An automatic loach slaughtering all-in-one machine and method

Abstract

The application discloses a loach automatic slaughtering integrated machine and method, which comprises a slime cleaning mechanism, a body state correcting mechanism, a polarity correcting mechanism and a evisceration mechanism. The slime cleaning mechanism is used for cleaning loaches. The body state correcting mechanism comprises a storage hopper and a guide pipe. The storage hopper is used for receiving the loaches sent by the slime cleaning mechanism, and the guide pipe is used for sending the loaches to the polarity correcting mechanism one by one. The loaches enter a turning pipe, and a camera is used for shooting the loaches to realize visual identification. The turning pipe is used for correcting the loach head to face the evisceration mechanism. Two conveyer belts are used for clamping and conveying the loaches in parallel. Saw blades and scraping wheels are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyer belts. The saw blades are used for rotating to cut the loaches, and the scraping wheels are used for rotating to remove the internal organs of the loaches. The loach slaughtering full-process automation is realized by integrating the four functional modules of slime cleaning, body state correcting, polarity correcting and evisceration. The loach slaughtering full-process automation can effectively reduce the production cost, improve the production efficiency and product quality, and is suitable for the large-scale development of the loach deep processing industry.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of aquatic product processing technology, and more specifically, to an automated loach slaughtering machine and method. Background Technology

[0002] Loach meat is tender, delicious, and nutritious, possessing both edible and medicinal value, making it highly popular among consumers. However, loach have slender bodies, smooth surfaces, and abundant mucus, making them difficult to handle by hand and extremely inconvenient to slaughter and process. For a long time, loach slaughter has mainly relied on manual operation, which is not only labor-intensive and inefficient but also poses certain safety hazards during the use of knives, severely restricting the large-scale development of the loach deep processing industry.

[0003] In the existing technology, in order to solve the above problems, some loach slaughtering machinery and equipment have appeared on the market. However, they generally suffer from the serious defect of single function. Most of the equipment can only complete one or two processes, such as only gutting and scraping internal organs or only removing the head. The remaining processes still need to be completed manually. The single function means that processing plants need to purchase multiple machines, which increases procurement costs and floor space. The large amount of manual transfer between processes not only reduces the overall production efficiency, but also easily causes problems such as fish damage, inconsistent slaughtering size, and incomplete cleaning of internal organs, resulting in inconsistent product quality. Therefore, a technical solution is needed to solve the above problems. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and realize the full automation of loach slaughtering, which can effectively reduce production costs, improve production efficiency and product quality, and is suitable for the large-scale development of the loach deep processing industry. This invention provides an automated loach slaughtering machine and method.

[0005] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0006] This invention discloses an automated loach slaughtering machine, comprising a mucus cleaning mechanism, a body alignment mechanism, a polarity correction mechanism, and a gutting and eviscerating mechanism. The mucus cleaning mechanism includes a vortex tank and a cleaning tank. A spiral cleaning water flow is formed inside the vortex tank. The discharge end of the vortex tank is connected to the cleaning tank. The cleaning tank includes two rotating brushes for cleaning. The body alignment mechanism includes a storage hopper and a guide pipe. The upper end of the storage hopper is connected to the discharge end of the cleaning tank. The two ends of the guide pipe are respectively connected to the storage hopper and the polarity correction mechanism. The polarity correction mechanism includes a steering pipe and a camera. The steering pipe is located within the shooting range of the camera and can rotate horizontally. The gutting and eviscerating mechanism includes a conveyor belt, a saw blade, and a scraper. Two conveyor belts are arranged in parallel and spaced apart. The outlet end of the steering pipe is connected to the space between the two conveyor belts. The saw blade and scraper are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyor belts and can rotate and partially extend between the two conveyor belts.

[0007] Furthermore, the guide tube is inclined, the upper end of the guide tube is connected to the storage hopper, the storage hopper includes a valve, the valve controls the opening and closing of the upper end of the guide tube, the lower end of the guide tube extends to the polarity correction mechanism, the guide tube includes a guide channel, the opening size of the guide channel gradually decreases from top to bottom, and the lower end face of the guide channel is V-shaped.

[0008] Furthermore, the storage hopper includes at least two limiting posts, which are located on the inner bottom surface of the storage hopper. The two limiting posts are close to the outlet of the storage hopper and are spaced apart from each other.

[0009] Furthermore, the polarity correction mechanism includes a feed pipe, a discharge pipe, an annular frame, and a push rod. The feed pipe and the discharge pipe are located at opposite ends of the deflection pipe. The annular frame surrounds the outer periphery of the deflection pipe in the direction of rotation. The push rod can pass through the channel formed by the feed pipe, the deflection pipe, and the discharge pipe, and the push rod can extend and retract in the direction of the conveyor belt.

