Ball automatic counting intelligent device and automatic counting method thereof

Abstract

The invention provides a ball automatic counting intelligent device and an automatic counting method thereof. The ball counting device can accurately count target balls, can be compatible with balls of different diameter specifications, reduces the counting error of the balls, reduces the waste of materials and manpower, and improves the production efficiency. The automatic ball counting intelligent device is characterized by comprising a ball receiving hopper, a large-amount ball feeding assembly, a small-amount ball supplementing assembly, an automatic counting assembly and one or more discharging port areas. The invention also provides a method for intelligently and automatically counting the balls.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of various ball manufacturing, in particular to an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls and an automatic counting method thereof. Background Art

[0002] At present, the method used by manufacturers of various balls (such as steel balls, glass beads, crystal beads, wooden beads and other metal balls and non-metal balls) to count various balls is generally the weighing method, that is, the weight of the balls is weighed on a scale to determine their quantity. Since balls themselves are easily mixed with different specifications, and due to weight tolerance, weighing equipment error, human reading calculation error and other reasons, the number of balls will be inaccurate, and even balls of different specifications will be mixed, which will cause product specifications and quantities to fail to meet the standards. For ball manufacturers, it will directly affect customers' trust in manufacturers, etc., and this counting method is inefficient and wastes human resources. In addition, when ball manufacturers produce balls, they may also mix balls of different diameters in a single count, which will cause adverse effects when users use balls with different diameters. In addition, manual packaging of balls will also consume manpower and time to a certain extent. At the same time, some balls may be damaged on the surface during the counting process or in the later transportation and use process due to collisions between balls or between balls and equipment tooling, which will affect the quality of the balls and lead to an increase in the unqualified rate of balls. Summary of the invention

[0003] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls and an intelligent automatic counting method thereof, which can accurately count metal balls and non-metal balls such as steel balls, glass beads, crystal beads, and wooden beads, improve the quantity accuracy and customer trust of various ball manufacturers when they leave the factory, reduce unnecessary waste of ball products, improve counting efficiency, reduce labor costs and time costs, and be compatible with the counting of balls with multiple diameters. In addition, by adding a screening module, balls with different diameters can be screened, and balls (target balls) with uniform specifications can be screened to improve the quality of the balls. Protective agents can also be added as needed during the screening and counting process to protect the surface of the balls, or an automatic packaging module can be added to automatically package the counted target balls.

[0004] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: to provide an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls and an intelligent automatic counting method thereof. The intelligent device for automatic counting of balls of the present invention includes a ball receiving bucket, a large number of goal-scoring components, a small number of ball replenishing components, an automatic counting component and one or more discharge port areas.

[0005] Based on the above technical solution, the present invention can also be improved as follows.

[0006] Furthermore, the ball automatic intelligent device may include a screening module and / or an automatic packing module.

[0007] Furthermore, the ball automatic intelligent device may include one or more oil filtering areas and / or one or more temporary storage areas.

[0008] Further, a large number of goal-scoring components include a large number of ball outlets, a large number of goal-scoring channels, and a large number of goal-scoring areas.

[0009] Furthermore, the small amount ball replenishment component includes a small amount ball outlet, a ball replenishment feeding trough, one or more limiting components, an odd number of receiving blocks, a porous turntable and an odd number of ball outlet channels.

[0010] Furthermore, the automatic counting component includes one or more valves, one or more gates, a counting area, an industrial camera, a light source and a computer control system.

[0011] Furthermore, the bottom of the counting area in the automatic counting component is a conveyor belt with a conveying function such as a mesh chain conveyor belt, a chain plate conveyor belt, etc., and the conveyor belt is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor.

[0012] Furthermore, the screening module includes one or more first-stage screening components, a diversion block, a temporary storage block, a docking block and one or more second-stage screening components.

[0013] Furthermore, one or more ball protection agents such as rust-proof oil, lubricating oil, and lubricant circulate in one or more second-stage screening components of the screening module.

[0014] Furthermore, the automatic packaging module includes packaging film, a conveyor belt, a receiving slot, a film rolling block, a forming barrel, a back sealer, a film pulling assembly, a receiving plate, a supply receiving plate, a transverse sealer, a receiving block, and preferably, may also include an exhaust plate.

[0015] Furthermore, the industrial camera in the automatic counting component is connected to the computer control system, and a method for intelligent automatic counting of balls is deployed, comprising the following steps: (1) using a deep learning algorithm or a traditional image algorithm to train target ball images of different sizes, and obtaining a recognition counting model after branch reduction and quantization; (2) using the recognition counting model to count the target balls in the interval between two adjacent isolation belts below the industrial camera on the conveyor belt, and adjusting the distance or speed of the conveyor belt to obtain a total counted number close to the set target count total number; (3) the computer control system controls a small number of ball components to compensate the target balls until the total counted number is equal to the set target count total number.

[0016] Furthermore, the recognition count model optimizes the original convolution calculation into a depth-wise separable convolution and integrates the attention mechanism.

[0017] Furthermore, after the network output point coordinates and diameter of the counting model are identified, the NMS algorithm is used to filter out the circles of the target balls that are repeatedly identified.

[0018] Furthermore, during the training process of the recognition and counting model, target data under different conditions were collected, and data augmentation algorithms such as target fusion, color temperature change, and brightness contrast change were used. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Other features, objectives and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the detailed description of non-limiting embodiments made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 The figure is a schematic diagram of the structure of an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 2 The figure is a schematic structural diagram of an intelligent device for automatic ball counting with a screening module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a screening module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 4 It is a partial enlarged view of the diversion block in the screening module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 5 It is another structural schematic diagram of the second-level screening structure in the screening module of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 6 The present invention is a schematic structural diagram of an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls with a screening module and an automatic packing module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of an automatic packaging module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the side structure of an automatic packaging module according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls according to another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, example embodiments can be implemented in a variety of forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present invention will be comprehensive and complete and fully convey the concepts of the example embodiments to those skilled in the art. In the figures, the same reference numerals represent the same or similar structures, and thus their repeated description will be omitted. "or" and "or" in the specification may both mean "and" or "or".

