INSPECTION PROCEDURE FOR THE DETECTION OF FOREIGN BODIES AND/OR MATERIAL INHOMOGENEITIES

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece within a material flow of a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, at least one radiation transmitter which emits electromagnetic radiation, preferably in the microwave range, as well as at least one radiation receiver for receiving at least a part of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radiation transmitter, as well as at least one detection module which converts the electromagnetic radiation impinging on the radiation receiver into image data, wherein the image data are generated by an evaluation of amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the impinging electromagnetic radiation, wherein the image data can be transmitted to a transmission element in a clocked or variably requested manner. the image data being generated by an evaluation of the amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the incident electromagnetic radiation, the image data being capable of being transmitted to a transmission element in a timed or variably requested manner, the transmission element indicating in a graphic, haptic, numeric and/or acoustic manner the foreign bodies and/or the material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece and/or identifying such, preferably fully automatically, and/or authorising or itself triggering appropriate measures of the respective application case.

Claims

1. Method (100) for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities within a material flow and/or on or in a production piece, in particular a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, comprising the steps of Providing a device (200) for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece within a material flow of a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, wherein the substance and/or material differs by its physical properties which influence the electromagnetic waves and the device comprises at least one radiation emitter (201) emitting electromagnetic radiation, preferably in the microwave range at least one radiation receiver (202) for receiving at least a part of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radiation transmitter (201) at least one detection module (203) which converts the electromagnetic radiation impinging on the radiation receiver (202) into image data, the image data being generated by an evaluation of amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the impinging electromagnetic radiation, characterized in that the image data are transmitted to a transmission element (400) in a clocked or variably requested manner, wherein the transmission element (400) indicates the foreign bodies and/or the material inhomogeneities in a graphic, haptic and/or acoustic and/or numerical manner and/or identifies such foreign bodies and/or the material inhomogeneities, preferably fully automatically, and/or authorises or itself controls corresponding measures of the respective application case.

2. Method (100) according to claim 1, characterized in that the values detected by the detection module (203) are detected in real time, i.e. within at least one microsecond to at most 500 microseconds from the detection by the radiation receiver (202), or can be detected by a variable measured value request or a clocked output.

3. Method (100) according to claim 2, characterized in that the detection module (203) classifies the foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities from the material from the detected image data, so that the comparison of these image data with material and/or expansion and/or orientation data of the foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities stored in a database comprises a classification procedure and/or the detection module can distinguish/determine/separate the foreign bodies from the material of the material flow by algorithms and/or artificial intelligence.

4. Device (200) for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece within a material flow of a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, said device comprising a. at least one radiation emitter (201) which emits electromagnetic radiation, preferably in the microwave range b. at least one radiation receiver (202) for receiving at least a part of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radiation transmitter (201), c. at least one detection module (203) which converts the electromagnetic radiation impinging on the radiation receiver (202) into image data, the image data being generated by evaluating the amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the impinging electromagnetic radiation, characterised in that the image data can be transmitted to a transmission element (400) in a clocked or variably requested manner, wherein the transmission element (400) indicates in a graphic, haptic and/or acoustic and/or numerical manner the foreign bodies and/or the material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a finished article and/or identifies such, preferably fully automatically, and/or authorises or itself controls corresponding measures of the respective application.

5. Machine and/or plant (500) for processing a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, comprising at least one transport and/or processing element (501) for transporting and/or processing a biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance, at least one device (200) for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities within a material flow of the biodegradable product or a material contaminated by a substance according to claim 4, wherein the device (200) is mounted on the transport and/or processing element (501) in such a way that the material flow can be examined for the foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece.

Description

[0048] In the figure, some parts may be shown excessively large, but this does not amount to a restrictive meaning.

[0049] In the FIGURE, it can be seen in a schematic perspective side view that the method 100 described there serves to detect foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities within a material flow of an agricultural consumer product.

[0050] Identifiable according to a method 100 presented herein are the steps of providing a device 200 for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities and/or on or in a production piece within a material flow of a consumable agricultural product, wherein the device 200 comprises at least one radiation transmitter 201 which emits electromagnetic radiation, preferably in the microwave range. In addition, a radiation receiver 202 for receiving at least part of the electromagnetic radiation emitted by the radiation transmitter 201 is identifiable, as well as a detection module 203 which converts the electromagnetic radiation impinging on the radiation receiver 202 into image data, the image data being generated by an evaluation of amplitude, phase and/or frequency of the impinging electromagnetic radiation. The image data are transmitted to a transmission element 400, wherein the transmission element 400 indicates the foreign bodies and/or the material inhomogeneities in a graphical, haptic, numerical and/or acoustic manner and/or identifies such foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities, preferably fully automatically, and/or authorises or itself triggers corresponding measures of the respective application case.

[0051] In this case, the detection module 203 detects the detected values in real time, i.e. within at least one microsecond to at most 500 microseconds from the detection by the radiation receiver 202.

[0052] In addition, the acquisition module 203 classifies the foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities from the material from the acquired image data, so that the comparison of this image data with material and/or expansion and/or orientation data of the foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities stored in a database comprises a classification procedure. Furthermore, it is also conceivable that the detection module can distinguish/determine/separate the foreign bodies from the material of the material flow using algorithms and/or artificial intelligence.

[0053] The method 100 described in the FIGURE is carried out by means of a device 200 for detecting foreign bodies and/or material inhomogeneities within a material flow of an agricultural commodity and/or the previously mentioned applications. It can be seen that a machine and/or plant 500 of the FIGURE comprises the device 200 described here, wherein the device 200 is arranged on a transport and/or processing element 501 on which the consumable is transported along a transport path. The corresponding consumable is guided between the radiation transmitter 201 and the radiation receiver 202 according to the FIGURE.

[0054] Such an intermediate passage of the consumable between the transmitter 201 and the receiver 202 is, independently of the FIGURE, generally also necessary for other embodiments.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0055] 100 Procedure [0056] 200 Device [0057] 201 Radiation transmitter [0058] 202 Radiation receiver [0059] 203 Detection module [0060] 400 Transmission element [0061] 500 Machine and/or installation [0062] 501 Transport and/or processing element