Harvester stone removing device and method and harvester

Abstract

The invention provides a harvester stone removing device and method and a harvester. A stone removing device of a harvester comprises an elevator, a detection mechanism, a stone removing mechanism, a separation sliding groove and a processor, the detection mechanism and the stone removing mechanism are both installed at the output end of the elevator, the separation sliding groove is located below the stone removing mechanism, and the detection mechanism and the stone removing mechanism are both connected with the processor. In the lifting and conveying stage of the seed melons, the detection mechanism recognizes that stones are mixed in the seed melons in advance, and then the recognized stones are removed, so that the effect of actively removing the stones is achieved, the stones are prevented from entering the machine to cause damage to the machine, shutdown-free and maintenance-free operation is achieved, and the operation efficiency is greatly improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of stone removal for harvesters, and in particular to a stone removal device and method for harvesters, and a harvester. Background Art

[0002] Seed melon is an agricultural product with extremely regional characteristics and a very important economic crop, which is mainly used for its seeds. Similar seed-extracting economic crops include gourds, seed melons, pumpkins, etc.

[0003] At present, the harvesting of melons and other fruit agricultural products has been basically mechanized. The melon seed harvester is a special harvesting machine used to harvest melon seed and other agricultural products. The agricultural products that can be harvested include gourds, melon seed, pumpkin and other similar seed crops. When the harvester is working, in order to crush the fruits and melons and extract the seeds, the picking and transporting platform in front of the harvester will pick up agricultural products such as melon seed from the surface and transport them to the crusher. The crusher box, the melon pressing roller and the roller knife work closely together to cut and squeeze the melon rind between the crusher box and the melon pressing roller, and send it to the subsequent threshing and sauce throwing cylinder. The high-speed rotation of the threshing and sauce throwing cylinder will throw the melon seeds out of the drum, thereby achieving the effect of separating the melon seeds from the melon rind. However, when picking up melons and other fruit agricultural products into the machine through the picking and conveying platform, stones on the ground will also be sent into the conveying platform along with the melons and enter the machine. The hard stones will damage the high-speed rotating roller cutter and melon pressing roller or get stuck between the roller cutter and the melon pressing roller, thereby suffocating the machine. Damage to the melon pressing roller and roller cutter will lead to a decline in the quality of the harvesting operation, suffocating the machine and causing the harvesting operation to be interrupted. The machine needs to be shut down for maintenance, and maintenance is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive. Frequent entry of stones will cause the machine to be frequently shut down for maintenance, which will seriously affect the operating efficiency. Therefore, the melon harvesting industry is in urgent need of an automatic stone discharge control system so that the stones mixed in the melon harvesting process can be automatically discharged. Summary of the invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a harvester stone removal device, method and harvester in view of the deficiencies in the prior art.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned technical problems is as follows: A stone discharge device for a harvester, comprising: an elevator, a detection mechanism, a stone discharge mechanism, a separation chute and a processor, the detection mechanism and the stone discharge mechanism are both installed at the output end of the elevator, the separation chute is located below the stone discharge mechanism, and the detection mechanism and the stone discharge mechanism are both connected to the processor.

[0006] The beneficial effect of adopting the technical solution of the present invention is that during the stage of lifting and transporting the melon seeds, the detection mechanism can identify the mixing of stones at an early stage, and then remove the identified stones, thereby achieving the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, eliminating the need for downtime and maintenance, and greatly improving work efficiency.

[0007] Furthermore, the detection mechanism includes: an x-ray source and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector, the x-ray source is located above the elevator, the amorphous silicon flat panel detector is located below the elevator, and the x-ray source and the amorphous silicon flat panel detector are arranged opposite to each other.

[0008] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is: in the stage of seed melon lifting and transportation, the mixed stones are identified early by the x-ray method, and then the identified stones are removed, so as to achieve the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing machine damage, and eliminating downtime and maintenance-free operations, thereby greatly improving the operating efficiency. The x-ray solution is selected to detect stones. The x-ray solution is particularly suitable for detecting occasions where there is a difference in density between products and foreign objects. It is obvious that the density of stones is much greater than that of fruits and vegetables, so they can be easily detected by x-rays. The x-ray solution includes an x-ray source and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector. The amorphous silicon flat panel detector can output the detection results in the form of a grayscale image. The color of the stone with a higher density is darker on the grayscale image. With the help of image morphological processing methods, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of the stone with a higher density on the grayscale image, and then combined with the expansion corrosion morphological method, domain connectivity processing is performed to identify the outline and position of the stone.

