Hulling and preparation facility

Abstract

To make it possible to predict precisely completion time of an operation of a hulling and preparation facility even if removal of rice hulls and rice screenings is performed.SOLUTION: A hulling and preparation facility 20 according to the present invention has a server 30 for accumulating data of preparation of grain including at least result of quality and selection obtained by arithmetic means, and a portable terminal 40 for providing information to an operator. Further, each of sensors, the server 30 and the portable terminal 40 are arranged so as to communicate with one another through a network 60. The server 30 has a program for, based on a value of a removal ratio of crushed grain in a grain selector 23 and / or a value of removal ratio of unsatisfactory good in an optical selector 24, calculating a predicted time for operation completion from packaging number per unit time in a packaging measuring machine 25 or a flow amount per unit time therein.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to rice husk processing equipment, and more particularly to a system for predicting the operation completion time in the downstream area of rice husk processing equipment, especially from the rice husk sorter to the bagging and weighing machine.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, as a system for predicting the operation completion time in rice husk processing equipment, there is the technology described in paragraphs

[0039] and

[0040] of Japanese Patent No. 6876243. The technology described in paragraphs

[0039] and

[0040] measures the number of bags bagged in 5 minutes from the start of the bagging operation to calculate the efficiency (for example, 5 bags (about 150 kg) / 5 minutes = 1 bag (about 30 kg) / minute), and divides the remaining amount of paddy discharged from the grain dryer by the bagging efficiency to predict the operation completion time of the rice husk processing operation. For example, when the weight of paddy at the end of drying is 1600 kg, the number of bags bagged in 5 minutes from the start of the bagging operation is 5 bags (about 150 kg), and the amount of paddy discharged from the grain dryer is 160 kg, the time required to bag the remaining paddy can be calculated as about 45 minutes (((1600 - 160) / 160)×5 = 45).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in the above-described conventional work completion time prediction system, the prediction of the work completion time may vary depending on the amount of raw material flow. That is, in the hulling and separating machine, the hulls are removed from the paddy to produce brown rice, and in the grain sorting machine, defective grains are removed from the brown rice after hulling. Therefore, due to factors such as good or bad harvests from year to year and the growth degree of paddy in each field, the raw material flow input to the machines in the downstream of the hulling and preparation equipment line (for example, in the processes after the grain sorting machine, such as the optical sorting machine and the bagging and weighing machine) will be different. Thus, when the raw material flow input to the machines in the downstream of the line is different, the predicted value of the work completion time will vary.

[0005] In view of the above problems, it is a technical problem of the present invention to provide a system that can accurately predict the work completion time of hulling and preparation equipment even after removing hulls and defective grains.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, in the present invention, in a hulling and preparation facility including a grain dryer for drying grains to a predetermined moisture value, a hulling and separating machine for hulling and separating the grains dried by the grain dryer, a grain sorting machine for sorting the brown rice hulled and separated by the hulling and separating machine, an optical sorting machine for sorting the whole grain brown rice sorted by the grain sorting machine into good and bad products, and further aggregating, for each grade, the proportion of colored grains, damaged grains, green underripe grains, paddy, and foreign substances mixed in the sorted bad products, and a weighing and bagging machine for weighing and bagging the fine products obtained by sorting by the optical sorting machine, The grain dryer is provided with a sensor for grasping the amount of dried paddy and the moisture content of the dried paddy. The paddy sieving and sorting machine is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of the selected polished rice discharged from the machine and / or the flow rate of the rice husks. The grain sorting machine is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of the whole polished rice discharged from the machine and / or the flow rate of the defective rice. The bagging and weighing machine is provided with a sensor capable of grasping the number of bags filled with the selected product and / or the flow rate of the selected product. On the other hand, the paddy sieving and preparation equipment is provided with a server for storing grain preparation data including at least the quality result and the sorting result by the arithmetic means, and a mobile terminal for providing information to the operator. Furthermore, each of the sensors, the server, and the mobile terminal is configured to be communicable with each other via a network. The server is provided with a program for calculating the estimated work completion time from the number of bags filled per unit time or the flow rate per unit time in the bagging and weighing machine based on the amount of removal of defective grains in the grain sorting machine and / or the amount of removal of defective products in the optical sorting machine. Such technical means are adopted.

[0007] In the invention according to claim 2, the mobile terminal is characterized in that it simultaneously displays the estimated work completion time calculated by the program of the server and a graph showing the detailed analysis result of the quality calculated by the arithmetic means of the optical sorting machine.

