Search

EP-4739446-A1 - AN IMPROVED SORTING DEVICE FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS USING A COMBINATION OF EJECTORS AND BLOWING NOZZLES

EP4739446A1EP 4739446 A1EP4739446 A1EP 4739446A1EP-4739446-A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to a sorting device for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products, the sorting device comprising a unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products, a sensor unit for obtaining sensor data from the bulk flow for recognizing objects, a decision unit for generating a control signal for a separation unit based on the sensor data, and the separation unit for separating objects from the bulk flow according to the control signal, wherein the separation unit comprises at least one ejector and at least one blowing nozzle, wherein the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle can be controlled independently of each other by the control signal. The invention also relates to a method for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products and a use.

Inventors

  • FLIKWEERT, Johannes Matthijs

Assignees

  • FLIKWEERT VISION BEHEER B.V.

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240704

Claims (15)

  1. 1 . Sorting device for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products, the sorting device comprising a unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products, a sensor unit for obtaining sensor data from the buik flow for recognizing the objects, a decision unit for generating a control signal for a separation unit based on the sensor data, and the separation unit for separating objects from the bulk flow according to the control signal, characterized in that the separation unit comprises at least one ejector and at least one blowing nozzle, wherein the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle can be controlled independently of each other by the control signal
  2. 2. Sorting device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products comprises a conveyor belt or a roller conveyor, wherein the separation unit is placed at an end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor, wherein the at least one ejector is movable to the end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor and back and wherein the at least one blowing nozzle is directed towards the end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor.
  3. 3. Sorting device according to claim 1 , characterized in that the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products comprises a conveyor belt or a roller conveyor, wherein the separation unit is placed under an end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor, wherein the at least one ejector is movable to the end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor and back, wherein the at least one blowing nozzle is placed under the end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor and wherein the at least one blowing nozzle is directed in a direction away from the end of the conveyor belt or roller conveyor.
  4. 4. Sorting device according to any one of the preceding claims 1 -3, characterized in that the sorting device comprises at least one auxiliary blowing nozzle, wherein the at least one auxiliary blowing nozzle is directed in an opposite direction to the at least one blowing nozzle.
  5. 5. Sorting device according to any one of the preceding claims 1 -4, characterized in that the sorting device comprises multiple ejectors and multiple blowing nozzles, wherein the m ultiple ejectors and m ultiple blowing nozzles are evenly distributed in a transverse direction at an end of the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products and wherein there are at least 15 ejectors and at least 20 blowing nozzles per meter
  6. 6. Sorting device according to any one of the preceding claims 1 -5, characterized in that the blowing nozzles of the sorting device are directed downwards, wherein the blowing nozzles have a blowing direction that makes an angle of at least 15° with a horizontai line.
  7. 7. Sorting device according to any one of the preceding claims 1 -6, characterized in that the sensor unit is an image acquisition unit for capturing images of the bulk flow, wherein the sorting device comprises an image processing unit for recognizing the objects in said images, wherein the decision unit is configured to generate the control signal based on the images processed by the image processing unit, and wherein the image processing unit is configured to determ ine a volume of the objects.
  8. 8. Sorting device according to claim 7 , characterized in that the decision unit is configured to determ ine a weight of the objects based on a specific weight associated with the objects.
  9. 9. Sorting device according to any one of the preceding claims 1 -8, characterized in that the decision unit is configured for carrying out a method according to any one of claims 10-14.
  10. 10. Method for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products, comprising the steps of: supplying the bulk flow of agricultural products on a unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products; obtaining sensor data from the bulk flow using a sensor unit; generating a control signal by a decision unit for separating the objects from the bulk flow based on the sensor data; separating the objects from the bulk flow according to the control signal using a separation unit; characterized in that the separation unit comprises at least one ejector and at least one blowing nozzle, wherein the method comprises the additional steps of recognizing the objects on the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products, wherein, on the basis of the recognized objects, the decision unit generates a control signal for the at least one ejector, or the at least one blowing nozzle, or the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle.
  11. 1 1 . Method according to ciaim 10, characterized in that the sensor data are images made of the bulk flow using an image acquisition unit, wherein the captured images are processed using an image processing unit, wherein the agricultural products in the bulk fiow are recognized by the image processing unit and wherein the method comprises the additional step of determining a volume of the objects, wherein, based on the recognized objects and the volume of the recognized objects, the decision unit generates a control signal for the at least one ejector, or the at least one blowing nozzle, or the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle.
  12. 12. Method according to ciaim 1 1 , characterized m that the method comprises the additional step of determ ining the weight of the objects, wherein the weight is determined based on the determ ined volume and a specific weight associated with the recognized objects, wherein, based on the recognized objects and the weight of the recognized objects, the decision unit generates a control signal for the at least one ejector, or the at least one blowing nozzle, or the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle.
  13. 13. Method according to claim 1 1 or 12, characterized in that the decision unit takes into account a sequence of the objects and the agricultural products on the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products, and a spacing distance between the objects and the agricultural products when generating the control signal for the separation unit.
  14. 14. Method according to claim 13, characterized in that the separation unit comprises at least one auxiliary blowing nozzle, wherein the at least one auxiliary blowing nozzle is directed in an opposite direction to the at least one blowing nozzle and wherein, depending on the sequence of the objects and the agricultural products and depending on a volume or a weight of the objects, the decision unit generates a control signal for the at least one auxiliary blowing nozzle.
  15. 15. Use of a sorting device according to any one of ciaims 1 -9 and/or a method according to any one of ciaims 10-14 for sorting contam inated potatoes, carrots, red beets or onions.

