side in the swing sorting device 24.

The grain sieve 40 is configured as a net-like body in which a plurality of wire rods made of metal are combined in a net shape, and is configured to allow grains to leak through the mesh. A first chaff sieve 38 is provided above this grain sieve 40, and is configured so that grains flowing between chaff lips 38A of the first chaff sieve 38 leak into the grain sieve 40.

With such a configuration, among the processed materials leaking from the receiving net 23 in the sorting unit 42, those received by the upper grain pan 61 are supplied to the front end of the first chaff sieve 38 as the sieve case 33 swings. . Further, the sieve case 33 receives much of the processed material leaking from the receiving net 23.

The first chaff sieve 38 conveys the processed material to the rear side by wind sorting using a sorting wind and specific gravity sorting due to shaking, and at the same time causes grains contained in the processed material to leak out. Among the processed materials that have been sorted in this way, stem culms such as cut straw are delivered to the second chaff sieve 39, sent out from the rear end of the second chaff sieve 39 to the rear of the sieve case 33, and sent to the discharge section. The waste straw is discharged from 28 toward the waste straw shredding device 13 . The stem culms discharged from the discharge section 28 are shredded by the straw shredding device 13 and discharged to the outside of the threshing device 1 . Further, the grains directly leaking into the second chaff sieve 39 via the receiving net 23 are sorted into grains and stem culms such as cut straw by the second chaff sieve 39.

Here, considering the state of the processed material leaking from the receiving net 23, among the harvested products supplied to the handling room 21, grains, grains that are insufficiently uniformed, or small pieces of straw are not handled. When being conveyed inside the chamber 21, the receiving net 23 leaks at an early stage. For this reason, the leakage amount of the treated material in the upstream region of the receiving net 23 in the transport direction tends to be larger than in the downstream region in the transport direction. Furthermore, as described above, the processed material is supplied to the front end of the first chaff sieve 38 from the upper grain pan 61, so the amount of processed material leaking through the front end of the first chaff sieve 38 is larger than that at the rear end. .

Immediately after the leakage of the processed material leaking from the front end side of the first chaff sieve 38, a part of it is sent to the rear side by the sorting wind and removed, and the processed material containing a large amount of grain is removed from the grain sieve 40. It can be received on the top surface. Furthermore, since the wind pressure and rocking force of the sorting wind act on the processed material supplied to the grain sieve 40, straw and the like contained in the processed material are sent backward on the upper surface of the grain sieve 40, and the processed material leaking through the grain sieve 40 is contains many grains. The grains that have leaked through the grain sieve 40 flow down from the first article guide section 62 to the first article collection section 26 and are collected, and are stored in the grain tank 12 by the first article collection and conveyance section 29.

Further, the grain sieve 40 is supplied with the processed material from the rear area of the first chaff sieve 38, but cut straws among the processed material that has not leaked through the grain sieve 40 are sent rearward by the sorting wind. Therefore, the sorting process is performed without greatly reducing the sorting efficiency in the area behind the grain sieve 40.

Furthermore, the first grains (grains) leaking from the front side of the rearmost end of the grain sieve 40 flow down from the first grain guiding section 62 to the first grain collecting section 26 and are collected, and then are collected by the first grain collecting and conveying section 29. The grains are stored in the grain tank 12.

On the other hand, the processed material that has leaked through the rearmost part of the grain sieve 40 or that has fallen from the second chaff sieve 39 flows down from the second material guide section 63 to the second material collection section 27 and is collected. , and returned to the upstream side of the swing sorting device 24 by the second product reducing section 32. Then, dust such as straw waste as the third processing material generated by the sorting process is sent rearward from the rear end of the swing sorting device 24, and is discharged from the discharge section 28 to the waste straw shredding device 13.

As described above, the second product is returned to the upstream side, which is the front part of the swing sorting device 24, by the second product reducing section 32. Specifically, the second product is returned to a position on the side of the receiving net 23 in the threshing unit 41, where the second product does not pass through the receiving net 23 (does not circulate). Therefore, the second product discharge port 32A of the second product return unit 32 is provided at a position on the radially outer side of the arcuate receiving net 23, and the second product is discharged at this position.