[0008] In the invention according to claim 3, the mobile terminal is characterized in that it can display cultivation management guidelines considering countermeasures for the next year based on the data obtained from the agricultural data linkage platform.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the grain dryer is provided with a sensor for grasping the amount of paddy to be dried and the moisture content of the paddy to be dried, the paddy sorting and preparation machine is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of polished brown rice discharged from the machine and / or the flow rate of rice husks, the grain sorting machine is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of whole brown rice discharged from the machine and / or the flow rate of defective rice, and the bagging and weighing machine is provided with a sensor capable of grasping the number of bags filled with high-quality products and / or the flow rate of high-quality products. On the other hand, the paddy sorting and preparation equipment is provided with a server for storing grain preparation data including at least the quality result and sorting result by calculation means, and a mobile terminal for providing information to the operator. Furthermore, each sensor, server, and mobile terminal are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network. The server is equipped with a program for calculating the estimated work completion time from the number of bags filled per unit time or the flow rate per unit time in the bagging and weighing machine based on the amount of removal of defective grains in the grain sorting machine and / or the amount of removal of defective products in the optical sorting machine. Therefore, even if rice husk removal and defective rice removal are performed, a system capable of accurately predicting the work completion time of the paddy sorting and preparation equipment can be provided.

[0010] Furthermore, as described in claim 2, by simultaneously displaying on the mobile terminal the estimated work completion time calculated by the server program and a graph showing the detailed analysis result of the quality calculated by the calculation means of the optical sorting machine, the work completion time of the paddy sorting and preparation equipment can be accurately predicted, and an analysis result showing the classification of good products and other defective products for lots with a late work completion time can be presented, enabling a comparison of the quality with lots with an early work completion time.

[0011] And, as described in claim 3, if the mobile terminal can display cultivation management guidelines considering countermeasures for the next year based on data obtained from the agricultural data linkage platform, cultivation management guidelines (advice) considering countermeasures for the next year for lots with a late work completion time (i.e., poor quality) can be provided to the operator, which can be an extremely useful technology in rice cultivation.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the following description of the embodiments is merely illustrative in nature.

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] (Overall Configuration) The paddy folding and preparation facility 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes medium-scale farms with a field area of about 1 to 3 ha (hectares) to large-scale farms of 30 ha (hectares) or more, assuming individual farmers or farming corporations. As shown in FIG. 11, the paddy folding and preparation facility 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention connects a grain preparation line 20, a server 30 that accumulates grain preparation processing data on the grain preparation line, a mobile terminal 40, and an agricultural data cooperation platform 50 that aggregates all data related to agriculture by private or public institutions via a communication line 60. The communication line 60 is composed of a network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or an Internet line. This network may be wired or wireless.

[0016] (Grain Preparation Line) The grain preparation line 20 is installed indoors, such as in a workshop or a processing plant within a building. The building can be a shed or a workshop in an individual farmer's household, or a rice center or a processing plant in a large-scale farming corporation. The grain preparation line 20 is an indoor machine (barn machinery) fixed inside the building, as opposed to a field machinery (such as a combine) that harvests while moving within the field. It transports the harvested crops from the field machinery to the building for preparation and processing. The grain preparation line 20 is configured by connecting, in a single line, for example, a grain dryer 21 that dries grains, a cooling tank (not shown) that cools the dried paddy after drying by the grain dryer, a paddy husking and sorting machine 22 that husks the paddy after cooling and finishes it into brown rice, a grain sorter 23 that sorts the brown rice obtained by the paddy husking and sorting machine 22 based on the grain diameter (thickness (size)), with the grains being sorted into those that meet the standard and those outside the standard, an optical sorter 24 that performs a grain inspection on the whole grain brown rice obtained by the grain sorter 23 by an optical method, and a weighing and bagging machine 25 that weighs and bags the brown rice that becomes a high-quality product after being optically sorted by the optical sorter 24 for shipment.

[0017] (Grain dryer) The grain dryer 21 can adopt a circulating grain dryer that includes a storage section 211 that serves as a storage tank for grain, a drying section 212 that dries the grains flowing down from the storage section 211 by feeding air heated by a burner, and a grain lifting section 213 that returns the grains discharged from the drying section 212 to the upper storage section 211.

[0018] On the front wall of the storage section 211, a plurality of windows 214 made of transparent members... are formed in the height direction for visually checking from the outside the accumulated height of the grains in the storage section 211 and the state inside the storage section 2. The shape, size, number, and position of the windows 214 are not particularly limited. Also, at a position adjacent to the windows 214..., a dial plate 215 is provided so that an operator can visually grasp the accumulated height of the grains as a reference. Furthermore, instead of visually grasping the accumulated height of the grains, technical means that can automatically detect it may be adopted. For example, on the inner wall of the storage section 211, grain detection sensors 216... that can detect the presence or absence of grains may be provided respectively at the height positions where the windows 214... and the dial plate 215... are installed. Thereby, since the accumulated height of the grains can be mechanically grasped by the grain detection sensors 216..., the individual differences of the operator (human) and the errors due to the viewing angle of the operator can be eliminated, and the accumulated height can be grasped more accurately.

[0019] In addition, as a sensor for detecting the accumulated height of the grains in the aforementioned storage section 211, a level meter 217 using microwaves installed in the upper part of the storage section 211 may be adopted (for example, see paragraph

[0016] of Japanese Patent No. 7344445, etc. Detailed description here is omitted). Furthermore, in order to measure the storage amount of the grains in the storage section 211, a weight sensor 218 such as a load cell may be provided on the base part of the grain dryer 21.

