JP2002022663A - Sample container for grain quality judgment, grain quality judgment device, and grain quality judgment system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To accurately determine the quality of a grain. A sample stage (30) having a transparent bottom surface (30A).
, A lid 32 is attached by a hinge 31 so as to be openable and closable. A plurality of rod-shaped light sources 36, such as fluorescent lamps, are mounted inside the lid 32. Between the rod-shaped light source 36 and the sample stage 30, light is emitted from a direction inclined to the grains placed on the sample stage 30,
An oblique light louver 38 for making the direction of light emitted from the rod-shaped light source 36 uniform in an oblique direction is arranged in parallel with the bottom surface of the sample stage 30.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sample container for judging grain quality, a grain quality judging device and a grain quality judging system, and more particularly to a grain quality capable of judging grain quality with high accuracy. The present invention relates to a determination sample container, a grain quality determination device, and a grain quality determination system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent No. 2815633 discloses a method in which rice grains are conveyed one by one and irradiated with light, and the reflected light quantity of each rice grain is measured.
A rice grain quality determination device for determining the quality of brown rice, white rice, or paddy rice is disclosed. However, since the quality of each rice grain is determined by irradiating light to each rice grain, there is a problem that the inspection time is extremely long.

On the other hand, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 7-33151 discloses that
The rice grains are put into each of the recesses of the sample dish in which a large number of recesses into which the rice grains are inserted are pierced, and the rice grains are irradiated with light. There is described a rice grain quality determination device that captures an image and determines the quality of rice grains one by one.

However, in the conventional rice grain quality judging device, the quality of the rice grain is judged from the image obtained from the reflected light or the transmitted light from the rice grain. Rice, tea-based colored rice, blue immature rice,
Although colored rice due to pest damage can be distinguished, cracked rice is difficult to distinguish with high accuracy, and when using transmitted light, cracked rice can be distinguished but other defects There is a problem that it is difficult to discriminate rice, and therefore it is not possible to accurately determine the quality of rice grains.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has been made in order to accurately determine the quality of grains such as rice grains, a sample container for grain quality determination, a grain quality determination device,
And a grain quality determination system.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sample container for judging the quality of a grain, comprising: A light source for irradiating light for illuminating the mounted sample, and the light source such that light is emitted from a direction inclined to a plurality of grains two-dimensionally mounted on the sample stage. And an oblique light louver for making the direction of the light irradiated from the oblique direction uniform.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when illuminating a sample placed on the sample stage, the direction of light emitted from the light source is obliquely uniformed by the oblique louver, and the sample stage is two-dimensionally illuminated. A plurality of grains placed in a shape are irradiated with light from an inclined direction. Note that a plurality of grains need not be regularly placed on the sample table in a two-dimensional manner, but may be placed randomly. In this way, by irradiating light from a direction inclined to the grain, if a grain has a fractured surface or the like, a shadow is easily generated inside the grain, and this shadow is illuminated from the transparent bottom side. Illuminated and observed using two types of light: transmitted light illuminated from the light source and transmitted through the bottom surface of the sample stage, and reflected light illuminated from the bottom surface and reflected by the grains. Therefore, the quality of the grain can be accurately determined.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sample stage having a transparent bottom surface on which kernels are mounted, and a plurality of kernels mounted two-dimensionally on the sample stage in a direction inclined with respect to the plurality of kernels. It is configured to include a large number of light emitting elements arranged two-dimensionally with the light emission direction inclined with respect to the sample mounting surface of the sample stage so that light is irradiated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a large number of light emitting elements are arranged in a two-dimensional array with the light emitting direction inclined with respect to the sample mounting surface of the sample table without using the oblique light louver of the first aspect. In this case, light is applied to the grains placed on the sample table from an inclined direction, and since the oblique louvers are not used, the structure can be simplified.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a sample stage having a transparent bottom surface on which kernels are mounted, and wherein light is irradiated from a direction inclined to the kernels mounted on the sample stage. A light emitting element array composed of a large number of light emitting elements arranged one-dimensionally with the light emitting direction inclined with respect to the sample mounting surface of the sample table, and at least one of the sample table and the light emitting element array, And a moving device for moving in a direction intersecting the arrangement direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, scanning is performed by moving at least one of a light emitting element array composed of a large number of light emitting elements in which a sample stage and light emitting elements are arranged one-dimensionally,
Light is applied to the grain placed on the sample stage from an inclined direction.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the light emitting element array in which the light emitting elements are arranged one-dimensionally is used.
The number of light emitting elements can be reduced as compared with the invention of (1).

