Processing apparatus for small home appliance waste

Abstract

To provide a processing apparatus for small home appliance waste that can eliminate small home appliance waste that incorporates a rechargeable battery.SOLUTION: A processing apparatus includes: an X-ray device that irradiates small home appliance waste on a conveyor path with an X-ray to obtain an X-ray image; a pickup unit that extracts a case image of the outer shape of the small home appliance waste from the X-ray image as a case image for identification and extracts an image of the X-ray transmittance below a prescribed threshold as a battery image for identification; a first database that stores the X-ray image of the outer shape of the small home appliance that incorporates a small rechargeable battery and is distributed in the society as a reference case image; a second database that stores the X-ray image of the outer shape of the small rechargeable battery that is distributed in the society as a reference battery image; a removal device that is driven so as to remove the small home appliance waste that has passed through the X-ray device from the conveyor path; and a control unit that drives the removal device when it is determined that the case image for identification matches the reference case image and a second determination unit determines that the battery image for identification matches the reference battery image.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a treatment device for small household waste that removes small household waste that still has small rechargeable batteries built in from small household waste that has been used and collected. [Background technology]

[0002] Small rechargeable batteries such as lithium-ion batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, and nickel-metal hydride batteries can ignite and cause fires, so small home appliances that contain these batteries and are discarded must be removed from home appliance waste. Patent Document 1 discloses a foreign body removal device that detects and removes small rechargeable batteries by irradiating them with X-rays. However, Patent Document 1 only describes that it detects small rechargeable batteries, and does not disclose any specific detection means. This creates a problem in that it is difficult to distinguish small home appliance waste that contains small rechargeable batteries from regular home appliance waste and remove them. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7217560 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] To provide a processing device for small household waste that determines whether or not small household waste that has been used and collected contains a small rechargeable battery, and, if it does, excludes the small household waste from other small household waste. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] The present invention includes a transport path for transporting small household electrical waste that has been separated and collected, an X-ray device for irradiating X-rays on the small household electrical waste on the transport path to obtain an X-ray image, a pickup unit for extracting an image of the outer case of the small household electrical waste from the X-ray image as an identification case image and extracting an image with an X-ray transmittance below a predetermined threshold as an identification battery image, a first database for storing X-ray images of the outer shapes of small household electrical appliances that have built-in small rechargeable batteries and are distributed in society as reference case images, and a reference battery image for extracting an image of the outer shape of a small rechargeable battery that is distributed in society from the X-ray image as a reference battery image. the identification case image and the reference case image; a removal device that drives to remove the small electrical appliance waste that has passed through the X-ray device from the transport path; a first determination unit that compares the identification case image with the reference case image; a second determination unit that compares the identification battery image with the reference battery image; and a control unit that drives the removal device when the first determination unit determines that the identification case image and the reference case image match and when the second determination unit determines that the identification battery image and the reference battery image match.

[0006] The present invention is characterized in that it further comprises a vibration device that vibrates the transport path to lay the small electrical appliance waste face down on the transport path.

[0007] The present invention is also characterized in that a feed limiting member is provided in the conveying path to limit the small household waste so that it is fed individually.

[0008] The battery storage device is also characterized in that it further includes a learning unit that adds a new reference case image and adds a new reference battery image in association with the new reference case image. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the removal device is driven when the identification case image of the small home appliance trash matches the reference case image in the database and the identification battery image matches the reference battery image, so that small home appliance trash with a built-in small rechargeable battery can be removed from other small home appliance trash. Also, the removal device is driven when the identification case image does not match the reference case image and the identification battery image matches the reference battery image, so that small home appliance trash with a built-in small rechargeable battery that is newly circulating in society can also be removed.

[0010] In addition, a vibration device is provided to place the small electrical appliance waste in a prone position, making it possible to obtain good X-ray images.

[0011] In addition, by providing a feed limiting member, small household electrical waste can be fed individually, so that individual X-ray images can be obtained reliably.

