Supernatant extraction device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a supernatant extraction device. In order to avoid extracting sediment, the supernatant extraction device of the present invention includes: a laser, which is configured to emit laser and scan the side wall of the container, and generate a number of laser spots; an event camera, whose field of view covers a number of laser spots; an angle sensor, which is configured to sense the scanning angle of the laser; according to the event stream output by the event camera, the merging and / or splitting of the laser spots are judged, and at least the information about the height when the laser spots are merged or / and split is obtained according to the scanning angle; at least according to the information about the height, the movement state of the extraction pipeline is controlled. The present invention proposes a new supernatant extraction device, which can detect the height of the supernatant surface and / or the height of the interface in real time, which is used for precise control of the supernatant extraction process, and has the advantages of low power consumption and low latency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the field of traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing, and in particular to a supernatant extraction device. Background Art

[0002] Water extraction and alcohol precipitation is an important method for extracting and purifying traditional Chinese medicine. First, the medicinal materials are decocted with water to extract the effective ingredients and water-soluble impurities. Then ethanol is added to precipitate the impurities by taking advantage of the difference in solubility between the effective ingredients and impurities in ethanol. This method can remove impurities such as starch and protein and improve the purity and stability of traditional Chinese medicine preparations. The operation is relatively simple, but attention should be paid to factors such as the amount, concentration and precipitation time of ethanol. It is widely used in the production of traditional Chinese medicine preparations and plays a key role in ensuring the quality and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine.

[0003] Alcohol precipitation is not only related to the safety, stability and efficacy of Chinese medicine preparations, but also directly affects the form and quality of the final product, and constitutes a key link in the integrated production chain. This process is usually carried out in a dedicated alcohol precipitation tank, and is left to stand for 24 to 28 hours at a low temperature (5-10°C) to promote the separation of the solution: the upper layer is the purified liquid containing active ingredients (supernatant), and the lower layer is the precipitate. Next, a specific process is required to separate the precipitate from the supernatant, and the latter is further concentrated and refined to complete the preparation of the drug. Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing the extraction of supernatant from the alcohol precipitation tank.

[0004] Currently, the separation of supernatant and precipitate still faces challenges in automation technology. The recovery of supernatant usually relies on siphon or electric pump, while the precipitate, due to its small size and easy mixing with ethanol, often requires manual intervention to prevent it from mixing into the supernatant. This process is time-consuming, labor-intensive and difficult to ensure accuracy.

[0005] In view of this, improving the automation and intelligence level of this link, reducing manpower input, and enhancing the traceability of the process have become urgent issues to be solved. Specifically, accurately identifying the interface between the supernatant and the precipitate and realizing automated extraction constitute the core issues of the present invention. This can not only significantly improve production efficiency, but also ensure the consistency and reliability of product quality, which is an important step in promoting the modernization of the traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing industry. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to alleviate or partially alleviate the above technical problems, the solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A supernatant extraction device comprises: a laser, configured to emit laser and scan the side wall of a container, and generate a plurality of laser spots; an event camera, whose field of view covers the plurality of laser spots; an angle sensor, configured to sense the scanning angle of the laser; in addition, judging the merging and / or splitting of the laser spots according to the event stream output by the event camera, and obtaining information about the height when the laser spots are merged and / or split according to at least the scanning angle; and controlling the motion state of the extraction pipeline according to at least the information about the height.

[0008] Furthermore, the laser is emitted and the side wall of the container is scanned to at least cover the interface between the supernatant and the sediment.

[0009] Furthermore, the laser is emitted and scanned on the side wall of the container, and also covers the surface of the supernatant liquid.

[0010] Furthermore, the supernatant extraction device further comprises a displacement metering component;

[0011] The displacement metering component is configured to measure the displacement of the extraction pipeline relative to the initial calibration position; in addition, the movement state of the extraction pipeline is controlled according to the displacement.

[0012] Furthermore, the supernatant extraction device also includes an extraction component; and the working state of the extraction component is controlled according to the displacement and the information about the height.

[0013] Furthermore, the information about the height includes one or more of the following: information for indicating the height of the supernatant liquid level, and information for indicating the height of the interface between the supernatant and the sediment.