[0009] Furthermore, the processor is provided with a binary threshold segmentation algorithm, and the processor is a 2 GHz CPU processor.

[0010] The beneficial effects of adopting the above further technical solution are: using the binary threshold segmentation algorithm to directly identify the location of foreign objects, there is no need to prepare grayscale templates in advance, the binary threshold segmentation algorithm can cover all actual operation scenarios, faster, more accurate recognition, more suitable for vehicle-mounted applications, and more suitable for non-stop operations. On a 2GHz CPU processor, the time spent processing an image is <0.002s. Compared with other algorithms such as image feature matching algorithms and deep model recognition algorithms, the computing speed is very fast, and the accuracy rate is maintained at more than 95%. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm has a faster computing speed and low computing power requirements, is more suitable for vehicle-mounted online real-time applications, and will not affect operating efficiency.

[0011] Furthermore, the stone removal mechanism includes: multiple pushing components, multiple stone removal baffles and a rotating shaft, the tops of the multiple stone removal baffles are rotatably mounted on the rotating shaft, the multiple pushing components are respectively connected to the multiple stone removal baffles, and the multiple pushing components are connected to the processor.

[0012] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is that after the stone and its position are identified, the subsequent stone removal action is controlled by the air valve to eject the pushing component, which pushes the stone removal baffle, and the stone removal baffle hits the stone, and discharges it out of the machine by hitting the stone. The loss rate in the process of foreign body removal is reduced. The stone removal baffle is divided into multiple parts. When a stone appears at the corresponding position, only the stone removal baffle at the corresponding position will be pushed out, and the other stone removal baffles will not move, so as to prevent useful fruits and vegetables from being removed.

[0013] Furthermore, the pushing component is a pneumatic cylinder, an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

[0014] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is: the cylinder is used to perform the stone removal action, the cylinder speed is fast, the operation speed can be guaranteed, and the operation efficiency of the whole machine will not be affected by the stone removal. It is convenient for users to select the type of pushing components according to actual needs.

[0015] Furthermore, the separation chute is an inverted V-shaped structure, one side of the bottom of the separation chute is connected to a crusher box, and the other side of the bottom of the separation chute is connected to a stone collecting trough; the elevator is a scraper elevator, and the scraper elevator is provided with a lifting conveyor belt.

[0016] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is that a separation chute is provided at the entrance of the crusher housing, and the stones that change their motion trajectory will fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute and will not enter the crusher housing, thereby realizing active stone discharge. The stones are discharged into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute instead of being discharged directly onto the ground, and can also play the role of picking up and collecting stones in the field, so that the stones can be picked up and collected online. This allows the whole machine to not only have the function of stone discharge during the operation of harvesting seed melons, but also the function of picking up field stones, so that one machine can have multiple uses; and with the annual harvest of seed melons and the picking up of field stones, the field stones can be reduced year by year.

[0017] In addition, the present invention also provides a harvester, comprising a harvester stone removal device as described in any one of the above.

[0018] The beneficial effect of adopting the technical solution of the present invention is that during the stage of lifting and transporting the melon seeds, the detection mechanism can identify the mixing of stones at an early stage, and then remove the identified stones, thereby achieving the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, eliminating the need for downtime and maintenance, and greatly improving work efficiency.

[0019] In addition, the present invention also provides a stone discharge method for a harvester, which is based on a stone discharge device for a harvester described in any one of the above items, and the stone discharge method for a harvester includes: S1, a detection mechanism detects the transported objects on the elevator to generate a grayscale image; S2, a processor applies a binary threshold segmentation algorithm to the grayscale image in combination with an image morphological algorithm to distinguish the positions of stones with higher density on the grayscale image; S3, the processor performs domain connectivity processing in combination with an expansion corrosion morphological method to identify the contour and actual position of the stone; S4, after a delay time, the stone discharge mechanism actively discharges the stone.

