Determination device, determination method, and determination program

Abstract

To provide a determination device that can determine whether or not a compounding substance to be blended with a resin composition, the resin composition being including a natural product, can be used as an identification substance.SOLUTION: A determination device is assembled with an acquisition part for acquisition of information relating to a compounding substance of a composition that includes a resin material and the compounding substance, and a determination part that determines whether or not the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identification of the composition when a predetermined condition is satisfied from a first database where the information of the identification substance is recorded and a second database where the information of the resin material is recorded.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a determination device, a determination method, and a determination program. [Background technology]

[0002] Products made from resin (hereinafter referred to as "resin products") are widely used in various fields and industries. In recent years, the disposal of used resin products has caused various environmental problems, such as water and soil pollution due to improper disposal of used resin products, and global warming due to the carbon dioxide emitted during incineration. In order to solve these problems, efforts to recycle resin products are becoming increasingly important.

[0003] Resin products collected for recycling contain a mixture of various types of resins. Therefore, there is a possibility that resin products that are unsuitable for recycling, for example, because they contain regulated substances, may be mixed in with the collected products. Therefore, identifying and removing such products from the collected resin products is necessary for proper recycling. Furthermore, in order to select, handle, sell, and purchase resin products with a low environmental impact, visualization of the resin product's contribution to resource circulation, such as whether recycled materials are used, the recycling rate, the number of times recycled, the length of time the product is in the market, the energy required for manufacturing, processing, and distribution, greenhouse gas emissions, whether biomass materials are used, and the proportion of biomass materials used, is required. Therefore, the provision, identification, and tracking of information on resin products are necessary.

[0004] Furthermore, from the perspective of tracking the manufacturing process and distribution route, managing quality and inventory, and preventing counterfeiting, it is necessary to assign information to, identify, and track resin products.

[0005] Methods for displaying information such as ingredients on resin products include attaching a label with the information printed on it to the resin product, printing or engraving the information on the resin product, etc. As an alternative to labels or printed matter on the resin product itself, there is an example of adding an additive (hereinafter referred to as an identification substance) that has optical or electromagnetic information and serves as an identifier to the resin.

[0006] Patent document 1 discloses a technique for monitoring the production and reuse of recyclable materials and / or determining their currency or quality measure. Patent document 1 discloses that one or more markers are introduced into raw material components of the recyclable materials, the one or more markers indicating one or more characteristics of at least one of the raw material components. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] Special Publication No. 2022-552246 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] Patent Document 1 aims to achieve traceability for resin compositions by adding an artificial identifying substance, but it is not intended to determine whether a compounding substance to be added to a resin composition can be used as an identifying substance.

[0009] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above points, and provides a determination device, a determination method, and a determination program that can determine whether a compounding substance to be compounded into a resin composition can be used as an identification substance. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a determination device comprising: an acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a compounding substance of a composition containing a resin material and a compounding substance; and a determination unit that determines, from a first database in which information on identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information on the resin material is recorded, that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition if predetermined conditions are met.

[0011] The compounding material may be a naturally occurring material.

[0012] When the determining unit determines that the naturally occurring substance cannot be used as the identification substance, the determining unit may determine to set an artificial identification substance as the identification substance.

[0013] The artificial identification substance may be at least one or a combination of a luminescent material, a dye, DNA, an inorganic salt, a metal salt, a metal oxide, a metal-organic framework, a metal complex, an alloy, a nanoparticle, an isotope, a pH-sensitive compound, and a crystalline structure.

[0014] The naturally occurring material may include at least one of volcanic eruptions, eggshells, seashells, soil, cedar, grass, bamboo, fruit, chestnuts, and beer dregs.

[0015] The information about the compounded substance and the information stored in the first database may include at least one of the name, chemical composition, and optical spectrum of the compounded substance.

[0016] The resin material may be selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyamide, polystyrene, polyester, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, polyimide, polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinyl alcohol.