[0010] Furthermore, the gutting and cleaning mechanism includes a lifting device and a limiting pressure plate. The limiting pressure plate is located between the two conveyor belts and above the saw blade and the scraper. The saw blade and the scraper are driven to move up and down by the lifting device.

[0011] Furthermore, the cleaning box includes a box body and a spray head. The vortex bucket is located above the box body. Two brush cylinders are rotatably installed inside the cleaning box. The spray head is located above the brush cylinders. The side wall of the box body is provided with a discharge pipe, which is connected to the storage hopper. The bottom of the box body is connected to a drain pipe.

[0012] This invention also discloses an automated loach slaughtering method, based on the aforementioned automated loach slaughtering machine, comprising the following steps:

[0013] S1. Cleaning: The loach is sent into the vortex bucket of the slime cleaning mechanism to clean and remove mud and sand, and then the slime is cleaned through the cleaning box.

[0014] S2. Posture Adjustment: The posture correction mechanism enables each loach to maintain a belly-down position.

[0015] S3, Orientation Adjustment: The orientation state of the loach in the steering pipe is obtained through the visual recognition system of the polarity correction mechanism. The head of the loach is oriented towards the rear end through the rotatable steering pipe, and the loach is pushed towards the gutting and cleaning mechanism through the push rod.

[0016] S4. Gutting and gutting: Calculate the loach's body height using the current loach data obtained in S3, adjust the height of the saw blade and scraper wheel according to the loach's body height data, and use a conveyor belt to clamp and transport the loach to complete the gutting and gutting process.

[0017] Furthermore, in step S3, the camera of the visual recognition system captures a photo of the loach at a position above the inlet of the turning pipe. The captured photo is converted into a grayscale pixel image, and an end image of the portion near the inlet of the turning pipe is selected. The end image is 1 / 5 of the length of the captured photo, and the total pixel area of ​​the end image is set to... The area of ​​the fish body pixels is ,when At that time, the turning pipe rotates 180°, when At this time, the diverting pipe remains stationary.

[0018] Furthermore, in step S4, the formula for calculating the pixel equivalent coefficient is:

[0019]

[0020] in, This is the actual body length of the loach. To determine the pixel length of the fish in the photograph, an ellipse is fitted using the extracted outer contour of the fish. The major axis of the fitted ellipse is... Reflecting the body length of the fish, the minor axis of the fitted ellipse The width of the loach reflects its body width, while its actual body length is less. It can be represented as Body width It can be represented as Based on its body length, the loach's body height can be estimated as follows: Based on the body width, the body height of the loach can be estimated as follows: .

[0021] Furthermore, the depth of the loach's internal organs The calculation formula is:

[0022]

[0023] in, This is the cutting coefficient. To provide a safety margin, the saw blade's cutting depth... The beneficial effects of this invention are:

[0024] 1. This invention integrates four functional modules: mucus cleaning, body posture correction, polarity correction, and gutting, thereby automating the entire process of loach slaughtering. It solves the problems of high labor intensity, low efficiency, and high safety hazards associated with traditional manual slaughtering, as well as the limited functionality and inconsistent product quality of existing equipment. It can effectively reduce production costs, improve production efficiency and product quality, and is suitable for the large-scale development of the loach deep processing industry.

[0025] 2. This invention supports two core processes simultaneously—polarity correction and gutting—through a visual recognition system. It achieves single image acquisition and reuse of parameters from multiple processes, significantly improving equipment integration and avoiding the need for redundant detection devices. The visual system first determines the head and tail orientation of the loach through image feature recognition, then drives the steering pipe to complete polarity correction, ensuring all loaches enter the gutting process in a uniform posture. This avoids gutting misalignment from the outset. The system directly and synchronously reuses acquired images, extracts the fish's external contour information, and completes size fitting. Based on this, it calculates the fish's height parameters and drives the lifting device to dynamically adjust the working height of the saw blade and scraper. This achieves precise gutting and viscera removal for loaches of different sizes, eliminating the problem of gallbladder rupture affecting meat quality while ensuring thorough viscera cleaning. It achieves seamless integration of precise posture correction and adaptive processing, effectively improving finished product quality and processing efficiency. Attached Figure Description

[0026] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of one embodiment.

[0027] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a mucus cleaning mechanism in this embodiment.

[0028] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the body posture correction mechanism, polarity correction mechanism, and evisceration mechanism in this embodiment.

[0029] Figure 4 for Figure 3 A top view.

[0030] Figure 5 for Figure 3 A schematic diagram of another direction.