[0020] The beneficial effect of the technical solution of the present invention is: when an x-ray detector is used to detect that a stone has entered the machine, the detector will output the detection result in the form of a grayscale image. Fruits and stones of different densities have different degrees of brightness on the grayscale image. The shape of stones with higher density on the grayscale image is much darker than fruits. Then, in combination with the image morphological algorithm, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of stones with higher density on the grayscale image. Then, in combination with the expansion corrosion morphological method, domain connectivity processing is performed to identify the outline and position of the stone. In this way, the control system can sense the stone and its position. The stone removal baffle after the appropriate delay time can just hit the moving stone, change the movement trajectory of the stone, and thus separate the movement trajectory of the stone and fruits. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm has a faster computing speed and low computing power requirements, is more suitable for on-board online real-time applications, and does not affect the operating efficiency.

[0021] Furthermore, before step S1, it includes: adjusting the exposure time of the amorphous silicon flat panel detector, and adjusting the segmentation threshold of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm until the amorphous silicon flat panel detector can distinguish between fruits and stones; step S4 includes: after the delay time, the stone discharge mechanism drives the pushing component corresponding to the actual position of the stone to pop out, push the stone discharge baffle to hit the stone, change the falling trajectory of the stone, and make the stone fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute, thereby realizing active stone discharge.

[0022] The beneficial effects of adopting the above further technical solution are: the sensitivity of the x-ray detector needs to be set before use. First, the exposure time of the amorphous silicon flat panel detector is changed. Increasing the exposure time can enhance the image contrast; second, the threshold of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm is adjusted. The coordination between the exposure time and the segmentation threshold is adjusted through parameter calibration until the detector can clearly distinguish between stones and fruits. According to different ground conditions and fruit types, the sensitivity is set by adjusting the exposure time and the segmentation threshold, so as to set the maximum recognition accuracy for different ground conditions and improve the stone rejection rate.

[0023] Furthermore, the delay time in step S4 is calculated by the following formula: T=Δt+t1, where T is the delay time, Δt is the image processing time, and t1 is the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle;

[0024] The time t1 when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle is calculated by the following formula: Among them, t1 is the time it takes for the stone to leave the output end of the elevator and fall to the stone discharge baffle, h1 is the height from the output end of the elevator to the stone discharge baffle, and g is the gravitational acceleration of the stone.

[0025] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is: when the stone reaches the detector position and is detected by the detector, the stone discharge mechanism is delayed for a certain period of time, the control valve is opened, and the compressed air pushes the cylinder to pop out, pushing the stone discharge baffle to rotate around the upper rotating shaft. After the appropriate delay time, the stone discharge baffle can just hit the moving stone, changing the movement trajectory of the stone, thereby separating the movement trajectory of the stone and the fruit. The delay time and the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle are calculated by formula to improve accuracy.

[0026] Advantages of additional aspects of the present invention will be given in part in the following description, and in part will be obvious from the following description, or will be learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the principle of a stone removal device for a harvester provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] Figure 2 One of the schematic flow charts of the stone removal method of a harvester provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 3 The second schematic flowchart of the stone removal method for a harvester provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0030] Explanation of the accompanying figures: 1. Elevator; 2. Detection mechanism; 3. Stone discharge mechanism; 4. Separation chute; 5. X-Ray source; 6. Amorphous silicon flat panel detector; 7. Pushing component; 8. Stone discharge baffle; 9. Rotating shaft; 10. Crusher box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] The principles and features of the present invention are described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The examples given are only used to explain the present invention but not to limit the scope of the present invention.

[0032] like Figure 1As shown, a stone discharge device for a harvester includes: an elevator 1, a detection mechanism 2, a stone discharge mechanism 3, a separation chute 4 and a processor, wherein the detection mechanism 2 and the stone discharge mechanism 3 are both installed at the output end of the elevator 1, the separation chute 4 is located below the stone discharge mechanism 3, and the detection mechanism 2 and the stone discharge mechanism 3 are both connected to the processor.

[0033] The beneficial effect of adopting the technical solution of the present invention is that during the stage of lifting and transporting the melon seeds, the detection mechanism can identify the mixing of stones at an early stage, and then remove the identified stones, thereby achieving the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, eliminating the need for downtime and maintenance, and greatly improving work efficiency.