[0020] A moisture meter 219 is installed on the side wall of the grain lifting section 213, and this moisture meter 219 measures the moisture content of the grains when receiving (loading) the grains, when drying the grains (ventilation drying, hot air drying), or when discharging the grains (when the drying is completed).

[0021] (Brown rice winnowing and sorting machine) The brown rice winnowing and sorting machine 22 can adopt a swing - type brown rice winnowing and sorting machine including a husking section 221 composed of a pair of rolls, a winnowing section 222 that winnows the husked rice shed by the husking section 221 to remove the husks, and a swing sorting section 223 that sorts the mixed rice winnowed by the winnowing section 222 into brown rice and paddy.

[0022] The husk - falling rice - sorting machine 22 is provided with a hulling rate sensor 224 that samples the husk - fallen rice, allows the sensor light projected from a light - emitting element to a light - receiving element to pass through, and discriminates between brown rice and paddy rice based on the transmittance of the sensor light through the husk - fallen rice. In addition, the husk - falling rice - sorting machine 22 is equipped with an electrical - quantity measuring unit 225 that measures electrical quantities (such as current value, power value, or electric - energy quantity, etc.) of its drive unit. Based on the measured values by the hulling rate sensor 224 and the electrical - quantity measuring unit 225, the quality of the paddy supplied to the husk - falling rice - sorting machine 22 can be known according to whether it is within the standard or not. Furthermore, the husk - falling rice - sorting machine 22 is provided with a flow - rate sensor (brown rice) 227 that can grasp the flow rate of the high - quality brown rice discharged from the high - quality - rice discharge cylinder 226, and a flow - rate sensor (rice husk) 229 that can grasp the flow rate of the rice husks discharged from the rice - husk discharge cylinder 228.

[0023] (Grain - sorting machine) The grain - sorting machine 23 is internally equipped with a sorting screen cylinder that sorts brown rice into whole grains and immature grains. If the mixing amount of immature grains is large, the commercial value will decrease, and it will also be an indicator of the poor growth condition of the rice in that year. For example, extremely low temperatures and extremely insufficient sunshine during the rice - growing period, or extremely high temperatures due to consecutive days of sweltering heat during the rice - growing period, will cause poor growth of the rice, resulting in extremely weak grains (immature grains) in the paddy or non - filled (funen) grains that do not ripen in the paddy.

[0024] Therefore, the grain sorter 23 is provided with a whole grain weigher 231 that bags and weighs the whole grains that do not pass through the sorting mesh cylinder, and a waste grain weigher 232 that bags and weighs the unripe grains and the like that have passed through the sorting mesh cylinder. By knowing the sorting ratio between the whole grains and the unripe grains, it is possible to calculate the yield rate of the whole grains or use it as an index for determining the growth status of the rice in that year. And from the whole grain weigher 231, if the weight per unit time is measured, the flow rate of the whole grain brown rice can be calculated, and from the waste grain weigher 232, if the weight per unit time is measured, the flow rate of the waste grains can be calculated. Also, when it is desired to communicate with the optical sorter 24 in the next process, the whole grain discharge trough 233 is provided in two branches of 233a and 233b, and a switching valve (not shown) is provided, and the discharge direction for discharging the whole grains only when the flow rate of the whole grains is to be known is set to switch the whole grain discharge trough to 233b.

[0025] (Optical sorter) The optical sorter 24 sorts the whole grain brown rice sorted by particle size by the grain sorter 23 into good products and defective products, and can also examine in detail the proportion of colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, blue unripe grains, husks, colored grains such as milky white grains, and foreign matters such as small stones mixed in each grade.

[0026] As shown in Fig. 2, the optical sorter 24 includes a feeder 24a as a supply section of the object to be sorted, a chute 24b that allows the object to be sorted received from the feeder 24a to flow down, an optical sorting section 24c that inspects the quality of the object to be sorted that has flowed down through the chute 24b and is discharged from the lower end of the chute 24b, an exclusion section 24d for excluding only defective products (or only good products) among the objects to be sorted whose quality has been inspected by the optical sorting section 24c, and a discharge hopper 24e that separately collects and recovers the good products and defective products of the object to be sorted.

[0027] The feeder 24a as a supply unit includes a tank 241, a trough 242 that receives the objects to be sorted from the tank 241, and a vibration imparting unit 243 that imparts vibration to the trough 242. The chute 24b for allowing the objects to be sorted to flow down has a predetermined width and is disposed in an inclined state below the tip side of the trough 242, and is configured to allow the objects to be sorted supplied from the trough 242 to flow down naturally.

