FR2759686A1 - DEVICE FOR LOADING ARTICLES IN A CONTAINER - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for loading articles (P), in particular fruit, into a container (C) open in its upper part. This device comprises a conveyor (13, 16) for conveying said articles to an end (17) for releasing the articles (P) in the container (C). The height of said article release end (17) is fixed. It comprises means (18) for adjusting the height of the container (C) as a function of the filling level thereof.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for loading articles,

  in particular fruit, in an open container in its upper part, of the type

  comprising a transporter for transporting said items

  keys to a release end of said items

in the container.

  Such loading devices are used in particular for filling transport containers

  fruits, such as apples or pears.

  In known devices, the conveyor consists of a conveyor comprising a horizontal section

  transport of articles extended by a vertical section

  call them to the container. The container is placed on the ground with its open end facing upwards. The release end of the conveyor can be moved inside the container over the height of

  this one, in order to release the items immediately at-

  above the current loading level of the container, thus avoiding a long fall of the articles which could

damage them.

  For this purpose, the conveyor comprises at the outlet a vertical section which is for example formed by two identical conveyor belts extending vertically

  face to face parallel to each other.

  In order to allow vertical movement of the release end of the conveyor, the lower ends of the two conveyor belts are mounted

  movable. The movement of the lower guide rollers

  laughing causes a change in the length of at least one of the conveyor belts. This variation in length of the vertical section requires the use of means for compensating for the length of the or each strip, in particular the presence of a guide roller.

mobile forming tensioner.

  In another device, the horizontal and vertical sections of the conveyor are independent and the section

  vertical has a fixed length and is fully displaced

  corn. The displacement of the vertical section of the conveyor as a function of the level of the articles in the container causes a discontinuity in the guiding of the articles during

  of their transfer from the horizontal section to the vertical section

  cal. More generally, in such arrangements, the conveyor must be able on the one hand to transport the articles and on the other hand to allow movement in

  height of the end of the conveyor.

  So such devices are relatively

  complex and delicate to operate.

  The object of the present invention is to propose a device for loading articles into a container which is simple to produce, easy to operate and

  high reliability in the delivery of goods

keys in the container.

  To this end, the subject of the invention is a device

  tif for loading articles, in particular fruit, in an open container in its upper part, of the aforementioned type, characterized in that the height of said articles release end is fixed and in that it comprises adjustment means of the height of

  container depending on the filling level of it

  this. According to particular embodiments, the

  device may include one or more of the charac-

  following features: - said height adjustment means are adapted to move the container between a low position in which the container can be handled

  and a set of high positions in which the former

  article release end is located inside

  container, near the average loading surface of the container;

  - said means for adjusting the height

  tent an elevating platform for supporting the container, which platform is associated with actuation means controlled as a function of the filling level of the container;

  - said means for adjusting the height

  are trying to measure the distance between the former

  article release end of the average filling surface of the container; - Said conveyor comprises a conveyor and means for temporary accumulation of the articles coming from the release end of the conveyor, before their unloading in said container; and - said means of temporary accumulation of

  items have a rotating bowl with an opening

  ture and means for scanning the interior of said

  tank, which scanning means are disengageable.

  The invention will be better understood on reading

  the description which follows, given only as

  example and made with reference to the drawings, on the-

which:

  - Figure 1 is an elevational view of a dis-

  positive loading of articles according to the invention, before loading a container;

  - Figure 2 is a detail view in section lon-

  gitudinal distribution head and temporary accumulation of the device of Figure 1; - Figure 3 is a top view of the head shown in Figure 2; and - Figures 4, 5 and 6 are views similar to that of Figure 1 showing the device at

  successive stages of loading a container.

  In Figure 1 is shown a general view

  ble of a device 10 for loading articles P into a

  container C open at the top.

  This device is suitable for loading ar-

  ticles, in particular fruits or vegetables of the same variety, such as apples or pears. This device can be suitable for any other type of article, having all

substantially the same dimensions.

  This device is intended in particular for filling

  wise wooden containers of rectangular section of 1.2 m by 1 m and a height of 60 cm. However, this device can be used with containers having

other dimensions.

  The loading device comprises essential-

  ment a frame 12, on which are mounted on the one hand a conveyor 13 operating continuously provided with a conveyor belt 14 and on the other hand a temporary distribution and accumulation head 16 mounted fixed relative to the frame. The head 16 will be described in detail below.

  from the description. The conveyor 13 and the head 16 defined-

  feels a transporter whose release end 17

  is located in the bottom of the head 16.

  Below the head 16 and to the right of it are provided means 18 for adjusting the height of the

  container C to be filled, depending on the level of filling

wise of it.

  These adjustment means 18 comprise a platform

  lifting form 20 for supporting the container C. This platform has a surface slightly smaller than the

  floor space of a container. It is mounted on the outside

  mite of one or more hydraulic cylinders 22 to debate-

vertical.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the bodies of the jacks 22 are mounted on the ground S. A conveyor

  horizontal 24 is installed on the frame 12 in order to route

  ner the containers to the platform 20. The height of the conveyor 24 corresponds to that of the platform when the latter is in the low position (FIG. 1). The jacks 22 are connected, for their supply of actuating fluid, to a control unit 26

fixed to the machine frame.