[0030] Example 1

[0031] See Figure 1 As shown, an intelligent device for automatic counting of balls, the intelligent device 20 for automatic counting includes a ball receiving bucket 200, a large number of goal components, a small number of ball replenishment components, an automatic counting component and a discharge port area 212. The bottom of the ball receiving bucket 200 is designed as a slope, and the inclination angle of the slope is 5° to 80°, and the specific inclination angle can also be determined according to the weight and size of the balls. The large number of goal components include a large number of ball outlets 102, a large number of goal channels 206, and a large number of goal areas 207. The large number of goal channels 206 are connected to the large number of ball outlets 102 on the ball receiving bucket 200. The bottom of the large number of goal areas 207 can be a conveyor belt with a conveying function such as a net chain conveyor belt, a chain plate conveyor belt, etc., or it can be a slope with a certain inclination angle. The lowest point of the slope is connected to the automatic counting component, so that the target ball 30 is discharged from the ball receiving bucket 200 through the large number of outlets 102. The balls flow from the ball port 102 and the large number of goal channels 206 into the large number of goal areas 207 and then roll to the automatic counting component for automatic counting, wherein the target balls 30 are balls to be counted of uniform specifications; the small number of ball replenishment components include a small number of ball outlets 101, a replenishment ball feeding trough 201, a limiting component 202, an odd number receiving block 203, a porous turntable 204 and an odd number of ball outlet channels 205, and the replenishment ball feeding trough 201 is connected to the small number of ball outlets 101 on the ball receiving bucket 200.

[0032] The ball replenishment feeding trough 201 is a groove with an angle or a groove without an angle, preferably a groove with an angle, and the lowest point of the groove is located on one side of the odd receiving block 203, so that the target ball 30 can roll to the odd receiving block 203 through the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 after flowing out from the small outlet 101 on the ball receiving bucket 200, and the cross section of the groove can be any shape that is conducive to the rolling of the target ball 30, such as a "V" shape or a "U" shape. Preferably, one or more limiting components 202 can be set on the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 according to actual conditions, and the limiting component 202 is a groove structure, and the cross-sectional shape of the groove structure of the limiting component 202 is consistent with that of the ball replenishment feeding trough 201. When the limiting component 202 is deployed, a hollow part that can just place one limiting component 202 is hollowed out at the position of the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 where the limiting component 202 is required to be set, and then the limiting component 202 is deployed in the hollow part. The function of the limiting component 202 is to control the number of target balls 30 flowing into the ball replenishment feeding trough 201, and prevent a large number of target balls 30 from accumulating at the intersection of the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 and the odd number receiving block 203. In particular, the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, which can enable the ball replenishment feeding trough 201 to move back and forth in the axial direction. The odd number receiving block 203 has receiving ports of the same or different diameters, and the diameter of the receiving port on the odd number receiving block 203 is as follows: Figure 1 The width of the "U"-shaped opening on the material receiving opening 2031 is the diameter of the semicircle at the bottom of the "U". Preferably, the material receiving openings of different diameters can be provided to match the target balls 30 of different diameters. The diameter of the material receiving opening on the odd material receiving block 203 is 0.02-5 mm larger than the corresponding target ball. Figure 1 The above-mentioned receiving ports 2031 and 2032 are exemplified. The ball replenishing feeding trough 201 is moved back and forth by a pneumatic element or a motor so that the discharge port of the ball replenishing feeding trough 201 is communicated with the receiving port on the odd receiving block 203 which is 0.02-5mm larger than the corresponding target ball 30.

[0033] The porous turntable 204 is also provided with holes matching the target balls 30 of the same diameter or different diameters. Preferably, the porous turntable 204 is provided with holes matching the target balls 30 of different diameters, such as Figure 1The holes 2041, 2042, etc. shown are arranged so that the ball automatic counting intelligent device can count balls of different specifications, and the holes of different sizes are arranged in a line in the radial direction, and are evenly arranged in one row or multiple rows in the entire circumferential direction. The holes 2041, 2042, etc. are 0.02-5 mm larger than the diameter of the target ball 30. The shape of the holes can be any suitable shape such as circular, elliptical, triangular, and the porous turntable 204 can rotate clockwise or counterclockwise in the circumferential direction. When the porous turntable 204 rotates a certain angle in the circumferential direction, the holes on the porous turntable 204 can communicate with the receiving port of the corresponding diameter on the odd receiving block 203.

[0034] The automatic counting component includes a valve 208, a gate 209a, a gate 209b, a counting area 210, an industrial camera 211 and a computer control system. The valve 208 can be one or more and connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, so that the valve 208 can be raised and lowered, that is, the distance between the lower edge of the valve 208 and the working surface directly below the valve 208 can be adjusted; the gates 209a and 209b can be zero or one or more and also connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, so that the gates 209a and 209b can be raised and lowered or moved back and forth in the horizontal direction. Preferably, the gates 209a and 209b are raised or lowered by pneumatic elements or motors, that is, the height of the gates 209a and 209b protruding from the bottom working surface of the counting area 210 is adjustable. The lengths of the gates 209a and 209b can be the same or different, preferably different, that is, one is long and the other is short, such as the shorter gate is 209a and the longer gate is 209b. The bottom of the counting area 210, i.e., the working surface, is a conveyor belt with a conveying function such as a mesh chain conveyor belt or a chain plate conveyor belt, and the top of the counting area 210 is an industrial camera 211, which is connected to a computer control system, so that the industrial camera 211 monitors and takes pictures of the target balls 30 in the counting area 210 in real time, transmits the data to the computer control system, and identifies the target balls 30 in the data through the computer control system and accurately outputs the number of target balls in the counting area 210. In particular, a surface light source, a line light source, or a point light source is provided above the counting area 210 to assist the industrial camera 211 in taking pictures.