[0034] A stone removal device for a harvester provided in an embodiment of the present invention can be a stone removal control system for a seed melon machine, which includes not only detection of foreign objects such as stones (detection mechanism), but also a foreign object removal execution structure (stone removal mechanism). The control system operation platform (stone removal device for a harvester) is based on a scraper-type elevator (elevator). The fruits and stones picked up by the picking and cutting platform are sent to the crusher box through this elevator conveyor belt (conveyor belt of the elevator). An x-ray detector (x-Ray source and amorphous silicon flat panel detector) is arranged at the tail end of the elevator belt (conveyor belt of the elevator). As the sensing part of the control system (stone removal device for a harvester), it can sense that stones are mixed into the machine. After the fruits reach the tail end of the elevator, they will fall into the crusher box arranged below it. During the process of the fruits falling, the air cylinder (cylinder) of the actuator part (stone removal mechanism) pops out under the control of the air valve, pushing the stone removal baffle to rotate around the upper rotating shaft, thereby hitting the stones and changing the falling trajectory of the stones. A stone separation chute (separation chute) is provided at the entrance of the crusher box. The stones after changing their motion trajectory will fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute and will not enter the crusher box, thus realizing active stone discharge.

[0035] 1. The technical solution provided by the embodiment of the present invention can detect foreign objects such as stones in real time online and identify their center of mass position. Combined with the subsequent cylinder stone discharge actuator (stone discharge mechanism) structure, it can realize active stone discharge without stopping, thereby protecting the machine from damage by stones.

[0036] 2. For stone detection, the grayscale value information of the grayscale image output by X-Ray is directly used for binary threshold segmentation. Compared with other algorithms such as image feature matching algorithm and deep model recognition algorithm, the operation speed is very fast, and the processing time is less than 0.002s. The work efficiency will not be reduced due to stone recognition.

[0037] 3. Use air cylinder (pneumatic cylinder) to perform stone removal. The cylinder has a fast speed, which can ensure the operating speed and will not affect the operating efficiency of the whole machine due to stone removal.

[0038] 4. The whole machine can not only remove stones during the watermelon seed harvesting process, but also pick up stones in the field, so that one machine can have multiple uses; and with the picking of field stones during the watermelon seed harvesting every year, the number of field stones can be reduced year by year.

[0039] 5. The stone removal function of the harvesting machine can be used not only on the seed melon harvesting machine, but also on other machines such as potato harvesters, potato harvesters, tomato harvesters, etc., where stones may mix in and cause damage to the machine during operation by slightly adjusting the stone removal structure.

[0040] Furthermore, the detection mechanism 2 includes: an x-ray source 5 and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector 6, the x-ray source 5 is located above the elevator 1, the amorphous silicon flat panel detector 6 is located below the elevator 1, and the x-ray source 5 and the amorphous silicon flat panel detector 6 are arranged opposite to each other.

[0041] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical scheme is that in the stage of transporting and conveying the seed melon, the mixing of stones can be identified early by the x-ray method, and then the identified stones can be removed to achieve the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, and realizing continuous operation without stopping the machine, thereby greatly improving the working efficiency. The x-ray scheme is selected to detect stones. The x-ray scheme is particularly suitable for detecting occasions where there is a difference in density between products and foreign objects. It is obvious that the density of stones is much greater than that of fruits and vegetables, so they can be easily detected by x-rays. The x-ray scheme includes an x-ray source and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector. The amorphous silicon flat panel detector can output the detection results in the form of a grayscale image. The color of the stone with a higher density is darker on the grayscale image. With the help of image morphological processing methods, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of the stone with a higher density on the grayscale image, and then combined with the expansion corrosion morphological method, domain connectivity processing is performed to identify the outline and position of the stone.

[0042] Furthermore, the processor is provided with a binary threshold segmentation algorithm, and the processor is a 2 GHz CPU processor.

[0043] The beneficial effects of adopting the above further technical solution are: using the binary threshold segmentation algorithm to directly identify the location of foreign objects, there is no need to prepare grayscale templates in advance, the binary threshold segmentation algorithm can cover all actual operation scenarios, faster, more accurate recognition, more suitable for vehicle-mounted applications, and more suitable for non-stop operations. On a 2GHz CPU processor, the time spent processing an image is <0.002s. Compared with other algorithms such as image feature matching algorithms and deep model recognition algorithms, the computing speed is very fast, and the accuracy rate is maintained at more than 95%. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm has a faster computing speed and low computing power requirements, is more suitable for vehicle-mounted online real-time applications, and will not affect operating efficiency.