As described above, among the harvested products supplied to the handling room 21, grains that have not been sufficiently made into single grains or small pieces of straw are quickly passed through the receiving net 23 when being transported inside the handling room 21. A part of the leaked processed material is removed by being sent to the rear side by the sorting air. Further, the processed material containing a large amount of grain is received on the upper surface of the grain sieve 40, and the straw and the like contained in the processed material are sent rearward on the upper surface of the grain sieve 40 and removed. However, depending on the amount of harvested grain culm supplied to the threshing device 1 and the parameters that set the capacity of each part of the threshing unit 41 and the sorting unit 42 (for example, the air volume of the sorting air mentioned above, the opening degree of the chaflip 38A, etc.) In this case, grains, straw, etc. that have not been singulated sufficiently (hereinafter referred to as "foreign materials") may reach the first material collection and conveyance section 29 via the first material guide section 62. Such foreign matter will be stored in the grain tank 12.

Since such foreign matter reduces the sorting degree (or sorting efficiency) of the threshing device 1, it is preferable that the amount of foreign matter conveyed to the grain tank 12 is small. Therefore, the combine harvester 20 of this embodiment is configured to be able to determine the amount of foreign matter to be transported to the grain tank 12 and to reduce the amount of foreign matter to be transported to the grain tank 12. Determination and reduction of such foreign substances will be explained below using FIG. 4.

In order to realize the above-mentioned function, a photographing section 70 is provided which acquires a captured image G of the inside of the conveyance path in which the sorted materials are conveyed from the sorting unit 42 to the grain tank 12. The sorted material is grains sorted by the swinging sorter 24. Such sorted materials are collected by the first product collection section 26 and conveyed to the grain tank 12 through the first product collection and transportation section 29. Therefore, the transport route corresponds to a route along which the sorted materials from the first product collection unit 26 to the grain tank 12 are transported. The photographing unit 70 is disposed at at least one location on such a transport route, and acquires a captured image G captured inside the transport route. In this embodiment, the first grains transported by the first grain collection conveyance section 29 are transported to the right by the storage screw 30 and supplied to the grain tank 12 as described above, but the first grains are transported by the first grain collection transport section 29. It is provided so as to image the conveyance end portion 30A of the bucket-type conveyor included in the section 29. Thereby, it becomes possible to acquire the captured image G including the sorted material to be supplied to the grain tank 12. An example of the captured image G is shown in (A) of FIG. Of course, the photographing section 70 may be provided in the first item collection section 26 instead of or in addition to the transport end section 30A, or may be provided on the transport path in the storage screw 30.

Such a photographing unit 70 can be configured using, for example, a known camera. Furthermore, if the amount of light in the transport path is not sufficient to obtain the captured image G, a night vision camera may be used, or a light source (for example, a flash) that emits light each time the captured image G is obtained may be used. . In this case, in order to facilitate photographing by the photographing unit 70, light may be sequentially emitted from different directions in chronological order. The captured image G acquired by the photographing section 70 is transmitted to a determining section 71, which will be described later.

The discrimination unit 71 discriminates the sorted material included in the captured image G into normal grains that meet the desired quality and foreign substances other than normal grains mixed in the sorted material by image analysis. . As described above, the captured image G containing the sorted items is transmitted from the imaging unit 70. Here, the sorted material transported from the sorting unit 42 to the grain tank 12 includes, in addition to grains, foreign matter such as straw, damaged matter including scratches and partially missing parts, and soiled surfaces. It may contain dirty grains that contain grains, stalks that contain branched panicles, empty ``fu'', and grains that have hair-like growths attached. In the present embodiment, normal grains that meet the desired quality are grains that have been properly threshed from the harvested culm and are free from the above-mentioned impurities, damaged materials, dirty grains, stems, husks, and stubble. Items other than attached grains are referred to as normal grains, and impurities, damaged items, dirty grains, stems, husks, and grains with stubble are referred to as foreign substances. The determination unit 71 performs image analysis on the captured image G transmitted from the imaging unit 70 to determine whether it is a normal grain or a foreign object.

In this embodiment, the discrimination unit 71 inputs the image data generated from the captured image G into a neural network that has been trained to discriminate normal grains from the sorted material, and makes discrimination. The determining unit 71 first generates image data to be used for the above-described determination from the captured image G transmitted from the photographing unit 70. This image data is image data for making it easier for the neural network to recognize the image. Specifically, noise, distortion, etc. included in the captured image G are removed, the outline of the object (in this embodiment, the sorted object) included in the captured image G is emphasized, and the brightness and hue are adjusted. Generate image data. At this time, image data may be generated by cutting out each object. The image data generated in this way is input to the neural network.