[0035] The operating principle of the ball automatic counting intelligent device is as follows: the target balls 30 of uniform specifications in the ball receiving bucket 200 can enter the automatic counting component for counting through a large number of goal-scoring components and a small number of supplementary ball components, that is, a large number of target balls 30 enter the automatic counting component for counting through a large number of goal-scoring components, and a small number of target balls 30 that are short of the set target count total number enter the automatic counting component for counting through a small number of supplementary ball components to compensate for the set target count total number. For example, if the set target count total number is 1000, and the total number of target balls 30 that pass through a large number of goal-scoring components and enter the automatic counting component is 964, then the remaining 36 are counted by the small number of supplementary ball components entering the automatic counting component. All the counted target balls 30 can flow into the discharge port 212 for collection or packaging. More specifically, the target balls 30 in the ball receiving bucket 200 flow out from the large ball outlet 102 and the small ball outlet 101 respectively, but the small ball replenishment component is not activated, and the large number of target balls 30 flowing out of the large ball outlet 102 pass through the large number of goal channels 206 by gravity or transmission or any other available means and converge to the large number of goal areas 207. At this time, the distance between the lower edge of the valve 208 and the working surface directly below the valve 208 is adjusted by the pneumatic element or the motor, so that the distance is less than 5 times the diameter of the target balls 30 required for counting. Preferably, the distance is 1.1 to 1.9 times the diameter of the target balls 30 required for counting. The advantage of the distance is that the large number of target balls 30 in the large number of goal areas 207 can be transmitted to the counting area 210 row by row, that is, it is ensured that the target balls 30 in the counting area 210 do not overlap in the height direction to affect the automatic counting. When the flow of the target ball 30 after passing through the valve 208 is appropriate or the total amount counted is still far from the set target total number, the gate 209a and the gate 209b are in a non-working state, that is, at this time, the highest points of the gate 209a and the gate 209b are on the same plane with the working surface of the adjacent counting area 210, thereby not affecting the flow of the target ball 30 entering the counting area 210 for counting; and when the flow of the target ball 30 after passing through the valve 208 is too large to affect the counting or the total amount of the counted target balls 30 is close to the set target total number, the height of the gate 209a or the gate 209b can be raised by a cylinder or a motor according to the actual situation to temporarily control the number of target balls 30 entering the counting area 210, thereby facilitating the industrial camera 211 to take pictures of the target balls 30 in the counting area 210 and facilitating the computer control system to analyze, count and count the pictures.For example, assuming that the total number of target counts is set to 3000, when the number of target balls 30 counted is 2000, in order to prevent the number of target balls 30 entering the counting area 210 from the large number of goal areas 207 at a time from exceeding the remaining 1000, the height of the longer gate 209b can be adjusted by a pneumatic element or a motor, so that the target balls 30 cannot enter the counting area 210 through the gate 209b, but can only enter the counting area 210 through the shorter gate 209a that is not in operation. The design advantages of the gates 209a and 209b are that the flow of target balls entering the counting area 210 can be effectively controlled, and since it is controlled by lifting, there is no damage to the target balls 30, and the quality of the target balls 30 will not be affected. The industrial camera 211 takes real-time photos of the target balls 30 transmitted to the counting area 210 and transmits the photos to the computer control system, which processes the photos and calculates the number of target balls 30 in the counting area 210 at this time. After completing the analysis and counting, before the second counting, adjust and make the distance between the lower edge of the valve 208 and the working surface smaller than the diameter of the target ball 30 or raise the gates 209a and 209b to prevent the target ball 30 from entering the counting area 210 from the large number of goal areas 207. At this time, the conveyor belt continues to move until all the target balls 30 counted for the first time enter the discharge port 212, that is, at this time, there cannot be any target balls 30 that have been counted for the first time in the counting area 210, and then open the valve 208 or the gates 209a and 209b to allow the target balls 30 that have not been counted to enter the counting area 210, and then take photos and the computer control system performs statistical analysis on the photos, and calculates the distance from the set target ball 30 at this time during each counting. The number of target balls 30 with a small total number of target counts is cycled in this way. When the number of target balls 30 with a small total number of target counts is less than a certain number (the number of balls to be supplemented), the number (the number of balls to be supplemented) can be 10, 20, 50, 100, etc., and the specific number can be determined according to the specifications of the target balls 30 and the specific number of balls to be supplemented. At this time, the shorter gate 209a is raised again, that is, the target balls in the large number of goal areas 207 can no longer enter the counting area 210, and the ball supplement operation is entered, that is, the target balls 30 through the small ball outlet 101 flow into the supplement ball feeding trough 201 by gravity or transmission or any other available means, and the axial position of the supplement ball feeding trough 201 is adjusted by a pneumatic element or a motor, so that the discharge port of the supplement ball feeding trough 201 is connected with the receiving port on the odd number receiving block 203 that matches the diameter of the target ball 30 at this time, and the target ball 30 can roll to the corresponding receiving port on the odd number receiving block 203.At this time, the computer control system calculates the angle required for the porous turntable 204 to rotate according to the number of balls to be replenished, and the target ball 30 located in the receiving port on the odd receiving block 203 falls through the corresponding hole of the porous turntable 204 to the bottom and rolls to the odd ball outlet channel 205, and then rolls into the automatic counting component for counting and accumulation to the total counted amount, until the total counted amount reaches the set target total count amount, the porous turntable 204 stops rotating, that is, the ball replenishing operation stops. During the whole ball replenishing process, if it is necessary to control the flow rate or flow velocity of the target balls 30 in the slot of the ball replenishing feeding trough 201, a proximity switch is set at a certain position of one end of the ball replenishing feeding trough 201 close to the odd number receiving block 203. When the target balls 30 accumulate to the proximity switch, one or more limiting components 202 in the ball replenishing feeding trough 201 are triggered to start, so that the lowest point of the groove on the limiting component 202 is lower than the lowest point of the groove of the ball replenishing feeding trough 201. At this time, the target balls 30 located on or near the limiting component 202 cannot continue to be fed. Rolling to the lower point of the supplementary ball feeding trough 201 achieves the purpose of controlling the flow rate or flow velocity of the target balls 30 at the discharge port of the supplementary ball feeding trough 201, and when the target balls 30 are not accumulated to the proximity switch, one or more limiting components 202 are triggered again to make the lowest point of the groove on the limiting component 202 slightly higher than the lowest point of the groove on the supplementary ball feeding trough 201, so that the target balls 30 in and near the groove of the limiting component 202 can roll to the supplementary ball feeding trough 201 and then roll to the discharge port of the supplementary ball feeding trough 201. That is, the counted target balls 30 flow out and are collected through the discharge port 212 until the total number of collected target balls 30 reaches the set target count total number, that is, a single automatic counting is completed.