The light irradiation direction of each of the above inventions is in the range of 30 ° to 60 ° C., preferably 30 ° with respect to the mounting surface of the sample stage.
Is suitable.

The sample container for grain quality determination configured as described above includes a scanner for reading an image of the grain from the bottom side of the sample stage of the sample container for grain quality determination, and a grain read by the scanner. A determination device for determining the quality of the grain based on the image of the grain; and a grain quality determiner is configured.

According to this grain quality judging device, two types of light, that is, reflected light and transmitted light, that is, light from the light source provided in the scanner and light from the light source provided in the grain quality judging device are used. Since the image of the grain is read, the quality of the grain can be accurately determined.

In the case where an image is input to the grain quality judging device, the reflected light image read with the light from the inclined direction turned off and the light from the inclined direction are turned off. Is turned on, it is effective to extract information on both the inside and the surface of the grain by an inter-image calculation with the oblique transmitted light illumination image read and input the information to the determination unit of the determination device. According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since information on both the inside and the surface of the grain is extracted by an inter-image operation between the reflected light image and the oblique transmitted light illumination image, partially colored grains such as a body crack and a white belly are extracted. Can be distinguished.

The grain quality judgment device configured as described above includes a tally of images and judgment results, data compression, data encryption, recording on an auxiliary storage medium, printing, distribution via a network, or It can be configured as a grain quality determination system terminal equipped with a data protection function using a password or a plurality of functions selected from these functions.

A plurality of the grain quality judging system terminals configured as described above are connected to the network together with a management device for displaying the image read by the scanner and the judgment result of the judging device. Is configured.

In the invention according to claim 7, by comparing the image read by the scanner displayed on the management device with the judgment result of the judgment device, it is determined whether or not the grain quality judgment device is operating normally. It is possible to determine whether there is an error in the determination result in the grain quality determiner or the like, and manage the grain quality determiner based on the determination result.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The present embodiment relates to a grain quality determination system that combines the first embodiment of the grain quality determination sample container and the embodiment of the grain quality determiner.

As shown in FIG. 1, a grain quality determination system according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of client computers 12 connected to a network 10 such as a LAN, a server computer 16 for management, And a determination sample container 20 (see FIG. 2). Each client computer 12 reads the image of a grain such as a rice grain in the grain quality determination sample container 20 placed on the glass surface of the main body by separating the image into three colors of RGB (red, green, and blue). A color scanner 18 for inputting to the client computer 12 is connected. This color scanner 18
A commercially available color scanner is used. As shown in FIG. 2, a light source for illuminating grains 24 such as rice grains in a grain quality determination sample container 20 placed on the glass 18A surface of the scanner body. And the image of the grain illuminated by the light source
A scanning device 22 including a color CCD that separates and reads B3 colors is mounted so as to be able to reciprocate. By moving the scanning device 22, two-dimensional scanning is performed, and an image of the grains 24 in the grain quality determination sample container 20 placed on the glass surface of the scanner main body is read.

The client computer is provided with functions of totalizing images and judgment results, compressing data, encrypting data, recording on an auxiliary storage medium, printing, distributing via a network, and protecting data with a password. And is configured to function as a grain quality determination system terminal.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (A) and 4 (B), the grain quality judgment sample container 20 has an open upper surface.
And a case-shaped sample stage 30 whose bottom surface 30A is transparently formed of a transparent plate-shaped member such as a transparent glass plate or a transparent filter.
It has. In addition, not only the bottom surface but also the entire sample stage 30 can be made transparent by a transparent plate-shaped member such as a transparent glass plate or a transparent filter. The inside of the bottom surface of the sample table 30 is formed flat, and a plurality of grains (samples), preferably a large number of grains, for judging the quality of rice grains or the like are randomly placed inside the bottom surface of the sample table 30. Is placed. In the present embodiment, since the inside of the bottom surface of the sample stage 30 is flat and there is no recess or the like in which rice grains enter one by one,
The grains are placed randomly. A lid 32 is attached to the sample table 30 by a hinge 31 so as to be openable and closable.