[0031] Reference numerals: 1. Slime cleaning mechanism; 11. Vortex tank; 12. Cleaning box; 121. Box body; 122. Spray head; 123. Brush cylinder; 124. Discharge pipe; 125. Drain pipe; 2. Body alignment mechanism; 21. Storage hopper; 211. Valve; 212. Limiting post; 22. Guide pipe; 3. Polarity correction mechanism; 31. Feed pipe; 32. Diverting pipe; 33. Discharge pipe; 34. Annular frame; 35. Push rod; 36. Camera; 37. Drive device; 4. Gutting and cleaning mechanism; 41. Conveyor belt; 42. Saw blade; 43. Scraper wheel; 44. Lifting device; 45. Limiting pressure plate. Detailed Implementation

[0032] The technical solutions in this embodiment will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] like Figures 1 to 5 As shown, this embodiment discloses an automated loach slaughtering machine, including a mucus cleaning mechanism 1, a body shape correction mechanism 2, a polarity correction mechanism 3, and a gutting mechanism 4 connected in sequence. The whole machine is controlled by a PLC system, realizing the fully automated operation of loach from mucus removal, body shape preparation, head and tail correction to gutting, without manual intervention, which greatly improves slaughtering efficiency. Before the loach enters the machine, manual screening is required to remove smaller loaches and half-dead or dead loaches to ensure the consistency of individual loaches. The loach we slaughter is mainly the large-scaled loach (usually referring to the Taiwan loach), which currently dominates the loach market, and its breeding output accounts for about 80% of the national total.

[0034] The mucus removal mechanism 1 is used to remove mud and sand carried by loaches and mucus from their body surface. It includes a vortex bucket 11 and a cleaning tank 12. After being cleaned with salt water in the vortex bucket 11, the loaches are cleaned with mucus in the cleaning tank 12. The vortex bucket 11 is a cylindrical bucket with an inlet on the upper side wall to allow water to flow in and form a spiral vortex. A valve and a discharge port are located at the bottom of the side wall. During operation, a salt water concentration of 2.5% to 3% is added to the vortex bucket 11. The salt water forms a rotating vortex, and the loaches roll and rub in the vortex. At the same time, the salt water can stimulate the loaches to secrete mucus, and at the same time, it can cause the original mucus on their body surface to be initially removed. The vortex cleaning removes 70% of the mucus and washes away the mud and sand in 2 to 3 minutes. It can effectively remove most of the mucus without damaging the loaches. After cleaning, the valve is opened and the loaches can slide into the cleaning tank 12 below.

[0035] The cleaning tank 12 includes a tank body 121, a spray head 122, two brush cylinders 123, a discharge pipe 124, and a drain pipe 125. The tank body 121 has a rectangular structure. The two brush cylinders 123 are installed in parallel and rotate in the middle of the tank body 121. The side wall of the tank body 121 is also provided with an inclined guide plate, which is located above the brush cylinders 123 to allow the loach to fall between the two brush cylinders 123 and prevent the loach from falling out of the brush cylinders 123. The surface of the brush cylinders 123 is covered with soft nylon bristles. The rotation of the two brush cylinders 123... The rotation direction is opposite, forming an inward clamping and conveying force. The spray head 122 is installed above the brush cylinder 123 and is connected to an external clean water source through a water pipe. It can spray clean water onto the brush cylinder 123 and the loach. The brush cylinder 123 rotates relative to each other at 120-150 r / min in conjunction with the water flow for secondary cleaning. It flexibly simulates manual scrubbing to avoid damage. Finally, it is sprayed by a 0.2-0.3 MPa high-pressure nozzle, achieving a mucus removal rate of 95% and significantly improving cleanliness. The axes of the two brush cylinders 123 are inclined downwards towards the outlet of the box 121 to facilitate brushing during the process of being sent to the rear end.

[0036] The discharge pipe 124 is located on the lower side wall of the box 121, at the discharge end of the brush cylinder 123. The outlet of the discharge pipe 124 is connected to the storage hopper 21 of the body alignment mechanism 2. After being cleaned by the brush cylinder 123, the loach slides down into the storage hopper 21 through the discharge pipe 124. The drain pipe 125 is connected to the bottom of the box 121 to discharge the wastewater generated during cleaning. The drain pipe 125 is equipped with a filter screen to prevent loach and debris from entering the drainage system.

[0037] The body alignment mechanism 2 is used to organize the messy loaches into a state where they are sent out one by one. The body alignment mechanism 2 includes a storage hopper 21 and a guide tube 22. The storage hopper 21 is a funnel-shaped structure that is wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. Its upper opening receives the loaches sent out from the discharge pipe 124 of the slime cleaning mechanism 1. The inner bottom surface of the storage hopper 21 is provided with at least two limiting posts 212. The two limiting posts 212 are installed vertically and are close to the bottom outlet of the storage hopper 21. The gap width between the two limiting posts 212 is 15-20cm, allowing only one loach to pass through at a time, effectively preventing multiple loaches from entering the guide tube 22 at the same time and causing blockage. A valve 211 is provided at the bottom outlet of the storage hopper 21. The valve 211 adopts a servo motor-controlled rotating opening and closing plate structure, which can control the opening and closing of the upper end of the guide tube 22 to realize the intermittent delivery of loaches one by one.