[0036] In other embodiments, ball manufacturers generally produce balls of various diameters to meet the needs of different customers, but this can easily lead to balls of different specifications being mixed together during the production process. If they are finally delivered to customers, they will have a bad user experience due to the mixture of different specifications. Therefore, it is necessary to screen the balls that may be mixed with different diameters before automatically counting them. Figure 2 As shown, a screening module 40 is added between the ball receiving bucket 200 and the small ball outlet 101 and the large ball outlet 102. The screening module 40 includes a first-stage screening component 401, a diversion block 402, a temporary storage block 403, a docking block 404, and a second-stage screening component 405. The small ball outlet 101 and the large ball outlet 102 are emitted from the second screening component, as shown in FIG. Figure 3As shown. In the ball receiving bucket 200, there are a target ball 30, a small ball 30a smaller than the target ball 30, and a large ball 30b larger than the target ball, and the balls flow into the first-stage screening component 401 through the bottom of the ball receiving bucket 200 with an angle. Preferably, a lifting block connected to a pneumatic element or a motor can be installed before the first-stage screening component 401, and the lifting block can adjust the height of the lifting to control the amount of balls flowing from the ball receiving bucket 200 to the first-stage screening component 401. The first screening component 401 is composed of two mandrels connected in parallel, and the mandrels are connected to a pneumatic element or a motor by making any one of the mandrels connected to the pneumatic element or the motor, so that the distance between the adjacent nearest edges of the two mandrels is adjustable, that is, according to the different sizes of the target ball 30, the distance between the adjacent nearest edges of the two mandrels can always be 0.01~1mm larger than the diameter of the target ball 30, preferably 0.02~0.5mm. When the balls to be screened slide from the ball receiving bucket 200 onto the two mandrels on the first screening component 401, the large ball 30b larger than the target ball 30 can remain on the two mandrels on the first screening component 401, and the target ball 30 and the small ball 30a smaller than the target ball fall from the gap on the mandrel to the diverter block 402. In particular, the mandrel on the first screening component 401 can be any shape such as a cylinder, a cube, a cuboid, etc., which can adjust the spacing to 0.01-1 mm larger than the diameter of the target ball 30. The material of the mandrel can be a polymer such as glass fiber reinforced plastic, organic glass, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, etc., or a metal material such as stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., that is, it is composed of a polymer and a metal.

[0037] One end of the diverter block 402 is located below the first-stage screening component 401, and the other end is connected to the temporary storage block 403. In particular, the width of the end of the diverter block 402 located below the first-stage screening component 401 is equal to or smaller than the width of the other end, preferably smaller than. The horizontal height of the end with a smaller width of the diverter block 402 is equal to or larger than the end with a larger width, and a plurality of grooves are provided on the upper surface of the diverter block 402, that is, a plurality of groove portions 402a and protrusion portions 402b, specifically as shown in FIG. Figure 4As shown. The advantage of the structure is that when the target ball 30 and the ball 30a smaller than the target ball fall in large quantities from the first-stage screening component 401 to the end of the diverter block 402 with a smaller width, the target ball 30 and the small ball 30a smaller than the target ball can be diverted to the end of the diverter block 402 with a larger width through the groove portion 402a, and then flow into the temporary storage block 403 in a more dispersed manner, so that the balls in the temporary storage block 403 are arranged more evenly in the axial direction. In particular, the cross-sectional shape of the groove portion 402a can be a "V" shape, or a "U" shape, or any other suitable shape, and the specific shape is not limited by the present invention. The material of the diverter block 402 can be a polymer such as fiberglass, plexiglass, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, etc., or it can be a metal material such as stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., that is, it is composed of a polymer and a metal.

[0038] One end of the temporary storage block 403 is connected to the diverter block 402, and the other end is close to the docking block 404. A groove may be provided on the end connected to the docking block 404, or no groove may be provided. In particular, a groove is provided on the end of the temporary storage block 403 connected to the docking block 404. The material of the temporary storage block 403 may be a polymer such as glass fiber reinforced plastic, organic glass, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, etc., or a metal material such as stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., that is, it is composed of a polymer and a metal.

[0039] One end of the docking block 404 is close to the temporary storage block 403, and the other end is close to the second-stage screening component 405. The docking block 404 is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, so as to realize the rise and fall of the docking block 404. In particular, a groove 404a is provided on the docking block 404, and the groove 404a is coaxial with the groove on the temporary storage block 403. Preferably, two inclined surfaces are provided on the groove 404a, the lowest point of one inclined surface is close to the temporary storage block 403, and the lowest point of the other inclined surface is close to the second-stage screening component 405, and the highest points of the two inclined surfaces meet at the middle of the groove 404a.