  This control unit is also connected to means 28 for measuring the distance separating the head 16 from the average surface delimited in the container C by the articles already loaded or by the bottom of the latter when

the container is empty.

  These means 28 comprise for example a feeler fixed to the periphery of the head 16 or a

photodetection.

  The conveyor belt 14 has an inclined collection section 30 along which the level of the belt rises considering the direction of travel. This section is intended for the reception of articles P to be loaded in

  the container. It is extended in the direction of forward

  cementing of the strip by an inclined outlet section 32 along which the strip descends. Thus, the strip described at its highest point an elbow 33. The lower end 34 of the vertical section 32 corresponds to an end for releasing the articles in the dispensing head and

accumulation 16.

  The conveyor belt 14 is supported and guided by a set of rollers rotatably mounted around parallel axes extending perpendicular to the plane of the

  figure 1. In particular, it is supported at the extremi-

  tees of its collection section 30 by two rollers 36,

  38. The roller 36 is mounted directly on the frame 12.

  The roller 38 is mounted at the free end of a cradle articulated at its other end, on the frame around

the axis of the roller 36.

  Likewise, the conveyor belt 14 is supported on its outlet section 32 on the one hand at its end

  upper by the roller 36 and on the other hand at its end

  lower bed by a roller 44. These form return axes for the conveyor belt. Roller 44 is carried by the frame above the head of

distribution and accumulation 16.

  The conveyor belt 14 circulates at the outlet of the outlet section 32 along a return section 46 extending from the roller 44 to the roller 38. On this return section, the conveyor belt is guided by a roller 48 mounted movable in rotation related to

cradle 40.

  The rollers 38 and 48 being mounted on the articulated cradle 40, the inclination of the collection section 30 can

be changed.

  The conveyor belt 14 has on its wall

  receiving the articles P of the longitudinal restraint means

  nale of articles bearing the general reference 58. They ensure that articles are retained according to the length of

  the band. These means include transverse projections

  regularly distributed over the length of the conveyor belt. These projections are for example aligned fingers arranged along the width of the strip. Between each

  alignment of fingers, are thus delimited on the length

  feeder of the strip of compartments in which the articles are received P. The means for longitudinally retaining the articles may also include cells in which

articles are received.

  The distribution and tempering head

  raire 16 will now be described with reference to the figures

2 and 3.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the head 16 comprises a cylindrical accumulation tank 60 of axis X-X with a flat bottom. This tank is open in its upper part. The outlet section 32 of the conveyor opens at its release end 34 inside the tank 60. The bottom 62 of the accumulation tank (FIG. 3) has an opening 64 in the form of a disk sector s 'spanning substantially 90. This opening is bordered by a radial ramp 66 for guiding the articles during their evacuation. Aperture 64 defined

  the release end 17 of the conveyor.

  The tank 60 is mounted movable in rotation around-

  of a shaft 68 extending along its axis X-X. This shaft is driven at a variable speed by means of a geared motor group 70 fixed on the fixed structure

conveyor 13.

  Inside the tank 60 are rotatably mounted

  eight radial arms 72 mounted on a central ring 74.

  These arms extend to the outer side wall of the tank and separate the tank into eight portions of the same surface. The movement of the central ring 74 and the eight arms 72 is synchronized with the movement of the conveyor 13. To this end, the ring 74 is rotated by the lower roller 44 of the conveyor

  a bevel gear 76. This synchronization can also

  ment be carried out by electro-mechanical means.

  The operation of the device for loading

articles is as follows.

  The articles P are introduced onto the collection section 30. The conveyor belt 14 continuously conveys the articles to the distribution and accumulation head 16. On the conveyor, the articles are

  retained longitudinally by the retaining means 58.

  In order to load a container C, it is placed empty on the platform 20 under the

  distribution and accumulation head 16, as shown

  felt in FIG. 1. The platform 20 is then at the level of the conveyor 24, the jacks 22 being retracted.

  The container can thus easily be handled.

  The means 18 for adjusting the height of the container

  neur are then implemented. So the unity of

  control 26 controls the jacks 22 so that the platform

  form 20 rises and places the container in an extreme high position shown in FIG. 5. In

  this position, the lower surface of the head

  tribution 16 at which extends the end of-

  release 17 is separated from the bottom surface of the tale

  neur of a height interval H corresponding sensitive-

the diameter of an item.

  It is understood that in this position, the drop height of the articles leaving the dispensing head 16 is minimal. Thus, the risk of damage in the case of fragile items such as fruit or

vegetables are reduced.

  In order to allow the articles to be released into the container, the tank 60 is rotated by the conveyor 13 at a synchronized speed. The arms 72 are

  driven by the gear motor 70 at a different speed

  speed of the tank. Thus, the arms 72 sweep the bottom of the tank. The articles from the conveyor 13 fall onto the bottom of the tank in one of the portions defined between the arms. The arms sweeping the bottom 62 of the tank then driving the articles to the opening from which they are released into

the container.