[0038] The guide tube 22 is inclined at an angle of 30° to 45°. Its upper end is connected to the outlet of the storage hopper 21, and its lower end extends to the inlet of the feed pipe 31 of the polarity correction mechanism 3. The guide tube 22 feeds the loaches one by one to the polarity correction mechanism 3. The guide tube 22 has a guide channel inside, and the opening size of the guide channel gradually decreases from top to bottom. The lower end face is V-shaped, that is, the cross-section of the guide channel is triangular. This structure allows the loaches to slide down naturally under the action of gravity and gradually adjust their body position. Finally, they enter the polarity correction mechanism 3 with their abdomen down and their body along the axis of the guide channel, preventing the loaches from lying flat. As long as the loaches are alive, their physiological structure determines that during the natural sliding process without external interference, they will only be in a state of abdomen down or lying on their side, and will not be in a stable state of back down.

[0039] The polarity correction mechanism 3 is used to precisely correct the head and tail orientation of the loaches, ensuring that all loaches enter the gutting and cleaning mechanism 4 with their heads facing forward, thus guaranteeing the accuracy of gutting and cleaning. The polarity correction mechanism 3 includes an inlet pipe 31, a turning pipe 32, an outlet pipe 33, an annular frame 34, a push rod 35, a camera 36, ​​and a drive device 37. The inlet pipe 31 and the outlet pipe 33 are arranged in a straight line and are located at both ends of the length of the turning pipe 32. The turning pipe 32 is a rectangular pipe, and its inner diameter is the same as that of the inlet pipe 31 and the outlet pipe 33, just enough to supply... A loach passes through, maintaining its belly downwards and preventing it from lying flat. The turning pipe 32 is driven by the drive device 37 below to rotate 180° around its center each time. The annular frame 34 surrounds the outer periphery of the turning pipe 32 in the direction of rotation, supporting and guiding the rotational movement of the turning pipe 32. At the same time, it blocks the end of the turning pipe 32 during rotation to prevent the loach from falling out of the turning pipe 32. The annular frame 34 has openings corresponding to the feed pipe 31 and the discharge pipe 33 to facilitate the loach entering and exiting the turning pipe 32.

[0040] The push rod 35 is located on the side of the feed pipe 31 away from the turning pipe 32. The push rod 35 can pass through the feed pipe 31. The diameter of the push rod 35 is smaller than the inner diameter of the pipe. A sponge push block is installed at the end of the push rod 35. The push rod 35 can reciprocate along the length of the pipe under the action of the drive motor, gear, and rack. The rack is set along the length of the push rod 35 and passes through the channel formed by the feed pipe 31, the turning pipe 32, and the discharge pipe 33 in sequence. It is used to push the loach from the feed pipe 31 into the turning pipe 32, and from the turning pipe 32 to the discharge pipe 33, and then push it out to the gutting and cleaning mechanism 4. The opening size of the discharge pipe 33 gradually decreases towards the gutting and cleaning mechanism 4 to ensure the stability of the posture of the pushed loach.

[0041] Camera 36 is mounted above the turning pipe 32, with its lens pointing vertically downwards towards the interior of the turning pipe 32. The turning pipe 32 is a transparent pipe. Camera 36 is electrically connected to the control system and can capture images of loaches entering the turning pipe 32. It uses an image recognition algorithm to determine the direction of the loach's head and tail. When the loach's head is detected as facing the discharge pipe 33, the turning pipe 32 does not rotate, and push rod 35 directly pushes the loach out. When the loach's tail is detected as facing the discharge pipe 33, the control system drives the turning pipe 32 to rotate 180°, adjusting the loach's head to face the discharge pipe 33. The push rod 35 then pushes the loach out; when the loach's belly is detected to be facing upward, the turning pipe 32 rotates 90°. The polarity correction mechanism 3 also includes a rejection device, which is located on the side of the turning pipe 32. The rejection device includes a rejection rod, and the annular frame 34 is also provided with two openings, that is, the annular frame 34 has four openings spaced 90° apart. The rejection rod is driven and controlled by a telescopic cylinder or motor. The rejection rod can pass through the turning pipe 32 and push the loach with its belly facing upward out of the turning pipe 32. The rejected loach is sent back to the storage hopper 21 by the conveyor belt.