[0040] The second-stage screening assembly 405 includes a plurality of mandrel assemblies and a storage box 405c, wherein the mandrel assembly is composed of mandrels 405a and 405b, that is, the mandrels 405a and 405b form a mandrel assembly. Any mandrel in the mandrel assembly is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, so that the spacing between the mandrels 405a and 405b in each group of mandrel assemblies is adjustable, and the spacing between the mandrels 405a and 405b is 0.01-1 mm smaller than the diameter of the target ball 30, preferably, the spacing is 0.02-0.5 mm smaller than the diameter of the target ball 30, or the spacing between the mandrels 405a and 405b is set according to the spacing of the ball diameter specification, and the specific spacing size is not limited in the present invention, so that the small ball 30a can fall from the spacing of the mandrel assembly into the storage box 405c below, and the target ball 30 slides along the mandrel assembly into the small ball outlet 101 and the large ball outlet 102. Preferably, the plurality of mandrels are combined with a certain inclination angle, such as 3° to 30°. The specific inclination angle can be determined according to the weight and size of the target ball 30, so that balls with a diameter smaller than the target ball 30 can fall from the gap between the mandrels, and the target balls 30 can slide into the small ball outlet 101 and the large ball outlet 102 in an orderly manner. In other embodiments, the mandrels 405a and 405b are special-shaped mandrels, such as Figure 5 As shown. The diameter or width of the core rods 405a and 405b near the docking block 404 is larger than the diameter or width of the end near the large ball outlet 102, so that the combined spacing a of the core rods near the docking block 404 is only 0.01-1 mm smaller than the diameter of the target ball 30, and the combined spacing b of the core rods near the end of the large ball outlet 102 is larger than the diameter of the target ball 30. At the same time, a partition is provided below the point where the core rods 405a and 405b begin to change in diameter, so that the material storage box 405c is divided into two areas by the partition, or a material storage box is provided on the side of the core rods 405a and 405b with a larger diameter or width, and another material storage box is provided on the side of the core rods 405a and 405b with a smaller diameter or width, that is, Figure 5405c' and 405c'' shown. When a small ball 30a with a smaller diameter than the target ball 30 falls from the gap of the core rod combination at the end with a larger diameter or width to an area 405c' of the storage box 405c, and the target ball 30 continues to slide to the other end of the core rod combination, since the spacing b at the other end is larger than the diameter of the target ball 30, it can fall from the gap of the core rod combination to another area 405c'' of 405c, and converge to the small ball outlet 101 and the large ball outlet 102, so that a large number of target balls 30 of uniform specifications flow into the automatic counting device 20 through the large ball outlet 102 for automatic counting, and a small number of target balls 30 of uniform specifications flow into the automatic counting device 20 through the small ball outlet 101 for ball replenishment operation, until the total number of target balls 30 counted finally reaches the set target counting total.

[0041] In other embodiments, the cross-section of the core rods 405a and 405b can be any geometric shape such as circular, square, triangular, rectangular, rhombus, etc., and the material of the core rods 405a and 405b can be a polymer such as fiberglass, organic glass, polytetrafluoroethylene, nylon, etc., or a metal material such as stainless steel, titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, etc., that is, composed of a polymer and a metal. More preferably, the outer layer of the core rods 405a and 405b is a polymer such as organic glass, and the inner layer is lined with a metal material such as a stainless steel rod. The advantage of this structure is that the outer layer of the polymer can reduce the damage to the surface of the ball due to its low hardness, and the internal metal structure can ensure the straightness and rigidity of the core rods 405a and 405b, and improve the spacing control accuracy of the core rods 405a and 405b.

[0042] In other embodiments, one or more protective agents such as anti-rust oil, lubricating oil, and lubricant that can protect the balls may be circulated in the storage box 405c, which can effectively prevent the wear of the target balls during rolling, counting, and packaging, effectively protect the surface of the balls, improve the quality of the target balls, and preferably prevent metal balls from rusting.

[0043] If one or more protective agents such as anti-rust oil, lubricating oil, lubricant, etc. that can protect the balls are sprayed or circulated during the entire screening and counting process, preferably, one or more oil filtering areas 213 can be added before the discharge port 212 of the automatic counting intelligent device 20. The oil filtering area 213 is composed of multiple oil filter plates, and the multiple oil filter plates are not on the same plane, that is, the multiple oil filter plates are arranged from high to low along the transmission direction. This structure is more conducive to rolling the target ball 30 flowing out of the counting area 210 to the discharge port 212. At the same time, the excess protective agent on the target ball 30 can be dripped to the bottom along the edge of each oil filter plate, so as to achieve the purpose of filtering the oil of the target ball 30 without destroying the oil film on the surface of the target ball 30, thereby better protecting the target ball 30.

[0044] In other embodiments, one or more temporary storage areas 214, a material outlet 215 and an automatic packaging module 50 may be sequentially installed after the material outlet 212 of the automatic counting intelligent device 20, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown. The temporary storage area 214 is composed of a bottom plate and a baffle, and the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 is provided with a plurality of oil filter holes or oil filter joints. The bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, and the inclination angle of the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 can be adjusted by the pneumatic element or the motor. That is, when the target ball 30 comes out of the discharge port 212 and rolls to the temporary storage area 214, the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 is in a horizontal state, that is, the edge of the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 is just adjacent to the baffle, and the adjacent gap is smaller than the diameter of a single target ball 30, so that the target ball 30 cannot roll from the gap between the bottom plate and the baffle into the automatic packaging module 50. When the target balls 30 need to roll to the automatic packaging module 50, the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 is tilted by the pneumatic element or the motor. At this time, the bottom plate of the temporary storage area 214 and the baffle plate have a gap larger than the diameter of the target balls 30, so that the target balls 30 roll from the gap between the bottom plate and the baffle plate of the temporary storage area 214 to the discharge port 215, and then roll to the automatic packaging module 50 for packaging. At the same time, due to the existence of the temporary storage area 214, when the automatic packaging module 50 packages the target balls 30 that have reached the target total number, the next batch of target balls 30 to be counted can be transferred to the temporary storage area 214 for temporary storage after counting, and the target balls 30 can be further filtered in the temporary storage area 214 until the target total number is reached again. At this time, the automatic packaging module 50 has completed the packaging of the previous batch of target balls 30, and the target balls 30 in the temporary storage area 214 can flow into the automatic packaging module 50 for packaging.