[0028] The optical sorting unit 24c includes a pair of optical detection units 244a and 244b disposed before and after the falling trajectory of the objects to be sorted falling from the lower end of the chute 24b, and an arithmetic means 245 that discriminates the objects to be sorted into good products and defective products based on the imaging signals of the optical detection units 244a and 244b. The arithmetic means 245 can further discriminate the aggregates determined to be defective products into a plurality of grades. That is, the arithmetic means 245 discriminates the aggregates determined to be defective products into six grades of colored grains due to pests, damaged grains due to burnt rice, blue immature grains, paddy, milky white grains, etc., and colored grains and foreign matters, and can display them on the display of the operation unit, for example, to notify the operator.

[0029] The ejection unit 24d includes an ejector drive circuit 246 that receives a signal from the arithmetic means 245 and determines whether to drive the ejector, and an ejector means 247 that receives an ejection signal from the ejector drive circuit 246 and operates the injection valve to remove defective products by blowing air.

[0030] The discharge hopper 24e is composed of a good product recovery trough 248 that recovers good products from the flow of the objects to be sorted, and a defective product recovery trough 249 that receives the blowing air by the ejector means 247 and recovers defective products that have deviated from the flow of the objects to be sorted.

[0031] Since the arithmetic means 245 of the optical sorting unit 24c can discriminate the objects to be sorted into good products and defective products, based on this, the number of good product grains and the number of defective product grains per unit can also be counted. That is, the flow rate of the whole grain brown rice recovered in the good product recovery trough 248 and the flow rate of the defective products recovered in the defective product recovery trough 249 can be grasped.

[0032] (Grain weighing and bagging machine) As shown in Fig. 1, the grain weighing and bagging machine 25 is composed of a fine product weighing device 260, a container 261 such as a rice bag placed on the fine product weighing device 260, a bag stand 262 for preventing the container 261 from tipping over, and a shutter mechanism 263 for feeding grains to be fine products into the container 261. In this way, when the shutter mechanism 263 is opened, grains to be fine products are fed into the container 261, and when the predetermined weighing value measured by the fine product weighing device 260 is reached, the shutter of the shutter mechanism 263 automatically closes, and the weighing and bagging of grains to be fine products are completed. The weighing display unit 264 stores the completion signal of weighing and bagging, counts and displays the current number of bagged products, and also displays the flow rate of whole grains calculated from the weight per unit time from the fine product weighing device 260.

[0033] (Sensors) In the cereal preparation line 20 shown in Fig. 1, for example, a plurality of sensors and control means are connected to the communication line 60. Specifically, from the cereal dryer 21, a grain detection sensor 216, a level meter 217, a weight sensor 218, and a moisture meter 219 are connected to the communication line 60. Thereby, the amount and moisture content of the dried finished paddy stored in the cereal dryer 21 can be grasped. From the paddy separator 22, a flow rate sensor (brown rice) 227 and a flow rate sensor (rice husk) 229 are connected to the communication line 60. Thereby, it is possible to grasp how much the rice husk has been removed and how much the brown rice has been finished among the dried finished paddy supplied to the paddy separator 22. From the grain separator 23, a whole grain weigher 231 and a defective grain weigher 232 are connected to the communication line 60. Thereby, it is possible to grasp how much the immature grains have been removed and how much the whole grain brown rice has been finished among the finished brown rice supplied to the grain separator 23. From the optical sorter 24, an arithmetic means 245 and an ejector drive means 246 are connected to the communication line 60. Thereby, it is possible to grasp how much defective products such as colored grains have been removed and how much the good products (polished grains) have been finished among the whole grain brown rice supplied to the optical sorter 24. From the weighing and bagging machine 25, a premium weigher 260 is connected to the communication line. Thereby, it is possible to grasp the number of paper bags after bagging the premium products and the flow rate of the premium products finished per unit time.

[0034] (Server) The server 30 shown in Fig. 1 is equipped with general basic functions such as a web server that transmits and receives information with an external terminal, a file server that accumulates various data and functions as a database, and an application server that distributes applications that need to be installed on a client computer or a tablet terminal. The server 30 is also connected to the communication line 60.

[0035] (Mobile terminal) The mobile terminal 40 is preferably a plurality of tablet terminals for browsing that can be carried and browsed on-site such as in a field or a grain preparation line. As an alternative to the tablet terminal, a notebook general-purpose personal computer or a smartphone may be used. The mobile terminal 40 is connected to the communication line 60.

[0036] (Agricultural Data Linkage Platform) The agricultural data linkage platform 50 aims to realize the provision of new services utilizing data and strategic management decisions of farmers by organizing and providing agricultural-related soil, public data such as market conditions and weather, and various paid data of private companies, and is sponsored by private or public institutions.

[0037] The agricultural data linkage platform 50 shown in FIG. 1 can utilize, for example, "WAGRI" sponsored by the National Agriculture and Food Research Organization. This platform 50 includes an agricultural database 501 that stores past yield data, market condition data, soil data, and farmland data, a weather database 502 that stores agricultural weather data, and a past history database 503 that can refer to past histories. These databases 501, 502, and 503 are provided in the form of an application programming interface (API) and are publicly available to the outside for a part such as software and applications. Therefore, it is a mechanism that can share the software and functions developed by a third party using this database. This platform 50 is connected to the communication line 60.