[0042] The inlet pipe 31, the turning pipe 32, and the outlet pipe 33 are all rectangular pipes. To prevent loaches from flipping over inside the visual correction chamber, the cross-sectional dimensions of the pipes are constrained based on the loach's approximately elliptical cross-section. The loach's ventral direction can be considered as the major axis of the ellipse, i.e., its height, and the left-right direction can be considered as the minor axis, i.e., its width. The vision system obtains the loach's length and width through target detection, contour extraction, and ellipse fitting, and estimates the height based on experimental statistics. On this basis, the height distribution of commonly found loaches in the market is obtained through multiple experiments and statistical analysis. The range was determined, and body height data covering approximately 95% of the samples were selected as the basis for the size design of the feed pipe 31, turning pipe 32, and discharge pipe 33. The feed pipe 31, turning pipe 32, and discharge pipe 33 adopt a rectangular cross-section structure. The long side is used to adapt to the height of the loach in the ventral and dorsal direction, and the short side is used to limit the lateral posture changes of the loach. By reasonably designing the ratio of the long side to the short side of the rectangle, the loach can maintain a stable state with its belly down and its back up in the container, reducing the possibility of its belly and back turning over, thereby improving the stability and accuracy of visual recognition, abdominal positioning, and subsequent evisceration control.

[0043] The gutting and eviscerating mechanism 4 is used to complete the gutting and eviscerating of loaches. The mechanism 4 includes two parallel conveyor belts 41, a saw blade 42, a scraper wheel 43, a lifting device 44, and a limiting pressure plate 45. The two conveyor belts 41 are vertically arranged synchronous belts covered with an anti-slip rubber layer, which can firmly clamp the loaches and transport them horizontally forward. The gap between the two conveyor belts 41 is slightly smaller than the body diameter of the loach to ensure that the loach will not slip or fall off during transport. The feeding of the conveyor belts 41... The end is aligned with the outlet of the discharge pipe 33 of the polarity correction mechanism 3, and can receive the loach sent from the polarity correction mechanism 3; the limiting pressure plate 45 is horizontally set above the two conveyor belts 41 to form a limit above the loach, preventing the loach from jumping upward during the gutting and cleaning process, and ensuring processing accuracy. A tray is installed below the conveyor belt 41 to prevent the loach from falling during the conveying process. A gap is set between the tray and the conveyor belt 41, and the installed sensor can identify whether the loach is in place at the gap.

[0044] The saw blade 42 and scraper wheel 43 are arranged sequentially along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt 41. The saw blade 42 is located in front of the scraper wheel 43. The saw blade 42 is a thin, circular saw blade, mounted on the output shaft of the first drive motor, and can rotate at high speed to cut the loach from the midline of its abdomen. The scraper wheel 43 is a circumferentially shaped rotary scraper wheel with multiple scraper blades evenly distributed around its circumference. It is mounted on the output shaft of the second drive motor and can extend into the loach's body to rotate and scrape away its internal organs. The lifting device 44 is an electric lifting platform, and the saw blade 42, scraper wheel 43, and their drive motors are all mounted on the lifting device 44. On the lifting plate 4, the lifting device 44 can adjust the height of the saw blade 42 and the scraper 43 according to the size of the loach, ensuring that the gutting depth is appropriate, so as not to cut the gallbladder and affect the meat quality, and to ensure that the internal organs are completely scraped off. At the same time, after passing through the rotating scraper, the conveyor belt 41 reverses to perform a contour-following alternating scraping operation, that is, the conveyor belt drives the loach to pass back and forth through the scraper, simulating the manual scraping action, thoroughly cleaning the gills of residual internal organs. After the internal organs are scraped off, they naturally fall into the internal organ collection tank below. Finally, the spray head washes away the residual blood and internal organ debris, and after inspection, they are packaged or continued for further processing.

[0045] This all-in-one machine integrates four major functional modules: mucus cleaning, body alignment, polarity correction, and gutting. It automates the entire process of loach slaughtering, solving the problems of high labor intensity, low efficiency, and significant safety hazards associated with traditional manual slaughtering, as well as the limited functionality and inconsistent product quality of existing equipment. It can effectively reduce production costs, improve production efficiency and product quality, and is suitable for the large-scale development of the loach deep processing industry.

[0046] This embodiment, based on the aforementioned automated loach slaughtering machine, discloses an automated loach slaughtering method, including the following steps:

[0047] S1. Cleaning: Pour the live loaches to be slaughtered into the vortex bucket 11, add 3% edible salt water, turn on the stirring device of the vortex bucket 11 to form a rotating vortex at 70r / min, clean for 2.5 minutes to remove mud and most of the mucus from the surface of the loaches, and then open the discharge port at the bottom of the vortex bucket 11 so that the loaches fall into the cleaning box 12 below.