  We can see that the permanent rotational movement

  of the accumulation tank in which the

  vertex 64 and scanning means formed by the arms 72 ensures a homogeneous distribution of the articles over all

the surface of the container.

  As the container is filled, the container C is gradually lowered by actuating the jacks 22 actuating the support platform 20. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5, the container is held in a succession of positions

  intermediaries between the extreme high position (represented

  shown in Figure 4) and the low position (shown

in Figure 1).

  During the loading of the container, the control unit 26 controls the retraction of the jacks 22 so that the level of the container is such that the interval H (FIG. 5) separating the average loading surface of the container delimited by the articles already loaded and the

  underside of head 16 is constant and corresponds to

  lies substantially on the diameter of an article.

  Under these conditions, whatever the position taken by the container C among the set of positions

  which can be set by the means of action

  ment 22, the release end 17 of the head is at

  near the loading surface of the container. Typi-

  The height of the interval H between them is

  between 0.5 and 3 times the diameter of an article.

  Thus, during the entire filling phase of the container, the drop height of the articles is reduced, so that the articles are not damaged when they come into contact with the bottom of the container or with

  the articles already present in it.

  When the container is sufficiently filled, the speed of rotation of the gearmotor 70 is modified so that the speed of the arms 72 corresponds exactly to the speed of rotation of the tank. Thus, the arms 72 are fixed relative to the bottom of the tank and do not provide

the more the scan of it.

  The conveyor 13 is not stopped and the articles thus continue to be poured into the tank 60. They then accumulate in the six portions delimited by the arms and closed by the bottom of the tank. With the tank rotating around the X-X axis at a speed synchronized with that of the conveyor, the articles are distributed in six successive portions without any article falling

through opening 64.

  The item accumulation period is long enough to allow replacement of the

  full container by an empty container.

  For this purpose, the full container is brought back into

  its low position, represented in FIG. 6, by the ac-

  actuation of the jacks 22 controlled by the unit 26. The full container is then removed and replaced by a

empty container.

  The new container is then repositioned in

  extreme high position with its bottom immediately above

  below the dispensing and accumulation head 16.

  The speed of the arms 72 is then modified so that they sweep the bottom of the tank and convey the articles accumulated during the change of container to the opening 64. The various steps described above are again implemented to the

full filling of the container.

  It is understood that with such a head provided at the end for releasing the articles, and comprising releasable means for temporarily accumulating the articles before their discharge into said container, the change of container can be carried out without loss of articles and

  without the need to interrupt, even temporarily

  The feeding of articles from the conveyor.

  In particular, all the machines placed upstream of the

  device can thus operate continuously.

  With an article loading device as described here, the conveyor formed here by a

  belt conveyor and head 16 can be of a construction

  tion and very simple operation since none of the elements of it have to undergo level changes. Simplification of the conveyor mechanism

  increases the reliability of the installation.

  Furthermore, the means used for the adjustment

  of the height of the container are very simple.

  In particular, other means of actuating the lifting platform can be implemented, such as pneumatic actuators, or even mechanisms for example with pinion and rack or

  deformable quadrilateral actuated by a jack.

  Similarly, lifting means, such as cables wound on winches and carrying end hooks can be used to vary the

container level.

  In a variant not shown, the distribution disc

  bution and temporary storage is removed. The arti-

  keys from the outlet end of the conveyor are then immediately released into the container. In this case, the means for adjusting the height of the container are adapted to arrange the bottom of the container or the upper surface defined by the articles already loaded.

  in the container, immediately below the end

conveyor release unit.

Claims (6)

  1.- Device for loading articles (P), in particular fruit, into a container (C) open in its upper part, of the type comprising a conveyor (13, 16) for conveying said articles to an   release section (17) for articles (P) in the story   neur (C), characterized in that the height of said end (17) for releasing the articles is fixed and in that it comprises means (18) for adjusting the   container height (C) depending on the level of pleating of it.   2.- Device according to claim 1, character-   laughed in that said means (18) for adjusting the   height are adapted to move the container (C) between a low position in which the container (C) can be handled and a set of high positions in which the article release end (P) is located inside the container , next to   the average loading surface of the container (C).   3.- Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that said means (18) for adjusting the height comprises an elevating platform (20) for supporting the container, which platform is associated with means of actuation (22) controlled according to the container filling level.   4.- Device according to any one of the res-   dications preceding, characterized in that said means (18) for adjusting the height comprise means for measuring the distance separating the end (17) of release of articles from the average surface of filling the container (C).   5.- Device according to any one of the res-   dications preceding, characterized in that said conveyor comprises a conveyor (13) and means (16) of temporary accumulation of articles (P) coming from the end (24) of release of the conveyor, before their   unloading in said container (C). 6.- Device according to claim 5, characterized in that said means (16) of temporary accumulation   raire articles include a rotary tank (60) provided with an opening (64) and means (72) for scanning   from the interior of said tank, which sweeping means (72) are disengageable.