[0045] In other embodiments, the automatic packaging module 50 includes a packaging film, a conveyor belt 501, a receiving slot 502, a film roll block 503, a forming barrel 504, a back sealer 505, a film pulling assembly 506, a receiving plate 507, a supply receiving plate 507b, transverse sealers 508a and 508b, and a receiving block 510. Figure 7 and Figure 8The packaging film is the raw material required for the packaging bag during packaging. It is a wrapping film rolled into a single axis and is arranged above the forming barrel 504 and on one side of the large trumpet shape of the roll module 503. The conveyor belt 501 runs through the inside of the forming barrel 504, and one end is located below the discharge port 215 in the automatic counting intelligent device 20, and the other end is close to the receiving slot 502. The conveyor belt 501 is a patterned conveyor belt, an oil-resistant conveyor belt, a mesh chain conveyor belt, a plate chain conveyor belt, etc. with a conveying function, and can be connected to a pneumatic element or a motor to achieve transmission. The receiving slot 502 is located below the conveyor belt 501 and can receive the target ball 30 transmitted from the conveyor belt 501. The roll module 503 is a collar-type structure, that is, one end is similar to a large trumpet shape, and gradually shrinks to the other end to form a small circular ring structure. The forming barrel 504 also runs through the inside of the film roll block 503, that is, the roll module 503 is stacked on the outside of the forming barrel 504, and the inner diameter of the end of the small annular structure of the film roll block 503 is the smallest, and the inner diameter of the end of the small annular structure is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the forming barrel 504 at that location, that is, there is an annular gap between the end of the small annular structure and the forming barrel 504, so that when the packaging film is gathered to the small annular structure through the roll module 503, it can be coated on the outer surface of the forming barrel 504 through the annular gap. The forming barrel 504 is a hollow cylindrical shape, and the outer diameter of the forming barrel 504 can be uniform or non-uniform. Preferably, the outer diameter of the forming barrel 504 is non-uniform, such as the outer diameter of one end close to the film roll block 503 is larger, and the outer diameter of the end close to the receiving block 510 is smaller, which is more conducive to the transportation of the packaging film during the packaging process. More preferably, the cross section of the molding barrel 504 at one end close to the roll module 503 is circular, while the cross section of the end close to the receiving slot 502 is elliptical, so that the highest point of the molding barrel 504 close to the roll module 503 is higher than the highest point close to the receiving slot 502, which is also more conducive to the transportation of the packaging film during the packaging process. The molding barrel 504 can be a transparent polymer material such as PMMA, nylon, fiberglass and other high-strength materials, or an opaque inorganic material such as stainless steel, nickel titanium and other materials. The molding barrel 504 is preferably a transparent polymer material, which can help observe the dynamics of the target ball 30 on the conveyor belt 501.

[0046] The back sealer 505 has two back seal blocks that can move relative to each other, one or both of which have a heating block and a temperature detection sensor, and then the back sealer 505 is heated, temperature controlled and moved by connecting with a power supply, a computer control system and a pneumatic element or a motor. The film drawing assembly 506 also has a pair of film drawing wheels, one of which is made of metal and the other is made of a polymer material with a certain friction coefficient such as rubber, PMMA, or both film drawing wheels are made of a polymer material with a certain friction coefficient, so that the two film drawing wheels can better achieve the traction of the packaging film when rotating with the packaging film clamped. A receiving plate 507 is arranged below the receiving slot 502, and the receiving plate 507 has a certain inclination angle to facilitate the transmission of the packaging film. At the same time, a supply receiving plate 507b is arranged below the receiving plate 507, and the supply receiving plate 507b is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, and the supply receiving plate 507b can be moved in the horizontal direction by the pneumatic element or the motor. When the transverse sealers 508a and 508b are not working, the supply receiving plate 507b extends so that the supply receiving plate 507b is located in the empty space between the receiving plate 507 and the receiving block 510. When the transverse sealer is working, the supply receiving plate 507b extends back to the bottom of the receiving plate 507 so as not to hinder the operation of the transverse sealer. The structure and principle of the transverse sealers 508a and 508b are similar to those of the back sealer 505, except that the transverse sealers 508a and 508b are used to seal the two ends of the packaging film, and a groove is provided on one end face of the transverse sealer 508a and 508b or both end faces, the groove is located in the middle of the end face, and a blade is provided on the groove on the same vertical line at the other end, for example, a groove is provided on the end face of 508b, and a blade is provided just above the groove of 508b located above. A receiving block 510 with an inclination is also provided on the other side of the transverse sealers 508a and 508b.

[0047] In some other embodiments, an exhaust plate 509 is provided above the outer side of the transverse sealer, and the exhaust plate 509 is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor, and the exhaust plate 509 can be raised or lowered by the pneumatic element or the motor.