[0017] The predetermined conditions may include at least one of the following: the name of the obtained compounded substance is not similar to the name of the compounded substance existing in the first database; the chemical composition of the compounded substance is not similar to the chemical composition existing in the first database; and the optical spectrum of the compounded substance is not similar to the optical spectrum existing in the first database.

[0018] The acquisition unit may further acquire information about the resin material.

[0019] The information about the resin material and the information stored in the second database may include at least one of the name, chemical composition, and optical spectrum of the resin material.

[0020] The predetermined condition may include that the optical spectrum obtained from the compounded substance is not similar to the optical spectrum obtained from the resin material and the optical spectrum of the resin material present in the second database.

[0021] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a determination method in which a processor acquires information about a compounding substance of a composition containing a resin material and a compounding substance, and performs a process of determining, from a first database in which information about identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information about the resin material is recorded, that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition if predetermined conditions are met.

[0022] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a determination program is provided that executes a process in which a computer acquires information about a compounding substance of a composition containing a resin material and a compounding substance, and determines from a first database in which information about identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information about the resin material is recorded that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition if predetermined conditions are met. [Effects of the Invention]

[0023] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a determination device, a determination method, and a determination program that can determine whether a compound substance to be blended into a resin composition containing natural products can be used as an identification substance. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a determination device according to an embodiment of the disclosed technology. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the determination device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of a determination device. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface presented on a display unit. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a determination process performed by the determination device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] An example of an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to designate identical or equivalent components and parts. The dimensional proportions of the drawings are exaggerated for illustrative purposes and may differ from the actual proportions.

[0026] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a determination device according to this embodiment. The specific configuration of the determination device 10 shown in Fig. 1 will be described later, but it is a device that determines whether a compounding substance to be compounded into a resin composition can be used as an identification substance.

[0027] The resin material may be selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyamide (PA), polystyrene (PS), polyester, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), polyimide (PI), polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyethylene-vinyl acetate alcohol (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS), acrylonitrile-styrene (AS), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), polyacetal (POM), polyphenylene ether (PPE), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT), ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (U-PE), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polysulfone (PSU), and polyamide. Examples include teresulfone (PES), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyarylate (PAI), polyamide-imide (PAI), polyetherimide (PEI), polyetheretherketone (PEEK), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), liquid crystal polymer (LCP), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), phenolic resin (PF), urea resin (UF), melamine resin (MF), unsaturated polyester (UP), epoxy resin (EP), silicone resin (SI), thermoplastic elastomer, biodegradable plastic, and plant-derived plastic. Resin materials derived from fossil fuels, biomass, recycled materials, and chemically recycled materials can be used. Resin materials may be derived from both fossil fuels and biomass. Resin materials may be derived from both fossil fuels and recycled materials. Resin materials may be derived from both fossil fuels and recycled materials. Resin materials may be derived from both biomass and recycled materials. The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from biomass and chemical recycling.The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from material recycling and chemical recycling.The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from fossil fuels, biomass, and material recycling.The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from fossil fuels, biomass, and chemical recycling. The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from fossil fuels, material recycling, and chemical recycling. The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from biomass, material recycling, and chemical recycling. The resin material may be a combination of raw materials derived from fossil fuels, biomass, material recycling, and chemical recycling.

[0028] The polyolefin may be any polyolefin, such as an α-olefin copolymer of ethylene, propylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-butene, or a copolymer consisting of two or more main comonomers, or a copolymer of an α-olefin with another copolymerizable monomer, such as styrene, acrylonitrile, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, an acrylic acid ester, or a methacrylic acid ester, or a blend, block copolymer, or graft copolymer of the above with each other or with other thermoplastic resins.

[0029] The compounding substance is, for example, a naturally occurring substance, such as volcanic eruptions, eggshells, seashells, soil, cedar, grass, bamboo, fruit, chestnuts, or beer dregs.