[0048] Inside the cleaning tank 12, two counter-rotating brushes 123 scrub the falling loaches at a speed of 120 r / min. At the same time, the high-pressure spray head 122 above sprays clean water at a pressure of 0.25 MPa, which, together with the nylon bristles, thoroughly removes the mucus remaining on the surface of the loaches. The cleaned loaches automatically flow into the storage hopper 21 through the discharge pipe 124.

[0049] S2, Body Adjustment: Under the action of gravity, the loaches in the storage hopper 21 gather towards the bottom outlet. The two limit posts 212 force only one loach to enter the guide pipe 22 through the outlet at a time. The valve 211 opens and closes intermittently at a frequency of 1.5 times / second to control the conveying speed of the loaches and prevent the pipe from being blocked.

[0050] The loach slides down naturally in the guide tube 22 with an inclination angle of 35°. Under the combined action of the gradually narrowing guide channel and the V-shaped lower end face, it automatically adjusts to a standard posture with its belly facing down and its body along the axis, and then slides into the feed pipe 31 of the polarity correction mechanism 3.

[0051] S3. Orientation Adjustment: After the loach enters the transparent deflection pipe 32 from the feed pipe 31, the industrial camera 36 immediately triggers shooting to acquire a color image of the loach. The control system processes the image according to the head and tail recognition algorithm described above to determine the orientation status of the loach.

[0052] If the loach's head is detected to be facing the discharge pipe 33, the diversion pipe 32 remains stationary;

[0053] If the loach's tail is detected to be facing the discharge pipe 33, the control system drives the stepper motor to rotate the steering pipe 32 by 180° to complete the head and tail orientation correction.

[0054] The specific image processing and judgment methods are as follows:

[0055] This algorithm is based on the morphological differences between the head and tail of the loach (wider head, longer tail):

[0056] S3.1 Image Acquisition: After the loach has fully entered the turning pipe 32 and come to a stop, the industrial camera 36 is triggered to capture a color RGB image.

[0057] S3.2 Image Preprocessing:

[0058] Convert a color image to an 8-bit grayscale image;

[0059] A 3×3 Gaussian filter was used to filter the grayscale image to remove image noise and smooth the edges of the fish.

[0060] S3.3 Binarization Processing: An adaptive thresholding method is used to binarize the ROI region, separating the fish body (dark color) from the background (transparent pipe, light color) to obtain a binary image, in which the pixel value of the fish body is 1 (white) and the pixel value of the background is 0 (black).

[0061] S3.4 Contour Recognition Confirmation:

[0062] After deep learning of loach outline pixel images through a visual recognition system, the system identifies the outline region of the loach in the currently acquired image. The standard template image of the loach is compared with the image after shooting and processing. The recognition is qualified if the similarity of the fish body outline reaches more than 85%.

[0063] The images of loaches are converted to black and white, and the gray percentage value within the loach's outline area is identified. When the gray percentage value is less than 50%, the loach is identified as being in a state where its belly is facing up, triggering the removal system to remove the loach with its belly facing up.

[0064] S3.5 ROI Extraction: In the grayscale image, select the region of interest (ROI) as the 1 / 5 length area closest to the inlet of feed pipe 31, i.e., the end image. For example, if the total length of the fish in the image is 500 pixels, then select the leftmost 100-pixel length area as the ROI.

[0065] S3.6, Pixel area calculation:

[0066] Calculate the total pixel area of ​​the ROI region That is, the width × height of the ROI region;

[0067] The number of pixels with a value of 1 in a binary image represents the pixel area of ​​the fish within the Region of Interest (ROI). .

[0068] S3.7 Orientation Judgment and Control:

[0069] when When the fish body is wide within the ROI area, which is the head of the loach, the loach's tail is currently facing the discharge pipe 33. The control system drives the stepper motor to rotate the steering pipe 32 180°, adjusting the loach's head to face the discharge pipe 33.

[0070] when When the fish body is thinner within the ROI area, it indicates that the loach's tail is facing the discharge pipe 33, while the turning pipe 32 remains stationary.

[0071] S3.8 Loach Pushing: After the orientation correction is completed, the control system drives the gear and the rack of the push rod 35 to move the push rod 35, pushing the loach from the discharge pipe 33 to the gutting and cleaning mechanism 4.

