Optical liquid analysis device

Abstract

An optical liquid analyzer is provided that adjusts the amount of transmitted light to an analyzable level in the absorption spectrum analysis of a liquid. [Solution] The optical liquid analysis device comprises an emitter that emits light including near-infrared light, a light receiving unit that receives diffuse transmitted and reflected light from the liquid being analyzed when the light is irradiated thereto, and a spectrometer having a curved reflector 204 arranged to reflect and collect the light after it passes through the liquid being tested, into which the light received by the light receiving unit is incident and which measures the spectrum of the incident light of a sufficient quantity, and the composition and name of the liquid being analyzed is qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed based on the spectrum measured by the spectrometer.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an optical liquid analysis device, and more particularly to a technique for analyzing liquids by spectroscopic analysis. [Background technology]

[0002] Since it is not possible to determine what substance a liquid is made of from its appearance, several liquid inspection devices have been proposed that can qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the composition and name of a liquid.

[0003] When light is shone on a liquid, specific wavelengths of light are absorbed depending on the components contained in the liquid, and a unique absorption spectrum is observed. In particular, light that contains near-infrared light has characteristic absorption, and this liquid analyzer applies this principle to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the composition and name of liquids.

[0004] That is, the liquid analysis device includes a spectroscopic analysis device, which irradiates light onto a liquid and analyzes the spectrum including the near-infrared region of the diffusely transmitted and reflected light from the liquid.

[0005] This liquid analysis device observes the generation of a unique absorption spectrum when light of a specific wavelength is absorbed, and qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the composition and name of the liquid. For example, the following Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1 describe such devices. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7423343 [Non-patent literature] [Non-Patent Document 1] JYChen, C.Iyo, S.Kawano, and F.Terada, J.Near Infrared Spectrosc.7, 265-273

[1999] Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In the above liquid inspection device, diffuse light including near infrared light from the light source must be efficiently transmitted and received by the light receiving section to analyze the absorption spectrum of the liquid. Therefore, it is desirable that the transmitted light has a sufficient amount of light for analysis.

[0008] However, this transmitted light is generally very weak, and a device must be devised to convert this light quantity to an analyzable level.

[0009] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical liquid analysis device that can analyze a sufficient amount of light. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] The problem is solved by an optical liquid analysis device that has an emitter that emits light including near-infrared light, a light-receiving unit that receives diffuse reflected light from a liquid object to be analyzed when the light is irradiated thereto, and a curved reflector arranged to reflect and collect the light after it passes through the liquid object to be tested, and the light received by the light-receiving unit is incident on a spectroscope that measures the spectrum of a sufficient amount of incident light, and the spectrum measured by the spectroscope is used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the composition and name of the liquid object to be analyzed. Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical liquid analysis device that can perform inspection with a sufficient amount of light. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] Photographs of various test tubes for holding liquids according to the embodiment of the present invention [Figure 4]1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of an optical arrangement of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 5] 1 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of an optical arrangement of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 1 is a graph showing an example of an output spectrum of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] Photographs of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention, an analysis result display device, and various test tubes DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] The optical liquid analysis device has: an emitter that emits light including near-infrared light; a light-receiving unit that receives diffuse reflected light from a liquid object to be analyzed when the light is irradiated thereto; and a curved reflector arranged to reflect and collect the light after it passes through the liquid object to be analyzed, the light received by the light-receiving unit being incident on a spectroscope that measures the spectrum of the incident light; and the spectrum measured by the spectroscope is used to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze the composition and name of the liquid object to be analyzed. EXAMPLES

[0016] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of the present invention. The optical unit 101 includes an emitter that emits light including near-infrared light, a light receiver that receives diffuse transmitted and reflected light from the liquid to be analyzed, and a spectroscope that measures the spectrum of the light.

[0017] Test tubes containing various liquids can be inserted into the test tube insertion section 102. The curved reflector 103 is arranged to reflect and collect light, including near-infrared light, after it passes through the liquid to be analyzed.

[0018] The measuring unit 104 is where light is irradiated onto the liquid in the test tube. The battery 105 is used to convert the diffuse, transmitted, and reflected light into an electrical signal.

[0019] 2 is a block diagram of the present invention, in which the light emitting unit 201 is equipped with a light source that emits light including near-infrared light and a projecting lens, the light beam 202 emitted from the light emitting unit 201 is diffusely transmitted and reflected by the liquid to be inspected contained in the test tube 203, and the curved reflector 204 reflects and collects the light diffusely transmitted and reflected by the liquid to be inspected contained in the test tube 203. The light receiving unit 205 receives the diffusely transmitted and reflected light, the spectroscope 206 disperses the received diffusely transmitted and reflected light to form a spectrum, and the analysis result display 207 displays the analysis result.