[0014] Furthermore, based on the scanning direction of the laser and the merging or splitting state of the detected laser spot, it is determined whether the first key light spot or the second key light spot is generated; wherein, the first key light spot is formed when the laser emitted by the laser scans to the supernatant liquid surface; the second key light spot is formed when the laser emitted by the laser scans to the interface between the supernatant and the sediment.

[0015] Furthermore, when the scanning direction of the laser is from top to bottom, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the first key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the light spot after the merge is the second key light spot; when the scanning direction of the laser is from bottom to top, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the second key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the light spot after the merge is the first key light spot.

[0016] Furthermore, the laser is configured to repeatedly scan the side wall of the container, and the information about the height is obtained in each scan.

[0017] Furthermore, the container is an alcohol precipitation tank.

[0018] Furthermore, the supernatant is a purified drug solution.

[0019] Furthermore, the laser is a point laser.

[0020] Furthermore, the movement state of the extraction pipeline includes one or more of the following: descending, ascending, stopping, descending speed or ascending speed.

[0021] Furthermore, the supernatant extraction device also includes an extraction component; the working state of the extraction component includes one or more of the following: stop extraction, start extraction, or reduce extraction intensity.

[0022] Furthermore, the scanning operation of the laser is controlled by a steering gear.

[0023] The technical solution of the present invention has one or more of the following beneficial technical effects:

[0024] (1) A new supernatant extraction scheme is proposed.

[0025] (2) The current supernatant extraction situation can be predicted or detected in real time, and the supernatant extraction operation can be adjusted to stop or reduce the supernatant extraction operation at an appropriate position to avoid passive stopping of the extraction operation.

[0026] (3) Compared with traditional computer vision processing platforms, the present invention avoids the defects of high energy consumption, high latency and high cost by utilizing the power consumption and latency advantages of event cameras.

[0027] In addition, other beneficial effects of the present invention will be mentioned in the specific embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of extracting the supernatant from the alcohol precipitation tank;

[0029] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the supernatant extraction device of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram before the laser scans to the supernatant liquid surface;

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram before the laser scans to the handover interface;

[0032] Figure 5 is a geometric relationship diagram of the first light spot and the alcohol precipitation tank of the example;

[0033] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of angle sensor and event camera timestamp alignment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0034] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention clearer, the technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0035] In order to clearly describe the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, in the embodiments of the present invention, words such as "first" and "second" are used to distinguish the same or similar items with substantially the same functions and effects. Those skilled in the art can understand that words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order.

[0036] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the supernatant extraction device of the present invention.

[0037] In order to ensure that the extraction pipeline is only in the supernatant and avoid the extraction pipeline extracting sediment, the present invention controls the lifting and / or lowering of the extraction pipeline, or the lifting / lowering speed and other movement states through the lifting control component.

[0038] Optionally, the lifting control component includes a motor configured to control the ascending and / or descending movement of the collection pipeline. For example, the extraction pipeline can be controlled to descend at a fixed rate.

[0039] Furthermore, the lifting control component can control the extraction pipe to stop moving, for example, when it is determined that the extraction pipe inlet is about to approach the interface, the extraction pipe is stopped from continuing to move toward the interface.

[0040] At least according to the information about the height output by the detection component, the lifting control component determines the movement state of the extraction pipeline.

[0041] The displacement metering component includes a sensor for detecting position or displacement, such as a stroke sensor. The displacement metering component is configured to measure the displacement of the extraction pipeline relative to the initial calibration position. The displacement output by the displacement metering component is used for feedback control. For example, the displacement is provided to the lifting control component and / or the extraction component, so that the lifting control component and / or the extraction component can determine the current height of the extraction pipeline according to the displacement, and then make a decision to change or maintain the current motion state, or to stop / start the extraction action.

[0042] Preferably, in combination with the displacement amount and the information about the height output by the detection component, the lifting control component and / or the extraction component makes a decision to change or maintain the current motion state, or to stop / start the extraction action.

[0043] The extraction component, for example, may include an electric extraction or siphon device, and the working state of the extraction component is controlled by controlling a switch of the extraction action.

[0044] The working state of the extraction component includes one or more of the following: stopping extraction, starting extraction, or reducing extraction intensity.