[0072] S4. Gutting and gutting: Calculate the loach's body height using the current loach data obtained in S3. Adjust the height of the saw blade and scraper wheel based on this data. The loach is then gripped and conveyed via a conveyor belt to complete the gutting and evisceration process. The specific calculation method is as follows:

[0073] S4.1 Pixel Equivalent Coefficient Calibration: During the equipment debugging phase, the known actual length is... A standard bar is placed inside the turning pipe 32, and a camera 36 captures an image of the standard bar. The pixel length P of the standard bar in the image is measured, and then the pixel equivalent coefficient is determined. (Unit: mm / pixel), After calibration, The value is stored in the control system and calibrated. This is used for subsequent dimension calculations.

[0074] S4.2 Fish Body Size Extraction: Edge detection is performed on the loach images captured by camera 36 to extract the outer contour of the fish body. Then, the least squares method is used to fit an ellipse to the outer contour of the fish body to obtain the major axis of the fitted ellipse. (pixels) and short axis (pixels), where the major axis Reflecting the body length and short axis of the fish Reflects the width of the fish's body.

[0075] S4.3 Calculation of actual dimensions:

[0076] Loach's actual body length: (Unit: mm);

[0077] Loach's actual body width: (Unit: mm)

[0078] S4.4 Body Height Estimation: Based on the biological characteristics of loaches, two methods are used to estimate body height and the average value is taken to improve the estimation accuracy:

[0079] Based on body length estimation: ;

[0080] Based on body width estimation: .

[0081] If relatively stable body length and width parameters are obtained simultaneously, the two results can be weighted and fused to improve the robustness of the estimation; for example, a comprehensive body height estimation formula can be constructed:

[0082]

[0083] in, This is the weighting coefficient, and its empirical benchmark value can be set to 0.65. In actual operation, It can be used as an adaptive parameter: when the loach posture in the image is relatively straight and the length measurement is more stable, the weight based on body length estimation can be appropriately increased; when the fish body is significantly curved and the short axis measurement is more reliable, the weight based on body width estimation can be appropriately increased.

[0084] S4.5, Calculation of processing parameters:

[0085] The depth of the loach's internal organs The calculation formula is:

[0086]

[0087] in, The cutting coefficient is typically the distance from below the loach's spine to its abdomen, which is about 45-55% of its body height. In this example, it can be taken as 0.5. To ensure a safety margin, considering the mechanical clearance of the cutter and the elasticity of the loach's skin, a very small constant is added. The specific constant needs to be adjusted on-site, and in this embodiment, it can be taken as 0.5mm.

[0088] The above formula can be used to calculate the height of the loach after removing its internal organs. To avoid puncturing the gallbladder, the depth of the gutting saw blade needs to be adjusted. When the saw blade is positioned in the center of the fish's body, the following empirical formula can be used:

[0089]

[0090] If the knife cuts directly to the center of the fish gallbladder, it is easy to rupture the gallbladder; a safety margin should be set.

[0091]

[0092] in:

[0093]

[0094] like ,but:

[0095]

[0096] Based on the abdominal cavity depth of the loach, this embodiment adopts a dynamic adjustment of the cutting depth along the body length:

[0097] The initial segment (0-25%): normal cut, depth approximately 0.28H-0.32H;

[0098] Middle section (25%–50%): shallow cut, approximately 0.2H–0.25H deep, to avoid the gallbladder in the loach's internal organs;

[0099] Rear segment (50%–100%): Normal cut, depth approximately 0.28H–0.32H.

[0100] The front-end visual recognition system can calculate the current body length of the loach. The sensor at the conveyor belt senses the position of the loach. The conveyor belt's transmission time is calculated to determine the length of the loach passing the saw blade. Based on the calculated saw blade height, the control system sends a control command to the electric lifting device 44 to complete the height adjustment before the loach reaches the saw blade position, thus achieving precise processing through dynamic adjustment.

[0101] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions falling within the scope of the present invention's concept are within the scope of protection of the present invention. It should be noted that for those skilled in the art, any improvements and modifications made without departing from the principles of the present invention should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An automated loach slaughtering machine, characterized in that, The system includes a slime cleaning mechanism (1), a body alignment mechanism (2), a polarity correction mechanism (3), and a gutting and cleaning mechanism (4). The slime cleaning mechanism (1) includes a vortex tank (11) and a cleaning tank (12). A spiral cleaning water flow is formed inside the vortex tank (11). The discharge end of the vortex tank (11) is connected to the cleaning tank (12). The cleaning tank (12) includes two rotating brush cylinders (123) for cleaning. The body alignment mechanism (2) includes a storage hopper (21) and a guide tube (22). The upper end of the storage hopper (21) is connected to the discharge end of the cleaning tank (12). The two ends of the guide tube (22) are respectively connected to the storage hopper (21) and the polarity correction mechanism (3). The polarity correction mechanism (3) includes a steering pipe (32) and a camera (36). The steering pipe (32) is located within the shooting range of the camera (36). The steering pipe (32) can rotate horizontally. The gutting and cleaning mechanism (4) includes a conveyor belt (41), a saw blade (42), and a scraper (43). The two conveyor belts (41) are arranged in parallel and spaced apart. The outlet end of the steering pipe (32) is connected to the space between the two conveyor belts (41). The saw blade (42) and the scraper (43) are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveyor belt (41). The saw blade (42) and the scraper (43) can rotate and partially extend into the space between the two conveyor belts (41).