[0038] (Control Circuit Configuration of the Optical Sorter) Next, the control circuit of the optical sorter 24 will be described in detail. The arithmetic means 245 of the optical sorter 24 discriminates the object to be sorted into good products and defective products, and further discriminates the defective products into colored grains caused by pests, damaged grains caused by burnt rice, blue immature grains, paddy, colored grains such as milky white grains, and foreign substances such as small stones.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing control circuits of the optical detection units 244a and 244b. The optical detection units 244a and 244b are each constituted by, for example, a CCD line sensor. The CCD line sensor includes an R element 250, a G element 251, and a B element 252 having sensitivity to each of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) colors. A light reception signal is supplied to the R element 250, the G element 251, and the B element 252, and is photoelectrically converted into an R signal, a G signal, and a B signal, respectively, and then output. The R, G, and B signals are input to amplifiers 253, 254, and 255 provided in an arithmetic unit 245, and further input to a signal processing circuit 256.

[0040] In the signal processing circuit 256, input values of the signals of R, G, and B are binarized, and arithmetic processing such as addition, subtraction, integration, or division is performed to perform signal conversion. This signal conversion is to characterize the signals received by the optical detection units 244a and 244b and identify the object to be inspected. When this signal is input to a comparison circuit 257, the quality of the object to be inspected is discriminated and the pass / fail is discriminated.

[0041] Reference numeral 258 is a delay circuit. The injection timing is determined according to the distance between the position where the object to be inspected is observed by the optical detection units 244a and 244b and the ejection position where defective products are removed by an ejector unit 247. An ejection signal is output from the comparator 257 to an ejector drive circuit 246 via the delay circuit 258. The ejection signal determined by the ejector drive circuit 246 is output to the ejector unit 247.

[0042] (Quality Discrimination Algorithm) In the signal processing circuit 256 shown in FIG. 3, for each grain of the object to be inspected, the spectral ratio R / G and the spectral ratio R / B are calculated from the respective R, G, and B values obtained by performing binarization processing. Then, the calculated values are compared with discriminant formulas (see, for example, FIGS. 6 to 10 of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-292344) stored in the comparison circuit 257, and discriminated into, for example, six grades. As the six-grade discrimination classification, a program is pre-programmed to distinguish (a) damaged grains caused by pests (stink bug damaged grains) from non-damaged good products, (b) colored grains caused by scorched rice from non-damaged good products, (c) blue immature grains from non-damaged good products, (d) milky white grains from non-damaged good products, (e) paddy from non-damaged good products, and (f) foreign matters from non-damaged good products. With such a program, statistical processing for grade discrimination can be executed promptly.

[0043] (Display unit) Reference numeral 259 in FIG. 3 is the display unit of the optical sorter. It displays the grade result and the sorting result during optical sorting, and also serves as the operation unit of the optical sorter.

[0044] FIG. 4 is an example of the display of the analysis result displayed on the screen 259a of the display unit 259. What is shown in FIG. 4(a) shows the result of distinguishing between good products and other defective products. In this embodiment, the occupancy rate of good products was 93% and that of defective products was 7%. What is shown in FIG. 4(b) shows that the occupancy rate of good products was 93% and that of defective products was 7%. Among the 7% of defective products, 2% were blue immature, and the remaining 1% were foreign matters, 1% were paddy, 1% were milky white grains, 1% were colored grains caused by scorched rice, and 1% were colored grains caused by pests.

[0045] (Cultivation management system) The server 30 of the cultivation management system 10 shown in Fig. 1 incorporates a cultivation management program that provides farmers with the cultivation management guidelines for the next year. That is, in this cultivation management program, the data obtained from various preparation machines of the grain preparation line 20 described above and the data obtained from various servers of the agricultural data linkage platform 50 described above are referred to, and the cultivation conditions of rice in the fields this year are fed back to farmers, etc., and can be used for the cultivation management in the next year (for example, irrigation, fertilization, and pesticide spraying times in the following year).

[0046] Fig. 5 shows an example of cultivation management provided to farmers, which is displayed on the screen 40a of the mobile terminal 40 of the cultivation management system 10. In Fig. 5, the field number, various data after the grains harvested at this field number are prepared by the grain preparation line 20, and the data obtained from the agricultural data linkage platform 50 are fed back to farmers, and based on this, advice on the cultivation management in the next year is described.

[0047] For example, in Fig. 5, in the No. 1 field, the results of the grain preparation process are obtained and recorded from various data of the grain preparation line 20. From this record, when the ratio of the waste grains sorted by the grain sorting machine 23 is higher than normal years and the ratio of the immature grains in the optical sorting machine 24 is higher than normal years, the reasons and factors can be obtained by referring to the agricultural data linkage platform 50. From the above, as countermeasures for the next year, cultivation management guidelines (advice) considering "fertilization management" and "harvesting time" can be provided to farmers.