The inside of the bottom surface of the lid 32 is formed to reflect light, and a plurality of rod-like light sources 36 composed of fluorescent lamps and the like are mounted in parallel inside the lid 32.

The light irradiation side of the rod-shaped light source 36, that is, between the rod-shaped light source 36 and the sample table 30, is so irradiated as to irradiate the grain placed on the sample table 30 from an inclined direction. An oblique light louver 38 for making the direction of light emitted from the rod-shaped light source 36 uniform in an oblique direction is arranged in parallel with the bottom surface of the sample stage 30. The oblique light louver 38 is formed of a plastic plate-like member in which a large number of optical paths 38A that transmit light in an oblique direction are formed in parallel. The inclination angle of the irradiation light with respect to the bottom surface of the sample stage 30, that is, the angle of the optical path 38A with respect to the bottom surface of the sample stage can be in a range of 30 ° to 60 ° C., but 30 ° is appropriate. As the oblique light louver 38, a light control panel (trade name, manufactured by Edmund Scientific Japan) can be used.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sample container 20 for grain quality determination configured as described above is combined with a scanner 18 connected to a client computer 16 functioning as a determination device. The scanner 18 and the client computer 16 together with the scanner 18 constitute a grain quality judging device.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described. First, grains having a known grade (good grains) are put into a grain quality determination sample container, and teaching is performed so that the determination results are good. At this time, when the quality of the grain does not match the determination result, the minimum of the R signal of the determination table for determining the quality of the predetermined grain by combining the two colors shown in FIGS. Value Rmi
The maximum value Rmax of the n and R signals, the gradients a1, a2, b1, b2, etc. of the straight lines indicating the relationship between the two colors are adjusted, and teaching is performed so that the quality of the grain matches the determination result. When judging grains of another grade, the grains classified into the grade to be judged may be put into a grain quality judging sample container, and teaching may be performed so that the judgment result is good. In this way, by performing teaching, it is possible to determine a target grade of grain as a non-defective product.

Next, after opening the lid of the sample container for judging the quality of grains and putting the grain (sample) to be judged, the lid is closed and the sample for judging the quality of grain is placed on the glass surface of the scanner. When the container is placed and the rod-shaped light source is turned on, light is emitted from the rod-shaped light source 36. The illuminated light is obliquely equalized in the oblique direction by the oblique louver 38, and grains such as rice grains placed on the sample table are placed in the range of 30 ° to 60 ° C. with respect to the mounting surface of the sample table. Light is applied to the grains 24 from an inclined direction.

When the scanning device of the scanner is driven and moved in this state, the grains are illuminated from the bottom side by the light source of the scanning device, the transmitted light by the illumination light from the rod-shaped light source, and the illumination from the light source of the scanning device. Color CCD reflected light
And the color CCD reads an image based on the reflected light and the transmitted light.

At this time, since light is irradiated from the direction inclined to the grain, if there is a broken surface or the like in the grain, the irradiated light is blocked by the broken surface, so that a shadow is generated. The quality of the grain can be determined with high accuracy by detecting this shadow with a scanner and determining whether or not each color signal enters a predetermined range area by the grain quality determination processing. .

In the grain quality determination processing, the rod-shaped light source is turned off to turn off light from an inclined direction, and a reflected light image read by illumination only with a scanner of a scanner;
When the bar-shaped light source is turned on and the light from the tilted direction is turned on, and the information on both the grain inside and the surface is extracted and determined by the inter-image calculation with the oblique transmitted light illumination image read and turned on,
This is effective because it is possible to distinguish a partially colored grain such as a torso crack and a white belly. The information (image signal) inside the grain is obtained by subtracting the reflected light image from the oblique transmitted light illumination image, and the information (image signal) inside the grain is obtained from the oblique transmitted light illumination image.

Next, the process of judging the quality of the grain will be described. Each client computer captures the image signal of the kernel from the scanner, and as shown in FIG. 5, a1B <R <a2 for each of the three color RGB image signals of each pixel.
B and the condition of Rmin <R <Rmax is satisfied, and as shown in FIG. 6, b1B <G <b2B and Gmin
<G <Gmax, and as shown in FIG. 7, c1G <R <c2G and Rmin <R <Rmax
It is determined whether the condition of x is satisfied. Note that Rmin is the minimum value of the R color image signal, Rmax is the maximum value of the R color image signal, Gmin is the minimum value of the G color image signal, Gmax
Is the maximum value of the G color image signal, a1, a2, b1, b2,
c1 and c2 are constants indicating the slopes of the straight lines shown in FIGS.