[0020] FIG. 3 shows examples of liquids to be analyzed by the present invention, which are a test tube 301 containing milk, a test tube 302 containing sweet sake, a test tube 303 containing tomato juice, a test tube 304 containing vegetable juice, and a test tube 305 containing pure water.

[0020] 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the optical layout of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It includes a light source 401 that emits light including near-infrared light, a light projecting lens 402, a protective glass 403, and a test tube 404 containing a liquid object 405 to be analyzed. It also includes a curved reflector 406, a light receiving lens 407, and a spectroscopic sensor 408.

[0021] Irradiation light 409 enters the liquid object to be analyzed 405 and is diffusely transmitted and reflected, and reflected light 410 from the curved reflector 406 enters the liquid object to be analyzed 405 and is diffusely transmitted, increasing the amount of analytical light. Diffuse reflected light 411 from the liquid object to be analyzed 405, together with diffuse transmitted light 412 from the liquid object to be analyzed 405 due to the light reflected from the curved reflector 406, becomes convergent light 413 which enters the spectroscopic sensor 408 by the light receiving lens 407.

[0023] 5 is a horizontal cross-sectional view of the optical layout of an optical liquid analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As in FIG. 4, the device includes a light source 401 that emits light including near-infrared light, a projection lens 402, a protective glass 403, and a test tube 404 containing a liquid object 405 to be analyzed. The device includes a curved reflector 406, a light receiving lens 407, and a spectroscopic sensor 408.

[0024] Irradiation light 409 enters the liquid object to be analyzed 405 and is diffusely transmitted and reflected, and reflected light 410 from the curved reflector 406 enters the liquid object to be analyzed 405 and is diffusely transmitted, increasing the amount of analytical light. Diffuse reflected light 411 from the liquid object to be analyzed 405, together with diffuse transmitted light 412 from the liquid object to be analyzed 405 due to the light reflected from the curved reflector 406, becomes convergent light 413 which enters the spectroscopic sensor 408 by the light receiving lens 407.

[0025] Figure 6 shows the optical spectra of various liquids obtained by this optical liquid analysis device. The horizontal axis indicates the wavelength of the irradiating light source 408, ranging from 640 nm to 1040 nm, and the vertical axis indicates absorbance. Spectrum 601 of milk, spectrum 602 of sweet sake, spectrum 604 of tomato juice and vegetable juice, spectrum 603, and spectrum 605 of pure water. From these spectra, the composition and name of the analyzed liquid can be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed.

[0026] FIG. 7 shows the optical liquid analysis device main body 701, analysis result display device 702, and various test tubes 703. It can be seen that this optical liquid analysis device is extremely small and suitable for mobile use. [Explanation of symbols]

[0027] 101 Optics Department 102 Test tube insertion part 103 Curved reflector section 104 Measuring section 105 Battery 201 Light emitting part 202 Ray of light 203 Test Tube 204 Curved reflector 205 Light receiving part 206 Spectrometer 207 Analysis result display 301 Test tube containing milk 302 Test tube containing sweet sake 303 Test tube with tomato juice 304 Test tube containing vegetable juice 305 Test tube containing pure water 401 Light source 402 Projection lens 403 Protective Glass 404 Test Tube 405 Liquids to be analyzed 406 Curved reflector 407 Receiving lens 408 Spectroscopic Sensor 409 Irradiation Light 410 Reflected light from curved reflector 406 411 Diffuse reflection from the liquid object 405 to be analyzed 412 Diffused transmitted light from the liquid object 405 to be analyzed due to reflected light 410 from the curved reflector 406 413 Convergent light incident on spectroscopic sensor 408 601 Spectrum of Milk 602 Spectrum of Amazake 603 Tomato juice spectrum 604 Spectrum of Vegetable Juice 605 Pure Water Spectrum 701 Main body of this optical liquid analysis device 702 Analysis result display 703 Various test tubes

Claims

1. An optical liquid analysis device having an emitter that emits light including near-infrared light and a light receiving unit that receives diffuse reflected light from a liquid object to be analyzed when the light is irradiated thereto, a curved reflector that reflects light that has passed through the liquid object to be analyzed, the diffuse transmitted light through the liquid object to be analyzed caused by the light reflected from the curved reflector is also received by the light receiving unit, and a spectroscope that forms a spectrum of the received light, and which qualitatively and quantitatively analyzes the composition and name of the liquid object to be analyzed using the spectrum formed by the spectroscope.

2. 2. The optical liquid analysis device of claim 1, wherein the curved reflector is a cylindrically curved surface.

3. 3. An optical liquid analysis apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid to be analyzed is held in a test tube and can be analyzed by replacing the test tube.

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