Visual grain counting machine
By adjusting the discharge gap, independently driving the vibratory feeder, and incorporating supplementary lighting, the problems of adaptability to different particle sizes and light effects in visual particle counters have been solved, thereby improving counting accuracy and precision.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- HEFEI SANGUAN MECHANICAL & ELECTRICAL EQUIP CO LTD
- Filing Date
- 2025-05-29
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-21
AI Technical Summary
Existing vision-based particle counting machines cannot adapt to different particle sizes, have uncontrollable feeding speeds, and their cameras are easily affected by ambient light, resulting in inaccurate counting.
The system employs an adjustable discharge gap height vibration assembly, multiple independently driven vibratory feeders, and supplementary lighting, combined with chute guidance and a multispectral ring light source, to ensure stable particle descent and clear image acquisition.
It enables adaptive counting of particles of different sizes, reduces the impact of ambient light on the camera, and improves counting accuracy and precision.
Smart Images
Figure CN224146330U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This utility model relates to the field of particle counting technology, specifically to a visual particle counting machine. Background Technology
[0002] Currently, particle counting technology has made significant progress, mainly including mechanical counting, photoelectric counting, and visual counting methods. Among them, visual counting technology, based on image processing and machine vision algorithms, features high precision and reliability, and is a current research hotspot. There are currently many particle counting machines on the market based on visual technology. Their main structure includes a hopper, a feeding chute, a vibrating plate, a weighing hopper, and a camera. During operation, the particles in the hopper are vibrated by the vibrating plate and discharged through the gap between the feeding chute and the vibrating plate. The particles are then spread out by the vibrating plate and fall into the weighing hopper. The camera captures images of the particles during their descent and counts them based on image processing algorithms.
[0003] The existing grain counting machines have the following main defects during operation:
[0004] (1) The height of the discharge gap between the feeding trough and the vibrating plate is fixed, which cannot be applied to materials of different particle sizes. If the particles are too large, they cannot be discharged. If the particles are too small, the material will easily overflow and accumulate, which is not conducive to accurate counting. In addition, the slightly inclined vibrating plate achieves the purpose of dispersing and spreading the material through vibration. However, at the same time, due to the vibration, the initial motion state of the particles when they fall at the end of the plate is varied. This will lead to the uncontrollable trajectory and speed of the falling particles, which is also not conducive to accurate counting.
[0005] (2) Existing grain counting machines generally use only a single vibrating plate or multiple vibrating plates of the same specification, and vibrate from the same drive source, resulting in a fixed feeding speed that cannot be adjusted and controlled. This is not conducive to accurate counting, especially when the target number of grains is about to be reached, the excessive feeding speed may lead to the failure to shut down in time.
[0006] (3) The material dropping area is located inside the machine, and the camera is easily affected by insufficient ambient light, resulting in poor image acquisition effect. Utility Model Content
[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide a visual particle counting machine that solves the defects of existing visual particle counting machines, such as uncontrollable feeding speed, inability to be applied to materials of different particle sizes, and susceptibility of the camera to ambient light.
[0008] This utility model achieves the above objectives through the following technical solutions:
[0009] A visual counting machine includes a frame and a hopper, a feeding trough, a vibration assembly, a weighing hopper and a camera mounted on the frame. The vibration assembly is used to vibrate the granules in the hopper to be fed from the feeding trough and then conveyed to the weighing hopper. The camera is used to capture images during the falling of the granules for visual counting.
[0010] The vibration assembly includes an inclined vibratory plate and a drive component for driving the vibratory plate to vibrate. The higher end of the vibratory plate is located below the feeding trough and forms a discharge gap with the feeding trough. The feeding trough is provided with an adjustment component for adjusting the height of the discharge gap. An inclined slide is also installed on the frame. The higher end of the slide is located below the lower end of the vibratory plate, and the lower end of the slide extends to the top of the weighing hopper.
[0011] A further improvement is that the tilt angle of the chute is greater than the tilt angle of the vibratory feeder.
[0012] A further improvement is that the adjusting element is a plate that slides up and down along the wall of the feeding trough.
[0013] A further improvement is that a collection hopper is installed on the frame, which is located directly above the weighing hopper and is used to receive the granular material falling from the chute and guide the granular material into the weighing hopper.
[0014] A further improvement is that the feeding trough, vibration component, camera, collection hopper and weighing hopper are each provided in several groups.
[0015] A further improvement is that a hopper is also installed on the frame, which is used to receive all the granular material discharged from the weighing hopper.
[0016] A further improvement is that the frame is equipped with supplementary lighting to illuminate the area where the camera image is captured.