When extracting and determining information on both the inside and the surface of the grain, it is necessary to determine whether or not the information (image signal) on the inside and the surface of the grain satisfies the above condition. Good.

When these conditions are satisfied, the product is determined to be non-defective, and when the above conditions are not satisfied, it is determined to be defective. That is, crushed rice, paddy rice, dead rice, tea-based colored rice, blue immature rice, colored rice due to pest damage, cracked rice, etc., are caused by the color of the rice itself, the shadow generated inside by the light irradiated from oblique directions Since any one of the color image signals does not satisfy the above condition, the quality can be determined with high accuracy, and the grading can be performed.

Further, periodically, the image captured by the scanner and the judgment result of the client computer are transmitted from the client computer to the host computer,
Display it on the screen of the client computer. Thus, by visually comparing the image captured by the skilled operator with the scanner and the determination result of the client computer, whether or not the computer of the grain quality determiner is operating normally, each grain quality determiner , It is possible to determine whether there is a variation in the determination result and to perform management.

In the above description, an example has been described in which the grain quality determining device is configured using a computer connected to a network. However, the present embodiment is not limited to this, and functions as a determining device. The grain quality determiner may be configured using a stand-alone computer without connecting the computer to a network.

Next, another embodiment of a sample container for grain quality judgment which can be used in the above-described grain judgment device and grain quality judgment system will be described. FIGS. 8A and 8B show a second embodiment of a sample container for judging grain quality, and a surface light source is used instead of the bar-shaped light source shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B. 40 is used. This surface emitting light source 40
As shown in FIG. 8 (B), is composed of a rectangular diffusion plate 40A arranged in parallel with the oblique louver, and a pair of rod-shaped light sources 40B provided on opposing sides of the diffusion plate 40A. .

When the rod-shaped light source 40B is turned on, the light propagates through the diffusion plate 40A and is emitted from the upper and lower surfaces of the diffusion plate 40A as diffused light. Further, the diffused light emitted from the surface emitting light source is made uniform in the oblique direction by the oblique light louver 38, and the light is applied to the grain 24 placed on the sample stage from an inclined direction. .

In this embodiment, since the surface emitting light source is used, the oblique louvers are uniformly illuminated, so that the grain 24 can be uniformly irradiated with light from an inclined direction.

Next, a third embodiment of the sample container for judging grain quality will be described. In this embodiment, a light emitting diode (LED) is used as a light source, and light is emitted from a direction inclined to a grain placed on a sample table without using an oblique louver.

As shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the lid 3
2, the light emission direction, that is, the optical axis direction is
A large number of LEDs 44 are arranged two-dimensionally (n rows × m columns) at an angle of 30 ° to 60 ° C., preferably 30 °, with respect to the sample mounting surface of 0. This LED is
Single color LED is used, but RGB three color LED
May be alternately arranged to obtain white light as a whole.

In this embodiment, the light emitting directions of the LEDs are all the same. However, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, the one-dimensional LED arrays 44A, 44B may be alternately arranged. In this case, the grain is illuminated obliquely from two different directions, so that the quality of the grain can be more effectively determined.

In this embodiment, since no oblique louver is used, the structure can be simplified.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the sample container for judging grain quality will be described. This embodiment uses an LED array as a light source, and emits light from a direction inclined to the entire grain placed on the sample table by moving the LED array in a direction intersecting the arrangement direction of the LEDs. It is like that.

As shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B, the fourth
In the embodiment, an LED array 46 composed of a large number of light emitting elements arranged one-dimensionally in a manner that the light emission direction is inclined with respect to the sample mounting surface of the sample table is arranged inside the lid 32. It is arranged so as to be movable in a direction crossing the direction. As a mechanism for moving the LED array 46, a known drive mechanism such as a belt drive mechanism can be used.

When the sample container for grain quality determination according to the present embodiment is used by mounting it on the scanner as described above, the scanner is provided with a movable scanning device. Sometimes, the moving scanning device and the LED array are moved synchronously so that the part illuminated by the light source of the scanner and the part illuminated by the LED array coincide.

