Micro-plastic fiber evaluation method

Abstract

To provide a technique for accurately evaluating the discharge amount of micro-plastic fibers in a treatment liquid after cleaning a textile product.SOLUTION: A micro-plastic fiber evaluation method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a micro-plastic fiber evaluation method for evaluating the discharge amount of the micro-plastic fiber in a treatment liquid after cleaning a fiber product. The evaluation method includes a step of detecting a micro-plastic fiber from an image in which the processing liquid is imaged, and a step of evaluating the discharge amount of the micro-plastic fiber by calculating the amount of the detected micro-plastic fiber.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for evaluating the amount of microplastic fibers emitted in a treatment liquid used to wash textile products. [Background technology]

[0002] Microplastics are tiny plastic fragments that exist in the natural environment and are particularly problematic in the marine environment. Microplastics are thought to be, for example, fragments of plastic waste crushed in the natural environment, or tiny plastics contained in cosmetics, industrial abrasives, etc.

[0003] Furthermore, in recent years, attention has been focused on microplastics, such as microplastic fibers discharged from textile products containing synthetic fibers. For example, it is believed that microplastic fibers are formed when synthetic fibers contained in textile products fall off into washing wastewater and are dispersed into the natural environment through sewerage systems, etc.

[0004] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for quantitatively evaluating microplastics released from textile products by filtering wastewater discharged from a cleaning process with a filter having a pore size of approximately 0.1 μm to 10 μm and measuring the mass of fiber debris captured by the filter. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-183933 [Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2021-098809 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the fiber waste captured by the filter with the above pore size may contain microparticles such as microcapsules derived from detergents, in addition to microplastic fibers derived from synthetic fibers (see Patent Document 2). For this reason, there is a demand for a technology that can evaluate the amount of microplastic fiber emissions with greater accuracy than the technology described in Patent Document 1.

[0007] The present invention relates to a technology for accurately evaluating the amount of microplastic fibers emitted in a treatment liquid used to wash textile products. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] A method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to one embodiment of the present invention is a method for evaluating microplastic fibers that evaluates the amount of microplastic fibers emitted in a treatment liquid used to wash a textile product. The evaluation method includes: Detecting microplastic fibers from an image of the treatment liquid; and a step of evaluating the amount of microplastic fiber emissions by calculating the amount of the detected microplastic fiber. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately evaluate the amount of microplastic fibers emitted in the treatment liquid used to wash textile products. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a method for collecting a treatment liquid used in the method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1A to 1C are diagrams showing examples of treatment liquids used in the evaluation method and images obtained by capturing the treatment liquids. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of an evaluation device for implementing the evaluation method. [Figure 4]10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an evaluation process performed by the evaluation device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a binary image generated by the above evaluation process. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an evaluation process according to a fourth modified example of the embodiment. [Figure 7] 13 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of an evaluation process according to a fifth modified example of the embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an evaluation system for microplastic fibers according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow of the evaluation system. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an evaluation result display screen generated by the above evaluation method. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a product display showing the evaluation results obtained by the above evaluation method. [Figure 12] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow according to a first modified example of the embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an evaluation system according to a second modification of the above embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an evaluation result display screen generated by the evaluation process. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an evaluation system for microplastic fibers according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow of the evaluation system. [Figure 17] FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow according to a first modified example of the embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an analysis result display screen generated by the evaluation process. [Figure 19] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an evaluation system according to a fifth modified example of the above embodiment. [Figure 20]FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow of the evaluation system. [Figure 21] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an evaluation system for microplastic fibers according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a process flow of the evaluation system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0012] [Summary of the Invention] The present invention relates to a technique for evaluating microplastic fibers (MPF) in a treatment solution used to wash textile products. MPF is a fibrous microplastic, and its fiber length is generally less than 0.1 μm to 5 mm. MPF is known to be contained in wastewater from washing textile products containing synthetic fibers, and is considered to be a part of the synthetic fibers that have fallen off from the textile products. If wastewater containing such MPF is dispersed into the natural environment, there is concern about its impact on living organisms, including humans.

[0013] On the other hand, detergents and fabric softeners may contain particles such as microcapsules that encapsulate fragrances and the like in order to control the expression of their functions (see, for example, Patent Document 2). For this reason, laundry wastewater may contain not only MPF derived from textile products, but also particles such as microcapsules. Examples of particles include microcapsules, inorganic particles such as zeolite, and mud stains. For example, the particle size of microcapsules is about 0.5 μm to 100 μm, which is a size that overlaps with the fiber length of MPF. For this reason, the captured matter obtained by filtering laundry wastewater through a filter capable of capturing MPF may contain microcapsules in addition to MPF. Therefore, it is considered difficult to accurately evaluate the MPF derived from textile products by simply measuring the weight of this captured matter.

[0014] Therefore, the present invention is characterized in that the MPF is detected from an image of the treatment liquid used to wash a textile product, and the amount of the detected MPF is calculated. From the findings of the present inventors, it has been found that microcapsules are generally transparent, and that by performing a predetermined image processing, they can be accurately distinguished from opaque MPFs. Therefore, according to the present invention, the amount of MPF can be accurately evaluated.

[0015] The textile product in the present invention is a textile product containing synthetic fibers, and examples thereof include clothing, bedding, curtains, rugs, towels, fabrics, threads, masks, etc. The textile product in the present invention also includes fibers such as threads. The textile product may be provided as a test piece having a predetermined size. In addition, the textile product to be evaluated is not limited to one textile product, and may include multiple textile products.

[0016] Examples of synthetic fibers include polyamide fibers (nylon, etc.), polyester fibers (polyester, etc.), polyacrylonitrile fibers (acrylic, etc.), polyvinyl alcohol fibers (vinylon, etc.), polyvinyl chloride fibers (polyvinyl chloride, etc.), polyvinylidene chloride fibers (vinylidene, etc.), polyolefin fibers (polyethylene, polypropylene, etc.), polyurethane fibers (polyurethane, etc.), polyvinyl chloride / polyvinyl alcohol copolymer fibers (polycral, etc.), polyalkylene paraoxybenzoate fibers (benzoate, etc.), polyfluoroethylene fibers (polytetrafluoroethylene, etc.), etc. In addition, examples of semi-synthetic fibers obtained by chemically extracting naturally derived components, dissolving them, and spinning them include protein fibers (milk protein casein fibers, promix, etc.), and cellulose fibers (rayon, polynosic, cupra, acetate, etc.).

[0017] The term "cleaning" in the present invention means an act of exerting a physical and / or chemical action on a textile product through a treatment liquid. The term "cleaning" as used herein is not limited to an act of actually removing dirt, impurities, etc. from a textile product, but may be an act of exerting a physical and / or chemical action on a textile product so as to be able to remove dirt, impurities, etc. from the textile product. Specifically, the cleaning in the present invention is preferably at least one of a washing action or a textile scouring action. For example, the washing action includes at least one of a washing step, a rinsing step, a treatment step using a laundry aid such as a fabric softener, or a spin-drying step. The textile scouring action is, for example, an act of removing impurities, etc. attached to a textile product before dyeing using a surfactant, etc. The cleaning action in the present invention may be performed by a machine such as a washing machine, or may be performed by hand washing.

[0018] The treatment liquid in the present invention means a liquid used for washing textile products. Specifically, the treatment liquid contains a liquid such as water or an organic solvent, and preferably contains a cleaning agent. The cleaning agent includes a detergent, a fabric softener, a cleaning agent used in textile scouring, and the like.

[0019] The washing conditions in the present invention are preferably at least one condition selected from the type of detergent, the product name of the detergent, the amount of detergent used, the ratio of the mass of the clothes to the volume of the treatment liquid, the hydrophilicity of the treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), the temperature of the treatment liquid, the pH of the treatment liquid, the time of the washing process, the physical action on the textile product such as mechanical force, the type of the washing machine used, etc. The washing machine includes a washing machine, a scouring machine, and other washing machines used for washing textile products.

[0020] The image of the treatment liquid used in the present invention is an image obtained by detecting visible light with an image sensor. The image is preferably an image of only the treatment liquid excluding the textile product. The image may be captured by an evaluator or automatically by an imaging device or the like. The evaluation method using an image according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below.

[0021] First Embodiment In the first embodiment of the present invention, an example will be described in which an MPF ​​evaluator takes an image of the treatment liquid in which a textile product has been washed, and an evaluation device evaluates the amount of MPF emitted in the treatment liquid based on this image.

[0022] [Preparation of images of processing solution] An example of a method for preparing an image of a treatment liquid to be used in the evaluation of MPF will be described. First, a textile product to be evaluated is washed. The textile product may be washed in a washing machine or by hand washing. In the example shown in FIG. 1(A), the washing process of the textile product is performed by a washing machine W1. The washing process is preferably performed under predetermined washing conditions. Specifically, the washing conditions preferably include at least one of the conditions of the washing process or the treatment liquid. The conditions of the washing process preferably include at least one condition selected from the presence or absence of each process of the washing process, the rinsing process, and the spin-drying process, the time of each process, the model of the washing machine used, and the like. The conditions of the treatment liquid preferably include at least one condition selected from the hydrophilicity of the treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), the detergent contained in the treatment liquid, the temperature of the treatment liquid, and the pH of the treatment liquid. The conditions of the detergent contained in the treatment liquid preferably include at least one condition selected from, for example, the type of detergent (laundry detergent, finishing agent, organic solvent for cleaning, detergent used in textile scouring, etc.), the product name of the detergent, and the amount of detergent used.

[0023] Next, in this embodiment, it is preferable to collect the processing liquid after cleaning. The processing liquid may be collected from a tank such as a washing tank where cleaning is performed, or the processing liquid discharged from the tank may be collected. In the example shown in FIG. 1(A), the processing liquid discharged as cleaning wastewater from a cleaning machine W1 is collected in a collection container C1. If the collected processing liquid contains impurities, it is preferable to remove the impurities from the processing liquid by settling or filtration before imaging.

[0024] Next, the processing liquid after cleaning is imaged. In the example shown in Fig. 1(B), the processing liquid L collected in the collection container C1 is transferred to an imaging container C2 such as a petri dish having a wider bottom surface and imaged. By leaving the processing liquid L in the imaging container C2 to stand before imaging, the MPF contained in the processing liquid L sinks to the bottom surface of the imaging container C2, making it easier to capture a clear image.

[0025] In addition, if the color tone of the textile product in the imaged processing solution can be the same as or close to the color tone of the background of the image, a background plate or color filter with a color tone different from that of the textile product may be placed on the back side of the imaging surface of the imaging container C2. Alternatively, MPF made of synthetic fibers may be dyed. As a dyeing method, for example, after treatment with the hydrophobic dye Nile Red, only the MPF can be dyed by washing off the non-specifically adsorbed dye with ethanol. As a result, the background of the image of the processing liquid has a different color tone from the color tone of the MPF, making it easier to detect the MPF based on color tone.

[0026] For imaging the treatment liquid, an imaging device equipped with an image sensor capable of detecting visible light, such as an image scanner, a camera, or an optical microscope with an imaging function, can be used. The captured image may be an enlarged image or an image at the same magnification. When an image at the same magnification is used, it is preferable that the image has a sufficient number of pixels so that the MPF can be detected in the subsequent image processing. In the present invention, it is preferable to use an imaging device that can distinguish the shapes of particles such as MPF, microcapsules, inorganic particles such as zeolite, and mud stains. The image of the treatment liquid may be an image of the entire image container C2, or an image of a part of it.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows an example of an image M in an imaging container C2 containing a treatment liquid L. As shown in FIG. 2, the image M contains a plurality of MPFs 5 and microparticles 6 such as microcapsules against the background of the treatment liquid L. In this embodiment, the evaluation device detects and evaluates the MPFs in such an image by image processing. The evaluation device 100 in this embodiment is configured as an information processing device such as a desktop PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a tablet PC, a smartphone, or a server. The evaluation device 100 may be configured as one information processing device, or may be realized by a plurality of information processing devices working together. The configuration of the evaluation device 100 in this embodiment will be described below.

[0028] [Hardware configuration of evaluation device] As shown in FIG. 3, the evaluation device 100 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) 11, a read only memory (ROM) 12, a random access memory (RAM) 13, an input / output interface 15, and a bus 14 connecting these to each other.

[0029] The CPU 11 functions as a control unit (processor) in this embodiment, appropriately accessing the RAM 13 etc. as necessary, and generally controlling each block of the evaluation device 100 while performing various arithmetic processing. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory in which the OS to be executed by the CPU 11, firmware such as programs and various parameters, etc. are fixedly stored. The RAM 13 is used as a working area etc. for the CPU 11, and temporarily stores the OS, various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

[0030] The input / output interface 15 is connected to a display unit 16, an operation reception unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and the like.

[0031] The display unit 16 is a display device using, for example, a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic ElectroLuminescence Display (OLED), a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT), or the like.

[0032] The operation reception unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or other input device. When the operation reception unit 17 is a touch panel, the touch panel can be integrated with the display unit 16.

[0033] The storage unit 18 is, for example, a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory (SSD; Solid State Drive), or other solid-state memory. The storage unit 18 stores the OS, various applications, and various data.

[0034] In this embodiment, the storage unit 18 may have a database that stores evaluation results and the like in addition to a program required for the evaluation process described below. The database may be stored in a storage device or a server externally connected to the evaluation device 100, rather than in the storage unit 18. A detailed configuration of the database will be described later.

[0035] The communication unit 19 is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet or various modules for wireless communication such as wireless LAN, and is responsible for communication processing with other devices.

[0036] [Example of evaluation device operation] Next, a specific operation example of the evaluation device 100 using the images captured as described above will be described. The operation of the evaluation device 100 in this operation example is executed by the cooperation of hardware such as the CPU 11 and communication unit 19 of the evaluation device 100 and software stored in the storage unit 18. In the following description, for convenience, the CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 is the subject of operation.

[0037] As shown in the flow chart of FIG. 4, the CPU 11 first acquires an image (see FIG. 2) of the processing liquid (ST11). In this operation example, the image has a background with a different color tone from the color tone of the washed textile product. For example, in the image, when the color tone of the textile product is a dark color such as black, the background is preferably a light color such as white. In this specification, the color tone of the image means at least one of the brightness, saturation, lightness, or hue of the image. In this operation example, since the processing is performed based on the brightness value of the image, it is preferable that the image to be processed is a monochrome image such as a grayscale image. Therefore, when the acquired image is a color image, it is preferable that the CPU 11 converts the color image into a monochrome image such as a grayscale image before the detection step ST12.

[0038] The method of acquiring the image is not particularly limited. For example, the CPU 11 may receive the image from an imaging device that captured the image via a wired or wireless connection. Alternatively, the CPU 11 may acquire an image that is stored in advance in the storage unit 18.

[0039] Next, CPU 11 detects the MPF from the image (ST12). In this operation example, CPU 11 detects MPF5 by detecting a first region R1 having a color tone corresponding to the color tone of the textile product from image M as shown in FIG. 2. In this operation example, first region R1 is a region corresponding to MPF. "Color tone corresponding to the color tone of the textile product" in first region R1 means a color tone having a certain range of parameters including the color tone of the textile product. The range of color tones included in first region R1 may be any range that can be distinguished from the color tone of the background.

[0040] More specifically, the CPU 11 generates a binary image M1 as shown in FIG. 5 based on the luminance value of an image M as shown in FIG. 2. The binary image M1 is composed of two regions each having a certain luminance value. In this embodiment, the CPU 11 converts a region having a luminance value equal to or less than a predetermined threshold to black, and converts a region having a luminance value greater than the predetermined threshold to white. The processing of this step can be performed using image analysis software such as Image J.

[0041] The threshold value used in the binarization process may be set based on the color tone of the textile product and the color tone of the image M, including the color tone of the background of the image M, and stored in the storage unit 18. For example, the threshold value may be automatically set by the CPU 11 based on information about the color tone of the image M or the textile product. The information about the color tone of the textile product may be information acquired from another information processing device, or information input via the operation receiving unit 17. Alternatively, the information about the color tone of the textile product may be information analyzed from an image of the textile product.

[0042] The information on the color tone of the image may be, for example, information on the color tone distribution of the image (e.g., distribution of luminance values), and more specifically, may be set based on a statistical value calculated from the color tone distribution. The statistical value of the color tone distribution of the image is a statistical value of a parameter related to the color tone of each pixel, and may be one or more values ​​selected from, for example, the median, the mean, the mode, the first quartile, the third quartile, the standard deviation, the maximum value, the minimum value, the variance value, etc.

[0043] An example in which the CPU 11 automatically sets the threshold value will be described. For example, the CPU 11 can set the threshold value by referring to a threshold value table stored in the storage unit 18. The threshold value table stores, for example, information on the color tones of a plurality of sample images and the threshold value of the binarization process set in each sample image in association with each other. This allows the CPU 11 to extract a threshold value corresponding to the information on the color tones of the image to be processed from the threshold value table. As an example, it is assumed that the threshold value table stores the median of the luminance values ​​of a plurality of sample images and the threshold value of the binarization process set in each sample image in association with each other. In this case, the CPU 11 first calculates the median of the luminance values ​​of the image to be processed. Then, the CPU 11 can extract a threshold value corresponding to the calculated median from the threshold value table.

[0044] Moreover, the CPU 11 can set the threshold value using a machine learning model without using a threshold value table. For example, the CPU 11 can generate a machine learning model using information on the color tones of a plurality of sample images and the threshold value of the binarization process set in each sample image as teacher data, and set the threshold value of the binarization process by applying information on the color tones of the image to be processed to the machine learning model. As the machine learning method, at least one method selected from regression analysis such as multiple regression analysis or logistic regression analysis, neural networks such as multilayer perceptron, CNN (Convolutional Neural Network) and RNN (Recurrent Neural Network), support vector machine using any kernel function such as Gaussian kernel, random forest modeled as a regression tree, models using hidden Markov models, etc. can be selected.

[0045] The CPU 11 determines either the black or white region as the first region R1 to be evaluated for MPF. The CPU 11 can determine the first region R1 based on the color tone of the textile product and the color tone of the background of the image M. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the black region of the binarized image M1 is determined as the first region R1, and the white region is determined as the second region R2. The second region R2 may be a region corresponding to the processing liquid L in the background. Furthermore, microparticles 6 such as transparent microcapsules are also included in the second region R2.

[0046] Next, the CPU 11 calculates the amount of the detected MPF to evaluate the discharge amount of the MPF in the treatment liquid (ST13). Note that the CPU 11 may store the evaluation result of the MPF in the storage unit 18 as necessary.

[0047] The amount of MPF preferably includes, for example, at least one of the number of MPFs or the area ratio of MPFs in the calculation target range. In particular, it is preferable that the CPU 11 calculates the number of MPFs from the viewpoint of more intuitively grasping the amount of MPFs. In this operation example, the CPU 11 can calculate the number (number) of first regions R1 in the binarized image M1. The processing of this step can be performed using, for example, image analysis software such as Image J.

[0048] In this operation example, the CPU 11 may set the entire captured image as the calculation target range, or may set a part of the image as the calculation target range. The CPU 11 may also divide the image to calculate the amount of MPF in a plurality of calculation target ranges, and calculate the sum or average value of the amount of MPF in the plurality of calculation target ranges.

[0049] Furthermore, the CPU 11 may rank the amount of MPF discharged based on the amount of calculated MPF. Ranking the amount of MPF discharged means determining the class to which the amount of calculated MPF belongs. The class is preferably expressed by, for example, a numerical value or a character, and specific examples include "high / low (MPF discharge amount)", "S rank / A rank", "1 rank / 2 rank". The method of determining the class of the amount of MPF discharged is not particularly limited. For example, the calculated amount of MPF may be compared with the amount of MPF detected from an image of a reference treatment liquid as a reference to determine the class of MPF. Alternatively, a range of the amount of MPF may be set for each class, and it may be determined which class the amount of calculated MPF belongs to. By ranking and evaluating the amount of calculated MPF, a more easily understandable evaluation result can be obtained. When ranking the treatment liquid in comparison with a reference treatment liquid, it is preferable that the conditions of the treatment liquid used in the evaluation and the reference treatment liquid (type of detergent, product name of detergent, amount of detergent used, hydrophilicity of the treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), temperature of the treatment liquid, pH of the treatment liquid, time of the cleaning process, model of cleaning machine used, etc.) are the same.

[0050] Next, the CPU 11 can output evaluation information about the evaluation result of the MPF (ST14). In this operation example, the evaluation information includes, for example, at least one of information about the calculated amount of MPF or information about the emission class of the MPF. For example, the CPU 11 may display the evaluation information on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100. Alternatively, the CPU 11 may transmit the evaluation information to another device via the communication unit 19.

[0051] Through the above steps, the evaluation device 100 evaluates the amount of MPF discharged in the treatment liquid used to wash the target textile product, and the evaluation results can be utilized. In this evaluation method, the MPF is detected from an image of the treatment liquid. If the treatment liquid contains microcapsules, the transparent microcapsules will blend in with the background of the treatment liquid in the image and become difficult to detect. Therefore, only the MPF can be detected, and the amount of MPF in the treatment liquid can be calculated with high accuracy.

[0052] Furthermore, by detecting the first region having a color tone corresponding to the color tone of the textile product as the region corresponding to the MPF, microcapsules that may have the same color tone as the background are excluded from the first region, thereby improving the detection accuracy of the MPF. Also, by generating a binary image, the color tone of the first region can be made constant, thereby reducing the processing load on the CPU 11.

[0053] [Variation 1] In the above operational example, an example has been described in which the detection step S12 includes a process for generating a binarized image M1 based on the luminance value of the image, but the method for detecting the MPF is not limited to this.

[0054] For example, in the detection step ST12, the CPU 11 may detect, as the first region, a region having a color tone set as a range corresponding to the color tone of the textile product. In this example, the image to be detected is preferably a color image, and may be, for example, an image having parameters of a known color space such as RGB, L*a*b*, HSV, HLS, XYZ, etc. The range of color tones to be detected may be set, for example, by parameters of the color tones of the image. For example, the CPU 11 may detect the first region by extracting pixels having parameters in a predetermined range. The CPU 11 may also generate a binarized image based on these color tone parameters.

[0055] The range of parameters extracted as the first region and the threshold value for binarization processing can be set, for example, using a table that stores the color tone of the textile product in the sample image in correspondence with the above range or threshold value, or a machine learning model, etc.

[0056] Furthermore, according to this modification, even if the textile product has multiple color tones, the first region can be detected as follows. For example, the CPU 11 detects a region having a color tone set as a range corresponding to a first color tone among the multiple color tones of the textile product. Next, the CPU 11 detects a region having a color tone set as a range corresponding to a second color tone among the multiple color tones of the textile product. In this way, the CPU 11 repeatedly performs the same process on the multiple color tones contained in the textile product, and the entire region detected by these processes can be set as the first region. This makes it possible to detect the MPFs of all color tones that have fallen off the textile product.

[0057] In the above process, the CPU 11 can use information about the color tone of the textile product stored in the storage unit 18. The information about the color tone of the textile product can be information received from another information processing device, or information input via the operation reception unit 17. Alternatively, the information about the color tone of the textile product can be analyzed from an image of the textile product.

[0058] [Variation 2] When the processing liquid contains impurities other than microcapsules, it is possible to remove the impurities from the processing liquid before imaging by filtering or sedimenting the processing liquid as described above. On the other hand, in this modification, it is possible to distinguish between impurities and MPF by image processing as described below. By detecting MPF using image processing, it is possible to reduce the burden of removing impurities before imaging.

[0059] One of the impurities is natural fiber. The fiber length of natural fiber that may fall off into the processing liquid is generally about several mm, which is longer than the fiber length of MPF. In this way, in this modified example, the CPU 11 can detect MPF by utilizing the difference in size or shape between MPF ​​and impurities. Specifically, in the detection step ST12, the CPU 11 can detect a first region based on the color tone, and further detect a region of the first region that has a size or shape within a predetermined range as a region corresponding to MPF. The size range of the region corresponding to MPF can be set, for example, by the number of pixels or the area occupied in the image. The shape of the region corresponding to MPF can be detected by a known shape recognition process.

[0060] Examples of natural fibers include seed hair fibers (cotton, kapok, etc.), bast fibers (hemp, flax, ramie, hemp, jute, etc.), leaf vein fibers (Manila hemp, sisal, etc.), palm fibers, rush, straw, animal hair fibers (wool, mohair, cashmere, camel hair, alpaca, vicuna, angora, etc.), silk fibers (domestic silkworm silk, wild silkworm silk), and feathers.

[0061] [Variation 3] Furthermore, the method of detecting the MPF in the detection step ST12 is not limited to the one based on color tone, and other feature detection techniques such as edge detection can also be used. For example, the contour line of a transparent microcapsule is difficult to clearly detect in an image. On the other hand, the contour line of the MPF can be clearly detected. By utilizing this, for example, a region surrounded by edges detected by edge detection can be detected as a region corresponding to the MPF. Furthermore, the method of detecting the MPF in the detection step ST12 can also be performed by combining multiple feature detection techniques.

[0062] [Variation 4] As shown in Fig. 6, the evaluation method does not have to have an output step ST14. That is, the CPU 11 does not have to output the evaluation result for each evaluation process. In this case, the CPU 11 can store the obtained evaluation result in the storage unit 18 (ST15). For example, the CPU 11 can store the evaluation results for information on a plurality of textile products and / or a plurality of washing conditions in the storage unit 18, thereby constructing a database including this information. Such a database can be used for analyzing the evaluation results regarding the discharge of MPFs of textile products and / or washing conditions, etc.

[0063] In other words, it is preferable that the storage unit 18 has a database that stores at least one of information on the textile product to be evaluated and information on the washing conditions of the textile product in association with each of the evaluation results of a plurality of MPFs. Information on the textile product and information on the washing conditions, etc., can be stored in the storage unit 18 by receiving from another information processing device or by inputting via the operation receiving unit 17. Note that the database may store information other than the above-mentioned information as appropriate.

[0064] The textile product information stored in the database preferably includes at least one piece of information selected from the category of the textile product, the type of fabric (woven fabric, nonwoven fabric, knitted fabric, etc.), the type of processing in the textile product, the composition of the textile product, the color of the textile product, the amount of the textile product, an image of the textile product, and a product ID for identifying the textile product. Furthermore, the textile product information may include information about the provider of the textile product, such as a provider ID for identifying the provider of the textile product, the provider's name (title), email address, and address (area of ​​residence).

[0065] The information on the cleaning conditions stored in the database preferably includes information on at least one of the cleaning process or the treatment liquid. The information on the cleaning process preferably includes at least one piece of information selected from the presence or absence of each of the washing process, rinsing process, and spin-drying process, the time of each process, the model of the cleaning machine that performed the cleaning process, etc. The information on the treatment liquid preferably includes at least one condition selected from the hydrophilicity of the treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), the detergent contained in the treatment liquid, the temperature of the treatment liquid, the pH of the treatment liquid, and the location where the treatment liquid was collected. The information on the detergent contained in the treatment liquid preferably includes at least one piece of information selected from, for example, the type of detergent (laundry detergent, finishing agent, organic solvent for cleaning, detergent used in textile scouring, etc.), the product name of the detergent, the amount of detergent used, etc.

[0066] [Variation 5] 7, the CPU 11 can analyze the relationship between the MPF evaluation result and at least one of the textile product information and the washing condition information based on the database (ST16). For example, the CPU 11 can extract textile products or washing conditions with low MPF emissions. Alternatively, the CPU 11 can extract textile products or washing conditions with high MPF emissions.

[0067] 7, the CPU 11 can output analysis information about the analysis result in ST16 (ST17). The analysis information may include, for example, information recommending a textile product or washing conditions with a low MPF emission. Specifically, the CPU 11 may display the analysis information on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100, or may transmit the analysis information to another device via the communication unit 19.

[0068] This allows the CPU 11 to output highly reliable information on the relationship between the amount of MPF discharged and textile products or washing conditions based on the highly accurate MPF evaluation results. Also, a user who receives the analysis results can grasp information on textile products or washing conditions with low MPF discharge. As a result, the evaluation method according to this modification can contribute to suppressing MPF discharge.

[0069] Furthermore, in this modification, the CPU 11 may compare the MPF emission amounts of a plurality of textile products or a plurality of cleaning conditions based on the database, and rank these textile products or cleaning conditions based on the MPF emission amounts. This allows the CPU 11 to output information on the ranked textile products or cleaning conditions (detergent, cleaning machine, etc.) as analysis information. It is preferable that all evaluation conditions other than those to be compared are unified when ranking. For example, when ranking textile products, it is preferable that all evaluation conditions other than the textile products (type of detergent, product name of detergent, amount of detergent used, hydrophilicity of treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), temperature of treatment liquid, pH of treatment liquid, time of cleaning process, model of cleaning machine used, etc.) are unified. Also, when ranking detergents, it is preferable that all evaluation conditions other than the detergents (type of textile product, product name of textile product, amount of textile product used, hydrophilicity of treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), temperature of treatment liquid, pH of treatment liquid, time of cleaning process, model of cleaning machine used, etc.) are unified. Furthermore, when ranking cleaning machines, it is preferable that all evaluation conditions other than the cleaning machine (type of textile product / cleaning agent, product name of textile product / cleaning agent, amount of textile product / cleaning agent used, hydrophilicity of treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), temperature of treatment liquid, pH of treatment liquid, and duration of cleaning process) be standardized.

[0070] [Variation 6] Furthermore, in the detection step ST12, the CPU 11 may correct the image and perform the detection process of the first region on the corrected image. Methods for correcting the image M include smoothing processing, color correction, and the like. Filters used in the smoothing processing include an average value filter, a Gaussian filter, a moving average filter, a median filter, a weighted average filter, a low-pass filter, and the like. The smoothing processing performed by the CPU 11 makes it possible to remove noise in the image and / or correct color unevenness, and the like.

[0071] Furthermore, the CPU 11 may perform a correction process for the image M by subtracting or dividing each component of the original image from a component of the smoothed image corresponding to each component of the original image to generate a subtraction image (see, for example, paragraph

[0029] of JP 2021-189979 A). This makes it possible to correct uneven illumination of the image M.

[0072] [Variation 7] Furthermore, when the processing liquid contains impurities other than microcapsules, the method of detecting MPF in the detection step ST12 can also use a feature detection technique such as shape detection. For example, a method of recognizing the difference in the characteristic shape between impurities and MPF in an image and detecting only MPF can be exemplified. For example, a method of specifying a specific ratio of length to width and a specific length and detecting an image within the specified range as MPF can be exemplified. In addition, the method of detecting MPF in the detection step ST12 can also be performed by combining multiple feature detection techniques such as the above-mentioned technique of detecting color tone.

[0073] [Variation 8] In the above-mentioned operation examples and each modified example, it has been explained that the CPU 11 detects MPF (ST12) and evaluates the amount of MPF emission (ST13). On the other hand, in this modified example, a user (evaluator) can also execute some of these steps by operating the evaluation device 100, which is an information processing device. Note that, although specific examples are given below, in the evaluation method according to this modified example, the user may also perform operations other than those exemplified.

[0074] An example of the MPF detection step (ST12) will be given below. In the detection step according to this modification, the user may perform one of the following actions or a plurality of actions. For example, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100 and set a threshold value for the binary image based on the color tones of the image, including the color tones of the textile product and the background of the image. For example, after generating a binary image, the user can specify either a white or black region as the first region based on the color tone of the textile product or the like. In the first modification, the user can specify an area having a color tone set as a range corresponding to the color tone of the textile product, and cause the CPU 11 to detect the first area. In the second modification, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100, set the size of the MPF that is distinguishable from impurities, and cause the CPU 11 to detect the first region. In the third modification, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100 and perform various settings related to feature detection such as edge detection. In the sixth modification, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100 and perform various settings related to image correction. In the seventh modification, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100 and perform various settings such as the range of the shape related to feature detection.

[0075] An example of the MPF evaluation step (ST13) will be given below. In the evaluation step according to this modification, the user may perform one of the following actions or a plurality of actions. For example, the user can specify the range for which the MPF is to be calculated. For example, the user can check the image displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100, count the number of first regions (lines), and input the result to the evaluation device 100. For example, the user can rank the amount of MPF discharged based on the amount of MPF displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100. In variant example 5, a user can compare the MPF emissions of multiple textile products or multiple washing conditions displayed on the display unit 16 of the evaluation device 100, and rank these textile products or washing conditions based on the MPF emissions.

[0076] <Second embodiment> As described above, the evaluation device 100 that evaluates the MPF can transmit information about the evaluation result of the MPF to a terminal device used by a user who is interested in the emission amount of the MPF. This allows the interested user to effectively utilize the evaluation result of the MPF. Therefore, in the following embodiment, an example of the configuration of an evaluation system in which the evaluation device 100 that evaluates the MPF is connected to a terminal device via the Internet 50 will be described. Note that the information about the evaluation result of the MPF includes, for example, at least one of evaluation information or analysis information.

[0077] For example, a user who is interested in the amount of MPF emissions from textile products may be a textile trader who handles textile products. In the second embodiment of the present invention, a system is described in which the evaluation device 100 can provide information on a highly reliable MPF evaluation result to a terminal device used by a textile trader who has requested an MPF ​​evaluation of a textile product.

[0078] [System configuration] As shown in Fig. 8, the system according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes an evaluation device 100 and a first terminal device 200 connected to the evaluation device 100 via the Internet 50. The evaluation device 100 may be connected to a plurality of first terminal devices 200 via the Internet 50. In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 provides an MPF ​​information providing service capable of providing information on the evaluation result of MPF discharged from a textile product, for example.

[0079] The first terminal device 200 is, for example, a terminal device used by a textile trader who is a user who has requested an evaluation of a textile product. The first terminal device 200 is an information processing device having the same hardware configuration as that shown in Fig. 3, such as a desktop PC, a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. The textile trader is a business operator involved in the manufacture and sale of textile products, and may be, for example, a textile product manufacturer or a textile product supplier.

[0080] 8, the evaluation device 100 of this embodiment evaluates the amount of MPF emission in a treatment liquid used to wash a textile product provided by a textile trader, and transmits evaluation information on the evaluation result to the first terminal device 200. The textile trader of the first terminal device 200 who has received the evaluation information assigns a product mark T indicating the evaluation result of the amount of MPF emission to a textile product P of the same type as the textile product being evaluated, based on the evaluation information.

[0081] [System operation example] Next, an example of the operation of the above system will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 9. In this example, a textile trader who handles textile products sends a sample of the textile product to an operator of an MPF ​​evaluation service that uses the evaluation device 100, and requests an evaluation of the MPF. The operator then washes the sample of the textile product, and evaluates the amount of MPF emitted in the treatment liquid.

[0082] First, the first terminal device 200 transmits information about the textile product to be evaluated by the MPF to the evaluation device 100 (ST31). As in the first embodiment, the textile product information preferably includes at least one piece of information selected from a product ID for identifying the textile product, a textile product item, a type of fabric (woven fabric, nonwoven fabric, knitted fabric, etc.), a type of processing in the textile product, a composition of the textile product, a color of the textile product, a quantity of the textile product, and an image of the textile product. Furthermore, the textile product information preferably includes information about the textile supplier, such as a textile supplier ID for identifying the supplier, the name of the textile supplier, an email address, and an address (residential area).

[0083] Then, the CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 receives the information on the textile product and stores it in the storage unit 18 (ST21). Next, the MPF provision service manager using the evaluation device 100 washes the textile product and captures an image of the treatment liquid, similar to the first embodiment. The CPU 11 acquires an image of the treatment liquid, similar to the first embodiment (ST22).

[0084] Next, the CPU 11 detects the MPF from the image (ST23) in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and evaluates the amount of the MPF discharged by calculating the amount of the detected MPF (ST24). The CPU 11 may store the evaluation result of the MPF in the storage unit 18 as necessary.

[0085] Next, the CPU 11 transmits to the first terminal device 200 information on the textile product to be evaluated and evaluation information on the MPF evaluation result in association with each other (ST25). The first terminal device 200 receives this information and stores it in the storage unit (ST32). For example, the first terminal device 200 preferably has a database that stores evaluation information for each textile product.

[0086] Then, the first terminal device 200 displays the evaluation information for the textile product to be evaluated on the display unit (ST33). In the example shown in Fig. 10(A), the evaluation result display screen 20 displayed on the display unit of the first terminal device 200 includes identification information 21 of the textile trader, an image 22 of the textile product to be evaluated, identification information and composition information 23 of the textile product, and evaluation information 24 of the textile product. The evaluation information 24 includes, for example, information on the class (rank) of MPF emission, and further includes a mark 25 representing the class. However, the evaluation result display screen 20 is not limited to the example shown in the figure as long as it includes evaluation information for the textile product to be evaluated.

[0087] If the result shows that the amount of MPF emissions from the textile product being evaluated is low, it can be said that the amount of MPF emissions from textile products of the same type as that textile product is also low, which can be an advantage when selling the textile product. Here, "textile products of the same type" includes, for example, the same textile products, textile products that differ only in color, textile products that differ only in size, textile products that have at least part of the same fabric, etc.

[0088] Therefore, in this embodiment, a textile trader using the first terminal device 200 can display the evaluation result for the textile product to be evaluated on the product display or sales promotion media of textile products of the same type as the textile product to be evaluated. Product display means a display directly attached to the product, and includes, for example, a tag attached to the product (sales tag, quality display tag), a display printed on the product itself, and product packaging. Sales promotion media includes product advertisements and web pages related to product sales.

[0089] As a specific operation example, the first terminal device 200 generates product display information for displaying the evaluation results in the received evaluation information on a product display or sales promotion medium of the same type of textile product as the textile product to be evaluated (ST34). The product display information is information displayed on the above-mentioned product display or sales promotion medium. The product display information includes information on the amount of MPF described above or information processed therefrom, and from the viewpoint of visibility, it is preferable that the product display information includes information on the emission class of MPF. Note that the product display information does not have to be the data itself displayed on the product display or sales promotion medium, but only needs to include elements (image data and / or text data, etc.) included in the data.

[0090] 11(A) shows an example of a product mark T as a tag attached to a textile product P. This product mark T includes evaluation information T1 of the textile product. The evaluation information T1 includes, for example, information on the class of MPF emissions, and further includes a mark T2 representing the class.

[0091] In this way, in this embodiment, highly reliable MPF evaluation results can be provided to textile traders who handle textile products. This allows the textile trader to present the MPF evaluation results together with the textile products they handle, for example, and promote the sale of products with low environmental impact. Therefore, according to this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 and the first terminal device 200 used by the textile trader work together to reduce the environmental impact of MPF.

[0092] [Variation 1] In the above-mentioned operation example, the first terminal device 200 generates the product display information, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the evaluation device 100 may generate the product display information. Among the steps shown in FIG. 12 according to this modification, the steps that are the same as those in the operation example shown in FIG. 9 will not be described.

[0093] For example, as shown in FIG. 12, after displaying the evaluation information (ST33), the first terminal device 200 can request the evaluation device 100 to transmit product display information (ST35).

[0094] 10(B), the evaluation result display screen 20 displayed on the display unit of the first terminal device 200 includes identification information 21 of the textile trader, an image 22 of the textile product to be evaluated, identification information and composition information 23 of the textile product, evaluation information 24 of the textile product, and also includes an output button 26 for product display information. For example, when the first terminal device 200 determines that the output button 26 for product display information has been designated by clicking, tapping, or the like, it can request the evaluation device 100 to transmit the product display information.

[0095] As shown in FIG. 12, the evaluation device 100 receives a request to send product display information (ST26) and generates product display information (ST27). Then, the evaluation device 100 transmits the generated product display information to the first terminal device 200 (ST28). The first terminal device 200 receives the product display information (ST36). As a result, even in this modification, a textile trader using the first terminal device 200 can display the evaluation result for the textile product to be evaluated on the product display or sales promotion media of the same type of textile product as the textile product to be evaluated. Furthermore, according to this modification, the processing load on the first terminal device 200 for generating product display information can be reduced.

[0096] [Variation 2] In the above-mentioned operation example, an example was described in which a textile trader presents the MPF evaluation result to a consumer by attaching the MPF evaluation result to a textile product of the same type as the textile product to be evaluated by the MPF. Furthermore, it is preferable that the evaluation device 100 can provide more detailed information to consumers who are interested in the MPF evaluation result. Therefore, in this modified example, an example of an evaluation system that further includes a terminal device used by the consumer of the textile product will be described.

[0097] The evaluation system according to this modification includes an evaluation device 100, a first terminal device 200 used by a textile trader who handles textile products, and a second terminal device 300 used by a consumer of the textile products, as shown in Fig. 13. The evaluation device 100 may be connected to a plurality of first terminal devices 200 and a plurality of second terminal devices 300 via the Internet 50.

[0098] In this modified example, the evaluation device 100 may be configured as, for example, a server that provides an MPF ​​information provision service capable of providing information regarding the evaluation results of textile products via the Internet 50. In this embodiment, as an MPF ​​information provision service, the evaluation device 100 can provide information on the MPF evaluation results of the textile products to consumers of the textile products on a website or application, in addition to outputting the evaluation results to the textile trader that is the provider of the textile product to be evaluated.

[0099] As described in the fifth modified example of the first embodiment, after acquiring the evaluation results, the CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 associates the evaluation results of the MPF with the information of the textile product and stores the evaluation results in the storage unit 18. The CPU 11 can present the information related to the stored evaluation results to the second terminal device 300 via an MPF ​​information providing site or application.

[0100] The access method by the second terminal device 300 is not particularly limited. For example, it is preferable that the product display information displayed on the product display or sales promotion media of the same type of textile product as the textile product includes access information (web page URL or two-dimensional barcode) that can access information on the MPF evaluation result. The access information may be, for example, access information to an MPF ​​information providing site or access information to a download page of an MPF ​​information providing application.

[0101] 11(B) shows an example of the product indication T of this modification. The product indication T of this modification includes access information T3 in addition to the MPF evaluation information T1. For example, the second terminal device 300 can read the access information T3 included in the product indication T of a textile product and access information related to the evaluation result via the MPF information providing site or the MPF information providing application.

[0102] 14, the evaluation result display screen 30 displayed on the display unit of the second terminal device 300 includes identification information 31 of the textile product, an image 32 of the textile product, composition information of the textile product, and evaluation information 34 of the textile product. The evaluation information 34 includes, for example, information on the class of MPF emission, and further includes a mark 35 representing the class. The evaluation result display screen 30 may include a button 36 for transitioning to an evaluation result display screen 30 related to another textile product. However, the evaluation result display screen 30 is not limited to the example shown in the figure as long as it includes information on the textile product and the corresponding evaluation information.

[0103] [Variation 3] In the above-mentioned configuration example of the evaluation system, it has been described that the textile trader sends the textile product to be evaluated to the operator of the MPF information service and requests an evaluation, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the textile trader may take an image of the washing and treatment liquid of the textile product to be evaluated, and transmit the image of the treatment liquid to the evaluation device 100. In this case, it is preferable that the first terminal device 200 transmits the image to the evaluation device 100 in association with the information of the textile product and the information of the washing conditions. The CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 acquires the transmitted image and can evaluate the amount of MPF emission in the same manner as in the above-mentioned operation example.

[0104] [Variation 4] The first terminal device 200 does not need to perform the step of generating product display information (ST34). Even in this case, the first terminal device 200 can store the textile product information and the evaluation information in association with each other to build a database containing this information and utilize the evaluation results. As a specific example of utilizing the evaluation results, a textile trader can conduct research and development of textile products with low MPF emissions based on the database. In this case, the textile trader can also operate an information processing device such as the first terminal device 200 to generate product display information from the evaluation information.

[0105] [Variation 5] Furthermore, the CPU 11 may transmit analysis information in addition to or instead of transmitting the evaluation information. For example, the CPU 11 stores the evaluation result of the MPF in a database in association with the information of the textile product, and generates analysis information by analyzing the relationship between the evaluation result of the MPF and the information of the textile product based on the database, similar to the fifth modified example of the first embodiment (FIG. 7). Then, the CPU 11 transmits the analysis information to the first terminal device 200 at a predetermined timing. As the timing of transmitting the analysis information, the CPU 11 may transmit the analysis information at a predetermined cycle (one week, one month, one year, etc.), for example, or may transmit the analysis information in response to a transmission request from the first terminal device 200. Note that in this modified example, the CPU 11 does not need to transmit the evaluation information every time the evaluation process of the MPF is performed, and may transmit the evaluation information as necessary.

[0106] In this modification, the analysis information preferably includes information recommending textile products with low MPF emissions, which allows more specific textile products to be recommended to textile traders using the first terminal device 200, thereby encouraging them to reduce MPF emissions.

[0107] <Third embodiment> [System configuration] Laundry businesses such as coin laundry businesses and dry cleaning businesses may discharge wastewater and wastewater from washing textile products during their business. Textile businesses may also discharge wastewater from washing textile products, such as from scouring textiles, during the manufacturing process of textile products. For this reason, these textile businesses or laundry businesses may be interested in the amount of MPF emitted from these liquids that they discharge. In the third embodiment of the present invention, a system is described in which the evaluation device 100 can provide information on a highly reliable MPF evaluation result to a terminal device used by a laundry business that is the requester of the MPF evaluation of the treatment liquid.

[0108] 15, the system according to the third embodiment of the present invention includes an evaluation device 100 on the Internet 50 and a third terminal device 400. Although not shown in the figure, the evaluation device 100 is preferably connected to a plurality of third terminal devices 400 via the Internet 50.

[0109] The third terminal device 400 is, for example, a terminal device used by a textile trader or a laundry business, which is a user who has requested the evaluation of the treatment liquid. The third terminal device 400 is an information processing device having the same hardware configuration as that of FIG. 3, such as a desktop PC, a notebook PC, a tablet PC, or a smartphone. The third terminal device 400 can function as the "first terminal device" in this embodiment. The textile trader is a business operator involved in the manufacture and sale of textile products, and can be, for example, a textile product manufacturer or a textile product supplier. The laundry business can be a cleaning business or a coin laundry business that provides a laundry service for clothes and the like. In the case of a textile trader, the treatment liquid to be evaluated can be wastewater after washing such as fiber refining. In the case of a cleaning business, the treatment liquid to be evaluated can be wastewater such as organic solvent. In the case of a coin laundry business, the treatment liquid to be evaluated can be laundry wastewater. In this embodiment, these wastewater and laundry wastewater are collectively referred to as "washing wastewater".

[0110] In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 is configured as, for example, a server that provides an MPF ​​information provision service capable of providing information on the MPF evaluated for the treatment liquid. In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 evaluates the amount of MPF emission in the treatment liquid provided by a textile manufacturer or a laundry company, and transmits information on the evaluation result to the third terminal device 400. The evaluation device 100 may provide the MPF information provision service on a website or an application.

[0111] [System operation example] Next, an example of the operation of the above system will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 16. In this example, referring to Fig. 15, a textile manufacturer or a laundry company sends the treatment liquid collected from a washer W2 to the operator of the MPF information service and requests an evaluation of the MPF. Then, the evaluation device 100 evaluates the amount of MPF emitted in the treatment liquid.

[0112] First, the third terminal device 400 transmits information on the treatment liquid to be evaluated for the MPF and information on the associated cleaning conditions to the evaluation device 100 (ST51). The information on the treatment liquid is information on the treatment liquid other than the cleaning conditions, and preferably includes, for example, identification information on the collection container containing the treatment liquid, and information on the collection location of the treatment liquid (store name and / or identification information of the cleaning machine, etc.). The information on the cleaning conditions preferably includes at least one condition selected from the type of detergent, the product name of the detergent, the amount of detergent used, the hydrophilicity of the treatment liquid (water-based or oil-based), the temperature of the treatment liquid, the pH of the treatment liquid, the time of the cleaning process, the model of the cleaning machine used, etc.

[0113] Then, the evaluation device 100 receives and stores this information (ST41). Next, the service manager captures an image of the treatment liquid in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The CPU 11 acquires an image of the treatment liquid in the same manner as in ST11 (ST42).

[0114] Next, CPU 11 detects MPF from the image (ST43) in the same manner as ST12. Then, CPU 11 evaluates the amount of MPF discharged into the treatment liquid by calculating the amount of the detected MPF (ST44) in the same manner as ST13. CPU 11 may store the evaluation result of MPF in memory unit 18 in association with information on the treatment liquid and cleaning conditions.

[0115] Next, the CPU 11 transmits information on the processing liquid and cleaning conditions, and the MPF evaluation information in association with each other to the third terminal device 400 (ST45).

[0116] The third terminal device 400 receives and stores this information (ST52). This enables the third terminal device 400 to display the evaluation information via a mail browser, a web browser, an application display screen, or the like (ST53). It is preferable that this information stored in the third terminal device 400 is organized into a database.

[0117] In this way, in this embodiment, a highly reliable MPF evaluation result can be provided to the textile manufacturer or laundry business that requested the evaluation of the treatment liquid. This allows the textile manufacturer or laundry business to understand the amount of MPF they discharge and increase their environmental awareness. In addition, according to this embodiment, the textile manufacturer or laundry business that received the MPF evaluation result can also be made to consider washing conditions that result in less MPF emission. In addition, if the evaluated MPF emission amount is low, the textile manufacturer or laundry business can use the evaluation result in store advertising activities.

[0118] [Variation 1] Further, the CPU 11 may transmit analytical information in addition to or instead of transmitting the evaluation information. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, the CPU 11 stores the evaluation result of the MPF in a database in association with the information on the cleaning conditions (ST46), and generates analytical information by analyzing the relationship between the evaluation result of the MPF and the information on the cleaning conditions based on the database, similar to the fifth modified example of the first embodiment (FIG. 7). Then, the CPU 11 transmits the analytical information to the third terminal device 400 at a predetermined timing (ST48). As the timing of transmitting the analytical information, the CPU 11 may transmit the analytical information at a predetermined cycle (one week, one month, one year, etc.), for example, or may transmit the analytical information in response to a transmission request from the third terminal device 400. Note that in this modified example, the CPU 11 does not need to transmit the evaluation information for each sample, and may transmit the evaluation information as necessary.

[0119] In this modification, the analysis information preferably includes information recommending washing conditions that result in less MPF emissions, and more preferably includes information recommending a specific detergent (type, product name). This allows a more specific washing method to be recommended to the textile manufacturer or laundry operator using the third terminal device 400, and encourages a reduction in MPF ​​emissions. Furthermore, this configuration reduces the burden of analysis processing on the third terminal device 400.

[0120] The third terminal device 400 receives the analysis information (ST54) and displays the received analysis information (ST55). In the example shown in FIG. 18, the analysis result display screen 40 displayed on the display unit of the third terminal device 400 includes identification information 41 of the textile business or laundry business, evaluation information 42 of the textile business or laundry business's treatment liquid for a predetermined period, and analysis information 44. Note that FIG. 18 shows the analysis result display screen 40 for one laundry business (here, "Cleaning Shop B") using this service as an example. The evaluation information 42 includes, for example, information on the class of MPF emission, and further includes a mark 43 representing the class. The analysis information 44 includes, for example, recommended information on a detergent, and includes an image 45 of the recommended detergent and access information 46 to a web page related to the detergent. However, the analysis result display screen 40 is not limited to the example shown in the figure as long as it includes at least the analysis information 44.

[0121] [Variation 2] For example, in the transmission step ST51 by the third terminal device 400, the third terminal device 400 may transmit information on the textile product in addition to information on the treatment liquid and information on the cleaning conditions. In this modification, the textile product information preferably includes an image of the textile product to be cleaned. This allows the CPU 11 to perform image recognition processing on the image of the textile product, thereby extracting detailed information on the textile product, such as its color, fabric type, processing type, and composition. For example, by the CPU 11 acquiring information on the color of the textile product, the accuracy of the detection processing of the MPF based on the color tone of the CPU 11 can be improved.

[0122] 17, the CPU 11 can store the MPF evaluation results in the database of the storage unit 18 in association with the washing condition information and the textile product information, thereby enriching the information in the database. This allows the CPU 11 to generate analysis information including the textile product information, thereby providing more detailed analysis results.

[0123] [Variation 3] In addition, in the transmission step ST51 of this embodiment, it is not essential that the third terminal device 400 transmits information on the washing conditions to the evaluation device 100. In this case, the third terminal device 400 may transmit information on the treatment liquid to be evaluated by the MPF and information on the textile product in association with each other in the transmission step ST51. Alternatively, the third terminal device 400 may transmit only information on the treatment liquid to be evaluated by the MPF in the transmission step ST51. This also enables the CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 to perform the evaluation process of the MPF and transmit evaluation information on the evaluation result to the third terminal device 400.

[0124] [Variation 4] In the example of the system configuration shown in FIG. 15, it has been described that the textile trader or the laundry business sends the treatment liquid to be evaluated to the operator of the MPF information service and requests an evaluation, but this is not limited thereto. For example, the textile trader or the laundry business may take an image of the treatment liquid to be evaluated and transmit the image of the treatment liquid to the evaluation device 100. In this case, it is preferable that the third terminal device 400 transmits the image to the evaluation device 100 in association with at least one of the information on the washing conditions or the information on the textile product. The CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 acquires the transmitted image and evaluates the amount of MPF discharged in the same manner as in the above-mentioned operation example. This also allows the textile trader or the laundry business to grasp the amount of MPF discharged by their own work, and this information can be used for the store's advertising activities, the development of washing methods, and the like.

[0125] [Variation 5] Furthermore, an imaging device may automatically capture an image of the processing liquid from the cleaner W2, and transmit the captured image to the evaluation device 100. As shown in Fig. 19, the system according to this modification includes, for example, the evaluation device 100 on the Internet 50, a third terminal device 400, and an imaging device 500. The imaging device 500 is connected to the evaluation device 100 via the Internet.

[0126] The imaging device 500 is configured to be able to capture and transmit images of the processing liquid discharged from the cleaner W2. The imaging device 500 is also configured as an information processing device having the same hardware configuration as that of FIG. 3, and further includes an imaging unit such as an image sensor connected to an input / output interface. That is, the imaging device 500 includes a CPU (processor), a ROM, a RAM, a bus, an input / output interface, a display unit, an operation reception unit, a memory unit, a communication unit, an imaging unit, and the like. The imaging device 500 can capture an image of the inside of a drainage line Ln through which the processing liquid discharged from the cleaner W2 passes. The drainage line Ln preferably includes at least one of, for example, a piping inside the cleaner W2, a hose connected to the piping of the cleaner W2, a drain pipe outside the cleaner W2, or an imaging container in which wastewater from the cleaner W2 is temporarily stored.

[0127] Next, an operation example of the system including the imaging device 500 will be described. As shown in the sequence diagram of Fig. 20, first, the imaging device 500 captures an image of the treatment liquid (ST81) and transmits the image to the evaluation device 100 (ST82). The CPU 11 of the evaluation device 100 receives the image (ST61) and transmits a reception notification of the image of the treatment liquid to the third terminal device 400 using a notification function of the website or application or the like (ST62).

[0128] The third terminal device 400 receives a notification of receipt of the image of the treatment liquid (ST71) and transmits at least one of information on the textile product to be evaluated for MPF or the washing conditions to the evaluation device 100 (ST72). The evaluation device 100 receives and stores at least one of information on the textile product or the washing conditions (ST63). Thereafter, the evaluation device 100 performs the following operations as in the above-mentioned modified example 1: detection of MPF (ST64), evaluation of the amount of MPF discharged (ST65), storage of the evaluation information (ST66), generation of analysis information (ST67), and transmission of the analysis information (ST68). The third terminal device 400 receives the analysis information (ST73) and displays the analysis information on the display unit (ST74).

[0129] According to this modification, the image capturing of the treatment liquid is automated, and the burden on the textile manufacturer or the laundry manufacturer is reduced. This allows the number of evaluation samples by the evaluation device 100 to be increased, and the amount of data in the database of the evaluation device 100 to be increased. Therefore, when the evaluation device 100 generates analysis information, it can generate more accurate analysis information based on the results for many evaluation samples.

[0130] In this modified example, the evaluation device 100 may output evaluation information for each sample as necessary. The method by which the evaluation device 100 obtains information on the textile product and / or the washing conditions is not limited to the method of transmitting a receipt notification of an image. For example, the third terminal device 400 may transmit information on the textile product and / or the washing conditions to the evaluation device 100 before washing by the washer W2 or at any other timing.

[0131] <Fourth embodiment> In the above-mentioned third embodiment, an example was shown in which the results of the evaluation of MPF emissions were provided to textile manufacturers or laundry businesses. Meanwhile, in recent years, with an increase in environmental awareness, interest has also been growing in the amount of MPF in laundry wastewater discharged from washing machines in general households. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, a system is described in which the evaluation device 100 can provide information on a highly reliable MPF evaluation result to a terminal device used by a general household user who is the requester of the MPF evaluation of the treatment liquid.

[0132] 21, the system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention includes an evaluation device 100 on the Internet 50, a fourth terminal device 600, an imaging device 500, and a washing machine (cleaning machine) 700. The evaluation device 100 is connected to the fourth terminal device 600, the washing machine 700, and the imaging device 500 via the Internet 50.

[0133] In this embodiment, washing machine 700 includes an information processing device having the same hardware configuration as that in Fig. 3. That is, washing machine 700 includes a CPU (processor), a ROM, a RAM, a bus, an input / output interface, a display unit 701, an operation receiving unit 702, a storage unit, a communication unit, etc., in addition to a washing tub that performs washing processing and a drive unit that drives the washing tub.

[0134] In this embodiment, the fourth terminal device 600 is a terminal device used by a general household user who is a requester of an evaluation of a treatment liquid. The fourth terminal device 600 is an information processing device having a hardware configuration similar to that of FIG. 3, such as a smartphone, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, or a desktop PC.

[0135] In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 is configured as a server that provides an MPF ​​information service that can provide information on the amount of MPF discharged in the treatment liquid, for example. The evaluation device 100 can provide the MPF information service on a website or an application. In this embodiment, the evaluation device 100 evaluates the amount of MPF discharged based on an image of the treatment liquid provided by the imaging device 500, and transmits information on the evaluation result to the washing machine 700 and the fourth terminal device 600. In other words, the washing machine 700 and the fourth terminal device 600 can function as the "first terminal device" in this embodiment.

[0136] [System operation example] Next, an operation example of the above system will be described with reference to the sequence diagram of Fig. 22. Note that the operation example of this embodiment includes the same steps as those described in the fifth modification of the third embodiment, and therefore the description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0137] First, the imaging device 500 captures an image of the treatment liquid (ST111) and transmits the image to the evaluation device 100 (ST112). The evaluation device 100 receives the image of the treatment liquid (ST91).

[0138] On the other hand, the fourth terminal device 600 transmits information on at least one of the textile product to be evaluated by the MPF or the washing conditions to the evaluation device 100 (ST101). The timing of transmitting the information may be after the notification of reception of the image from the evaluation device 100 as described above, or may be any other timing. The evaluation device 100 receives and stores the information on at least one of the textile product and the washing conditions (ST92).

[0139] Thereafter, the evaluation device 100 detects the MPF (ST93), evaluates the amount of MPF discharged (ST94), and stores the evaluation result of the MPF (ST95), in the same manner as in the third embodiment described above.

[0140] In this operation example, the evaluation device 100 transmits evaluation information to the fourth terminal device 600 and the washing machine 700 (ST96). The fourth terminal device 600 receives the evaluation information (ST102) and displays the evaluation information via a mail browser, a web browser, a display screen of an application, or the like (ST103). The washing machine 700 receives the evaluation information (ST121) and displays the evaluation information on the display unit 701 (ST122).

[0141] Furthermore, the evaluation device 100 generates analysis information based on the database stored in the storage unit 18 (ST97), and transmits the analysis information to the fourth terminal device 600 (ST98). The fourth terminal device 600 receives the analysis information (ST104), and displays the analysis information on the display unit (ST105).

[0142] As described above, according to this embodiment, the user who uses the fourth terminal device 600 can easily grasp the amount of MPF emitted by the user. Furthermore, the user can learn textile products and washing conditions with low MPF emissions by the analysis information, and can contribute to reducing MPF emissions.

[0143] [Variation 1] The evaluation device 100 may transmit at least one of the evaluation information and the analysis information. Furthermore, the information on the evaluation result transmitted from the evaluation device 100 may be received by at least one of the fourth terminal device 600 and the washing machine 700. For example, the washing machine 700 may receive and display the analysis information, or the fourth terminal device 600 may receive and display only the analysis information.

[0144] [Variation 2] The washing machine 700 may transmit at least a part of the information on the textile product or the washing conditions to the evaluation device 100. This can reduce the burden on the user of inputting information. For example, the washing machine 700 can store the washing process performed and transmit this washing process to the evaluation device 100 as information on the washing conditions. Alternatively, the washing machine 700 may have a camera capable of capturing an image of the textile product inside the washing tub. This allows the washing machine 700 to transmit an image of the textile product to be evaluated to the evaluation device 100.

[0145] [Variation 3] The imaging device 500 does not have to be a separate component from the washing machine 700. In this case, the system of the present embodiment may be configured with the evaluation device 100, the fourth terminal device 600, and the washing machine 700.

[0146] For example, the washing machine 700 may be configured to have a camera capable of capturing an image of the inside of the drain line Ln, and an image of the treatment liquid captured by this camera may be stored in a storage unit of the washing machine 700. This allows the washing machine 700 to transmit the image of the treatment liquid to the evaluation device 100.

[0147] [Variation 4] For example, the washing machine 700 in this embodiment may be configured as a cleaning machine used by a laundry or textile business. This allows these businesses to check the evaluation information through the cleaning machine.

[0148] <Other embodiments> Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0149] In the evaluation systems of the second, third and fourth embodiments described above, similar to variant example 8 of the first embodiment, a user can also operate an information processing device (evaluation device, terminal device, etc.) to execute part of the process. [Explanation of symbols]

[0150] 11...CPU (control unit) 16…Display section 18...Storage section 19…Communications Department 100...Evaluation device 200...First terminal device 300...Second terminal device 400...Third terminal device 500…Imaging device 600...Fourth terminal device 700…Washing machine (cleaning machine) EXAMPLES

[0151] (Washing process) The test garment was a black BODY DRY crew neck T-shirt (Gunze Ltd. model number: CL2613H). Note that the test garment is not limited to this garment, and various synthetic fiber garments can be used. Two test garments were placed in a mini washing machine (Alumis Co., Ltd. AK-M60), and washed for 10 minutes with 4L of tap water (not heated) and laundry detergent (Kao Corporation Attack 3X) at normal use concentration.

[0152] (Separation of washing liquid) After the washing was completed, the two test clothes were taken out of the mini washing machine and lightly squeezed by hand. The remaining washing water in the tub, including the squeezed water, was thoroughly stirred and homogenized, and the washing water was taken from one screw tube (Maruemu Co., Ltd. No. 6). If the total amount of washing water to be measured fits within the capacity of the petri dish described below, depending on the test conditions, there is no need to take out the washing water.

[0153] (Preparation of measurement sample) The washing water collected in the above process was poured into a petri dish (Aznol Petri dish, 90 mm diameter, 15 mm height, manufactured by Aznol Corporation) with the lid removed, and the screw tube wall was rinsed with a small amount of tap water, after which the rinse water was also added to the petri dish. At this time, coarse fibers and impurities that were clearly not microplastics and could be seen with the naked eye were manually removed using tweezers. After that, the whole was lightly stirred with a dropper or the like to homogenize the MPFs so that they would not overlap, and then left to stand for about 1 minute until the MPFs sank to the bottom of the petri dish.

[0154] (scan) The measurement sample prepared in the above process was scanned with a home scanner (Seiko Epson Corporation GT-X820). Scanning conditions: "Professional mode", image type: 48-bit color, resolution: 600 dpi, unsharp mask effect "medium"

[0155] (Counting by image processing) The image file created in the above step was read into Image J, and the number of MPFs was counted through the following image processing steps, which were automatically performed by a computer based on pre-stored settings. 1.Image>Type>8Bit 2.Process>Subtract Background...>Rooling ball radius:50 pixels(Check Light background) 3. Select the area inside the dish you want to analyze in a circular shape and automatically set the threshold with Image>Adjust>Threshold. 4. Analyze>Analyze Particles, set the size to "3-Infenity" and output the summary. 5. Get the count value of the output Summary 6. The count value was multiplied by the amount of liquid taken out of the total amount of washing liquid to obtain the total measured amount.

Claims

1. A method for evaluating microplastic fibers for evaluating the discharge amount of microplastic fibers in a treatment liquid obtained by washing a textile product, comprising: detecting microplastic fibers from an image of the treatment liquid; evaluating the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by calculating the amount of the detected microplastic fibers. A method for evaluating microplastic fibers.

2. detecting the microplastic fibers by detecting a first region having a color tone corresponding to the color tone of the textile product from the image. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to Claim 1.

3. generating a binarized image composed of the first region and a second region having a color tone different from that of the first region from the image. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to Claim 2.

4. evaluating the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by calculating the number of the detected microplastic fibers. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to Claim 1 or 2.

5. evaluating the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by comparing the calculated amount of the microplastic fibers with the amount of microplastic fibers detected from an image of a reference treatment liquid serving as a reference. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to Claim 1 or 2.

6. In the evaluation method, further, outputting evaluation information about the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to Claim 1 or 2.

7. associating at least one of the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers and information on the textile product to be evaluated or information on the washing conditions of the textile product, and storing the same in a database; the database stores, for each evaluation result of a plurality of microplastic fibers, at least one of information on the textile product to be evaluated or information on the washing conditions of the textile product, in an associated manner; analyzing the relationship between the evaluation results of the plurality of microplastic fibers and at least one of the information on the textile product or the information on the washing conditions of the textile product, based on the database; outputting analysis information about the analysis result of the relationship. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to claim 1 or 2.

8. The analysis information includes information recommending at least one of a textile product with a low discharge amount of the microplastic fibers or washing conditions. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to claim 7.

9. In the evaluation method, further, product display information for displaying the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers on a product display or a sales promotion medium of a textile product of the same type as the textile product to be evaluated is generated. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to claim 1 or 2.

10. The product display information includes access information that enables access to information regarding the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers via the Internet. The method for evaluating microplastic fibers according to claim 9.

11. An evaluation device capable of evaluating the discharge amount of microplastic fibers in a treatment liquid obtained by washing a textile product, detecting the microplastic fibers from an image of the treatment liquid, evaluating the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by calculating the amount of the detected microplastic fibers. Control unit An evaluation device comprising the same.

12. An evaluation system comprising an evaluation device capable of evaluating the discharge amount of microplastic fibers in a treatment liquid obtained by washing a textile product, and a first terminal device connected to the evaluation device via the Internet, wherein the evaluation device detects the microplastic fibers from an image of the treatment liquid, evaluates the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by calculating the amount of the detected microplastic fibers, and transmits information regarding the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers to the first terminal device. having a control unit Evaluation system.

13. The control unit transmits evaluation information regarding the evaluation result of the microplastic fibers to the first terminal device. The evaluation system according to claim 12.

14. The evaluation device further includes a storage unit including a database that stores, in association with each evaluation result of a plurality of microplastic fibers, at least one of information on the textile product to be evaluated or information on the washing conditions of the textile product. The control unit Based on the database, analyze the relationship between the evaluation results of the plurality of microplastic fibers and at least one of the information of the fiber product or the washing conditions of the fiber product. Transmit analysis information about the analysis result of the relationship to the first terminal device. The evaluation system according to claim 12 or 13.

15. At least one of the evaluation device or the first terminal device Generates product display information for displaying the evaluation results of the microplastic fibers on the product display or sales promotion medium of the fiber product of the same type as the fiber product to be evaluated. The evaluation system according to claim 12 or 13.

16. The evaluation system further includes a second terminal device connected to the evaluation device via the Internet. The product display information includes access information that can access information related to the evaluation results of the microplastic fibers via the Internet. The second terminal device accesses information related to the evaluation results of the microplastic fibers based on the access information. The evaluation system according to claim 15.

17. The first terminal device is a terminal device used by the user who is the source of the request for the evaluation of the fiber product. The evaluation system according to claim 12 or 13.

18. The first terminal device is a terminal device used by the user who is the source of the request for the evaluation of the treatment liquid. The evaluation system according to claim 12 or 13.

19. The first terminal device is configured as a washing machine that washes the fiber product. The evaluation system according to claim 12 or 13.

20. A program for evaluating the discharge amount of microplastic fibers in a treatment liquid obtained by washing a fiber product, which causes an information processing device to Detect the microplastic fibers from an image of the treatment liquid. Evaluate the discharge amount of the microplastic fibers by calculating the amount of the detected microplastic fibers. A program to execute.

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