[0048] The working principle of the automatic packaging module 50 is as follows: before packaging begins, one end of the packaging film is manually rolled along the large trumpet shape of the roll module 503 and then along the outer side of the tube body of the roll module 503 to one end of the small circular ring structure, and then passes through the circular ring gap formed by the roll module 503 and the forming barrel 504. At this time, the packaging film begins to be wound on the outer side of the forming barrel 504, even if the two long sides of the packaging film converge. When one end of the packaging film is about to approach the receiving groove 502, the converged long side of the packaging film is located in the back sealer 505, that is, located between the two back sealing blocks in the back sealer 505. At this time, the back sealer 505 is started, that is, when the temperature of the back sealer 505 reaches the temperature at which the packaging film can be heat-sealed, the two back sealing blocks of the back sealer 505 overlap together through pneumatic elements or motors. At this time, the two converged long sides of the packaging film sandwiched between the back sealing blocks are hot-pressed together to form a back heat-sealed edge, that is, the packaging film in the back sealing block is in a cylindrical shape. The two film-drawing wheels of the film-drawing assembly 506 are constantly rotating. When the back heat-sealed edge of the packaging film is located between the two film-drawing wheels of the film-drawing assembly 506, the packaging film is sequentially pulled by the film-drawing assembly 506 to the middle of the receiving plate 507 and the transverse sealers 508a and 508b. Using the same principle as the back sealer 505, the transverse sealers 508a and 508b perform heat pressing on one end of the packaging film to form a transverse heat-sealed edge. At the same time, when the transverse sealer is performing heat pressing on the packaging film, the blade on the transverse sealer 508a is just stuck into the groove provided on the transverse sealer 508b, that is, the transverse heat-sealed edge of the packaging film is just divided into two, that is, two transverse heat-sealed edges are formed, and a part of the transverse heat-sealed edge located on the inner side of the transverse sealer forms the bottom of the packaging bag. At this time, the counted target balls 30 come out from the discharge port 212 or the discharge port 215 of the automatic counting intelligent device 20 and flow into the conveyor belt 501 in the automatic packaging module 50, and are transmitted to the receiving groove 502 by the conveyor belt 501, and then roll to the bottom of the packaging bag formed by the packaging film. Since a receiving plate 507 is arranged below the receiving groove 502, a supply receiving plate 507b that can be extended in the horizontal direction, and a receiving block 510 is arranged on the outside of the transverse sealers 508a and 508b, the counted target balls 30 in the packaging bag will not cause excessive pulling of the packaging film that has not yet formed a packaging bag due to the large gravity, and the counted target balls 30 in the packaging bag will not be suspended on the automatic packaging module 50.When the total number of target balls 30 counted in a single time are all located in the packing bag on the receiving block 510, if the air in the packing bag needs to be exhausted, the exhaust plate 509 is activated, so that the exhaust plate 509 is pressed down to the receiving block 510 through the packing bag, so that part of the air in the packing bag can be exhausted so as not to cause the volume of the packing bag to be too large, and then the transverse sealers 508a and 508b are activated, so that the packing bag forms two transverse heat-sealed edges, and the transverse heat-sealed edge located on the outside of the transverse sealer forms the top of the packing bag in this packing, and the transverse heat-sealed edge located on the inside of the transverse presser becomes the bottom of the packing bag in the next packing. At this time, the single packing work is completed.

[0049] The present invention also provides an intelligent automatic counting method for balls, comprising the following steps: a high-performance computer is installed in a computer control system, and the computer is equipped with a chip that can be used for deep learning model calculation, which can be a CPU or a GPU, for receiving real-time photographed pictures and calculating the number of target balls 30. The recognition counting model for calculating the number of target balls 30 can adopt a deep learning algorithm or a traditional image algorithm, and the deep learning algorithm can adopt a CNN network or an RCNN network, such as a YOLO series model, an SSD series model, and an EfficientDet series model. The recognition counting model should be trained in advance using a server, and the training data comes from pictures of target balls 30 of different sizes collected on the device in advance. After the pictures of the target balls 30 are manually annotated, model training is performed to obtain the original model. After the original model undergoes model pruning and quantization operations, a model that can accurately count the target balls 30 is finally deployed on the device. In order to improve the recognition efficiency and accuracy, for example, the YOLO network is improved, and the original convolution calculation is optimized to a depth-separable convolution. The convolution kernel size can usually be expressed as: convolution kernel W * convolution kernel H * number of input channels * number of output channels, such as 3*3*4*4=108, which becomes 3*3*3+1*1*3*4=39 after optimization, which greatly reduces the number of model parameters and improves the operation efficiency. The attention mechanism is integrated so that the recognition and counting model can still accurately identify the number of balls when there is oil reflection on the surface of the ball to avoid misjudgment. In addition, in view of the fact that the target ball recognition is circular, the network output is redesigned, and the output dimension of each output point is 3+class_num. The three dimensions refer to the center point coordinates xc, yc and the target diameter r', respectively. The value of r' during training is log(r / stride), and the stride represents the scaling coefficient of the feature layer. r represents the actual diameter of the target ball. When inferring, r is exp(r') * stride. After obtaining the center coordinates and diameters of all output points, the NMS algorithm is used to filter out circles that repeatedly identify target balls to obtain the final target ball count. In order to improve the generalization and anti-interference capabilities of the model, during the collection of the training set, the target ball data under different brightness conditions and the target ball data under interference from external lights and sunlight were collected. During the training process, data expansion algorithms such as target fusion, color temperature change, and brightness contrast change were used to ensure that the equipment can identify absolutely accurately during operation.