[0048] Similarly, in Fig. 5, in the No. 2 field, as the cultivation management guidelines (advice) for the next year, it is possible to provide farmers with the consideration of "management before and after harvesting" considering the rain at the time of harvesting. In Fig. 5, in the No. 3 field, as the cultivation management guidelines (advice) for the next year, it is possible to provide farmers with the emphasis on "seed disinfection and pest control plan".

[0049] Not only such cultivation management guidelines (advice), but also when the husk removal rate of the husk separating and sorting machine 22 is lower than normal and the proportion of paddy rice in the optical sorter 24 is higher than normal, an alarm can be issued on the screen 40a of the mobile terminal 40. When the husk removal rate is lower than normal, since the ability of the husk separating and sorting machine 22 may be inferior to normal, it is advisable to issue an alarm and notify the farmer to prompt adjustment and maintenance of the husk separating and sorting machine 22.

[0050] Next, the calculation method of the operation completion time prediction system in the husk separating and preparation equipment, which is the main part of the present invention, will be described. The program for calculating the operation completion prediction time is stored in the server 30. FIG. 6 is an example of the calculation result of predicting the operation completion time based on the aggregated data collected from various preparation machines. FIG. 6(a) is a table showing the operation completion prediction time from Lot No. 1 to Lot No. 3, FIG. 6(b) is a graph showing the detailed analysis result of the quality of Lot No. 3 (poor quality), and FIG. 6(c) is a table showing the cultivation management guidelines (advice) for the next year for Lot No. 3 (poor quality).

Example

[0051] In FIG. 6(a), let's overview the operation completion prediction time of Lot No. 1. First, in the grain dryer 21, if the initial moisture content at the time of loading is 26.2% and 1600 kg of 16 koku (assuming 1 koku of paddy rice is 100 kg) is loaded into the grain dryer 21 and dried to a finished moisture content of 15.5%, the weight of the paddy rice after drying can be calculated by the following formula.

Number

[0052] According to the above formula (1), the calculated dry weight of the paddy in Lot No. 1 is 1397 kg. In addition, the dry weight of the paddy may be actually measured using the grain detection sensor 216, the level gauge 217, or the weight sensor 218 to avoid errors. Next, the dried paddy is sequentially supplied to the paddy winnowing and sorting machine 22, the grain sorting machine 23, the optical sorting machine 24, and the weighing and bagging machine 25 for processing. At this time, as described in paragraph

[0027] of Japanese Patent No. 6876243, the number of bags or the product weight within a predetermined time, for example, 5 minutes from the start of paddy winnowing is counted to convert the efficiency of the sorting machine, and at the same time, the estimated time to complete the operation can be calculated by converting from the remaining weight of the paddy in the grain dryer.

[0053] In Example 1, the amount of paddy supplied to the paddy winnowing and sorting machine 22 within 5 minutes from the start of paddy winnowing was (1398 - 1184.5) = 213.5 kg.

[0054] If the paddy winnowing and sorting machine 22 has a hulling rate of about 80%, about 20% of the supplied paddy weight is removed as hulls. In addition, to estimate the amount removed as hulls, the amount of polished rice refined may be actually measured with a flow sensor (polished rice) 227, and the amount removed as hulls may be actually measured with a flow sensor (hulls) 229, etc. In Example 1, since 20% of the hulls were removed, the amount of polished rice supplied to the grain sorting machine 23 was 170 kg.

[0055] In the grain sorting machine 23, debris such as small grains is removed from the supplied polished rice in the range of 5 - 20% (approximate value. The amount removed varies depending on the quality of the polished rice). In addition, it may be actually measured with a whole grain weighing device 231 or a debris weighing device 232, etc. In Example 1, since 10% of the debris was removed from the weight of the supplied polished rice, the amount of whole grains supplied to the optical sorting machine 24 was 153 kg.

[0056] In the optical sorter 24, defective products such as colored grains, unripe blue grains, and foreign matters are removed from the supplied sorted grains in the range of 2 to 10% (approximate value. The amount of defective products removed varies depending on the quality of the sorted grains). In addition, by the arithmetic means 245 and / or the ejector drive means 246, it is also possible to actually measure how much defective products such as colored grains are removed and how much good products (refined grains) are finished. In Example 1, since 2% of defective products were removed from the weight of the supplied sorted grains, the amount of high-quality products supplied to the weighing and bagging machine 25 was 150 kg.

[0057] In the weighing and bagging machine 25, it was possible to bag 5 bags with a capacity of 30 kg each within 5 minutes from the start of bagging. The working efficiency is 30 kg / min in terms of flow rate. From the above, the time required to bag the remaining weight of paddy rice 1184.5 kg in the grain dryer 21 (predicted completion time of work) can be calculated as approximately 27.9 minutes ((1184.5 / 212.5)×5 = 27.87).