[0030] The determination device 10 refers to a first database 103 and a second database 104, as described below, to determine whether a compounding substance to be blended into a resin composition can be used as an identifying substance. The first database 103 is a database in which information on identifying substances is recorded. The second database 104 is a database in which information on resin materials is recorded. By referring to the first database 103 and the second database 104, the determination device 10 can determine whether a compounding substance to be blended into a resin composition can be used as an identifying substance.

[0031] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of the determination device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0032] 2, the determination device 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a storage 14, an input unit 15, a display unit 16, and a communication interface (I / F) 17. Each component is connected to each other via a bus 19 so as to be able to communicate with each other.

[0033] The CPU 11 is a central processing unit that executes various programs and controls each part. That is, the CPU 11 reads the programs from the ROM 12 or the storage 14 and executes the programs using the RAM 13 as a work area. The CPU 11 controls each of the above components and performs various arithmetic processing in accordance with the programs recorded in the ROM 12 or the storage 14. In this embodiment, the ROM 12 or the storage 14 stores a determination program that determines whether a compounding substance to be compounded into the resin composition can be used as an identification substance.

[0034] The ROM 12 stores various programs and various data. The RAM 13 temporarily stores programs or data as a working area. The storage 14 is configured with a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), or flash memory, and stores various programs including the operating system and various data.

[0035] The input unit 15 includes a pointing device such as a mouse and a keyboard, and is used to perform various inputs.

[0036] The display unit 16 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays various information. The display unit 16 may also function as the input unit 15 by adopting a touch panel system.

[0037] The communication interface 17 is an interface for communicating with other devices, and uses standards such as Ethernet (registered trademark), FDDI, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

[0038] When executing the above-mentioned determination program, the determination device 10 uses the above-mentioned hardware resources to realize various functions. The functional configuration realized by the determination device 10 will be described.

[0039] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the determination device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0040] 3, the determination device 10 has, as functional components, an acquisition unit 101, a determination unit 102, a first database 103, and a second database 104. Each functional component is realized by the CPU 11 reading and executing a determination program stored in the ROM 12 or the storage 14.

[0041] The acquisition unit 101 acquires information about the compounding substances of a composition containing a resin material and a compounding substance. The acquisition unit 101 acquires information about the compounding substances of the composition input, for example, by a user of the determination device 10 operating the input unit 16. Here, the compounding substance may be a naturally occurring substance. The naturally occurring substance may include at least one of volcanic ejecta, eggshell, seashell, soil, cedar, grass, bamboo, fruit, chestnut, and beer dregs. When the naturally occurring substance includes volcanic ejecta, the acquisition unit 101 may acquire information about the collection site of the volcanic ejecta. The resin material may be selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyamide, polystyrene, polyester, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, polyimide, polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinyl alcohol.

[0042] The determination device 10 may present on the display unit 16 a user interface that allows the user to input or select a resin material or compounding substance using a text box or a pull-down list. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the user interface presented on the display unit 16. When the user uses the input unit 15 to input the name of the resin material or compounding substance into the text box 111 and selects the determination button 112 on the user interface displayed on the display unit 16, the acquisition unit 101 acquires the input name of the resin material or compounding substance as information about the compounding substance of the composition containing the resin material and the compounding substance.

[0043] The determination unit 102 refers to a first database 103 in which information on identification substances is recorded and a second database 104 in which information on resin materials is recorded, and determines that the compounded substance acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 can be used as an identification substance for identifying a composition if predetermined conditions are met. The information on the compounded substance and the information stored in the first database 103 may include at least one of the name, chemical composition, and optical spectrum of the compounded substance. Furthermore, after the determination unit 102 determines that the compounded substance can be used as an identification substance, the information on the compounded substance may be newly registered in the first database 103.