[0012] Furthermore, by providing a learning section, new data for comparison can be added, enabling accurate judgments to be made in response to changes in society. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a small household waste treatment device according to one embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a database used in the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an identification case image. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an identification battery image. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing the processing of small household waste. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a small home appliance incorporating a small rechargeable battery. [Figure 8] Actual X-ray images of small electronic waste taken with an X-ray machine: (A) shows an e-cigarette, and (B) shows a web conferencing speaker. [Figure 9] 1 is an example of a reference case image and a reference battery image. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Previously, metal detectors, magnetic separators, and color sorters were used to detect foreign objects in general recycling, but in recent years, aluminum packaging materials and batteries such as lithium batteries and button batteries have been mixed into the garbage, making it impossible to remove them using the previous sorting methods. For such recyclable items, sorting is now possible using X-rays. In particular, batteries can be sorted by registering their shape using AI means. In the present invention, typical small home appliance waste containing a small rechargeable battery is that shown in Figure 7. In the figure, (A) is a smartphone, (B) is a mobile battery, (C) is a portable lithium ion battery, (D) is an electronic cigarette, (E) is a game console, (F) is an electric toothbrush, (G) is an electric shaver, (H) is a portable small fan, and (I) is a web conference speaker. The present invention targets various small home appliance waste, including the small home appliance waste shown in Figure 7. When small household appliances are used, it is dangerous to discard small rechargeable batteries such as lithium ion batteries without removing them, so they are removed by the processing device 1 of the present invention, which will be described below. Therefore, the present invention is for removing small household appliances that contain small rechargeable batteries that can cause fires from other small household appliances, and examples of small rechargeable batteries include lithium ion batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, and nickel-metal hydride batteries. Hereinafter, small rechargeable batteries may be simply referred to as batteries.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, the removal device 1 of the present invention includes a transport path 2, a removal device 3, a collection box 4, a database 5, a first judgment unit 6, a second judgment unit 7, a control unit 8, a pickup unit 9, and an X-ray device 13.

[0016] The conveying path 2 includes a supply conveyor 2a on the upstream side, a processing conveyor 2b in the middle, and a discharge conveyor 2c on the downstream side. The supply conveyor 2a includes a vibration device 11 and a feed limiting member 12. The present invention processes small household electrical waste 10 that has a built-in battery, and targets three-dimensional waste. The three-dimensional waste is supplied to the supply conveyor 2a in various states, such as an oblique state, a sideways state, or an upright state. The vibration device 11 vibrates the supply conveyor 2a to place the three-dimensional waste in a prone state before supplying it to the processing conveyor 2b. By placing the small household electrical waste 10 in a prone state in this manner, it becomes easier to process the X-ray images obtained by the X-ray device 13.

[0017] The feed limiting member 12 is a member that limits the small electrical appliance waste 10 so that it is fed individually. Figure 2 shows an example of the feed limiting member 12. The feed limiting member 12 is arranged on the feed conveyor 2a and is composed of a guide plate 14 that gradually narrows the feed path, and the small electrical appliance waste 10 is fed individually by passing through the guide plate 14. By feeding the small electrical appliance waste individually in this way, it is possible to reliably obtain individual X-ray images.

[0018] An X-ray device 13 is disposed on the processing conveyor 2b. The X-ray device 13 is composed of an X-ray source 13a and a line sensor 13b, which are disposed on either side of the processing conveyor 2b. The small electrical waste 10 is irradiated with X-rays as it passes through the X-ray device 13. This makes it possible to obtain an X-ray image of the small electrical waste 10.

[0019] The removal device 3 is disposed between the processing conveyor 2b and the discharge conveyor 2c. If the small electrical appliance waste 10 has a built-in battery, the removal device 3 is driven to remove the small electrical appliance waste 10 from the transport path 2 (processing conveyor 2b), and the small electrical appliance waste 10 removed from the transport path 2 is collected in a collection box 4. The driving of the removal device 3 is controlled by the control unit 8. The discharge conveyor 2c supplies small electrical appliance waste 10 that does not have batteries to a subsequent process.

[0020] The pickup unit 9 is connected to a line sensor 13b of the X-ray device 13. The pickup unit 9 extracts an identification case image 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d) as shown in Fig. 4, which is an external case image of the small electrical waste 10, from the X-ray image from the line sensor 13b. In addition, the pickup unit 9 extracts an identification battery image 16 (16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, 16e) as shown in Fig. 5 from the X-ray image. The identification case image 15 (15a, 15b, 15c, 15d) is an overall image including the external shape of the small electrical appliance waste 10, and the identification case image 15 makes it possible to infer what type of item the small electrical appliance waste 10 is.