[0050] Example 2

[0051] Fig. 92 is a schematic diagram of the structure of another embodiment of the ball automatic counting intelligent device of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that a plurality of isolation belts are arranged at the bottom of the counting area 210, i.e., on the conveyor belt, to evenly isolate the entire conveyor belt into n areas, i.e., during the conveying process, there must be two isolation belts located in the counting area 210, such as Fig. 9 The isolation belts 2102 and 2102' are used as examples. In the counting area 210 shown in the figure, the isolation belts 2102 and 2102' are isolated into area 1 2101 and area 2103, as well as an area formed by the boundary between 2102' and the oil filter area 213. Assuming that the total number of target counts is set to B, when the target ball 30 is transmitted from a large number of goal assemblies to the counting area 210, that is, during the transmission process, the area 2103 isolated by the two isolation belts is located directly below the industrial camera 211, and the industrial camera 211 takes a photo of the target balls 30 in the counting area 210 and transmits it to the computer control system, and the computer control system counts the target balls 30 in the area 2103 in the photo and counts them as a1. At this time, a1 is still much smaller than B, and then the pneumatic elements or motors are used to make the conveyor belt travel a fixed distance each time, that is, each time it travels, the area 2103 isolated by the two isolation belts on the conveyor belt is 103 is located directly below the industrial camera 211. The industrial camera 211 takes a photo of the target balls 30 in the counting area 210, and the computer control system counts the target balls 30 in the second area 2103 in the photo again and counts them as a2. When this process is repeated N times, the computer control system counts the number of target balls 30 in the first area 2101 in the photo and counts them as b during the Nth analysis and statistics of the target balls 30 in the second area 2103 in the photo. The total number of target balls 30 counted is a1+a2+a3+…+aN+b. At this time, there is still a shortfall of c from the set target total number of B (c=B-( a1+a2+a3+…+aN+b)), c is smaller, that is, the total number of target balls 30 counted at this time is close to the set target count total number B, then the gates 209a and 209b are raised, and at this time, the target balls 30 cannot enter the counting area 210 from the large number of goal assemblies. Then a small number of goal assemblies are started to make up the balls until the total number of target balls 30 counted is equal to B, and the single count is completed. During the entire counting process, due to the existence of the isolation belt, the computer control system accurately analyzes and counts the total number of target balls 30 in the second area 2103 with the isolation belt as the boundary when analyzing the photos, and the conveyor belt running, the camera taking pictures and the computer control system analyzing and counting the photos are a set of coherent and cyclic processes, and the counting of the target balls 30 is accurate and efficient.

[0052] In summary, the intelligent device for automatic counting of balls and the automatic counting method thereof provided by the present invention have the following advantages: various balls can be accurately counted, and balls of different diameters can be compatible, thereby reducing the counting error of balls, reducing the waste of materials and manpower, and improving production efficiency. At the same time, for balls that may be mixed with balls of different diameters, a screening module can be installed to screen out balls with uniform diameters to ensure that the diameter of the final balls is within the specified size range. Protective agents can also be added as needed during the counting or screening process to protect the balls, so as to protect the surface of the balls or prevent metal balls from rusting. In addition, an automatic packaging module can be added to automatically package the counted balls to save manpower and time and improve packaging efficiency.

[0053] The above contents are further detailed descriptions of the present invention in combination with specific preferred embodiments, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present invention is limited to these descriptions. For ordinary technicians in the technical field of the present invention, several simple deductions or substitutions can be made without departing from the concept of the present invention, which should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. An intelligent device for automatic counting of balls, comprising an automatic counting module, characterized in that: The automatic counting intelligent device comprises a ball receiving bucket, a large number of ball scoring components, a small number of ball replenishing components, an automatic counting component and one or more discharge port areas.

2. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ball automatic intelligent device may include a screening module and / or an automatic packing module.

3. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The ball automatic intelligent device may include one or more oil filtering areas and / or one or more temporary storage areas.

4. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The large number of goal-scoring components include a large number of ball outlets, a large number of goal-scoring channels, and a large number of goal-scoring areas.

5. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The small amount ball replenishment component comprises a small amount ball outlet, a ball replenishment feeding trough, one or more limiting components, an odd number of receiving blocks, a multi-hole turntable and an odd number of ball outlet channels.

6. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The automatic counting component includes one or more valves, one or more gates, a counting area, an industrial camera, a light source and a computer control system.

7. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The bottom of the counting area in the automatic counting component is a conveyor belt with a conveying function, such as a mesh chain conveyor belt, a chain plate conveyor belt, etc., and the conveyor belt is connected to a pneumatic element or a motor.

8. The ball automatic intelligent device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The screening module includes one or more first-stage screening components, a diversion block, a temporary storage block, a docking block and one or more second-stage screening components.

9. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 8, characterized in that: One or more ball protection agents such as rust-proof oil, lubricating oil, and lubricant circulate in one or more second-stage screening components of the screening module.

10. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The automatic packaging module includes packaging film, a conveyor belt, a receiving slot, a film rolling block, a forming barrel, a back sealer, a film pulling assembly, a receiving plate, a supply receiving plate, a transverse sealer, a receiving block, and preferably, may also include an exhaust plate.

11. The ball automatic counting intelligent device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The industrial camera in the automatic counting component is connected to the computer control system, and a method for intelligent automatic counting of balls is deployed, comprising the following steps: (1) using a deep learning algorithm or a traditional image algorithm to train target ball images of different sizes, and obtaining a recognition counting model after branch reduction and quantification; (2) using the recognition counting model to count the target balls in the interval between two adjacent isolation belts on the conveyor belt below the industrial camera, and adjusting the distance or speed of the conveyor belt to obtain a total counted number close to the set target count total number; (3) the computer control system controls a small number of ball components to compensate the target balls until the total counted number is equal to the set target count total number.

12. The intelligent automatic ball counting method according to claim 11, characterized in that: The recognition counting model optimizes the original convolution calculation into a depth-wise separable convolution and integrates the attention mechanism.

13. The intelligent automatic ball counting method according to claim 11, characterized in that: After the network output point circle center coordinates and diameter of the recognition counting model, the NMS algorithm is used to filter out circles of target balls that are repeatedly recognized.

14. The ball game intelligent automatic calculation method according to claim 12, characterized in that: During the training process, the recognition counting model collects target data under different conditions and adopts data expansion algorithms such as target fusion, color temperature change, brightness contrast change, etc.

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