Apparatus and method for measuring size distribution of granular matter
First Claim
1. A method for measuring size distribution of bulk matter consisted of randomly orientated granules, comprising the steps of:
- i) scanning an exposed surface of said granular bulk matter to generate three-dimensional profile image data defined with respect to a three-coordinate reference system;
ii) segmenting said image data to only reveal regions of said image data having edges associated with distinct ones of said granules which are visible substantially without overlap;
iii) estimating values of at least one size-related parameter for said revealed regions of segmented image data;
iv) applying a geometric correction to each said estimated size-related parameter values to compensate for the random orientation of corresponding said distinct granules; and
v) statistically estimating the size distribution of bulk matter from said corrected size-related parameter values.
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Abstract
A method and apparatus for measuring size distribution of bulk matter consisted of randomly orientated granules, such as wood chips, make use of scanning the exposed surface of the granular matter to generate three-dimensional profile image data defined with respect to a three-coordinate reference system, The image data is segmented to reveal regions associated with distinct granules, and values of the size-related parameter for the revealed regions are estimated. Then, a geometric correction to each ones of estimated size-related parameter values is applied, to compensate for the random orientation of corresponding distinct granules. Finally, the size distribution of bulk matter is statistically estimated from the corrected size-related parameter values.
22 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for measuring size distribution of bulk matter consisted of randomly orientated granules, comprising the steps of:
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i) scanning an exposed surface of said granular bulk matter to generate three-dimensional profile image data defined with respect to a three-coordinate reference system; ii) segmenting said image data to only reveal regions of said image data having edges associated with distinct ones of said granules which are visible substantially without overlap; iii) estimating values of at least one size-related parameter for said revealed regions of segmented image data; iv) applying a geometric correction to each said estimated size-related parameter values to compensate for the random orientation of corresponding said distinct granules; and v) statistically estimating the size distribution of bulk matter from said corrected size-related parameter values. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus (20) for measuring size distribution of bulk matter consisted of randomly orientated granules, comprising:
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means (22) for scanning an exposed surface of said granular bulk matter to generate three-dimensional profile image data defined with respect to a three-coordinate reference system; and data processing means for segmenting said image data to only reveal regions of said image data having edges associated with distinct ones of said granules which are visible substantially without overlap, for estimating values of at least one size-related parameter for said revealed regions of segmented image data, for applying a geometric correction to each said estimated size-related parameter values to compensate for the random orientation of corresponding said distinct granules, and for statistically estimating the size distribution of bulk matter from said corrected size-related parameter values.
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Specification