[0045] The detection component includes a laser scanning device and a visual detection device. For example, the laser scanning device includes a laser, a steering gear, an angle sensor, a single chip microcomputer, auxiliary structural parts, etc. The angle sensor is used to measure the rotation angle of the laser, and preferably in real time.

[0046] The visual detection device of the present invention comprises an event camera. Preferably, the laser and the event camera are at the same height.

[0047] In the present invention, the laser emits laser light to scan the side wall of the container (such as an alcohol precipitation tank), and at least covers the interface between the supernatant and the precipitate, and generates a plurality of laser spots.

[0048] In the present invention, the field of view of the event camera covers a number of laser spots.

[0049] Furthermore, the laser is a point laser.

[0050] Under the control of the steering gear, the laser repeatedly rotates in a plane perpendicular to the interface or the surface of the supernatant, scanning the side wall of the alcohol precipitation tank and forming a series of light spots. By tracking the light spots with the event camera, information about the height can be efficiently detected and used as a basis for controlling the extraction component and / or the lifting control component.

[0051] The visual detection device further includes a processing component for receiving the event stream output by the event camera and obtaining information about the height according to the event stream. It will be explained later why the above arrangement of the present invention can obtain information about the height.

[0052] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram before the laser scans to the supernatant liquid surface.

[0053] After the laser emits a point laser, it scans up and down repeatedly on one side wall of the alcohol precipitation tank. This process can produce different light spot phenomena, and there are two key light spots: the first key light spot and the second key light spot.

[0054] Figure 3 Sub-figure (a) is a schematic diagram of the laser emitted by the laser irradiating the highest point of one side wall of the alcohol precipitation tank. At this time, the first light spot will appear on the side wall, and the first light spot is located above the surface of the supernatant. However, the side wall will also reflect and refract the laser to the interface, forming a second light spot.

[0055] Then the laser rotates due to the steering gear, and the first light spot formed on the side wall moves downward, as shown in Figure 3 At this time, the second light spot moves toward the side wall.

[0056] When the laser continues to rotate downward and moves the first light spot down to the surface of the supernatant, Figure 3 As shown in the sub-figure (c) of FIG. 1 , a second light spot is formed at the interface by refraction. At this time, the first light spot also becomes the first key light spot because the first key light spot will be split into two light spots.

[0057] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram before the laser scans to the interface.

[0058] See also Figure 4 In sub-figure (a), when the laser continues to rotate due to the servo, the first key spot will split into two spots: the first spot and the third spot. This important feature is an important basis for identifying the first key spot. When the first key spot is detected, the information about the height can be calculated. Since the first key spot appears when the laser is just directly irradiated to the surface of the supernatant, the information about the height obtained reflects the situation of the supernatant surface.

[0059] The third light spot is formed by the laser emitted by the laser being reflected by the surface of the supernatant and emitted to the side wall. The first light spot is generated by the laser emitted by the laser being refracted to the side wall. The second light spot is formed by the first light spot being reflected by the side wall and at the interface.

[0060] See also Figure 4 In sub-figure (b), when the laser continues to rotate due to the servo, the first light spot continues to move downward, the third light spot continues to move upward, and the second light spot continues to move toward the side wall.

[0061] See also Figure 4 In sub-image (c), when the first light spot moves to the interface (i.e., the intersection of the side wall and the interface), the first light spot and the second light spot overlap to form the second key light spot. When the second key light spot is detected, the information about the height can be calculated. Since the second key light spot appears when the laser is directly irradiated to the interface, the information about the height obtained reflects the situation of the interface.

[0062] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the geometric relationship between the first light spot and the alcohol precipitation tank.

[0063] The detection component includes a laser, an angle sensor and a steering gear. The angle sensor senses the scanning angle of the laser. For example, the angle sensor is used to directly or indirectly sense the angle d of the laser emitted by the laser relative to the first side wall. The sampling rate of the angle sensor can be femtohertz (fHz, 10-15 Hz) level. The rotation speed of the steering gear control angle sensor can be set to θrad / s, and after reaching the scanning boundary, the scanning continues in the opposite direction. The first side wall is the side wall where the first light spot is located with respect to the side wall opposite to the alcohol precipitation tank. The scanning angle can also be other angles related to the angle d of the laser emitted by the laser relative to the first side wall, such as a supplementary angle, a complementary angle, etc.