[0044] Furthermore, the stone removal mechanism 3 includes: multiple pushing components 7, multiple stone removal baffles 8 and a rotating shaft 9, the tops of the multiple stone removal baffles 8 are rotatably installed on the rotating shaft 9, the multiple pushing components 7 are respectively connected to the multiple stone removal baffles 8, and the multiple pushing components 7 are all connected to the processor.

[0045] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is that after the stone and its position are identified, the subsequent stone removal action is controlled by the air valve to eject the pushing component, which pushes the stone removal baffle, and the stone removal baffle hits the stone, and discharges it out of the machine by hitting the stone. The loss rate in the process of foreign body removal is reduced. The stone removal baffle is divided into multiple parts. When a stone appears at the corresponding position, only the stone removal baffle at the corresponding position will be pushed out, and the other stone removal baffles will not move, so as to prevent useful fruits and vegetables from being removed.

[0046] Furthermore, the pushing component 7 is a pneumatic cylinder, an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

[0047] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is: the cylinder is used to perform the stone removal action, the cylinder speed is fast, the operation speed can be guaranteed, and the operation efficiency of the whole machine will not be affected by the stone removal. It is convenient for users to select the type of pushing components according to actual needs.

[0048] Among them, the embodiment of the present invention adopts a cylinder as a pushing component.

[0049] Furthermore, the separation chute 4 is an inverted V-shaped structure, one side of the bottom of the separation chute 4 is connected to a crusher box 10, and the other side of the bottom of the separation chute 4 is connected to a stone collecting trough; the elevator 1 is a scraper elevator, and the scraper elevator is provided with a lifting conveyor belt.

[0050] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is that a separation chute is provided at the entrance of the crusher housing, and the stones that change their motion trajectory will fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute and will not enter the crusher housing, thereby realizing active stone discharge. The stones are discharged into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute instead of being discharged directly onto the ground, and can also play the role of picking up and collecting stones in the field, so that the stones can be picked up and collected online. This allows the whole machine to not only have the function of stone discharge during the operation of harvesting seed melons, but also the function of picking up field stones, so that one machine can have multiple uses; and with the annual harvest of seed melons and the picking up of field stones, the field stones can be reduced year by year.

[0051] The embodiment of the present invention provides an active stone removal scheme; stones are mixed into the machine when melon seeds and other fruits on the surface are picked up by a picking platform and brought into the machine. The melon seeds are then transported to the crusher box through an elevator. During the melon seed lifting and transportation stage, the presence of stones is identified early by X-Ray, and the identified stones are removed, achieving the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, achieving shutdown-free and maintenance-free operation, and greatly improving operating efficiency.

[0052] The design of active stone removal for seed melon harvester consists of two main parts: first, it must be able to reliably identify stones mixed into the machine, and second, it must be able to accurately remove the identified stones. Stone recognition is also called foreign body detection.

[0053] When melons and other fruits are harvested, the tumbling fruits are pushed into the machine by the conveyor (elevator). The fruits and stones are in various postures and may overlap with each other. Stones are hidden on the back of fruits and the like. Therefore, the present invention selects an x-ray scheme to detect stones. The x-ray scheme is particularly suitable for detecting situations where there is a difference in density between products (which may be fruits) and foreign objects (which may be stones). Obviously, the density of stones is much greater than that of fruits and the like, so they can be easily detected by x-rays. The x-ray scheme includes an x-ray source and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector. The detector (amorphous silicon flat panel detector 6) can output the detection results in the form of a grayscale image. The color of the stone with a higher density is darker on the grayscale image. With the help of an image morphological processing method, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of the stone with a higher density on the grayscale image. Then, the expansion corrosion morphological method is combined to perform domain connectivity processing to identify the outline and position of the stone. The embodiment of the present invention adopts a binary threshold segmentation algorithm to directly identify the position of foreign objects (stones), without the need to prepare a grayscale template in advance. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm can cover all actual operation scenarios, is faster, more accurate in identification, more suitable for vehicle-mounted applications, and more suitable for non-stop operations.

[0054] After the stone and its position are identified, the subsequent stone discharge action is controlled by the air valve to eject the high-speed cylinder (cylinder), the cylinder pushes the stone discharge baffle, and the baffle (stone discharge baffle) moves to hit the stone, and discharges it out of the machine by hitting the stone.