Example

[0058] Next, in Fig. 6(a), let's overview the predicted completion time of work for Lot No. 2. In Lot No. 2, the initial moisture content at the time of loading in the grain dryer 21 is 25.3%. If 1600 kg of 16 koku (assuming 1 koku of paddy rice is 100 kg) is loaded into the grain dryer 21 and dried to a finished moisture content of 15.5%, the weight of the paddy rice after drying is calculated to be 1414 kg from Equation 1.

[0059] In Example 2, the amount of paddy rice supplied to the paddy rice sorter 22 within 5 minutes from the start of bagging was (1414 - 1224) = 190 kg. Compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 30 kg less.

[0060] If the husk removal rate of the paddy rice sorter 22 is about 80%, about 20% of the supplied paddy rice weight is removed as husks. In Example 2, since 20% of the husks were removed, the amount of brown rice supplied to the grain sorter 23 was 152 kg. Compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 18 kg less.

[0061] In the grain sorting machine 23, chaff grains such as millet are removed from the supplied paddy rice in the range of 5 to 20%. In Example 2, since 15% of the chaff grains were removed based on the weight of the supplied paddy rice, the amount of whole grains supplied to the optical sorting machine 24 was 129 kg. Compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 24 kg less.

[0062] In the optical sorting machine 24, defective products such as colored grains, unripe blue grains, and foreign matters are removed from the supplied whole grains in the range of 2 to 10%. In Example 2, since 7% of the defective products were removed based on the weight of the supplied whole grains, the amount of high-quality grains supplied to the weighing and bagging machine 25 was 120 kg. Compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 30 kg less.

[0063] In the weighing and bagging machine 25, 4 bags with a capacity of 30 kg each could be bagged within 5 minutes from the start of the paddy rice filling. The working efficiency was 24 kg / min in terms of flow rate. From the above, the time required (predicted working completion time) to bag the remaining weight of 1224 kg of paddy rice in the grain dryer 21 can be calculated as approximately 32.2 minutes ((1224 / 190)×5 = 32.21). Compared with Lot No. 1, the work will be completed about 4.4 minutes later.

Example

[0064] Furthermore, in Fig. 6(a), take an overview of the predicted working completion time of Lot No. 3. In Lot No. 3, the initial moisture content at the time of receiving the load in the grain dryer 21 is 26.5%. If 1600 kg of 16 koku (assuming 1 koku of paddy rice is 100 kg) is loaded into the grain dryer 21 and dried to a finished moisture content of 15.5%, the weight of the paddy rice after drying is calculated to be 1392 kg from Equation 1.

[0065] In Example 3, the amount of paddy rice supplied to the paddy rice sorting machine 22 within 5 minutes from the start of the paddy rice filling was (1392 - 1236) = 156 kg. Compared with Lot No. 2, it was about 34 kg less, and compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 56 kg less.

[0066] If the husk removal rate of the husk separator 22 is about 80%, about 20% of the supplied paddy weight is removed as husks. In Example 3, since 20% of the husks were removed, the amount of brown rice supplied to the grain separator 23 was 125 kg. Compared with Lot No. 2, it was about 27 kg less, and compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 45 kg less.

[0067] In the grain separator 23, debris such as small grains is removed from the supplied brown rice in the range of 5 - 20%. In Example 3, since 20% of the debris was removed from the weight of the supplied brown rice, the amount of whole grains supplied to the optical sorter 24 was 100 kg. Compared with Lot No. 2, it was about 29 kg less, and compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 60 kg less.

[0068] In the optical sorter 24, defective products such as colored grains, green unripe grains and foreign matters are removed from the supplied whole grains in the range of 2 - 10%. In Example 3, since 10% of the defective products were removed from the weight of the supplied whole grains, the amount of high-quality products supplied to the weighing and bagging machine 25 was 90 kg. Compared with Lot No. 2, it was about 30 kg less, and compared with Lot No. 1, it was about 60 kg less.

[0069] The weighing and bagging machine 25 could bag 3 bags with a capacity of 30 kg each within 5 minutes from the start of husk removal. The working efficiency was 18 kg / min in terms of flow rate. From the above, the time required (predicted working completion time) to bag the remaining weight of paddy of 1236 kg in the grain dryer 21 can be calculated as about 39.5 minutes ((1236 / 156.3) × 5 = 39.53). Compared with Lot No. 2, the work would end about 7.3 minutes later, and compared with Lot No. 1, the work would end about 11.7 minutes later.

[0070] As in the above Examples 1 to 3, in the grain sorter 23, the removal rate of waste grains such as small grains varies in the range of 5 to 20% depending on the quality (high or low) of the supplied paddy rice. Even in the optical sorter 24, the removal rate of defective products such as colored grains, blue immature grains, and foreign matters varies in the range of 2 to 10% depending on the quality (high or low) of the supplied whole grains. That is, in the grain sorter 23 and the optical sorter 24, if the supply flow rate is excessive, sorting defects will occur. Therefore, when the quality of the raw material is poor, it is necessary to reduce the supply flow rate and perform sorting so that waste grains and defective products do not mix into the whole grains. For this reason, when the quality of the raw material is poor, the operation completion time also tends to be prolonged.