[0064] As an example, the laser rotates along the laser light-emitting point, and the laser light-emitting point is directly above the first side wall, and the height L from the filling port of the alcohol precipitation tank.

[0065] The detection component also includes an event camera (not shown) for receiving the information of the sensing light spot. The light spot moves continuously with the movement of the laser, and the event camera is very good at capturing such dynamic information.

[0066] Assuming that when the first critical light spot appears, the event camera outputs the pulse event information including (x1, y1, t1), where x1 and y1 are pixel coordinates and t1 is the timestamp. At this time, the height of the laser light output point from the supernatant surface is H1.

[0067] Assuming that when the second key light spot appears, the event camera outputs the pulse event information including (x2, y2, t2), where x2, y2 are pixel coordinates and t2 is the timestamp. At this time, the height of the laser light output point from the interface is H2.

[0068] As the above example, if a split light spot is detected, it is considered that the first key light spot is detected. At this time, the angle d1 of the laser output by the angle sensor relative to the first side wall, then H1=W / tan(d1), where W is the distance between the first side wall and the side wall where the first light spot is located, usually the diameter of the circular alcohol precipitation tank. Therefore, the height of the supernatant liquid surface from the tank mouth G1=H1-L.

[0069] Furthermore, the detection component can output information about the height. In the present invention, the information about the height can be the height G1 of the supernatant liquid surface from the tank mouth, the height H1 of the laser light output point from the supernatant liquid surface, or even the distance from the supernatant liquid surface to the tank bottom, as well as any other reasonable information that can be used to indicate the height of the supernatant liquid surface.

[0070] In the present invention, the information about height can also be the height G2 of the interface from the tank mouth, the height H2 of the laser light output point from the interface, or even the distance from the interface to the tank bottom, as well as any other reasonable information that can be used to indicate the height of the interface.

[0071] The information about the height may also be a combination of information indicating the height of the supernatant liquid level and information indicating the height of the interface.

[0072] In addition, since the indicated height can be absolute height information representing the objective world or relative height information, in addition to the absolute height information, the present invention can also perform a priori calibration in the camera coordinate system, and then obtain the relative information indicating the height of the supernatant liquid level and the relative information indicating the height of the interface from the pixel distance.

[0073] Furthermore, when the second critical light spot appears, the calculation of the height H2 of the laser light output point from the junction interface needs to take into account the refractive index of the supernatant. However, this is a basic geometric problem that can be obtained by technicians in this field without creative labor, and no specific calculation formula is given here.

[0074] Further, if the merged first light spot is detected, it is regarded as that the second key light spot is detected.

[0075] Furthermore, the laser light output point may be designed to be not directly above the first side wall, and the offset value needs to be considered here. Therefore, calculating the information about the height is still a basic geometric problem, which can be obtained by technicians in this field without creative work, and no specific calculation formula is given here.

[0076] In addition, if the laser scans from the bottom (lower) to the upper (upper), the method of determining the first key spot and the second key spot is opposite to the above method. In this case, the first key spot is a merged spot, and the second key spot is a split spot.

[0077] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the alignment of the angle sensor and the event camera timestamp. If the first key light spot or the second key light spot is detected, the corresponding timestamp t is found from the angle sensor. n The angle value dt n ,in is a small constant.

[0078] In other words, at t n When the laser scanning direction (from bottom to top or from top to bottom) is combined, the split light spot or the merged light spot is detected according to the event output by the event camera, and it can be determined that the laser is directly irradiated to the supernatant liquid surface or the interface, and the first key light spot (related to the height of the supernatant liquid surface) or the second key light spot (related to the height of the interface) is generated. At this time, according to the geometric relationship and the corresponding calculation formula in the specific embodiment, the information about the height can be obtained and output.

[0079] Table 1: Correspondence between key spot types

[0080]

[0081] In other words, when the scanning direction of the laser is from top to bottom, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the first key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the light spot after the merge is the second key light spot; when the scanning direction of the laser is from bottom to top, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the second key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the light spot after the merge is the first key light spot.

[0082] This information about the height, combined with the displacement output by the displacement metering component (the height h of the extraction pipeline inlet horizontal plane from the laser light exit point or the height g of the extraction pipeline inlet horizontal plane from the filling port can be obtained), can be used to control the motion state of the extraction pipeline, and can also be used to control the working state of the extraction component. The motion state of the extraction pipeline includes one or more of the following: descending, ascending, stopping, descending speed or ascending speed.