[0055] The embodiment of the present invention adopts an x-ray based foreign body detection solution to provide an output grayscale image. The image processing algorithm adopts a binary threshold segmentation algorithm, which has a faster computing speed and low computing power requirements. It is more suitable for on-board online real-time applications and will not affect operating efficiency.

[0056] For the technical solution of the present invention, the use of an X-ray detector to identify the presence and position of stones can also be achieved by using an optical color sorting solution, but its application occasions are limited. In some operating scenarios where the color difference is not obvious, the accuracy of the color sorting solution will be greatly reduced. Then, the stone removal action is performed by using a cylinder ejection method, which can also be achieved by using electric cylinders, springs and other structures, but compared with the cylinder method of the present invention, the speed is slow and the operating efficiency will be reduced.

[0057] 1. During the harvesting process, the seed melon harvester proposed in the present invention uses an x-ray scheme to actively identify stones, and then uses a cylinder to push the stone removal baffle to eject the stones, thereby realizing the active stone removal function of the seed melon harvester.

[0058] 2. According to different terrain conditions and fruit types, the sensitivity can be set by adjusting the exposure time and segmentation threshold, so as to set the maximum recognition accuracy for different terrain conditions and improve the stone removal rate.

[0059] 3. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm can quickly identify stones mixed into the machine. The algorithm has a fast processing speed and will not reduce the operating speed. It is very suitable for online real-time detection.

[0060] 4. It also includes the use of air cylinders (cylinders) to perform the stone removal function, which is fast and can ensure the operating speed without affecting the operating efficiency of the entire machine.

[0061] 5. The adopted stone-removing baffle structure can reduce the loss rate in the process of foreign body removal. The stone-removing baffles are divided into multiple ones. When a stone appears at a corresponding position, only the stone-removing baffle at the corresponding position will be pushed out, and other stone-removing baffles will not move, so as to prevent useful fruits and vegetables from being removed. The embodiment of the present invention can adopt three stone-removing baffles instead of a whole stone-removing baffle. If a whole stone-removing baffle is used, the fruits and vegetables in the entire working area will be removed due to the presence of a stone, and the loss of useful fruits and vegetables will be greater.

[0062] In addition, the present invention also provides a harvester, comprising a harvester stone removal device as described in any one of the above.

[0063] The beneficial effect of adopting the technical solution of the present invention is that during the stage of lifting and transporting the melon seeds, the detection mechanism can identify the mixing of stones at an early stage, and then remove the identified stones, thereby achieving the effect of active stone removal, thereby preventing stones from entering the machine and causing damage to the machine, achieving shutdown-free and maintenance-free operation, and thus greatly improving operating efficiency.

[0064] like Figure 2 As shown, in addition, the present invention also provides a harvester stone discharge method, based on a harvester stone discharge device described in any one of the above, the harvester stone discharge method includes: S1, the detection mechanism detects the transported objects on the elevator to generate a grayscale image; S2, the processor combines the image morphological algorithm to apply a binary threshold segmentation algorithm to the grayscale image to distinguish the positions of stones with higher density on the grayscale image; S3, the processor combines the expansion corrosion morphological method to perform domain connectivity processing to identify the outline and actual position of the stone; S4, after the delay time, the stone discharge mechanism actively discharges the stone.

[0065] The beneficial effect of the technical solution of the present invention is: when an x-ray detector is used to detect that a stone has entered the machine, the detector will output the detection result in the form of a grayscale image. Fruits and stones of different densities have different degrees of brightness on the grayscale image. The shape of stones with higher density on the grayscale image is much darker than fruits. Then, in combination with the image morphological algorithm, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of stones with higher density on the grayscale image. Then, in combination with the expansion corrosion morphological method, domain connectivity processing is performed to identify the outline and position of the stone. In this way, the control system can sense the stone and its position. The stone removal baffle after the appropriate delay time can just hit the moving stone, change the movement trajectory of the stone, and thus separate the movement trajectory of the stone and fruits. The binary threshold segmentation algorithm has a faster computing speed and low computing power requirements, is more suitable for on-board online real-time applications, and does not affect the operating efficiency.

[0066] Furthermore, before step S1, it includes: adjusting the exposure time of the amorphous silicon flat panel detector, and adjusting the segmentation threshold of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm until the amorphous silicon flat panel detector can distinguish between fruits and stones; step S4 includes: after the delay time, the stone discharge mechanism drives the pushing component corresponding to the actual position of the stone to pop out, push the stone discharge baffle to hit the stone, change the falling trajectory of the stone, and make the stone fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute, thereby realizing active stone discharge.