[0017] A further improvement is that the vibratory feeder is divided into two discs of different widths, each disc being connected to an independently controlled drive unit, and the feeding trough is divided into two troughs, each corresponding to one of the discs to form two discharge gaps of different widths.
[0018] The beneficial effects of this utility model are as follows:
[0019] (1) The particle counting machine can adjust the discharge gap height to suit materials of different particle sizes. It is also equipped with a chute, which can eliminate the influence of vibration on the falling speed and trajectory of particles, improve the image acquisition quality, and improve the counting accuracy.
[0020] (2) The counting machine uses multiple sets of dual-specification vibrating discs and drives them independently. This allows the feeding speed to be adjusted as needed, especially when the target number of particles is about to be reached, the feeding speed can be reduced, which helps to achieve accurate stopping.
[0021] (3) The counting machine is equipped with multiple supplementary lights, which can reduce the impact of ambient light on the camera and improve the image acquisition effect. Attached Figure Description
[0022] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the external structure of the counting machine of this utility model;
[0023] Figure 2 This is a side plan view of the grain counting machine of this utility model after the shell has been removed;
[0024] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the slide groove in the counting machine of this utility model;
[0025] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the feeding trough and vibrating plate in the pellet counting machine of this utility model;
[0026] In the diagram: 1. Frame; 2. Hopper; 3. Feed chute; 4. Weighing hopper; 5. Camera; 6. Vibratory feeder; 7. Drive unit; 8. Adjusting unit; 9. Slide chute; 10. Collection hopper; 11. Feed hopper; 12. Supplemental light. Detailed Implementation
[0027] The present application will now be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the following specific embodiments are only used to further illustrate the present application and should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present application. Those skilled in the art can make some non-essential improvements and adjustments to the present application based on the above application content.
[0028] Combination Figure 1-4 As shown, a visual particle counting machine includes a frame 1 and a hopper 2, a feeding chute 3, a vibration assembly, a weighing hopper 4, and a camera 5 mounted on the frame 1. The frame 1 is also equipped with a control display screen. The vibration assembly is used to vibrate the particles in the hopper 2 to be fed from the feeding chute 3 and then laid flat and conveyed to the weighing hopper 4. The camera 5 is used to capture images during the falling of the particles for visual counting. The camera 5 can be a 50-megapixel global shutter camera (120fps) with a multispectral ring light source to eliminate reflection interference.
[0029] The vibration assembly includes an inclined vibratory plate 6 and a drive component 7 (e.g., a vibration motor, mounted on the frame 1 and connected to the bottom of the vibratory plate) for driving the vibration of the vibratory plate 6. The higher end of the vibratory plate 6 is located below the feeding trough 3 and forms a discharge gap with the feeding trough 3. The feeding trough 3 is provided with an adjusting component 8 for adjusting the height of the discharge gap. An inclined slide 9 is also installed on the frame 1. The higher end of the slide 9 is located below the lower end of the vibratory plate 6 and does not contact the vibratory plate 6. The lower end of the slide 9 extends above the weighing hopper 4. In this way, the slide 9 can receive the granular material falling from the end of the vibratory plate 6 and guide the granular material into the weighing hopper 4.
[0030] The main process of the pellet counting machine during operation is as follows: the pellets are loaded into the hopper 2, and the discharge gap height is adjusted by the adjusting component 8 to accommodate the particle size. Generally, the discharge gap height can be set slightly larger than the particle size. Then, the cameras 5 and the drive components are activated. Under the action of vibration, the pellets are discharged from the discharge gaps and are spread and conveyed by the vibrating plate 6 before falling onto the chute 9. After being accelerated and guided on the surface of the chute 9, the pellets fall into the weighing hopper 4. During the falling process, the camera 5 collects images for visual counting (this process is existing technology).
[0031] Preferably, the inclination angle of the chute 9 in this invention is greater than the inclination angle of the vibrating plate 6. For example, the inclination angle of the chute 9 is set to 25-30°, while the angle of the vibrating plate is set to 5°. In this way, when the granules are on the vibrating plate 6, they can move at a uniform speed and stably under the action of vibration. After falling into the chute 9, they can slide down faster. On the one hand, this increases the distance between the granules, avoiding mutual adhesion and overlap. On the other hand, the chute 9 plays a guiding role during the sliding process, which can consume the residual vibration energy of the granules, so that the granules fall in a basically uniform state, which is convenient for image acquisition.