[0021] Identification battery images 16 (16a, 16b, 16c, 16d, 16e) are image portions of the X-ray image from line sensor 13b that have an X-ray transmittance below a predetermined threshold, and these image portions are used as identification battery images. When the X-ray transmittance is below the predetermined threshold, this is because there is a possibility that the battery is a battery. Therefore, multiple identification battery images may be extracted from one X-ray image, as shown in 16b and 16c, and all of the extracted identification battery images, even if there are multiple images, are used for judgment.

[0022] The database 5 in Fig. 1 includes a first database 21, a second database 22, and a learning unit 23. The first database 21 stores X-ray images of the external shapes of small home appliances that have built-in small rechargeable batteries and are in circulation in society as reference case images. The second database stores X-ray images of the external shapes of small rechargeable batteries that are in circulation in society as reference battery images.

[0023] 3 shows the configuration of the database 5. A plurality of reference case images A, D, B, C, ... are stored in the first database 21. A plurality of reference battery images A, D, B, C, ... are stored in the second database 22 in a state where the reference battery images are linked to the reference case images in the first database 21. By linking, it becomes easy to extract a reference battery image (e.g., reference battery image D) corresponding to one reference case image (e.g., reference case image D).

[0024] The learning unit 23 links X-ray images of the external shapes of small home appliances newly circulating in society with the reference case images X, Y, ... and X-ray images of the batteries of those small home appliances to the reference case images, and stores them as additional reference battery images X, Y, .... These added reference case images and reference battery images can be used as new data when determining small home appliance waste. This allows for accurate determination in response to changes in society.

[0025] 1 compares the identification case image 15 extracted by the picking unit 9 with the reference case images A, D, B, C, ... in the first database 21. The second judgment unit 7 compares the identification battery image 16 extracted by the picking unit 9 with the reference battery images A, D, B, C, ... in the second database 22.

[0026] The control unit 8 drives the removal device 3 when the first determination unit 6 determines that the identification case image 15 matches the reference case image in the first database 21, and the second determination unit 7 determines that the identification battery image 16 matches the reference battery image. As a result, small home appliance waste that was discarded with a battery still built in is collected in the collection box 4. The control unit 8 also drives the removal device 3 when the first determination unit 6 determines that the identification case image 15 does not match the reference case image, and the second determination unit 7 determines that the identification battery image 16 matches the reference battery image. As a result, the battery matches a small rechargeable battery that is in circulation in society, and the small home appliance waste can be collected in the collection box 4. Small home appliance waste that does not meet the above comparison does not have a small rechargeable battery built in, so the control unit 8 does not drive the removal device 3, and the small home appliance waste is moved to the discharge conveyor 2c and subjected to the next process.

[0027] FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the above-described operation of the present invention. The small electrical waste 10 that has moved from the supply conveyor 2a to the processing conveyor 2b is imaged by the X-ray device 13, thereby obtaining an X-ray image of the small electrical waste 10 (S1). The pickup unit 9 extracts an external identification case image 15 and an identification battery image 16 from the X-ray image (S2). After that, the first judgment unit 6 compares the identification case image 15 with a reference case image stored in the database 5 (first database 21) (S3).

[0028] If the comparison in S3 shows a match, the process proceeds to S4, where the second determination unit 22 compares the identification battery image 16 with a reference battery image stored in the second database 22. Then, if the identification battery image 16 matches the reference battery image (S4), the control unit 8 determines that the item is small electrical appliance waste containing a small rechargeable battery (S5), and the control unit 8 drives the removal device 3 to collect the small electrical appliance waste in the collection box 4 (S6).

[0029] If the comparison in S4 shows that the identification battery image 16 does not match the reference battery image, the control unit 8 determines that the item is a used small electrical appliance, but that the small rechargeable battery has been removed (S7), and the control unit 8 deactivates the removal device 3 (S9). As a result, the small electrical appliance is moved to the discharge conveyor 2c and is then subjected to the next processing.

[0030] If the comparison in S3 shows that the identification case image 15 does not match the reference case image in the first database 21, the small electrical waste is determined to not have the target small rechargeable battery built in (S8), and the control unit 8 deactivates the removal device 3 (S9). As a result, the small electrical waste is moved to the discharge conveyor 2c and is subjected to the next process.