Here, a neural network is an algorithm that imitates the human brain that is executed by a computer. For example, when the above-mentioned image data is input, the neural network produces a normal grain as if it were determined by a human brain. It is configured to output the result of determining whether it is a grain or a foreign object. The neural network of this embodiment is trained in advance so that it can distinguish between normal grains and foreign substances.

Specifically, in this embodiment, when the neural network inputs learning image data generated from a captured image G that includes normal grains as training data, the neural network determines whether the sorted items include normal grains. Learning is performed to output a classification result that assumes that foreign objects are included, and when training image data generated from captured image G that contains foreign objects is input as training data, it is determined that the objects to be sorted contain foreign objects. The one that has been trained to output a discrimination result that assumes that there is a problem is used.

That is, before inputting the image data generated from the above-mentioned captured image G to the neural network, the training image data generated from the captured image G containing normal grains, the label, and the captured image G containing foreign matter are prepared in advance. The learning image data and labels generated from the above are given, and the features of the image data for each label are learned. At this time, it is preferable to give learning image data for each foreign object and perform learning.

Thereby, it becomes possible to easily determine whether the sorted material included in the captured image G transmitted from the imaging unit 70 is a normal grain or a foreign material. Note that this learning can also be continuously performed without using teacher data when the combine 20 performs discrimination using the captured image G actually transmitted from the imaging unit 70. In this way, the determining unit 71 uses a neural network to determine whether each of the sorted objects included in the captured image G is a normal grain or a foreign object.

It is also possible to configure the calculation unit 72 to calculate the ratio of normal grains to foreign substances in the sorted material included in the captured image G based on the determination result by the determination unit 71. That is, the determination unit 71 determines whether the sorted objects included in the captured image G are normal grains or foreign substances, but the number of normal grains is different from the number of sorted objects included in the captured image G. It is better to calculate the number of foreign objects and their respective proportions. Of course, it is also possible to simply calculate the number and ratio of the number of normal grains and the number of foreign substances.

In such a case, as the above-mentioned learning, the learning image data and label generated from the captured image G containing only normal grains (the ratio of normal grains to foreign matter is 100:0), and the normal grains at a predetermined ratio. Learning image data and labels generated from the captured image G containing grains and foreign objects (the ratio of normal grains to foreign objects is 100-N:N (however, N = 0 to less than 100)) It is also possible to learn the characteristics of image data for each label. This makes it possible to calculate the ratio of normal grains to foreign substances using a neural network. In such a case, the calculation section 72 is configured integrally with the determination section 71. Note that N may be, for example, a multiple of a predetermined number (for example, a multiple of 5 or a multiple of 10).

By displaying the ratio of normal grains and foreign substances calculated by the calculation unit 72 on, for example, a display device 74 (for example, a display screen of a terminal) provided in the cabin 10, the operator of the cabin 10 can input the grain tank 12. It becomes possible to grasp whether or not the sorted material to be transported is appropriate. For example, if the proportion of foreign particles is high relative to the proportion of normal grains, the operator may set threshing parameters that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit 41 or the sorting capacity of the sorting unit 42 so that the proportion of foreign substances can be reduced. By changing the selection parameters that can be set, it is possible to reduce the proportion of foreign substances.

Here, the threshing parameters that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit 41 include a setting value for setting the rotational speed of the rotational shaft 55 of the handling barrel 22, and an installation angle of the dust feeding valve 53a with respect to the top plate 53. The setting values are equivalent. Further, the sorting parameters that can set the sorting capacity of the sorting unit 42 include a set value for setting the air volume of the sorting air from the winnower 25, a set value for setting the opening degree of the chaflip 38A, and a set value for setting the opening degree of the chaflip 38A. This corresponds to the set value for setting the swing speed and amount of swing of the swing drive mechanism 43 that swings. The operator can change these various settings to reduce the percentage of foreign objects and increase the percentage of normal kernels.

Further, it is also possible to configure the above setting values to be changed automatically. In such a case, a parameter changing unit 73 is provided that changes a threshing parameter that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit 41 and a sorting parameter that can set the sorting capacity of the sorting unit, depending on the ratio of normal grains and foreign substances. It is best to configure it like this. As a result, the parameter change unit 73 changes the setting value for setting the rotational speed of the rotational support shaft 55 of the handling barrel 22, the setting value for setting the mounting angle of the dust feeding valve 53a with respect to the top plate 53, and the sorting from the winnower 25. Setting values for setting the air volume, setting values for setting the opening degree of the chaflip 38A, and setting values for setting the swinging speed and amount of swinging of the swinging drive mechanism 43 that swings the swinging sorting device 24 are set. It is possible to improve the degree of sorting by reducing the proportion of foreign substances and increasing the proportion of normal grains.