[0044] The predetermined condition may include, for example, at least one of the following: the name of the compounded substance acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 is not similar to the name of the compounded substance existing in the first database 103; the chemical composition of the compounded substance acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 is not similar to the chemical composition existing in the first database 103; and the optical spectrum of the compounded substance acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 is not similar to the optical spectrum existing in the first database. Here, "similar names" may mean, for example, that 90% or more of the characters are identical. "Similar chemical compositions" may mean, for example, that 90% or more of the compositions are identical, or that the predetermined structures determined by the chemical formulas are identical. "Dissimilar optical spectra" may mean, for example, that 90% or more of the wavelengths are not identical.

[0045] If the determination unit 102 determines that the naturally occurring substance acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 cannot be used as an identification substance, the determination unit 102 determines to set an artificial identification substance as the identification substance. Here, the artificial identification substance may be any substance from which information enabling identification can be obtained by optical analysis, electromagnetic analysis, or the like. The identification substance may be at least one of or a combination of the following: luminescent materials, fluorescent materials, dyes, DNA, inorganic substances, inorganic compounds, inorganic salts, metal substances, metal salts, metal oxides, metal-organic frameworks, metal complexes, alloys, nanoparticles, organic substances, isotopes, pH-sensitive compounds, and crystalline structures. Examples of inorganic compounds include hydrogen compounds, oxides, oxoacids, hydroxides, halides, sulfates, nitrates, carbonates, acetates, and metal complexes (coordination compounds). Optical or electromagnetic analysis includes absorption spectroscopy such as X-ray absorption spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy such as X-ray fluorescence elemental analysis (XRF) and X-ray emission spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), light scattering spectroscopy, photoelectron spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, acousto-optical spectroscopy, submillimeter wave spectroscopy, terahertz spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), spectroscopic ellipsometry, chemiluminescence, chromatography, mass spectroscopy, microscopy, surface analysis, interface analysis, and base sequence analysis. Light scattering spectroscopy includes Raman scattering spectroscopy, Brillouin scattering spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and small-angle X-ray scattering. Photoelectron spectroscopy includes X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy, and Auger electron spectroscopy.

[0046] The acquiring unit 101 may further acquire information about the resin material. The information about the resin material and the information stored in the second database 104 may include at least one of the name, chemical composition, and optical spectrum of the resin material.

[0047] The judgment unit 102 may then determine that the resin material acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition if the predetermined condition is met that the optical spectrum acquired from the compounded substance as information by the acquisition unit 101 is not similar to the optical spectrum acquired from the resin material acquired as information by the acquisition unit 101 and the optical spectrum of the resin material present in the second database 104.

[0048] Next, the operation of the determination device 10 will be described.

[0049] 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of the determination process by the determination device 10. The CPU 11 reads out a determination program from the ROM 12 or the storage 14, loads it into the RAM 13, and executes it, thereby performing the determination process.

[0050] In step S101, the CPU 11 acquires information about the compounding substances of a composition containing a resin material and compounding substances. The CPU 11 acquires information about the compounding substances of the composition input by, for example, a user of the determination device 10 operating the input unit 16.

[0051] Following step S101, in step S102, CPU 11 determines whether the compounded substance information acquired in step S101 can be used as an identifying substance for identifying the composition. Specifically, CPU 11 refers to first database 103 in which information on identifying substances is recorded and second database 104 in which information on resin materials is recorded, and determines that the compounded substance information acquired in step S101 can be used as an identifying substance for identifying the composition if predetermined conditions are met. On the other hand, CPU 11 refers to first database 103 in which information on identifying substances is recorded and second database 104 in which information on resin materials is recorded, and determines that the compounded substance information acquired in step S101 cannot be used as an identifying substance for identifying the composition if predetermined conditions are not met.

[0052] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is clear that a person skilled in the art of the present disclosure can conceive of various modifications or alterations within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims, and it is understood that these modifications or alterations also naturally fall within the technical scope of the present disclosure.

