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US 2026/0208199 A1Published application
Flow rate control mechanism of rice milling machine
AssigneeSatake Corporation
InventorsSumio TAGAWA, Koji KAWAKAMI
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Abstract
An embodiment includes: a rice milling unit configured to mill rice; and a rice milling tank provided above the rice milling unit and configured to store rice, the rice milling tank includes a flow rate control valve configured to adjust a supply amount of rice to the rice milling unit by being moved vertically in the rice milling tank, and an optical flow rate detection unit provided to a wall of the rice milling tank and configured to determine a flow rate of rice flowing between the wall and the flow rate control valve.
Claims7
1:
- A flow rate control mechanism of a rice milling machine, the flow rate control mechanism comprising:
- a rice milling unit configured to mill rice;
- and
- a rice milling tank provided above the rice milling unit and configured to store rice,
- wherein the rice milling tank includes
- a flow rate control valve configured to adjust a supply amount of rice to the rice milling unit by being moved vertically in the rice milling tank, and
- an optical flow rate detection unit provided to a wall of the rice milling tank and configured to determine a flow rate of rice flowing between the wall and the flow rate control valve.
4 more elements
2:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 1 further comprising a control unit configured to control the flow rate control valve,
- wherein the control unit is configured to move the flow rate control valve upward or downward based on detection data from the optical flow rate detection unit.
3:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 1,
- wherein the flow rate control valve includes a conical part and a columnar part formed below the conical part, and
- wherein the optical flow rate detection unit determines a flow rate of rice flowing between the wall of the rice milling tank and the columnar part of the flow rate control valve.
4:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 1, wherein the optical flow rate detection unit is configured to output a displacement amount and a displacement direction of rice from continuous images of the rice acquired by using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
5:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 3, wherein the optical flow rate detection unit is configured to output a displacement amount and a displacement direction of rice from continuous images of the rice acquired by using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser.
6:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 1, wherein the optical flow rate detection unit is configured to output a displacement amount and a displacement direction of rice from continuous images of the rice acquired by using a TOF camera.
7:
- The flow rate control mechanism of the rice milling machine according to claim 3, wherein the optical flow rate detection unit is configured to output a displacement amount and a displacement direction of rice from continuous images of the rice acquired by using a TOF camera.