[0067] The beneficial effects of adopting the above further technical solution are: the sensitivity of the x-ray detector needs to be set before use. First, the exposure time of the amorphous silicon flat panel detector is changed. Increasing the exposure time can enhance the image contrast; second, the threshold of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm is adjusted. The coordination between the exposure time and the segmentation threshold is adjusted through parameter calibration until the detector can clearly distinguish between stones and fruits. According to different ground conditions and fruit types, the sensitivity is set by adjusting the exposure time and the segmentation threshold, so as to set the maximum recognition accuracy for different ground conditions and improve the stone rejection rate.

[0068] Furthermore, the delay time in step S4 is calculated by the following formula:

[0069] T=Δt+t1,

[0070] Among them, T is the delay time, Δt is the image processing time, and t1 is the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle;

[0071] The time t1 when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle is calculated by the following formula:

[0072]

[0073] Among them, t1 is the time it takes for the stone to leave the output end of the elevator and fall to the stone discharge baffle, h1 is the height from the output end of the elevator to the stone discharge baffle, and g is the gravitational acceleration of the stone.

[0074] The beneficial effect of adopting the above further technical solution is: when the stone reaches the detector position and is detected by the detector, the stone discharge mechanism is delayed for a certain period of time, the control valve is opened, and the compressed air pushes the cylinder to pop out, pushing the stone discharge baffle to rotate around the upper rotating shaft. After the appropriate delay time, the stone discharge baffle can just hit the moving stone, changing the movement trajectory of the stone, thereby separating the movement trajectory of the stone and the fruit. The delay time and the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle are calculated by formula to improve accuracy.

[0075] The control system (stone removal device for harvester) provided by the embodiment of the present invention uses an x-ray detector (detection mechanism) to detect that a stone has entered the machine. The detector (detection mechanism) will output the detection result in the form of a grayscale image. Fruits and stones of different densities have different degrees of brightness on the grayscale image. The shape of stones with higher density on the grayscale image is much darker than fruits. Then, in combination with the image morphological algorithm, a binary threshold segmentation algorithm is applied to the grayscale image to distinguish the position of stones with higher density on the grayscale image. Then, in combination with the expansion corrosion morphological method, domain connectivity processing is performed to identify the outline and position of the stone. In this way, the control system (stone removal device for harvester) can sense the stone and its position. Before use, the sensitivity of the x-ray detector (detection mechanism) needs to be set first. First, the exposure time of the flat panel detector (detection mechanism) is changed. Increasing the exposure time can enhance the image contrast; second, the threshold (segmentation threshold) of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm is adjusted. The coordination between the exposure time and the segmentation threshold is adjusted by parameter calibration until the detector (detection mechanism) can clearly distinguish between stones and fruits. When the stone reaches the position of the detector (detection mechanism) and is detected by the sensor (detection mechanism), the control system (harvester stone discharge device) controls the air valve to open after a certain delay, and the compressed air pushes the cylinder to pop out, pushing the stone discharge baffle to rotate around the upper rotating shaft.

[0076] T = Δt + t1, where Δt is the image processing time and t1 is the time it takes for the stone to leave the end of the elevator and fall to the stone discharge baffle.

[0077] On a 2GHz CPU processor, the time spent on processing an image is less than 0.002s. Compared with other algorithms such as image feature matching and deep model recognition, the computing speed is very fast, and the accuracy rate is maintained above 95%. For the stone removal of fruit harvesters, even if fruits are occasionally identified as stones and removed, the loss of one or two fruits is of no concern to the system.

[0078] The stone-discharging baffle after the appropriate delay T can just hit the moving stones, changing the trajectory of the stones, thereby separating the movement trajectories of the stones and fruits. The stones are discharged into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute instead of directly onto the ground, which can also play the role of picking up and collecting stones in the field, achieving the effect of picking up and collecting stones online.