Example

[0071] As in Example 3, when the quality of the raw material is poor and the operation completion time is prolonged, it means poor productivity. Therefore, as shown in the graph in Fig. 6(b) is the detailed analysis result of the quality of Lot No. 3, and as shown in Fig. 6(c) is the cultivation management guideline (advice) for the next year for Lot No. 3.

[0072] As shown in Fig. 6, by simultaneously displaying the predicted operation completion time for each lot, a graph showing the detailed analysis result of the quality for the lots with quality defects, and a table showing the cultivation management guideline (advice) for the next year for the lots with quality defects, it is possible to accurately predict the operation completion time of the husking and preparation equipment, show the analysis result that divides the lots with a late operation completion time into good products and other defective products, and furthermore, provide the operator with the cultivation management guideline (advice) considering the countermeasures for the next year for the lot. Therefore, it can be an extremely useful technology in paddy rice cultivation.

[0073] The above describes several embodiments of the present invention. The above-described embodiments of the invention are for facilitating the understanding of the present invention and do not limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed and improved without departing from its gist, and equivalents of the present invention are included therein. Also, within the scope of solving at least a part of the above-described problems or achieving at least a part of the effects, combinations or omissions of each component described in the claims and the specification are possible.

Industrial Applicability

[0074] The present invention is applicable to rice hulling and preparation equipment installed in a country elevator, a lance center, an agricultural corporation or a farmer, etc.

Explanation of Signs

[0075] 10 Rice hulling and preparation equipment 20 Grain preparation line 21 Grain dryer 211 Storage section 212 Drying section 213 Winnowing section 214 Window 215 Control panel 216 Grain detection sensor 217 Level meter 218 Weight sensor 219 Moisture meter 22 Hulling and sorting machine 221 Dehulling section 222 Air sorting section 223 Oscillating sorting section 224 Dehulling rate sensor 225 Electrical quantity measurement section 226 Premium rice discharge cylinder 227 Flow sensor (paddy rice) 228 Hull discharge cylinder 229 Flow sensor (rice hulls) 23 Grain sorting machine 231 Whole grain weigher 232 Broken grain weigher 233 Whole grain discharge trough 24 Optical sorting machine 24a Feeder 24b Shoot 24c Optical sorting unit 24d Exclusion unit 24e Discharge hopper 241 Tank 242 Trough 243 Vibration unit 244a Optical detection unit 244b Optical detection unit 245 Arithmetic means 246 Ejector drive circuit 247 Ejector means 248 Good product recovery trough 249 Defective product recovery trough 250 R element 251 G element 252 B element 253 Amplifier 254 Amplifier 255 Amplifier 256 Signal processing circuit 257 Comparison circuit 258 Delay circuit 259 Display unit 25 Weighing and bagging machine 260 Fine product weighing instrument 261 Container 262 Bag stander 263 Shutter mechanism 30 Server 40 Mobile terminal 50 Agricultural data linkage platform 60 Communication line

Claims

1. A rice hulling and preparation facility comprising: a grain dryer for drying grains to a predetermined moisture value; a rice hulling separator for hulling and separating the grains dried by the grain dryer; a grain separator for separating brown rice hulled and separated by the rice hulling separator into whole grains; an optical sorter for sorting the whole brown rice sorted by the grain separator into good and defective products, and further aggregating, for each grade, the proportions of colored grains, damaged grains, unripe green grains, rice hulls, and foreign matter in the sorted defective products; and a weighing and bagging machine for weighing and bagging the high-quality products obtained by sorting with the optical sorter, wherein the grain dryer is provided with a sensor for grasping the amount and moisture content of the dried paddy, the rice hulling separator is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of high-quality brown rice and / or the flow rate of rice hulls discharged from the machine, the grain separator is provided with a sensor for grasping the flow rate of whole brown rice and / or the flow rate of broken rice discharged from the machine, the bagging and weighing machine is provided with a sensor capable of grasping the number of bags filled with high-quality products and / or the flow rate of high-quality products, respectively; and the rice hulling and preparation facility is provided with a server for storing preparation data of grains including at least the grade results and sorting results by the calculation means, and a mobile terminal for providing information to an operator, furthermore, the respective sensors, the server, and the mobile terminal are configured to be mutually communicable via a network, and the server is provided with a program for calculating an estimated completion time of work from the number of bags filled per unit time or the flow rate per unit time in the bagging and weighing machine based on the amount of removal of defective grains in the grain separator and / or the amount of removal of defective products in the optical sorter. The rice hulling and preparation facility is characterized by this.

2. The rice hulling and preparation facility according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal simultaneously displays the estimated completion time of work calculated by the program of the server and a graph showing a detailed analysis result of the grade calculated by the calculation means of the optical sorter.

3. The rice hulling and preparation facility according to claim 2, wherein the mobile terminal is capable of displaying cultivation management guidelines considering countermeasures for the next year based on data obtained from an agricultural data linkage platform.

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