Of course, instead of automatically changing the setting values by the parameter changing unit 73, the display device 74 is configured to display setting values to be changed to reduce the proportion of foreign substances and increase the proportion of normal grains as advice. It is also possible to do so. Based on this advice, the operator can change the set values to improve the degree of selection.

Further, if the proportion of foreign particles does not decrease and the proportion of normal grains does not increase even if the set value is changed, it is preferable to notify the operator using the display device 74 or a speaker. Furthermore, when the combine 20 is automatically traveling, the automatic traveling may be stopped. In this case, notification may be made for each type of foreign object, or control may be provided to stop automatic travel. That is, the notification may be made only when the proportion of foreign matter is high, or the automatic driving may be controlled to be stopped.

In addition, the display device 74 may be configured to display the captured image G, and in such a case, based on the discrimination result by the discrimination unit 71, foreign matter, damaged matter, dirt grains, branch stems, fu, and grains with stubble are detected. Mark each grain to clearly indicate it to the operator. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the ramus of the captured image G may be displayed on the display screen of the display device 74 by surrounding it with a frame 80 having a predetermined shape or by filling it in. It may be configured. Further, this marking may be performed using different colors for each foreign object, damaged object, dirty grain, stem, husk, and grain with stubble. Note that this indication may be performed at the time when the photographing unit 70 acquires the photographed image G, or by displaying the photographed image G on the display device 74 after a predetermined period of time has elapsed after the acquisition of the photographed image G. It's okay.

In summary, the oscillating sorting device 24 separates grains from the processed material as the sorted material, but the combine harvester 20 can change the amount of grains to be sorted as the sorted material according to the determination result of the discriminator 71. configured. Specifically, it is preferable that the opening degree of the chaflip 38A becomes smaller as the amount of foreign matter increases. That is, the chaflip 38A is configured such that the more contaminants there are, the more the chaflip 38A becomes parallel to the vertical direction. As a result, the amount of first-class materials to be sorted in the first chaff sieve 38 increases, and it becomes possible to suppress an increase in the amount of foreign materials leaking from the first chaff sieve 38.

Further, it is preferable that the amount of the sorting air of the winch 25 is increased as the amount of foreign matter and dust increases so that the first chaff sieve 38 and the grain sieve 40 remove foreign matter and dust. This improves the ability to remove foreign matter and fumes in the first chaff sieve 38 and grain sieve 40, and reduces the contamination of foreign matter and fume in the first material collection section 26 even when the opening degree of the chaflip 38A is increased. can.

Furthermore, the more branches and stems there are, the slower the rotational speed of the rotating support shaft 55 of the handling barrel 22 is, and the inclination of the dust feeding valve 53a in the front-rear direction is controlled, so that the amount of crops fed into the barrel 60 is reduced. It is best to configure it as follows. On the other hand, if there are many damaged items or dirt particles, the rotational speed of the rotational support shaft 55 of the handling barrel 22 is increased, or the inclination of the dust feeding valve 53a in the front and rear direction is controlled to increase the feed amount of the crops in the barrel 60. It is preferable that the configuration is such that the amount is increased.

In addition, the grains stored in the grain tank 12 are dried in a dryer (post-harvest is performed), but if there are many impurities mixed in with the grains, the dryer may become easily clogged or the grains may be It may become difficult to dry. Therefore, the discrimination results by the discriminator 71, especially the proportion of foreign matter, are recorded, and based on this record, the foreign matter is removed by a rough separator before the grains are dried in the dryer, or the foreign matter is removed by the dryer. By changing the conditions, it is possible to properly dry the grains.

In addition, in the above-mentioned control, both the opening degree of the chaflip 38A and the volume of the sorting air of the winch 25 may be changed. Specifically, for example, depending on the determination result, the opening degree of the chaflip 38A may be increased and the volume of the sorting air of the winch 25 may be increased, or the opening degree of the chaflip 38A may be decreased. At the same time, it is also possible to reduce the amount of sorting air from the winch 25.

