TWI871418B - Grain distinguishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

A grain distinguishing device 1 comprises a light source 7, a lens 5 which focuses the light emitted by the light source 7, a reflector 6 which reflects the light focused by the lens 5, and a plate member 3 which has light transmitting properties and receives the light reflected by the reflector 6 at the lower surface of the plate member.

Description

Grain detector

The present invention relates to a grain discriminator for discriminating the quality of grains.

In the past, a grain discriminator was known for discriminating whether the grain has cracks, etc., based on the transmitted light of the light irradiated on the grain. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a grain discriminator that irradiates the bottom surface of the transparent tray with light from a light source disposed on the side of the transparent tray via a reflective plate. [Prior Art Document] [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-173884

[Identify the problem you want to solve]

In the grain discriminator disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the light source is disposed on one side of the transparent tray, the area farther from the light source of the transparent tray becomes darker than the area closer to the light source. That is, the intensity of the light irradiated to the grains placed on the transparent tray becomes uneven, and there is a risk that the quality of the grains cannot be correctly discriminated.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a grain discriminator that can suppress the uneven intensity of light irradiating the grains. [Technical means for solving the problem]

The grain discriminator of the present invention comprises: a light source; a lens for focusing the light emitted by the light source; a reflecting part for reflecting the light focused by the lens; and a disk member having light-transmitting properties and receiving the light reflected by the reflecting part on its bottom surface. [Effects of the invention]

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the unevenness of the intensity of light irradiating the grains.

The following uses diagrams to illustrate the grain discriminator according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a grain discriminator according to a first embodiment. The grain discriminator 1 is a device for irradiating light to grains and is used to discriminate the quality of grains such as rice, wheat, beans, and corn.

For example, when light is irradiated on cracked rice, the light is reflected by the cracked part. Therefore, the intensity of the light transmitted through the cracked part becomes weaker, making the cracked part appear darker. Therefore, the presence or absence of cracks and the size of the cracks can be determined by the brightness of the light transmitted through the rice.

The grain discriminator 1 includes a main body 2 and a disk component 3.

The main body 2 is made into a box shape, for example. In the main body 2, various devices for irradiating light toward the bottom surface of the plate member 3 are built-in.

The disc member 3 is a member for placing the grains to be identified. The disc member 3 is made in a disc shape. The disc member 3 is arranged on the top surface of the body 2. The disc member 3 is made of, for example, a transparent synthetic resin. However, the disc member 3 can be made of any material that has light transmittance.

FIG. 2 is a top view showing the grain discriminator 1 according to the first embodiment.

The main body 2 is, for example, rectangular in plan view. The shape of the main body 2 is not limited to rectangular in plan view, and may also be a polygon such as a circle, a triangle, or a hexagon.

The plate member 3 is, for example, circular in a plan view. The shape of the plate member 3 is not limited to circular in a plan view, and may also be elliptical or polygonal.

Fig. 3 is an arrow view of line A-A of Fig. 2. The main body 2 has a light source accommodating portion 4, a lens 5 and a reflecting portion 6 inside.

The light source housing portion 4 is a laterally elongated member disposed along the inner side surface of the body 2. The light source housing portion 4 is disposed along all four inner side surfaces of the body 2. However, the light source housing portion 4 only needs to be disposed along at least one inner side surface among the plurality of inner side surfaces.

The lens 5 is arranged to be connected to each light source housing portion 4 in the inner direction of the body 2 when viewed from each light source housing portion 4 .

The reflective portion 6 is disposed in the center of the body 2 and parallel to the bottom surface of the body 2. That is, the light source housing portion 4 is disposed to surround the reflective portion 6 in the surrounding area of the reflective portion 6.

Next, the structures of the light source housing portion 4, the lens 5, and the reflecting portion 6 are described in detail.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 3 .

The light source housing portion 4 is a member for housing the light source 7. The light source housing portion 4 includes a mounting portion 41, a first light guide portion 42, and a second light guide portion 43.

The mounting portion 41 has a mounting surface 411 for mounting the light source 7. On the mounting surface 411, one or two or more light sources 7 are mounted.

The mounting surface 411 is a surface that reflects light and guides the light to the lens 5. The mounting surface 411 is, for example, a surface with white luster. The mounting surface 411 is, for example, a flat surface. When the grain discriminator 1 is placed on a horizontal surface, the mounting surface 411 faces the outer side of the body 2 and is obliquely downward.

The first light guide portion 42 is connected to the upper edge of the mounting portion 41. The first light guide portion 42 has a first light guide surface 421 that reflects light. The first light guide surface 421 is, for example, a surface with a white luster. The first light guide surface 421 is, for example, a plane. The first light guide portion 42 is connected to the mounting portion 41 so that the first light guide surface 421 and the mounting surface 411 are, for example, at right angles.

The second light guide portion 43 is connected to the lower edge of the first light guide portion 42. The second light guide portion 43 has a second light guide surface 431 for reflecting light at a position opposite to the mounting surface 411. The second light guide surface 431 is, for example, a surface with white gloss. The second light guide surface 431 is, for example, a flat surface.

The second light guide portion 43 is connected to the first light guide portion 42 in such a manner that an acute angle is formed between the second light guide surface 431 and the first light guide surface 421. In addition, the second light guide surface 431 is formed to be inclined relative to the reflection portion 6.

Since the second light guide surface 431 is inclined relative to the reflective portion 6, the width of the light source housing portion 4 can be reduced compared to the case where the second light guide surface 431 is formed parallel to the reflective portion 6. Here, the width of the light source housing portion 4 refers to the width in the "horizontal direction of the light source housing portion 4" and the "direction perpendicular to the long side direction of the light source housing portion 4". That is, the width in the left-right direction of the light source housing portion 4 shown in FIG. 4. By reducing the width of the light source housing portion 4, the grain discriminator 1 can be miniaturized.

Furthermore, since the first light guide surface 421 and the second light guide surface 431 are arranged to form an acute angle, the height of the light source housing portion 4 can be reduced compared to the case where the first light guide surface 421 is connected to the second light guide surface 431 at a right angle. As a result, the grain discriminator 1 can be miniaturized.

The mounting surface 411, the first light guide surface 421, and the second light guide surface 431 form a storage space for accommodating the light source 7 through the above structure. In other words, the mounting surface 411, the first light guide surface 421, and the second light guide surface 431 are each a part of the surface forming the storage space for accommodating the light source 7. In addition, a long hole-shaped opening is formed in the area opposite to the first light guide surface 421 to allow the light emitted by the light source 7 to pass through.

Furthermore, the mounting surface 411, the first light guiding surface 421, and the second light guiding surface 431 may also be formed as curved surfaces. In this case, each surface is made to be smoothly connected.

The light source 7 is composed of, for example, a fluorescent lamp or an LED (Light Emitting Diode).

The light emitted by the light source 7 is reflected once or multiple times by the mounting surface 411 , the first light guiding surface 421 , or the second light guiding surface 431 and then goes to the opening. The light reaching the opening enters the lens 5 .

The lens 5 is disposed at the opening of the light source housing 4 and collects the light emitted by the light source 7 and reaching the opening. The lens 5 is, for example, a lens having a convex light receiving surface. The lens 5 is, for example, a cylindrical lens formed in a cylindrical shape.

The reflecting portion 6 is, for example, a member formed into a plate-like shape that is roughly rectangular when viewed from above. The length of one side of the reflecting portion 6 is formed to be larger than the diameter of the bottom surface of the disk member 3. Therefore, as shown in FIG4 , the outer periphery of the reflecting portion 6 is located outside the outer periphery of the disk member 3. Thereby, the reflecting portion 6 can reflect light toward the entire area of the bottom surface of the disk member 3. In other words, the bottom surface of the disk member 3 is set to a size that can receive light from the reflecting portion 6 in the entire area of its bottom surface. In addition, the disk member 3 shown in FIG4 is virtually represented in the main body 2 in order to indicate the position of the disk member 3 in the horizontal direction, and is actually placed on the main body 2 as described above.

The reflecting portion 6 has a reflecting surface 61 for reflecting the light focused by the lens 5 toward the bottom surface of the disk member 3. The reflecting surface 61 is, for example, made black. In addition, the reflecting surface 61 is made of a non-glossy surface. Thereby, the outline of the light source 7 can be prevented from being printed on the reflecting surface 61. In addition, the image of the grains placed on the disk member 3 can be prevented from being printed on the reflecting surface 61.

The light reflected by the reflecting surface 61 passes through the disk member 3 made of transparent synthetic resin and illuminates the grains placed in the disk member 3. In this embodiment, the light from the "light source accommodating parts 4 arranged along the four inner sides of the main body 2" is switched in sequence to illuminate the bottom surface of the disk member 3.

As described above, when the grain discriminator 1 is placed on a horizontal plane, the mounting surface 411 faces the outer side of the body 2 and is obliquely downward. In other words, the light source 7 emits light in a direction different from the direction in which the reflecting surface 61 is disposed, and the lens 5 receives the light reflected by the mounting surface 411, the first light guide surface 421, and the second light guide surface 431. As a result, since the light from the light source 7 is diffused to a certain extent, the outline of the light source 7 can be prevented from being printed on the reflecting surface 61.

Here, the arrangement and function of the lens 5 will be described in detail using FIGS. 5 to 8 .

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the direction of maximum brightness of light emitted from the opening. Fig. 5 shows a part of the longitudinal section of the grain discriminator 1 in which no lens is arranged at the opening of the light source housing 4.

When no lens is arranged at the opening of the light source housing portion 4, the direction of the maximum brightness of the light emitted from the opening is approximately parallel to the second light guide surface 431 and is directed toward the reflecting surface 61 (the direction indicated by the thick arrow A1). In other words, the light emitted by the light source 7 is brightest near the end of the reflecting surface 61 on the light source 7 side, for example, at a position ₁₁ [mm] from the end of the reflecting surface 61. As a result, the light reflected by the reflecting surface 61 is brightly illuminated on the light source side of the disk member 3. In addition, the thick arrow A2 indicates the direction of the light reflected by the reflecting surface 61.

Fig. 6 is a graph showing the illuminance of light irradiated on the disk member 3 in the grain discriminator 1 having the structure shown in Fig. 5. The horizontal axis represents the horizontal distance from the light source 7, and the vertical axis represents the illuminance of light received by the disk member 3.

When the lens 5 is not arranged at the opening, as shown in Fig. 6, the illuminance becomes high in the area close to the light source 7, and becomes low in the area far from the light source 7. That is, the difference in illuminance of the light received is large between the two ends of the plate member 3.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the direction of maximum brightness of light emitted from the opening. Fig. 7 shows a part of the longitudinal section of the grain discriminator 1 in which a lens 5 is arranged at the opening of the light source storage part 4. When the lens 5 is arranged at the opening of the light source storage part 4, the lens 5 focuses the light passing through the opening and changes the direction in which the light travels.

As shown in FIG7 , the convex surface between the mounting surface 411 and the second light guide surface 431 becomes the light receiving surface of the lens 5. The lens 5 receives light with the light receiving surface, and changes the direction of the maximum brightness of the light. In other words, the lens 5 is configured so that the "direction of the maximum brightness of the light incident on the lens 5" and the "direction of the maximum brightness of the light emitted from the lens 5" are different.

As shown in FIG7 , when the lens 5 is not disposed in the opening, the direction of the maximum brightness of the light (the direction indicated by the thick arrow A1) is closer to the center of the reflecting surface 61. In other words, the position on the reflecting surface 61 that is illuminated most brightly becomes, for example, a position ₁₂ [mm] from the end of the reflecting surface 61. This ₁₂ [mm] is a larger value than the ₁₁ [mm] shown in FIG5 .

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the illumination of light received by the disk member 3 in the grain discriminator 1 according to the first embodiment shown in Fig. 7. The horizontal axis represents the horizontal distance from the light source 7, and the vertical axis represents the illumination.

Compared with the grain discriminator 1 in which the lens 5 is not arranged at the opening, the grain discriminator 1 in which the lens 5 is arranged at the opening has a smaller difference in the illumination intensity of the light received between the two ends of the disk member 3. That is, in the grain discriminator 1 according to the first embodiment, the intensity of the light irradiated to the disk member 3 can be suppressed from being uneven.

As a result, since the grains placed on the plate member 3 are irradiated with light more uniformly, the grains can be accurately identified.

7, when the lens 5 is disposed in the opening, the light rays at the end of the light source side of the reflecting surface 61 are focused by the lens 5 to the center of the reflecting surface 61. Therefore, as shown in FIG8, the illumination of the area of the disk member 3 closest to the light source 7 becomes low.

Next, the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment will be described.

Fig. 9 is a partially enlarged view of a longitudinal section of the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment. In the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment, a gap is provided between the lens 5 and the second light guide surface 431. With respect to the structure other than the arrangement of the lens 5, the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment is the same as the grain discriminator 1 according to the first embodiment.

Due to the gap between the lens 5 and the second light-guiding surface 431, a part of the light emitted by the light source 7 will not pass through the lens 5 but will directly go to the reflecting surface 61. In other words, this gap allows the light from the accommodating space to pass toward the reflecting portion 6. The light that does not pass through the lens 5 but is reflected by the reflecting surface 61 will pass through the lens 5 or will not pass through the lens 5 and irradiate the bottom surface of the disk component 3. In addition, the size of this gap is set to about 3 [mm] when a cylindrical lens with a diameter of 15 [mm] is used as the lens 5. At this time, the distance between the lower edge of the mounting portion 41 and the second light-guiding surface 431, that is, the size between the upper edge and the lower edge of the opening, is less than 18 [mm]. In other words, the size between the upper edge and the lower edge of the opening is set according to the size of the lens 5, etc., so as to be the same as the sum of the diameter of the lens 5 and the size of the gap, or to be smaller than the sum.

Fig. 10 is a diagram showing the illumination of light received by the disk member 3 in the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment shown in Fig. 9. The horizontal axis represents the horizontal distance from the light source 7, and the vertical axis represents the illumination.

As shown in Fig. 10, in the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment, the disc member 3 receives light substantially uniformly across the entire width, similar to the grain discriminator 1 according to the first embodiment. That is, in the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment, the intensity of light irradiated to the disc member 3 can be suppressed from being uneven.

In addition, in the grain discriminator 1 according to the second embodiment, a gap is provided between the lens 5 and the second light guide surface 431. Therefore, the light that does not pass through the lens 5 is also directly irradiated to the end of the light source 7 side of the reflective surface 61. As a result, the light is also irradiated to the end of the light source 7 side of the disk member 3, that is, the outer peripheral portion of the bottom surface of the disk member 3, so that the disk member 3 can receive the light more uniformly across the entire width.

As a result, since the grains placed on the plate member 3 are irradiated with light more uniformly, the grains can be accurately identified.

Furthermore, although FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 illustrate a cylindrical lens having a circular cross section, the lens 5 may be formed in a convex shape as long as its light receiving surface is formed. For example, as shown in FIG. 11 , the lens 5 may be a fish plate-shaped lens 5 having a flat surface as an emission surface. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 12 , the cross section of the lens 5 may be formed in an elliptical shape. That is, the convex shape of the light receiving surface of the lens may be a curved surface.

In addition, as shown in FIG13 , the lens 5 may also be a circular convex lens. In this case, a plurality of lenses 5 are arranged along the opening. When the lens 5 is made of a circular convex lens, a gap is formed near the contact portion where the lenses 5 are connected to each other, through which the light passes from the opening to the reflecting surface 61. The light emitted from this gap is irradiated near the end of the reflecting surface 61. Therefore, the light can also be uniformly irradiated on the outer peripheral portion of the disk component 3. As a result, since the grains placed on the disk component 3 are more uniformly irradiated with light, the grains can be correctly identified.

Furthermore, although in the above-mentioned embodiments, the light source storage part 4 and the light source 7 are separately provided inside the box-shaped body 2 of the grain discriminator 1, the present invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to provide a light source inside the body to form a light source storage part. In this case, a storage space for accommodating the light source is formed inside the body with the light source built therein, which is equivalent to the light source storage part of the present invention.

1: Grain discriminator 2: Body 3: Disc member 4: Light source housing 41: Mounting portion 411: Mounting surface 42: First light guide portion 421: First light guide surface 43: Second light guide portion 431: Second light guide surface 5: Lens 6: Reflection portion 61: Reflection surface 7: Light source A1, A2: Thick arrows l ₁ , l ₂ : Length

[Figure 1] is a three-dimensional diagram showing the grain discriminator of the first embodiment. [Figure 2] is a top view showing the grain discriminator of the first embodiment. [Figure 3] is an arrow view of the A-A line of Figure 2. [Figure 4] is a partially enlarged view of Figure 3. [Figure 5] is a diagram showing the direction of the maximum brightness of the light emitted from the opening. [Figure 6] is a diagram showing the illuminance of the light received by the disk component. [Figure 7] is a diagram showing the direction of the maximum brightness of the light emitted from the opening. [Figure 8] is a diagram showing the illuminance of the light received by the disk component in the first embodiment. [Figure 9] is a partially enlarged view of the longitudinal section of the grain discriminator of the second embodiment. [Fig. 10] is a diagram showing the illumination of light received by the disk component in the second embodiment. [Fig. 11] is a diagram showing a lens in another embodiment. [Fig. 12] is a diagram showing a lens in yet another embodiment. [Fig. 13] is a diagram showing a lens in yet another embodiment.

1: Grain detector

3: Disk components

4: Light source storage part

41: Installation Department

411: Mounting surface

42: First light guide unit

421: First light-guiding surface

43: Second light guide part

431: Second light-guiding surface

5: Lens

6: Reflection part

61: Reflective surface

7: Light source

Claims (8)

A grain discriminator comprises: a light source; a lens for focusing the light emitted by the light source; a reflector for reflecting the light focused by the lens; and a plate member for carrying grains, which has light-transmitting properties and receives the light reflected by the reflector on its bottom surface, so that the light is irradiated toward the grains. A grain discriminator as described in claim 1, wherein the lens is configured so that the direction of the maximum brightness of the light incident on the lens is different from the direction of the maximum brightness of the light emitted from the lens. The grain discriminator as described in claim 1 or 2 is further provided with: a light source accommodating portion, which is arranged in the peripheral area of the reflecting portion and forms an accommodating space for accommodating the light source and an opening for allowing the light emitted by the light source to pass through; the lens is arranged in the opening; and a gap is provided between the lens and the light source accommodating portion for allowing the light that does not pass through the lens to pass through. A grain discriminator as described in claim 3, wherein the light source emits light in the containing space in a direction different from the direction in which the reflective portion is arranged. A grain discriminator as described in claim 3, wherein the light source housing portion has: a light-guiding surface, forming a part of the housing space, and reflecting the light emitted by the light source, while being inclined relative to the reflecting portion. A grain discriminator as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the lens is a cylindrical lens. A grain discriminator as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the lens is a circular convex lens. A grain discriminator as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the reflective portion has a matte reflective surface.

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