[0083] For example, the height h of the extraction pipeline inlet horizontal plane from the laser light-emitting point should be between the height H1 of the laser light-emitting point from the supernatant liquid level and the height H2 of the laser light-emitting point from the interface, or the height g of the extraction pipeline inlet horizontal plane from the filling port should be between the height G1 of the supernatant liquid level from the tank mouth and the height G2 of the interface from the tank mouth. In other words, for the extraction pipeline, the control system should ensure that G1 <g<G2,H1<h<H2。

[0084] Alternatively, as a simplified solution, the laser scan may not cover the supernatant liquid surface, but only cover the interface, that is, obtain the height information such as the height H2 of the laser light output point from the interface and / or the height G2 of the interface from the tank mouth, but this solution can only grasp the information of the interface in real time, avoiding the extraction of sediment before reaching the interface.

[0085] In addition, the present invention can be applied to any scheme of extracting supernatant from a container in addition to the field of traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing.

[0086] The directional words "upper" and "lower" described in the present invention are based on the fact that when the mixture is precipitated, the precipitate is at the bottom and the supernatant is at the top.

[0087] In addition, the connection relationship between the components of the present invention can also be other reasonable ways, such as merging or separating the components and other different organizational methods. The specific implementation of the present invention is not limited to Figure 2 or Figure 5 The connection logic shown is not limited to the present invention.

[0088] In order to better illustrate the present invention, numerous specific details are provided in the above specific embodiments. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can also be implemented without certain specific details. In some examples, methods, means, components and circuits well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail in order to highlight the subject matter of the present invention.

[0089] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A supernatant extraction device, characterized in that: include: A laser is configured to emit laser light and scan the side wall of the container, and generate a plurality of laser spots; An event camera, whose field of view covers a number of laser spots; An angle sensor is configured to sense a scanning angle of the laser; further, According to the event stream output by the event camera, the merging and / or splitting of the laser spot is judged, and the information about the height when the laser spot is merged and / or split is obtained at least according to the scanning angle; wherein, The information about the height includes: information indicating the height of the supernatant liquid level, and information indicating the height of the interface between the supernatant and the sediment; The movement state of the extraction conduit is controlled at least according to the information about the height.

2. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The laser is emitted and the side wall of the container is scanned to at least cover the interface between the supernatant and the sediment.

3. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The laser is emitted and scans the side wall of the container, and also covers the surface of the supernatant liquid.

4. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The supernatant extraction device also includes a displacement metering component; The displacement metering component is configured to measure the displacement of the extraction pipeline relative to the initial calibration position; in addition, The movement state of the extraction pipeline is also controlled according to the displacement.

5. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The supernatant extraction device further comprises an extraction component; The working state of the extraction component is controlled according to the displacement amount and the information about the height.

6. The supernatant extraction device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5, characterized in that: According to the scanning direction of the laser and the merging or splitting state of the detected laser light spot, it is determined whether the first key light spot or the second key light spot is generated; wherein, The first key light spot is formed when the laser emitted by the laser scans to the surface of the supernatant liquid; The second key light spot is formed when the laser light emitted by the laser scans to the interface between the supernatant and the sediment.

7. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 6, characterized in that: When the scanning direction of the laser is from top to bottom, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the first key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the merged light spot is the second key light spot; When the scanning direction of the laser is from bottom to top, if a split light spot is detected, the light spot before the split is the second key light spot, and if a merged light spot is detected, the merged light spot is the first key light spot.

8. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 7, characterized in that: The laser is configured to repeatedly scan the container side wall, and the information about the height is obtained each time the scan is performed.

9. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The container is an alcohol precipitation tank; The supernatant is a purified drug solution; The laser is a point laser; and The scanning operation of the laser is controlled by the servo.

10. The supernatant extraction device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The supernatant extraction device further comprises an extraction component; The motion state of the extraction pipeline includes one or more of the following: descending, ascending, stopping, descending speed or ascending speed; The working state of the extraction component includes one or more of the following: stopping extraction, starting extraction, or reducing extraction intensity.

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