JP-7855332-B2 - Sorting support device

JP7855332B2JP 7855332 B2JP7855332 B2JP 7855332B2JP-7855332-B2

Inventors

山本剛彦
前田賢一

Assignees

極東開発工業株式会社

Dates

Publication Date: 20260508
Application Date: 20211029

Claims (1)

In a sorting assistance device for assisting in the work of selecting and removing specific conveyed objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) from among a large number of conveyed objects placed on and transported on a conveyor (1), The system comprises a camera (CA) that photographs the transported object in a predetermined shooting area (A0) on the conveyor (1), a plurality of projectors (P1, P2) on the conveyor (1) whose respective projection areas (A1, A2) are arranged relative to each other in the transport direction, and a control device (C) that sets the projected images (S1, S2) of the plurality of projectors (P1, P2) on the conveyor (1) based on the image (Z) captured by the camera (CA) and the transport speed of the conveyor (1), The control device (C) is capable of selecting specific transported objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) from the captured image (Z), and is capable of outputting image data of the projected images (S1, S2) to the plurality of projectors (P1, P2) such that markers (La, Lb, Lc) indicating the positions of the selected specific transported objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) are projected in a plurality of projection areas (A1, A2) that are arranged in the transport direction and move downstream according to the transport speed of the conveyor (1). The sorting assistance device is characterized in that, once the control device (C) has selected specific transported objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) from the captured image (Z), it can output image data of the projected image (S1, S2) to the plurality of projectors (P1, P2) such that the markers (La, Lb, Lc) indicating the position of the specific transported objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) are continuously moved and projected from the time the projection starts on the conveyor (1) until the downstream end of the projection area (A2) on the downstream side, and the projectors (P1, P2) can continue to project the markers (La, Lb, Lc) until they reach the downstream end even if the selected specific transported objects (Xa, Xb, Xc) become undetectable.

Description

This invention relates to a device for assisting in the process of selecting and removing specific materials (e.g., hazardous materials) from a large number of materials (e.g., household dust and other waste) being transported on a conveyor belt. The sorting assistance device described above is conventionally known, as disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 1. This known device comprises a camera for photographing objects on a conveyor belt, a single projector whose projection area is located on the conveyor belt, and a control device that sets the projected image on the conveyor belt based on the image captured by the camera. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-67032 This is an overall schematic diagram showing a first embodiment of the sorting assistance device of the present invention, which collectively shows a plan view and a side view of the conveyor, as well as a control block diagram.Plan view and side view of the main part of the conveyor showing the second embodimentA plan view and a side view of the main part of the conveyor, corresponding to Figure 2, showing a modified example of the second embodiment. Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, Figure 1, which shows the first embodiment, illustrates an example of a conveyor 1 capable of transporting a large amount of waste, such as household garbage, in a predetermined transport direction (the direction of the white arrow in Figure 1). A large amount of waste is successively fed onto the conveyor belt 1b of this conveyor 1 from an unillustrated waste loading means (e.g., another conveyor device or waste input device) at its upstream end. The waste material is slowly transported by conveyor belt 1 toward the downstream end, i.e., in the direction of the white arrow shown above. At this time, as is clear from Figure 1, at least one worker 8 is stationed on both sides of the middle section of conveyor belt 1 (for example, the middle section closer to the downstream end). Then, worker 8 visually and manually sorts the hazardous materials Xa, Xb, and Xc, which are designated as specific waste, from the waste on conveyor belt 1 and places them into a nearby collection box (not shown). The hazardous materials collected in that collection box are then collected separately and properly disposed of at another location. On the other hand, the remaining conveyed material after the hazardous materials have been sorted and removed is transported from the downstream end of conveyor 1 to an external disposal site using waste removal means (not shown) (e.g., other conveyor devices or waste removal equipment). The sorting assistance device SS of the present invention is used to assist sorting and removing specific conveyed materials (hazardous materials in this embodiment) by sorting workers 8 waiting on both sides of the conveyor 1, thereby improving work efficiency. Next, a specific example of the sorting assistance device SS will be described. This sorting assistance device SS comprises a camera CA that photographs the conveyed objects in a predetermined shooting area AO on the conveyor 1, first and second projectors P1 and P2 arranged on the conveyor 1 such that their respective projection areas (i.e., first and second projection areas A1 and A2) are adjacent to each other in the conveying direction, and a control device C that is linked to the camera CA and the first and second projectors P1 and P2. The control device C, as described later, receives the captured image Z data from the camera CA and sends image data of the projection images S1 and S2 that the first and second projectors P1 and P2 should project onto the conveyor 1. The conveyor 1 comprises an endless conveyor belt 1b, a drive wheel 2 and a driven wheel 3 around which the conveyor belt 1b is wound, and a motor M that rotates the drive wheel 2. The rotation of the motor M is detected by an encoder 4, and this detection information is sent to the control device C (specifically, the conveyor information measurement unit Cc). The control device C comprises a conveyor information measurement unit Cc capable of calculating the conveying speed of the conveyor 1 based on the motor rotation speed from the encoder 4; a hazardous materials determination unit Ca capable of detecting and identifying hazardous materials Xa, Xb, and Xc from numerous conveyed objects on the conveyor 1 captured in the image Z of the camera CA using AI technology; and an image determination output unit Cp that determines the projection images (i.e., first and second projection images S1 and S2) on the conveyor 1 of the first and second projectors P1 and P2 based on the hazardous materials determination information determined by the hazardous materials determination unit Ca and the conveyor conveying speed calculated by the conveyor information measurement unit Cc, and outputs the image data to the first and second projectors P1 and P2. In pa