2. The automated loach slaughtering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The guide tube (22) is inclined, and the upper end of the guide tube (22) is connected to the storage hopper (21). The storage hopper (21) includes a valve (211), which controls the opening and closing of the upper end of the guide tube (22). The lower end of the guide tube (22) extends to the polarity correction mechanism (3). The guide tube (22) includes a guide channel, the opening size of which gradually decreases from top to bottom, and the lower end face of the guide channel is V-shaped.

3. The automated loach slaughtering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The storage hopper (21) includes at least two limiting posts (212), the limiting posts (212) are located on the inner bottom surface of the storage hopper (21), the two limiting posts (212) are close to the outlet of the storage hopper (21), and the two limiting posts (212) are spaced apart.

4. The automated loach slaughtering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The polarity correction mechanism (3) includes a feed pipe (31), a discharge pipe (33), an annular frame (34), and a push rod (35). The feed pipe (31) and the discharge pipe (33) are located at the two ends of the turning pipe (32), respectively. The annular frame (34) surrounds the outer periphery of the turning pipe (32) in the direction of rotation. The push rod (35) can pass through the channel formed by the feed pipe (31), the turning pipe (32), and the discharge pipe (33). The push rod (35) can extend and retract toward the conveyor belt (41).

5. The automated loach slaughtering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The gutting and cleaning mechanism (4) includes a lifting device (44) and a limiting pressure plate (45). The limiting pressure plate (45) is located between the two conveyor belts (41) and above the saw blade (42) and the scraper (43). The saw blade (42) and the scraper (43) are driven to move up and down by the lifting device (44).

6. The automated loach slaughtering machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The cleaning tank (12) includes a tank body (121) and a spray head (122). The vortex barrel (11) is located above the tank body (121). Two brush cylinders (123) are rotatably installed inside the cleaning tank (12). The spray head (122) is located above the brush cylinders (123). The side wall of the tank body (121) is provided with a discharge pipe (124). The discharge pipe (124) is connected to the storage hopper (21). The bottom of the tank body (121) is connected to a drain pipe (125).

7. An automated method for slaughtering loach, based on the automated loach slaughtering machine described in any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. Cleaning: The loach is sent into the vortex bucket of the slime cleaning mechanism to clean and remove mud and sand, and then the slime is cleaned through the cleaning box. S2. Posture Adjustment: The posture correction mechanism enables each loach to maintain a belly-down position. S3, Orientation Adjustment: The orientation state of the loach in the steering pipe is obtained through the visual recognition system of the polarity correction mechanism. The head of the loach is oriented towards the rear end through the rotatable steering pipe, and the loach is pushed towards the gutting and cleaning mechanism through the push rod. S4. Gutting and gutting: Calculate the loach's body height using the current loach data obtained in S3, adjust the height of the saw blade and scraper wheel according to the loach's body height data, and use a conveyor belt to clamp and transport the loach to complete the gutting and gutting process.

8. The automated method for slaughtering loach according to claim 7, characterized in that, In step S3, the camera of the visual recognition system captures a photo of the loach at a position above the inlet of the turning pipe. The captured photo is converted into a grayscale pixel image, and an end image of the portion near the inlet of the turning pipe is selected. The end image is 1 / 5 of the length of the captured photo, and the total pixel area of ​​the end image is set to [value missing]. The area of ​​the fish body pixels is ,when At that time, the turning pipe rotates 180°, when At this time, the diverting pipe remains stationary.

9. The automated method for slaughtering loach according to claim 7, characterized in that, In step S4, the formula for calculating the pixel equivalent coefficient is: in, This is the actual body length of the loach. To determine the pixel length of the fish in the photograph, an ellipse is fitted using the extracted outer contour of the fish. The major axis of the fitted ellipse is... Reflecting the body length of the fish, the minor axis of the fitted ellipse The width of the loach reflects its body width, while its actual body length is less. It can be represented as Body width It can be represented as Based on its body length, the loach's body height can be estimated as follows: Based on the body width, the body height of the loach can be estimated as follows: .

10. The automated method for slaughtering loach according to claim 9, characterized in that, The depth of the loach's internal organs The calculation formula is: in, This is the cutting coefficient. To provide a safety margin, the saw blade's cutting depth... .

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