[0031] Figure 8 shows X-ray images actually obtained by irradiating small household electrical waste 10 with X-ray device 13, where (A) is an electronic cigarette 25 and (B) is a web conference speaker 30. In Figures 8(A) and (B), 25a is an identification case image of electronic cigarette 25 extracted by pickup unit 9, and 30a is an identification case image of the web conference speaker. The actual images of these cases are shown in the pull-out circles.

[0032] The pickup unit 9 extracts black image portions with X-ray transmittance less than a predetermined threshold from the identification case images 25a, 30a as identification battery images. In FIG. 8(A), one rectangular identification battery image 25b is extracted. In FIG. 8(B), a rectangular identification battery image 30c is extracted. The circular identification battery image 30b is not determined to be a speaker coin battery. The second determination unit 7 then compares these extracted identification battery images 25b, 30c with the reference battery images A, D, B, C, ... stored in the database 5 (second database 22) to determine whether they match or not.

[0033] FIG. 9 shows specific examples of a reference case image and a reference battery image. Take a calculator as an example. FIG. 9(A) shows an image of a calculator taken by an X-ray device, which is registered in the database as a reference case image (9AR). FIG. 9(B) shows an image of the battery section, including the button battery, which is registered in the database as a reference battery image (9BR). When a calculator is actually transported along the transport path 2 and imaged by the X-ray device 13, an identification case image (9AS) similar to that shown in FIG. 9(A) is obtained. Here, the reference case image (9AR) and the identification case image (9AS) are compared comprehensively, and it is assumed that the identification case image (9AS) is determined to be a calculator (with a certain degree of accuracy) based on the presence of a circuit board and a display section. In this case, it is then determined whether the identification battery image (9BS), which is a cut-out image of the battery section, matches the reference battery image (9BR). If they match, it is determined that a battery is installed. In this case, the calculator is removed from the line by the removal device 3. If the battery has been removed, the image will appear white with no black areas, so it will be determined that there is no battery present and the calculator will be flushed downstream.

[0034] In the processing device 1 described above, a vibration device 11 that vibrates the conveying path 2 and a feed limiting member 12 are provided, but these may be omitted. In that case, the object is not necessarily imaged only from a planar view. Therefore, the reference case images to be registered in advance are not only planar views, but also X-ray images from the back and left and right sides. No matter which side of the object to be imaged is facing up as it flows along the conveying path 2, comparison is possible. [Explanation of symbols]

[0035] 1 Processing equipment 2 Transport path 2a Supply Conveyor 2b Processing conveyor 2c Discharge conveyor 3 Removal device 4 Collection Box 5. Database 6 1st judgment section 7 Second judgment part 8. Control Unit 9 Pickup section 10 Small household appliances 11. Vibration device 12 Feed control member 13 X-ray equipment 14 Guide plate 15 Identification case image 16 Identification battery image 21 Database No. 1 22 Second Database 23 Learning Department 25 E-Cigarettes 25a Identification case image 25b Identification battery image 30 Web Conference Speakers 30a Identification case image 30b, 30c identification battery image

Claims

1. A transport route for transporting small electrical appliances that have been separated and collected; an X-ray device that irradiates X-rays onto the small household electrical waste on the transport path to obtain an X-ray image; a pickup unit that extracts an image of an outer case of the small home appliance waste from the X-ray image as an identification case image, and also extracts an image of an X-ray transmittance less than a predetermined threshold as an identification battery image; a first database that stores, as reference case images, X-ray images of the outer shapes of small home appliances that have built-in small rechargeable batteries and are distributed in society; a second database that stores X-ray images of the external shapes of small rechargeable batteries currently in circulation as reference battery images; a removal device that is driven to remove the small household electrical waste that has passed through the X-ray device from the transport path; a first determination unit that compares the discrimination case image with the reference case image; a second determination unit that compares the identification battery image with the reference battery image; A small household waste treatment device characterized in that it is equipped with a control unit that drives the removal device when the first judgment unit determines that the identification case image and the reference case image match, and when the second judgment unit determines that the identification battery image and the reference battery image match.

2. 2. The apparatus for treating small household waste according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration device that vibrates the transport path to cause the small household waste to lie face down on the transport path.

3. 2. The apparatus for treating small household waste according to claim 1, further comprising a feed limiting member provided in the conveying path for limiting the small household waste so that the small household waste is fed individually.

4. The small household waste treatment device according to claim 1 , further comprising a learning unit that adds a new reference case image and adds a new reference battery image in association with the new reference case image.

Images