[0032] Preferably, the adjusting member 8 in this utility model is a plate that slides up and down along the wall of the feeding trough 3. Specifically, a protruding post can be provided on the outer wall of the feeding trough 3, and a waist hole can be opened on the plate. The protruding post moves through the waist hole, so that the plate can slide up and down. When sliding down, the height of the discharge gap is reduced by blocking, and vice versa. Generally, the height of the discharge gap can be set to be slightly larger than the particle size.
[0033] Preferably, in this utility model, a collection hopper 10 is installed on the frame 1. The collection hopper 10 is located directly above the weighing hopper 4 and is used to receive the granular material falling from the chute 9 and guide the granular material into the weighing hopper 4. The feeding chute 3, vibration component, camera 5, collection hopper 10 and weighing hopper 4 are arranged in several groups in a one-to-one correspondence. For example, four groups are arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides in the figure. The frame 1 is also equipped with a feeding hopper 11, which is used to receive all the granular material discharged from the weighing hopper 4.
[0034] Preferably, the frame 1 of this utility model is equipped with a supplementary light 12 for supplementing the image acquisition area of the camera 5. Multiple supplementary lights 12 can be set and distributed on different sides of the acquisition area, which can reduce the influence of ambient light on the camera and improve the image acquisition effect.
[0035] Preferably, the vibratory feeder 6 in this invention consists of two discs of different widths, each connected to an independently controlled drive unit 7. The feeding trough 3 consists of two troughs, each corresponding to a disc to form two discharge gaps of different widths. During operation, when the particle count reaches a set percentage (e.g., 95%) of the target quantity, the drive unit 7 corresponding to the wider disc in the vibratory feeder 6 can be turned off, while the drive unit 7 corresponding to the narrower disc continues to vibrate, causing the particles to be discharged only through the narrower discharge gap, reducing the feeding speed and facilitating accurate stopping. The process continues until the particle count reaches the target quantity, at which point the drive unit 7 corresponding to the narrower disc is turned off again, thus completing the particle counting process. The discharge gaps have a consistent height; a wider gap means a larger discharge volume at the same time. This allows for adjustment of the discharge speed by driving different drive units 7. Another advantage of this design is that the particle density and state upon reaching the image acquisition area at different discharge speeds remain unchanged, thus not affecting the camera's acquisition operation.
[0036] The embodiments described above are merely examples of several implementations of this utility model, and while the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of this utility model patent. It should be noted that those skilled in the art can make various modifications and improvements without departing from the concept of this utility model, and these modifications and improvements all fall within the protection scope of this utility model.
Claims
1. A visual counting machine, comprising a frame (1) and a hopper (2), a feeding trough (3), a vibration assembly, a weighing hopper (4), and a camera (5) disposed on the frame (1), wherein the vibration assembly is used to vibrate the granules in the hopper (2) to be fed from the feeding trough (3) and then conveyed to the weighing hopper (4), and the camera (5) is used to capture images during the falling of the granules for visual counting, characterized in that: The vibration assembly includes an inclined vibratory plate (6) and a drive component (7) for driving the vibratory plate (6) to vibrate. The higher end of the vibratory plate (6) is located below the feeding trough (3) and forms a discharge gap with the feeding trough (3). The feeding trough (3) is provided with an adjustment component (8) for adjusting the height of the discharge gap. An inclined slide (9) is also installed on the frame (1). The higher end of the slide (9) is located below the lower end of the vibratory plate (6), and the lower end of the slide (9) extends to the top of the weighing hopper (4).
2. A visual grain counter according to claim 1, wherein, The tilt angle of the chute (9) is greater than the tilt angle of the vibratory plate (6).
3. A visual grain counter according to claim 1, wherein, The adjusting component (8) is a plate that slides up and down along the wall of the feeding trough (3).
4. A visual counting machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, A collection hopper (10) is installed on the frame (1). The collection hopper (10) is located directly above the weighing hopper (4) and is used to receive the granular material falling from the chute (9) and guide the granular material into the weighing hopper (4).
5. A visual grain counter according to claim 4, wherein, The feeding trough (3), vibration component, camera (5), collection hopper (10) and weighing hopper (4) are provided in several sets in a one-to-one correspondence.
6. A visual grain counter according to claim 5, wherein, The frame (1) is also equipped with a feeding hopper (11), which is used to receive the granular material discharged from all the weighing hoppers (4).
7. A visual grain counter according to claim 1 wherein, The frame (1) is equipped with a supplementary light (12) for supplementing the image acquisition area of the camera (5).
8. A visual grain counter according to claim 1, wherein, The vibratory plate (6) is divided into two plates of different widths, each plate is connected to an independently controlled drive unit (7), and the feeding trough (3) is divided into two troughs, each trough corresponding to a plate to form two discharge gaps of different widths.