[0053] Furthermore, the effects described in the above embodiments are explanatory or exemplary and are not limited to those described in the above embodiments. In other words, the technology according to the present disclosure may achieve other effects that are obvious to a person skilled in the art of the present disclosure from the description in the above embodiments, in addition to or instead of the effects described in the above embodiments.

[0054] In the above embodiments, the determination process executed by the CPU after reading the software (program) may be executed by various processors other than the CPU. Examples of such processors include programmable logic devices (PLDs) whose circuit configuration can be changed after fabrication, such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and dedicated electrical circuits, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), which are processors with circuit configurations specifically designed to execute specific processes. The determination process may be executed by one of these various processors, or by a combination of two or more processors of the same or different types (e.g., multiple FPGAs, or a combination of a CPU and an FPGA). The hardware structure of these various processors is, more specifically, an electrical circuit that combines circuit elements such as semiconductor devices.

[0055] In addition, in each of the above embodiments, the determination processing program is described as being pre-stored (installed) in a ROM or storage, but this is not limiting. The program may be provided in a form recorded on a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory), a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk Read Only Memory), or a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory. The program may also be downloaded from an external device via a network. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 10 Judgment device 101 Acquisition Department 102 Judgment section

Claims

1. an acquisition unit that acquires information about a compounding substance of a composition including a resin material and a compounding substance; a determination unit that determines, based on a first database in which information on identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information on the resin material is recorded, that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition when a predetermined condition is satisfied; A determination device comprising:

2. The determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the compounded substance is a naturally occurring substance.

3. The determination device according to claim 2 , wherein the determination unit determines to set an artificial identification substance as the identification substance when it determines that the naturally occurring substance cannot be used as the identification substance.

4. The determination device according to claim 3 , wherein the artificial identification substance is at least one or a combination of a luminescent material, a dye, DNA, an inorganic salt, a metal salt, a metal oxide, a metal-organic framework, a metal complex, an alloy, a nanoparticle, an isotope, a pH-sensitive compound, and a crystalline structure.

5. The determination device according to claim 2 , wherein the naturally occurring substance includes at least one of volcanic eruptions, eggshells, seashells, soil, cedar, grass, bamboo, fruit, chestnuts, and beer dregs.

6. The determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the information about the compounded substance and the information stored in the first database includes at least one of the name, chemical composition, and optical spectrum of the compounded substance.

7. 2. The determination device according to claim 1, wherein the resin material is selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyamide, polystyrene, polyester, polycarbonate, polyethylene terephthalate, polyurethane, polyimide, polyacrylonitrile, and polyvinyl alcohol.

8. The determination device of claim 1, wherein the predetermined conditions include at least one of the following: the name of the acquired compounded substance is not similar to the name of the compounded substance existing in the first database; the chemical composition of the compounded substance is not similar to the chemical composition existing in the first database; and the optical spectrum of the compounded substance is not similar to the optical spectrum existing in the first database.

9. The determination device according to claim 1 , wherein the acquisition unit further acquires information about the resin material.

10. The determination device according to claim 9 , wherein the information about the resin material and the information stored in the second database include at least one of a name, a chemical composition, and an optical spectrum of the resin material.

11. The determination device of claim 9, wherein the predetermined condition includes that the optical spectrum acquired from the compounded substance is not similar to the optical spectrum acquired from the resin material and the optical spectrum of the resin material present in the second database.

12. The processor: obtaining information about a compounding substance of a composition including a resin material and a compounding substance; From a first database in which information on identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information on the resin material is recorded, it is determined that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition when it satisfies predetermined conditions. A method of determining whether to perform processing.

13. On the computer, obtaining information about a compounding substance of a composition including a resin material and a compounding substance; From a first database in which information on identification substances is recorded and a second database in which information on the resin material is recorded, it is determined that the compounding substance can be used as an identification substance for identifying the composition when it satisfies predetermined conditions. A judgment program that executes processing.

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