As described above, in the present combine harvester 20, the threshing ability of the threshing unit 41 and the sorting ability of the sorting unit 42 are controlled according to the determination result by the determining section 71. In other words, based on the determination result by the determination unit 71, the threshing amount of the threshing unit 41 (the threshing ability of the threshing unit 41) and the sorting amount of the sorting unit 42 (the sorting ability of the sorting unit 42) are feedback-controlled. Therefore, the opening degree of the chaflip 38A, the volume of the sorting air by the winnower 25, the inclination of the dust feeding valve 53a in the longitudinal direction, and the traveling speed of the traveling body 17 correspond to gain adjustment parameters in feedback control.

In this way, according to the present combine harvester 20, it is possible to suppress a reduction in the threshing function and the sorting function.

[Other embodiments]
In the above embodiment, the combine harvester 20 has been described using an ordinary combine harvester as an example, but a self-retracting combine harvester may also be used. Furthermore, the combine harvester may be equipped with a wheel-type traveling device instead of the crawler traveling device 3.

In the embodiment described above, foreign matter is referred to as foreign matter, damaged matter, dirty grains, stems, husks, and grains with spines. It is also possible to use normal grains instead of foreign substances.

In the above embodiment, the calculation unit 72 was described as calculating the ratio of normal grains to foreign substances, but the calculation unit 72 can also be configured to calculate the ratio of each type of foreign substances. . That is, the proportion of contaminants (contaminant rate), the proportion of damaged objects (damage rate), the proportion of dirty particles (dirt particle rate), and the proportion of branch stalks (branch stalk rate) in the sorted materials included in the captured image G. It is also possible to configure the system to calculate the ratio of fu (few rate). Furthermore, it is also possible to calculate the amount in one category without distinguishing between damaged items and dirt particles.

In the above embodiment, the calculation unit 72 calculates the proportion of normal grains and foreign substances in the sorted material included in the captured image G based on the determination result by the determination unit 71. does not need to include the calculation section 72. That is, the discrimination section 71 may simply discriminate the sorted material into normal grains and foreign substances, or the discrimination result may be transmitted to another device for use.

In the embodiment described above, the parameter changing unit 73 sets a threshing parameter that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit 41 and a sorting parameter that can set the sorting capacity of the sorting unit 42 according to the ratio of normal grains and foreign substances. Although it has been described that the parameter changing section 73 is changed, the combine 20 does not need to include the parameter changing section 73. In such a case, as described above, it may be configured to notify advice on threshing parameters and sorting parameters that are suitable to change.

In the above embodiment, it has been explained that the discrimination unit 71 performs discrimination by inputting the image data generated from the captured image G to a neural network that has undergone learning to discriminate normal grains from the sorted material. 71 can also be configured to distinguish between normal grains and foreign substances from the sorted material without using a neural network.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be used for the combine equipped with the threshing unit which threshes the reaped grain culm, and the sorting unit which sorts grain from the threshed material threshed by the said threshing unit.

12: Grain tank 20: Combine harvester 41: Threshing unit 42: Sorting unit 70: Photographing section 71: Discrimination section 72: Calculation section 73: Parameter changing section G: Captured image

Claims (3)

a threshing unit that threshes the harvested grain culm and discharges the threshed product;
a sorting unit that sorts grains from the discharged threshed material as a sorted material;
a grain tank in which the sorted material is transported and stored;
a photographing unit that acquires a captured image of the inside of a conveyance path for conveying the sorted material from the sorting unit to the grain tank;
A discrimination unit that discriminates the sorted material included in the captured image into the normal grains that meet a desired quality and foreign substances other than the normal grains mixed in the sorted material by image analysis. and,
a calculation unit that calculates the ratio of the normal grains to the foreign substances in the sorted material included in the captured image based on the discrimination result by the discrimination unit;
a parameter changing unit that changes a threshing parameter that can set the threshing capacity of the threshing unit and a sorting parameter that can set the sorting capacity of the sorting unit according to the ratio of the normal grains to the foreign matter;
Equipped with
The sorted material is transported to the grain tank by a bucket conveyor-type transport device,
The photographing unit is a combine harvester that photographs the sorted material in the bucket, which is being transported by the bucket conveyor-type transport device. The combine harvester according to claim 1, wherein the discrimination section inputs image data generated from the captured image to a neural network trained to discriminate the normal grains from the sorted material. The neural network determines that the sorted object contains the normal grains when learning image data generated from a captured image containing the normal grains is input as training data. Assume that the learning is performed so as to output a result, and when learning image data generated from a captured image containing the foreign matter is input as teacher data, the foreign matter is included in the sorted object. The combine harvester according to claim 2, wherein the learning is performed so as to output a determination result.

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