Description

AN IMPROVED SORTING DEVICE FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS USING A COMBINATION OF EJECTORS AND BLOWING NOZZLES TECHNICAL FIELD The invention relates to a sorting device for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products, more specifically for sorting potatoes, vegetables and fruit. The invention also relates to a method for sorting objects from a bulk flow of agricultural products and to a use of the sorting device and/or the method for sorting contaminated potatoes, onions, red beets and carrots. PRIOR ART Such a sorting device is known, inter alia, from EP 4 021 655 (EP ‘655) . EP ‘655 describes a sorting device for sorting agricuiturai products. The sorting device comprises a conveyor belt for the bulk supply of agricultural products. A camera unit is placed above the sorting belt. The camera unit is used to create images of the agricultural products. These images are processed using an image processing unit and based on the images, a decision unit decides whether to control an ejector finger to eject an agricultural product if it does not meet certain criteria. This known sorting device has the following disadvantage. An ejector finger has a certain inertia. Therefore, it is necessary that there is sufficient spacing between the agricultural products on the conveyor belt to prevent the ejector finger from ejecting not only the unwanted agricultural product but also the subsequent agricuiturai product. This is particularly disadvantageous if the agricultural products are still contam inated, for example with stones or clods of earth. It is practically unfeasible to place agricultural products and stones on a conveyor belt with sufficient separation. Clods of earth can stick to the agricuiturai products and come loose during movement on the conveyor belt, making it again impossible to guarantee sufficient separation. A sorting device according to EP ‘655 therefore requires that stones and clods of earth be separated from the agricuiturai products in advance and that the agricultural products are placed separately on the conveyor belt. This requires more preparatory steps and a lower throughput speed on the conveyor belt. Another known sorting device is described in DE 195 16 569 ( DE ‘569) . The sorting device from DE ‘569 is intended for removing foreign objects from flakes before yarns are spun from the fiakes. The foreign objects are biown out of the fiakes using the biowing nozzies. Oniy iight objects can be biown away using the blowing nozzies. Since the fiakes are also light, it cannot be guaranteed that no flakes will be blown along. The fiakes are deflected from the container for foreign objects using flaps. These flaps block the entire channel for the flakes, making them unsuitable for selectively deflecting the foreign objects towards the container. This device therefore has the disadvantage that no pure sorting of foreign objects is possible. Another sorting device is disclosed in WO 98/31477 (WO ‘477) . The sorting device from WO ‘477 is used for sorting granular products such as peas, nuts, raisins, etc. This sorting device has the disadvantage that it only uses blowing nozzles, so that only light objects can be separated. The present invention aims to solve at least some of the above problems or drawbacks. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I n a first aspect, the present invention relates to a sorting device according to claim 1 . An ejector is advantageous for removing heavy and/or large objects but has the disadvantage that the ejector has a certain inertia and therefore cannot always be moved quickly enough after ejecting an object to a position where the ejector does not hinder the agricultural products. A blowing nozzle has the advantage that im mediately after actuating the blowing nozzle, a free passage of the agricultural products is possible, but on the other hand, it has the disadvantage that a blowing nozzle is mainly suitable for light objects. Because the objects can be recognized using the sensor data, an optimal choice can be made between the use of the at least one ejector, the at least one blowing nozzle, or the at least one blowing nozzle and the at least one ejector in a sorting device according to claim 1. This makes the sorting device particularly suitable for removing, for example, stones and clods of earth, even if they immediately precede or follow an agricultural product on the unit for bulk transport of the agricultural products. Preferred embodiments of the device are set out in ciaims 2 up to and including 9. I n a second aspect, the present invention relates to a method according to claim 10. This method has the advantage, inter aiia, that by using a separation unit that includes at least one blowing nozzle and at least one ejector, and by the decision unit generating a control signal for the at least one ejector, or the at least one blowing nozzle, or the at least one ejector and the at least one blowing nozzle based on the recognized objects, it is possible to