In the present embodiment, when the LED array is moved, the direction of light irradiation from the LED array may be changed so that the light irradiation direction is different between the forward path and the return path. As a result, the grain is illuminated obliquely from two different directions as described with reference to FIG. 10 by the reciprocating movement, so that the quality of the grain can be more effectively determined.

In this embodiment, one LED is used.
Although the example using the array has been described, the LED array in which the LED array 44A and the LED array 44B shown in FIG. 10A are combined so that the light emitting directions are opposite may be made movable. In the present embodiment, L
The sample stage may be moved with the ED array fixed, or the sample stage and the LED array may be moved in opposite directions.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, an organic EL element may be used instead of the LED.

[0050]

As described above, according to the sample container for judging the quality of grain of the present invention, the grain placed on the sample stage is irradiated with light from an inclined direction. This makes it easier to produce shadows due to the fractured surface of the grain, and thus the quality of the grain can be accurately determined.

Further, according to the grain quality judging system of the present invention, it is possible to judge whether or not the grain quality judging device is operating normally. The effect of being able to manage well is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a grain quality determination system according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a first embodiment of a grain quality determination device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a lid of the first embodiment of the grain quality determination sample container is opened.

FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which the lid of the first embodiment of the grain quality determination sample container is closed, and FIG. 4B is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between R and B of image information indicating a non-defective area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between G and B of image information indicating a non-defective area.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between R and G of image information indicating a non-defective area.

FIG. 8A is a schematic view showing a state in which a lid of a sample container for grain quality determination according to a second embodiment is closed, and FIG. 8B is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 9A is a schematic view showing a state in which a lid of a third embodiment of a grain quality determination sample container is closed, and FIG. 9B is a side view of FIG.

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a lid of a modified example of the third embodiment of the grain quality determination sample container is closed.
(B) is a side view of (A).

FIG. 11A is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a lid of a grain quality determination sample container according to a fourth embodiment is closed, and FIG. 11B is a side view of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Network 12 Client computer 16 Server computer 18 Color scanner 20 Grain quality judgment sample container 22 Scanning device 30 Sample table 32 Lid 36 Rod light source 38 Oblique louver

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2G051 AA90 AB02 BA01 BB01 BB20 CA03 CB01 CB02 EA11 EA17 EA21 EB01

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sample table having a transparent bottom surface on which kernels are mounted, a light source for irradiating light for illuminating a sample mounted on the sample table, and a two-dimensionally mounted sample table on the sample table. An oblique light louver that makes the direction of the light emitted from the light source obliquely uniform so that light is emitted from the inclined direction to the plurality of placed grains, container. 2. A sample table having a transparent bottom surface on which grains are mounted, and a plurality of grains mounted two-dimensionally on the sample table so that light is irradiated from an inclined direction. And a plurality of light emitting elements two-dimensionally arranged with the light emitting direction inclined with respect to the sample mounting surface of the sample stage. 3. A sample table having a transparent bottom surface on which a grain is placed, and the light emitting direction of the sample is set such that light is emitted from a direction inclined to the grain placed on the sample table. A light emitting element array composed of a large number of light emitting elements arranged one-dimensionally at an angle to the sample mounting surface of the table, and at least one of the sample table and the light emitting element array intersects with the arrangement direction of the light emitting elements. And a moving device for moving in a direction in which the sample is to be moved. 4. A sample container for grain quality determination according to claim 1, a scanner for reading an image of a grain from the bottom side of the sample container for grain quality determination, and a scanner for reading the image by the scanner. A determination device that determines the quality of the grain based on the obtained image of the grain; 5. A reflected light image read by turning off light from an inclined direction and reading by turning on light from an inclined direction using the grain quality judgment device according to claim 4. An image input method for extracting information on both the inside and the surface of a grain by calculating between images. 6. A grain quality judging device according to claim 4, wherein the image and judgment results are tabulated, data compression, data encryption, recording on an auxiliary storage medium, printing, distribution via a network, or password are performed. A grain quality judgment system terminal equipped with a data protection function. 7. A plurality of grain quality determination system terminals according to claim 6, which are connected to a network, and a management device connected to said network, which displays images read by said terminals and determination results of said determination device. And a grain quality determination system comprising: