Constituent analysis device and constituent analysis method

Abstract

To provide a constituent analysis device capable of continuously analyzing constituents contained in food, such as fresh tea leaves, on a belt conveyor.MEANS: A constituent analysis device analyzes constituents of an object by using a spectroscopic analysis method. The constituent analysis device includes: a spectroscopic analyzer for analyzing an object conveyed by a conveyance conveyor on the conveyance conveyor continuously or intermittently; a height measuring instrument for measuring the height of an object up to the surface from a conveyance surface of the conveyance conveyor continuously or intermittently; and a control section for quantifying or identifying constituents contained in an object by using a place for measuring the height of the object and analysis data obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer in the case when the value of height measured by the height measuring instrument is within a preset analysis execution range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a component analysis device, and more particularly to a component analysis device and a component analysis method for analyzing components contained in tea leaves and the like by near-infrared spectroscopic analysis. [Background technology]

[0002] Spectroscopic analysis is a method for analyzing components contained in an analyte by measuring the "light" emitted or absorbed by the analyte when the analyte is irradiated with light of a specific wavelength. This measured "light" is obtained in the form of a light intensity distribution (hereinafter also referred to as a spectrum) arranged by wavelength after being dispersed, and the components (e.g., water, amino acids, lipids, etc.) contained in the analyte can be quantified or identified by substituting the measured light into a calibration curve created by statistical analysis.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a component analysis device that uses spectroscopic analysis to analyze components contained in tea leaves. In Patent Document 1, raw tea leaves before tea processing are mainly used as the analysis target, and the analysis is performed by transferring a predetermined amount of sampled tea leaves from a belt conveyer to a measurement unit 4 of the device. In this measurement unit 4, quartz glass 6 is placed on the surface of the tea leaves, and the surface of the tea leaves that is irradiated with near-infrared light is made uniform (see Figure 1 of Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2000-346797 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] Raw tea leaves picked from tea fields will oxidize if left as is, so in the production of green tea, it is necessary to quickly kill the green tea leaves by steaming or other methods. However, even for raw tea leaves picked at the same time, the amount of moisture contained in the tea leaves varies greatly depending on the temperature and humidity at the time of picking, the type of tea tree, the location of the tea field, whether the tea was covered during cultivation, and other factors. Since the flavor and aroma of the resulting tea change depending on the conditions of the killing treatment, it is necessary to carry out the killing treatment under optimal conditions (heating temperature, heating time, amount of steam, etc.) that take into account the moisture content of the tea leaves.

[0006] Although the component analysis device described in Patent Document 1 can measure the moisture content (moisture content) of raw tea leaves, it is necessary to transfer a sample of raw tea leaves to the measurement section of the device, and then cover the surface of the tea leaves with quartz glass before analysis. This results in spot analysis, and there is a problem in that it is unclear whether the measured value correctly represents the moisture content of the raw tea leaves being continuously transported to the steamer. Therefore, in order to sterilize the raw tea leaves quickly and under optimal conditions, it is desired to perform continuous analysis on the raw tea leaves being transported on a conveyer belt to the steamer after being brought into a tea factory.

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its object is to provide a component analysis device that can continuously analyze components contained in food such as raw tea leaves on a conveyer belt. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The present inventors have conducted extensive research into whether it is possible to grasp the moisture content of tea leaves by continuously analyzing the components of raw tea leaves conveyed by a conveying means such as a belt conveyor using a near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer and analyzing the results. In this regard, in a typical near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer, the distance from the near-infrared irradiation unit to the object to be analyzed is required to be constant. In other words, if the distance from the irradiation unit of the spectroscopic analyzer to the surface of the object to be analyzed varies, the intensity of the irradiated light changes, and the analytical accuracy is greatly reduced. However, since raw tea leaves are natural raw materials, they are not uniform in shape and are large in volume, so that the height of the surface of the tea leaves conveyed by the belt conveyor is not uniform, resulting in large variations and unevenness. Therefore, it was found that it is difficult to obtain appropriate component analysis results even when analysis is performed using a near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer.

[0009] Therefore, as a result of extensive research, the inventors have discovered that rather than reducing the unevenness of the surface of the object to be analyzed being transported on a transport conveyor such as a belt conveyor, i.e., by smoothing the surface of the object to be analyzed on the transport conveyor to a constant height before analysis, it is possible to perform highly accurate component analysis on the transport conveyor by using only analysis data obtained from points on the object to be analyzed where the surface height is within a specified range, and not using analysis data from points where the surface height of the object to be analyzed is outside a specified range.

[0010] In other words, the component analysis device of the present invention is a component analysis device that analyzes the components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, and includes a spectroscopic analyzer that continuously or intermittently analyzes the object being transported on a transport conveyor, a height measuring device that continuously or intermittently measures the height from the transport surface of the transport conveyor to the surface of the object, and a control unit that, when the height value measured by the height measuring device is within a predetermined analysis range, quantifies or identifies the components contained in the object using analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location on the object where the height was measured.

[0011] According to the component analysis device of the present invention, when the object being transported by the transport conveyor is continuously spectroscopically analyzed, the height from the transport surface of the transport conveyor to the surface of the object is measured by a height measuring device, and when the height value is within a predetermined analysis range, the analysis data obtained at the same location is used for the analysis, so that the analysis accuracy can be improved. Therefore, even if the height of the surface of the object on the transport conveyor varies greatly, the component analysis can be performed with high accuracy. In this specification, the term "measuring the height from the transport surface of the transport conveyor to the surface of the object" refers to a concept that includes not only directly measuring the height from the transport surface of the transport conveyor to the surface of the object, but also indirectly measuring the height, and for example, includes measuring the distance from the height measuring device to the surface of the object and subtracting the value of this distance from the distance from the height measuring device to the transport surface of the transport conveyor to obtain the height value. In this specification, the term "quantifying the amount of the component contained in the object" refers to a concept that includes not only determining the exact amount, but also determining the approximate amount or the range of the amount, and includes the so-called estimated amount, estimated range (estimated level), and the like.

[0012] It is also preferable that the height measuring device of the component analyzer of the present invention is provided upstream of the spectroscopic analyzer in the conveying direction of the transport conveyor, the control unit instructs the spectroscopic analyzer to analyze the object only when the height value measured by the height measuring device is within the analysis implementation range, and the spectroscopic analyzer, in response to the instruction from the control unit, analyzes the object at the same location as the location where the height measuring device measured the height of the object. In this way, if analysis data is obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location only when the surface height of the object is within a preset analysis implementation range, only highly accurate analysis data can be obtained, and data processing in the control unit can be performed quickly.

[0013] It is also preferable that the height measuring device of the component analyzer of the present invention is provided downstream of the spectroscopic analyzer in the conveying direction of the conveyor, and the control unit is configured to exclude, when the height value measured by the height measuring device is outside the analysis range, the analysis data by the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location where the height was measured from the valid data. When the height value measured by the height measuring device is outside the predetermined analysis range, the accuracy of the analysis data obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer decreases, but by excluding such low-accuracy analysis data from the valid data, the accuracy of the analysis can be improved.

[0014] In the component analysis device of the present invention, the height measuring device is a non-contact sensor that uses a probe wave to measure the distance to the object, and it is also preferable that the irradiation position of the probe wave of the height measuring device and the irradiation position of the near-infrared ray of the spectroscopic analyzer are arranged coaxially along the conveying direction of the conveyor. By configuring in this way, it becomes easy to obtain analytical data by the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location on the surface of the object conveyed on the conveyor as the location where the height is measured by the height measuring device.

[0015] In the component analysis device of the present invention, it is also preferable that the height measuring device measures the height of the object at a plurality of points, the spectroscopic analyzer performs analysis at a plurality of points on the object, and the control unit quantifies or identifies the components contained in the object using an average value of the plurality of analysis data by the spectroscopic analyzer. In this way, by calculating the average value from the plurality of analysis data, the accuracy of the component analysis can be improved.

[0016] In the component analysis device of the present invention, the control unit preferably acquires the height value from the height measuring device and the analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location of the object based on the distance between the probe wave irradiation unit of the height measuring device and the near-infrared irradiation unit of the spectroscopic analyzer and the conveying speed of the conveyor. By configuring in this way, it is possible to acquire the height from the conveying surface of the conveyor to the surface of the object and the analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location for the object being conveyed on the conveyor.

[0017] In the component analysis device of the present invention, the object is tea leaves, and it is also preferable to analyze the content of moisture, total nitrogen, free amino acids, fiber, or polyphenol compounds contained in the tea leaves. Here, polyphenol compounds include catechin and the like. In this specification, the concept of tea leaves includes raw tea leaves before processing, tea leaves during tea processing, and tea leaves after tea processing. Raw tea leaves are particularly bulky, making spectroscopic analysis on a conveyor difficult, but the component analysis device of the present invention can perform highly accurate component analysis of such objects as a whole.

[0018] The component analysis method according to the present invention is a component analysis method for analyzing the components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, which is characterized in that the height from the conveying surface of the conveyor to the surface of the object being conveyed by the conveyor is measured, and only if the height value is within a preset analysis range, the same location of the object where the height was measured is analyzed by a spectroscopic analyzer, and the components contained in the object are quantified or identified using the analysis data obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer. According to the component analysis method of the present invention, only highly accurate analysis data can be obtained, so that the accuracy of the analysis can be improved. Therefore, even if there is a large variation in the height of the surface of the object being conveyed by the conveyor, the component analysis can be performed as it is.

[0019] The component analysis method according to the present invention is a component analysis method for analyzing the components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, characterized in that the component contained in the object transported on a transport conveyor is analyzed using a spectroscopic analyzer, the height of the surface of the object from the transport surface of the transport conveyor at the same location as the location analyzed by the spectroscopic analyzer is measured, and if the height value is within a preset analysis implementation range, the component contained in the object is quantified or identified using analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location as the location where the height of the object was measured. According to the component analysis method of the present invention, low-precision analysis data is not used in the analysis, and the accuracy of the analysis can be improved. Effect of the Invention

[0020] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a component analysis device having the following excellent effects. That is, according to the component analysis device of the present invention, even if there is a large variation in the surface height of the objects being transported by the transport conveyor, they can be analyzed continuously and with high accuracy on the transport conveyor. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0021] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a component analysis device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the objects being transported by the belt conveyor shown in FIG. 1 and the measurement and analysis points. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of component analysis by the component analyzer shown in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the flow of component analysis by the component analyzer shown in FIG. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a component analyzer according to another embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of component analysis by the component analyzer shown in FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a graph comparing the standard deviations of the component analysis results in the examples and comparative examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0022] Hereinafter, a component analysis device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Although the description will be given with reference to the drawings as necessary, the contents shown in the drawings are merely shown in a schematic and illustrative manner for understanding the present invention, and the appearance and dimensional ratios may differ from the actual product. In addition, the following will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0023] (First embodiment) 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the component analyzer of the present embodiment. In the following, the component analyzer 1 used in the tea manufacturing process will be described with raw tea leaves 100 as an example of the object to be analyzed.

[0024] As shown in Fig. 1, the component analysis device 1 is generally composed of a spectroscopic analyzer 2 that analyzes components contained in tea leaves 100 by near-infrared spectroscopic analysis, a height measuring device 14 that measures the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the transport conveyor (belt conveyor) 20 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100, i.e., the height in the Z-axis direction to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100, and a control unit 12 that is connected to and controls the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring device 14. In the drawing, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are all vertical, the X-axis is an axis along the transport direction A of the tea leaves 100 by the transport conveyor 20, and the Z-axis is an axis along the vertical direction.

[0025] First, the spectroscopic analyzer 2 will be described. The spectroscopic analyzer 2 is an analyzer for quantifying or identifying components contained in tea leaves 100 conveyed by a belt conveyor 20 through near-infrared spectroscopic analysis. In this embodiment, a belt conveyor is shown as the conveyor 20, but other types of conveyors may be used as long as they have a conveyor surface 22. The spectroscopic analyzer 2 is disposed above and facing the conveyor surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 so as to be able to analyze the tea leaves 100 conveyed by the belt conveyor 20. The spectroscopic analyzer 2 is roughly composed of an analytical light source 3, a mirror 4 for irradiating light 5, which is split from the light source 3 through a spectroscopic filter (not shown. However, as long as the light receiving unit 10 has a structure that also splits the light, the spectroscopic filter itself may not be present.), onto an object (tea leaves 100), a condenser lens 9 for collecting light 8 reflected from the object, and a light receiving unit (light receiving element) 10 for receiving the reflected light. The analytical light source 3 is not particularly limited as long as it emits near-infrared rays, but in this embodiment and the examples described later, a halogen lamp emitting near-infrared rays in a wavelength range of 750 to 2500 nm is used. The near-infrared rays 5 irradiated from the analytical light source 3 are reflected by a mirror 4 and irradiated onto the tea leaves 100 from an irradiation unit 6 formed in a cylindrical shape. The irradiation of the near-infrared rays 5 generates reflected light 8 from the tea leaves 100, and this reflected light 8 is focused toward the light receiving unit 10 via a focusing lens 9. The light receiving unit 10 measures the near-infrared reflection spectrum and the absorption wavelength band and reference wavelength band according to the analysis item for the reflected light 8 received. These measurements can be performed continuously or intermittently for the tea leaves 100 transported by the belt conveyor 20. In addition, data information on the near-infrared reflection spectrum measured by the light receiving unit 10 and the absorption wavelength band and reference wavelength band of the reflected light 8 are input to the control unit 12 described later as analysis data. The analysis data input to the control unit 12 may be data that allows for the analysis of the light intensity for each specific wavelength, and the light intensity may be replaced with light brightness, light absorbance, light reflectance, etc. For example, the data may be data related to the near-infrared reflection spectrum, the absorption wavelength band and reference wavelength band of the reflected light 8, or data calculated by substituting the data into a calibration curve created in advance.The spectroscopic analyzer 2 is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration, and may have any configuration as long as it can irradiate near-infrared light 5 and measure the reflected light 8 from the object 100. In addition, the irradiated light is not limited to near-infrared light 5, and visible light, infrared light, etc. can also be irradiated depending on the analysis item.

[0026] In the spectroscopic analyzer 2, near-infrared rays 5 are irradiated from a cylindrical irradiation section 6. From the viewpoint of improving the accuracy of the analysis, it is preferable to widen the irradiation diameter 50φ of the near-infrared rays 5 so that the near-infrared rays 5 are irradiated over a wide area. Although not particularly limited, it is preferable to set it to 20 mm to 200 mm, and more preferably to 30 mm to 100 mm.

[0027] Next, the height measuring device 14 will be described. The height measuring device 14 is a measuring device for measuring the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100. The height measuring device 14 is disposed above and facing the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 so as to be able to measure an object being conveyed on the belt conveyor 20. In this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 is disposed upstream of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the conveying direction A of the belt conveyor 20. The height measuring device 14 is preferably a non-contact distance measuring sensor that detects the distance to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100, which is the object, using a search wave 15 such as light, radio wave, or ultrasonic wave. The height measuring device 14 in this embodiment is a distance measuring sensor that irradiates the tea leaves 100 with the search wave 15 along the Z-axis direction and measures the distance h0 along the Z-axis direction between the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 at the irradiation point 15a (irradiation position) and the reference surface 16 of the height measuring device 14, and can continuously or intermittently measure the distance h0 from the reference surface 16 that irradiates the search wave 15 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100. By subtracting this distance h0 from the distance from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the reference surface 16 that irradiates the search wave 15 of the distance measuring sensor 14, the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 can be continuously or intermittently measured. In addition, data information on the distance measured by the height measuring device 14 is input to the control unit 12 described later as height data. The height data input to the control unit 12 may be data relating to the time from when the search wave 15 is irradiated to when the reflected light is received, or may be data calculated as a distance (height) by performing an arithmetic operation on the data. Note that, although the height measuring device 14 and the spectroscopic analyzer 2 are arranged separately in this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 and the spectroscopic analyzer 2 may be arranged integrally, for example, by being incorporated into a single housing.

[0028] In addition, in the present invention, in order to improve the accuracy of the analysis, it is necessary to approximately match the location where the spectroscopic analyzer 2 analyzes the tea leaves 100 and the location where the height measuring device 14 measures the height of the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100. Therefore, it is preferable that the irradiation unit 6 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring device 14 are arranged on the same axis along the conveying direction of the belt conveyor 20 so that the irradiation position 50 of the near-infrared rays 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the irradiation position 15a of the probe wave 15 of the height measuring device 14 are approximately in the same position. As shown in FIG. 1, in this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 is arranged upstream of the irradiation unit 6 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the conveying direction A, and the irradiation position 15a of the probe wave 15 by the height measuring device 14 and the irradiation position center 50a of the near-infrared rays 5 by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 have the same coordinate in the Y-axis direction and are separated by a distance L in the X-axis direction.

[0029] Next, the control unit 12 will be described. The control unit 12 is connected to the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14, and controls the operation of each part of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14, and processes and calculates the measured values ​​and analysis data obtained by them. The control unit 12 incorporates a calibration curve of a standard substance according to an analysis item and spectrum data of the standard substance, and performs calculations based on the analysis data obtained by the light receiving unit 10 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the calibration curve or spectrum data to quantify or identify the components contained in the tea leaves 100, which are the target. The configuration of the control unit 12 is not particularly limited, and may be a computer having a CPU and a memory. In addition, the control unit 12 may be configured to be incorporated into either one or both of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14. The method of connection between the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14 and the control unit 12 is not particularly limited, and may be a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0030] The contents of the control in the control unit 12 are not particularly limited, but include, for example, the analysis operation of the spectrometer 2, the measurement operation in the height measuring device 14, and the driving of the height measuring device 14 and the spectrometer 2, and the change and adjustment of the power supply voltage supplied thereto. In order to approximately match the location where the height measuring device 14 measures the height of the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 and the location where the spectrometer 2 analyzes the tea leaves 100, the control unit 12 controls the operation of the height measuring device 14 and the operation of the spectrometer 2 so that the irradiation position 15a of the search wave 15 of the height measuring device 14 and the irradiation position 50 of the near-infrared rays of the spectrometer 2 are approximately the same position. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable to control so that the irradiation position 15a of the search wave 15 of the height measuring device 14 and the center 50a of the irradiation position of the near-infrared rays 5 of the spectrometer 2 are approximately the same position. As a method of control, the timing of irradiation of the probe wave 15 of the height measuring device 14 and the timing of irradiation of the near-infrared ray 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 are controlled based on the distance L (see FIG. 1) between the height measuring device 14 and the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the conveying speed v of the belt conveyor, so that the irradiation point 15a of the probe wave 15 of the height measuring device 14 and the center 50a of the irradiation point of the near-infrared ray 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 are approximately at the same position. In this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 is disposed upstream of the irradiation unit 6 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the conveying direction A, so that after the height measuring device 14 measures the height of the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100, the tea leaves at the point where the height was measured are irradiated with the near-infrared ray 5 at the timing when the tea leaves move directly under the irradiation unit 6 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to perform analysis. In this way, the point in the tea leaves 100 where the analysis data is obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 is made to coincide with the point where the height was measured by the height measuring device 14. Therefore, in the component analysis device 1 according to the present invention, the height data at a predetermined point can be made to correspond to the analysis data. In order to control the operation of the belt conveyor, the control unit 12 can be connected to the belt conveyor 20 and configured to control the conveying speed of the belt conveyor, etc.

[0031] Furthermore, the control unit 12 can control the measurement operation in the height measuring device 14 to continuously or intermittently irradiate the search wave 15. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 12 can control the measurement operation in the height measuring device 14 to irradiate the search wave 15 to the irradiation point 15a at a predetermined time interval t. At this time, since the belt conveyor 20 moves at a predetermined feed speed v, the height measuring device 14 measures the height h of the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 at a predetermined interval D in the X-axis direction for the tea leaves 100 being transported by the belt conveyor 20. In addition, the control unit 12 can control the analysis operation in the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to continuously or intermittently irradiate the near-infrared 5 to the irradiation point 50 that is the same as the point 15a measured by the height measuring device 14. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 12 can control the analysis operation in the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to irradiate the near-infrared 5 at a predetermined time interval t. At this time, near-infrared rays 5 are irradiated at locations spaced at a predetermined interval D in the X-axis direction on tea leaves 100 being transported at a predetermined speed v by belt conveyor 20. At this time, the relationship D=vt holds for interval D, and control unit 12 can continuously acquire analysis data for tea leaves 100 being transported on belt conveyor 20 at predetermined intervals D in the X-axis direction. The predetermined time interval t can be set as appropriate between 0.01 and 1 second, for example.

[0032] Here, the control unit 12 is configured to quantify or identify the components contained in the tea leaves 100 using the analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer 2 at the same location where the height h of the tea leaves 100 was measured, when the value of the height h measured by the height measuring device 14 is within a preset analysis range. In FIG. 1, h1 indicates the lower limit of the analysis range, and h2 indicates the upper limit of the analysis range. After acquiring the value of the height h of the tea leaves 100 measured by the height measuring device 14, the control unit 12 determines whether the value of the height h falls within the preset analysis range (satisfies the relationship of h1≦h≦h2), and when the value of the height h is within the analysis range, the control unit 12 quantifies or identifies the components contained in the tea leaves 100 using the analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer 2 at the same location where the height h of the tea leaves 100 was measured. This allows for selective acquisition of high-precision analytical data, and prevents low-precision analytical data from being used in the analysis, improving the accuracy of the analysis. Even if the object has a variation in surface height on the belt conveyor, the near-infrared spectrometer 2 can perform continuous component analysis. The predetermined analysis range can be appropriately set according to the size and type of the object to be analyzed. In particular, when raw tea leaves 100 are used as the object, for example, the lower limit height h1 of the analysis range is preferably 20 mm to 100 mm, and more preferably 30 mm to 60 mm, from the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 20. In addition, the upper limit height h2 of the analysis range is preferably 50 mm to 300 mm, and more preferably 100 mm to 200 mm, from the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 20. Furthermore, the predetermined analysis range varies depending on the specifications of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 used, but in order to improve the analysis accuracy, the value of h2-h1 is preferably 200 mm or less, more preferably 150 mm or less, and even more preferably 100 mm or less.

[0033] In the present invention, raw tea leaves are selected as the subject of analysis 100, but other than raw tea leaves, tea leaves in the tea manufacturing process and manufactured tea can also be used as the subject of analysis. Furthermore, food ingredients other than tea leaves, food, natural materials such as wood and rocks, etc. can be widely used as the subject of analysis. Furthermore, as the analysis items, water, total nitrogen (TN), free amino acids, fiber, caffeine, catechin and other polyphenol compounds, vitamin C, sugar, salt, protein, oil, metals, other compounds, etc. can be selected.

[0034] 3 is a flow chart showing steps of performing near-infrared spectroscopic analysis of the components of raw tea leaves 100 being conveyed by a belt conveyor 20 rotating at a constant feed speed v, using the component analysis device 1 according to this embodiment. The component analysis method using the component analysis device 1 according to this embodiment and the control flow mainly in the control unit 12 of the component analysis device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0035] First, when the component analysis device 1 is started, the control unit 12 drives the height measuring device 14 and the spectrometer 2. The control unit 12 controls the distance measuring sensor, which is the height measuring device 14, to irradiate the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 being conveyed by the belt conveyor 20 with the search wave 15 at a predetermined time interval t, and obtains data relating to the value of the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100.

[0036] The control unit 12 judges whether the acquired value of height h of the tea leaves 100 is within a predetermined analysis range (whether the relationship of h1≦h≦h2, with lower limit h1 and upper limit h2, is satisfied). If the value of height h is within the predetermined analysis range, the control unit 12 sends an "ON" signal to the spectrometer 2 to irradiate near-infrared rays 5, instructing the spectrometer 2 to carry out the analysis. On the other hand, if the height value h is outside the analysis range, the process returns to the step of the height measuring device 14 measuring the height value h of the tea leaves 100.

[0037] If the value of the height h is within the analysis range, the spectrometer 2 that has received the "ON" signal irradiates the tea leaves 100 with near-infrared rays 5. At this time, the control unit 12 controls the timing of irradiation of the near-infrared rays 5 by the spectrometer 2 so that the near-infrared rays 5 are irradiated at approximately the same location as the location where the height h of the object was measured. The light receiving unit 10 receives the reflected light 8 of the irradiated near-infrared rays 5 and acquires analysis data such as the near-infrared reflected light spectrum. The control unit 12 acquires this analysis data x from the light receiving unit 10 and stores it. Then, the control unit 12 adds one to the number of data N of the stored analysis data.

[0038] Next, control unit 12 judges whether or not the number of data N of analytical data x reaches a predetermined number N0 (for example, an appropriately set value such as 100 to 200). If the number of data x has not reached the predetermined number N0, control returns to the step of measuring height value h of tea leaves 100 by height measuring device 14.

[0039] When the number N of analytical data x reaches a predetermined number N0, the control unit 12 calculates an average value from the analytical data x stored therein and the number N of data. Next, the control unit 12 calculates the content of the analyzed component, etc., using the average value (Σx / N0) of the analytical data x or the absorbance obtained from this average value, and the calibration curve of the standard substance related to the analyzed component, data related to the spectrum of the standard substance, etc. This makes it possible to accurately quantify or identify the components contained in the tea leaves 100. In this embodiment, even if the height of the surface 102 of the analytical object 100 on the belt conveyor 20 is likely to vary or become uneven, the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the analytical object 100 is measured, and if the height h is within a predetermined analysis range, the analytical data x from the spectrometer 2 at the same location as the location where the height h was measured is used, and the average value of the multiple analytical data x is calculated and calculated, thereby making it possible to perform highly accurate component analysis on the belt conveyor.

[0040] FIG. 4 shows another example of a flow according to this embodiment. In the flow according to FIG. 4, when the component analysis device 1 is started, the control unit 12 drives the height measuring device 14 and the spectroscopic analyzer 2. At this time, the control unit 12 controls the measurement of the height h by the height measuring device 14 and the analysis by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to be performed at a predetermined time interval t. The control unit 12 controls the irradiation timing of the near-infrared rays 5 by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 so that the near-infrared rays 5 are irradiated at approximately the same location as the location where the height h of the object was measured by the height measuring device 14. The control unit 12 judges whether the value of the height h of the tea leaves 100 acquired by the height measuring device 14 is within a predetermined analysis implementation range (whether the relationship of h1≦h≦h2 is satisfied). At this time, if the height value h is outside the analysis implementation range, the control unit 12 sends an "OFF" signal to the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to cancel the irradiation of the near-infrared rays 5, blocking the near-infrared rays 5, and returns to the step where the height measuring device 14 measures the height value h of the tea leaves 100. When the height value h is within a predetermined analysis range, the spectroscopic analyzer 2 irradiates near-infrared rays 5 and performs spectroscopic analysis. The subsequent flow contents and the control contents by the control unit 12 are the same as those of the flow shown in FIG.

[0041] Second embodiment 5 shows the component analyzer 1a of this embodiment. The component analyzer 1a of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the arrangement of the height measuring device 14. In the following, the description of the configuration common to the first embodiment will be omitted, and the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. The configurations whose description is omitted are the same as those described in the first embodiment.

[0042] 5, in the component analyzer 1a according to this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 is disposed above and facing the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 so as to be able to measure an object being conveyed on the belt conveyor 20. In this embodiment, the height measuring device 14 is disposed downstream of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the conveying direction A of the belt conveyor 20. The irradiation position 15a of the probing wave 15 irradiated from the height measuring device 14 is at the same coordinate in the Y-axis direction as the irradiation position 50 of the near-infrared rays 5 irradiated from the spectroscopic analyzer 2, and is located downstream by a distance L in the X-axis direction.

[0043] The control unit 12 controls the operation of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14 so that the irradiation position of the near-infrared rays of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the irradiation position 15a of the probing wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 are approximately the same position, in order to approximately match the location where the analysis of the tea leaves 100 is performed by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the location where the height measuring instrument 14 measures the height of the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100. More specifically, it is preferable to control so that the center 50a of the irradiation position of the near-infrared rays of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the irradiation position 15a of the probing wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 are approximately the same position. As a method of control, the timing of irradiation of the near infrared rays 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the timing of irradiation of the probe wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 are controlled based on the distance L (see FIG. 5) between the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14 and the conveying speed v of the belt conveyor, so that the center 50a of the irradiation point of the near infrared rays 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the irradiation point 15a of the probe wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 are approximately at the same position. In this embodiment, the height measuring instrument 14 is disposed downstream of the irradiation section 6 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the conveying direction A, so that after the analysis of the tea leaves is performed by the spectroscopic analyzer 2, the probe wave 15 is irradiated at the timing when the tea leaves at the point where the analysis was performed (where the near infrared rays 5 were irradiated) move directly under the irradiation section of the height measuring instrument 14, and the height is measured. In this way, the point where the analysis data is obtained by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 in the tea leaves 100 and the point where the height is measured by the height measuring instrument 14 are made to coincide. Therefore, in the component analysis device 1a according to the present invention, the height data and the analysis data at a predetermined point can be made to correspond to each other.

[0044] In this embodiment, the control unit 12 is configured to exclude the analysis data of the spectrometer 2 at the same location where the height h of the tea leaves 100 was measured from the valid data when the value of the height h of the tea leaves 100 measured by the height measuring device 14 is outside the predetermined analysis range. In FIG. 5, h1 indicates the lower limit of the analysis range, and h2 indicates the upper limit of the analysis range. After the value of the height h of the tea leaves 100 measured by the height measuring device 14 is input, the control unit 12 determines whether the value of the height h falls within the predetermined analysis range (h1≦h≦h2), and if the value of the height h is within the analysis range, the analysis data of the spectrometer 2 at the same location where the height h of the tea leaves 100 was measured is used as valid data to quantify or identify the components contained in the tea leaves 100. This allows highly accurate analytical data to be selectively obtained as valid data, and low accuracy analytical data is excluded from the valid data and not used in the analysis, improving the accuracy of the analysis and allowing continuous component analysis to be performed by the near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer 2 even for objects with varying surface heights on the conveyor belt.

[0045] 5, in this embodiment, the irradiation point 15a of the search wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 is shifted by a distance L along the X-axis from the irradiation point 50a of the near-infrared rays 5 irradiated from the spectroscopic analyzer 2, but the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the height measuring instrument 14 may be arranged so that the search wave 15 of the height measuring instrument 14 is irradiated to the same point 50a at the same time as the irradiation of the near-infrared rays 5 to obtain the value of the height h. In this case, the value of the height h by the height measuring instrument 14 and the analysis data by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 may be simultaneously obtained and input to the control unit 12.

[0046] Fig. 6 is a flow chart showing the steps of performing near-infrared spectroscopic analysis of the components of raw tea leaves 100 transported by a belt conveyor 20 rotating at a constant feed speed, using the component analysis device 1a according to this embodiment. The component analysis method using the component analysis device 1a according to this embodiment and the control flow mainly in the control unit 12 of the component analysis device 1a will be described with reference to Fig. 6.

[0047] First, when the component analysis device 1a is started, the control unit 12 drives the height measuring instrument 14 and the spectroscopic analyzer 2. The control unit 12 controls the analysis by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 and the measurement of the height h by the height measuring instrument 14 to be performed at a predetermined time interval t. The control unit 12 controls the irradiation timing of both instruments so that the search wave 15 from the height measuring instrument 14 is irradiated to the same location where the spectroscopic analyzer 2 irradiated the target with near-infrared rays 5.

[0048] The control unit 12 controls the spectroscopic analyzer 2 to irradiate the surfaces 102 of the tea leaves 100 being conveyed by the belt conveyor 20 with near-infrared rays 5 at predetermined time intervals t. The light receiving unit 10 receives reflected light 8 of the irradiated near-infrared rays 5 and obtains analytical data x such as a near-infrared reflected light spectrum. The control unit 12 obtains and stores this analytical data x from the light receiving unit 10. The control unit 12 then adds one to the number of pieces of data N of the stored analytical data x.

[0049] Next, the control unit 12 controls the distance measuring sensor, which is the height measuring device 14, to irradiate the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100 being conveyed by the belt conveyor 20 with the search wave 15 at a predetermined time interval t, and acquires data related to the value of the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the tea leaves 100. The control unit 12 judges whether the acquired value of the height h of the tea leaves 100 is within a predetermined analysis implementation range (whether the relationship of h1≦h≦h2 is satisfied, with a lower limit h1 and an upper limit h2). If the value of the height h is outside the predetermined analysis implementation range, the analysis data x analyzed at the same location is excluded from the valid data, and the number N of data of the stored analysis data x is reduced by one. Then, the process returns to the step of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 newly analyzing the tea leaves 100.

[0050] If the value of height h is within the analysis range, control unit 12 adopts analysis data x as valid data and judges whether the number of pieces of data N has reached a predetermined number N0. If the number of pieces of data N of analysis data x has not reached the predetermined number N0, spectroscopic analyzer 2 returns to the process of newly analyzing tea leaves 100.

[0051] When the number N of analytical data x reaches a predetermined number N0, the control unit 12 calculates an average value (Σx / N0) from the analytical data x stored in the control unit 12 and the number N of data. Next, the control unit 12 calculates the content of the analyzed component, etc., in light of the average value of the analytical data x and the calibration curve of the standard substance related to the analysis item component and the spectrum data of the standard substance. This allows the components contained in the tea leaves 100 to be quantified or identified with high accuracy. In this embodiment, the height h from the conveying surface 22 of the belt conveyor 20 to the surface 102 of the analysis target 100 is measured, and if the height h is outside the predetermined analysis implementation range, the analytical data x of the spectrometer 2 at the same location as the point where the height h was measured is excluded from the valid data, and if the height h is within the predetermined analysis implementation range, the analytical data x of the spectrometer 2 at the same location as the point where the height h was measured is used as the valid data. Then, the average value of the multiple analytical data x is calculated and calculated, making it possible to perform highly accurate component analysis on the belt conveyor.

[0052] In addition to the exemplary embodiments described above, the configurations of the respective embodiments can be rearranged within the scope that does not impair the effects of the present invention. EXAMPLES

[0053] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to examples and comparative examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples at all.

[0054] [Example] The raw tea leaves picked on the day of the measurement (October 4th and October 11th) were used as the analysis object, and near-infrared rays 5 of a specific wavelength were irradiated using the component analyzer 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the near-infrared reflection spectrum intensity was measured. The measurement of the spectrum intensity was performed according to the flowchart in FIG. 3. The distance L between the irradiation point 15a of the search wave 15 irradiated by the height measuring device 14 and the irradiation point 50a of the near-infrared rays irradiated by the spectroscopic analyzer 2 was set to 18 cm, and the conveyor belt 20 was set to a speed v of 90 cm / s. Therefore, the spectroscopic analysis of the object was performed at the same point where the height measuring device 14 measured the height h of the object by irradiating the near-infrared rays 5 of the spectroscopic analyzer 2 0.2 seconds after the irradiation of the search wave 15 of the height measuring device 14. The measurement by the height measuring device 14 and the analysis by the spectroscopic analyzer 3 were performed five times per second (at 0.2 second intervals). In addition, the lower limit h1 of the analysis range permitted by the control unit 12 for the height h of the tea leaf surface was set to 50 mm, and the upper limit h2 was set to 150 mm. The number of pieces of analysis data N0 for calculating the average value of the analysis data was set to 128.

[0055] Using the component analysis device and test conditions described above, the near-infrared reflectance spectrum intensity of raw tea leaves transported on a conveyer belt was measured at the measurement date and time for each test plot shown in Table 1. For each test plot, the average reflectance spectrum intensity (DN) of the raw tea leaves measured a total of 128 times and its standard deviation σ were calculated, and these results are shown in Table 1 and the graph in Figure 7.

[0056] [Table 1]

[0057] [Comparative Example] As a comparative example, the "height measuring device 14" was removed from the component analysis device 1 used in the above-mentioned embodiment, the surface height h of the tea leaves 100 was not measured, and an apparatus consisting of a spectroscopic analyzer 2 and a control unit 12 was used, but the near-infrared reflectance spectrum intensity of raw tea leaves was measured at the measurement date and time for each test plot shown in Table 2 below under the same conditions as in the embodiment. The average value (DN) of the reflectance spectrum intensity of raw tea leaves measured a total of 128 times for each test plot, and its standard deviation σ were calculated, and these results are shown in Table 2 and the graph in FIG.