[0079] like Figure 3As shown, 1. After the system is started, the sensitivity of the detection system is calibrated by adjusting the exposure time and segmentation threshold according to the types of fruits and stones in the field until the fruits and stones can be clearly distinguished; 2. The X-ray detector detects the transmission grayscale image of the fruits and stones on the lifting conveyor belt in real time, and determines whether there are stones with higher density and their positions through image morphology methods; 3. After detecting the stone, the control system drives the cylinder at the corresponding position to pop out, pushes the stone removal baffle to hit the stone, changes its falling trajectory, and makes it fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute, thereby realizing active stone removal.

[0080] 1. Use X-Ray to identify stones during the melon seed harvest process. After identifying the stones, use a cylinder to push the stone removal baffle to remove the stones.

[0081] 2. Use air cylinder (pneumatic cylinder) as the pusher of the stone discharge actuator (stone discharge mechanism), which has a fast speed and can ensure that the whole machine does not need to reduce the operating speed. Other solutions include electric push-pull rod solutions, electric cylinder solutions and other actuators.

[0082] 3. Use multiple baffles (stone removal baffles) to remove stones to reduce the loss rate of fruits and vegetables. If a whole baffle is used, the fruits and vegetables within the width of the entire conveyor belt (elevator) will have to be removed due to the appearance of a single stone, resulting in unnecessary losses and waste.

[0083] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A stone removal device for a harvester, characterized in that: include: An elevator, a detection mechanism, a stone removal mechanism, a separation chute and a processor, wherein the detection mechanism and the stone removal mechanism are both installed at the output end of the elevator, the separation chute is located below the stone removal mechanism, and the detection mechanism and the stone removal mechanism are both connected to the processor.

2. A stone removal device for a harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that: The detection mechanism includes: an x-ray source and an amorphous silicon flat panel detector, the x-ray source is located above the elevator, the amorphous silicon flat panel detector is located below the elevator, and the x-ray source and the amorphous silicon flat panel detector are arranged opposite to each other.

3. A stone removal device for a harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processor is provided with a binary threshold segmentation algorithm, and the processor is a 2 GHz CPU processor.

4. A stone removal device for a harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that: The stone removal mechanism includes: multiple pushing components, multiple stone removal baffles and a rotating shaft. The tops of the multiple stone removal baffles are rotatably installed on the rotating shaft. The multiple pushing components are respectively connected to the multiple stone removal baffles, and the multiple pushing components are connected to the processor.

5. A stone removal device for a harvester according to claim 4, characterized in that: The pushing component is a pneumatic cylinder, an electric cylinder or a hydraulic cylinder.

6. The stone removal device for a harvester according to claim 1, characterized in that: The separation chute is an inverted V-shaped structure, one side of the bottom of the separation chute is connected to a crusher box, and the other side of the bottom of the separation chute is connected to a stone collecting trough; the elevator is a scraper elevator, and the scraper elevator is provided with an elevator conveyor belt.

7. A harvester, characterized in that: A harvester stone removal device comprising any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A method for removing stones from a harvester, characterized in that: Based on a harvester stone removal device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 above, a harvester stone removal method comprises: S1. The detection mechanism detects the transported objects on the elevator and generates a grayscale image; S2, the processor applies a binary threshold segmentation algorithm to the grayscale image in combination with an image morphology algorithm to distinguish the locations of denser stones on the grayscale image; S3, the processor combines the expansion and corrosion morphology method to perform domain connectivity processing and identify the outline and actual position of the stone; S4. After the delay time, the stone discharge mechanism actively discharges the stones.

9. A stone removal method for a harvester according to claim 8, characterized in that: Before step S1, the method includes: adjusting the exposure time of the amorphous silicon flat panel detector and adjusting the segmentation threshold of the binary threshold segmentation algorithm until the amorphous silicon flat panel detector can distinguish between fruits and stones; Step S4 includes: after the delay time, the stone discharge mechanism drives the pushing component corresponding to the actual position of the stone to pop out, pushes the stone discharge baffle to hit the stone, changes the falling trajectory of the stone, and makes the stone fall into the stone collecting trough along the separation chute, thereby realizing active stone discharge.

10. The stone removal method for a harvester according to claim 8, characterized in that: The delay time in step S4 is calculated by the following formula: T=Δt+t1, Among them, T is the delay time, Δt is the image processing time, and t1 is the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle; The time t1 when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle is calculated by the following formula: Among them, t1 is the time when the stone leaves the output end of the elevator and falls to the stone discharge baffle, h1 is the height from the output end of the elevator to the stone discharge baffle, and g is the gravitational acceleration of the stone.

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