[0058] [Table 2]

[0059] The results of comparing the standard deviation σ in each test section of the Example and the Comparative Example are shown in the graph of FIG. 7. As shown in Tables 1, 2 and FIG. 7, in the component analysis device (Example) according to the present invention, the maximum value of the standard deviation σ of the spectrum intensity in each test section was only 55.2, and the variation was small. In contrast, in the device according to the Comparative Example, the maximum value of the standard deviation σ of the spectrum intensity in the test section was 98.8, and it was found that the variation was large when comparing each test section. From these facts, it was found that the analytical accuracy is improved and continuous analysis on the belt conveyor is possible by providing a height measuring device that measures the height from the conveying surface of the belt conveyor to the surface of the object, and when the height value measured by the height measuring device is within a predetermined analysis implementation range, quantifying and identifying the components using the analysis data of the spectrometer at the same location where the height was measured.

[0060] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and the technical scope of the present invention includes various modified forms of design within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the invention described in the claims. [Industrial Applicability]

[0061] INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention provides a component analysis device that can be used to analyze the components of food such as tea leaves, and is useful in a wide range of industries in the food manufacturing field. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1, 1a Component analyzer 2 Spectrometer 3 Analytical light source 4. Mirror 5 Near infrared 50 Near-infrared irradiation point (near-infrared irradiation position) 50a Center of near-infrared irradiation area 50φ Near infrared irradiation diameter 6 Irradiation unit 6D Aperture of irradiation part 8 Reflected light 9 Condenser lens 10 Light receiving part 12 Control section 14 Height measuring device 15 Exploration Wave 15a Location of exploration wave irradiation (location of exploration wave irradiation) 16 Reference plane 20 Belt conveyor (transport conveyor) 22 Conveyor belt conveying surface 100 Tea leaves (object) 102 Surface L: Distance between the detection wave irradiation part of the height measuring instrument and the near-infrared irradiation part of the spectrometer h Height from the conveyor belt surface to the surface of the target object (tea leaves) h0 is the distance from the reference plane of the probe wave irradiation part of the height measuring instrument to the surface of the target object (tea leaves). h1 Lower limit of analysis range h2 Upper limit of analysis scope

Claims

1. A component analysis device that analyzes components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, a spectroscopic analyzer that continuously or intermittently analyzes the object being transported on a transport conveyor; a height measuring device that continuously or intermittently measures a height from a conveying surface of the conveyor to a surface of the object; and a control unit that, when the height value measured by the height measuring device is within a predetermined analysis range, quantifies or identifies the components contained in the object using analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location of the object where the height was measured.

2. the height measuring device is provided upstream of the spectroscopic analyzer in a transport direction of the transport conveyor, the control unit instructs the spectrometer to analyze the object only when the height value measured by the height measuring device is within the analysis implementation range; 2. The component analysis device according to claim 1, wherein the spectroscopic analyzer is configured to analyze the object at the same location as the location where the height measuring device measured the height of the object, in response to the instruction from the control unit.

3. the height measuring device is provided downstream of the spectroscopic analyzer in a transport direction of the transport conveyor, 2. The component analysis device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to exclude, when a height value measured by the height measuring device is outside the analysis range, analysis data by the spectrometer at the same location where the height was measured from valid data.

4. The height measuring device is a non-contact sensor that measures the distance to the object by using a search wave, The component analysis device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the irradiation position of the search wave of the height measuring instrument and the irradiation position of the near-infrared light of the spectroscopic analyzer are arranged on the same axis along the conveying direction of the transport conveyor.

5. The height measuring device measures heights at a plurality of points on the object, The spectroscopic analyzer performs an analysis at a plurality of locations on the object; 5. The component analyzing device according to claim 4, wherein the control unit quantifies or identifies the components contained in the target object by using an average value of a plurality of pieces of analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer.

6. The component analysis device according to claim 5, characterized in that the control unit acquires the height value measured by the height measuring device and the analysis data measured by the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location on the object based on the distance between the search wave irradiation unit of the height measuring device and the near-infrared irradiation unit of the spectroscopic analyzer and the transport speed of the transport conveyor.

7. The component analysis device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the object is tea leaves, and the content of moisture, total nitrogen, free amino acids, fiber or polyphenol compounds contained in the tea leaves is analyzed.

8. A component analysis method for analyzing components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, comprising the steps of: For the object being transported by a transport conveyor, a height from a transport surface of the transport conveyor to a surface of the object is measured; Only when the height value is within a predetermined analysis range, a spectroscopic analyzer is used to analyze the same location of the object where the height was measured; A component analysis method, comprising quantifying or identifying components contained in the target object using analysis data acquired by the spectroscopic analyzer.

9. A component analysis method for analyzing components of an object by spectroscopic analysis, comprising the steps of: Analyzing components contained in the object being transported by the transport conveyor using a spectroscopic analyzer; measuring the height of the surface of the object from the conveying surface of the conveyor at the same location as the location analyzed by the spectroscopic analyzer; A component analysis method characterized in that, when the height value is within a predetermined analysis range, the components contained in the object are quantified or identified using analysis data from the spectroscopic analyzer at the same location on the object where the height was measured.

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