FR2855148A1 - Bulb clustering process, involves mounting pieces, on fixed plate of clustering device, rotating support to determined angle, and inserting stems of bulbs between two vertical strips of device - Google Patents

Abstract

The process involves piling and integrating a number of pieces (5) to bind stems of the bulbs. The pieces are arranged on a support (3) of a clustering device, where the support is mounted on a vertical guide way (15). The pieces are mounted on a fixed plate and the support is rotated to a determined angle. The stems of the bulbs are inserted between two vertical strips of the device by a guide. An independent claim is also included for a clustering device to implement the process of clustering bulbs of e.g. onions.

Description

Method and device for clustering bulbs

  The present invention relates to a method and a device for grappling stem bulbs, in particular onions, garlic, shallots, scallions, fruits, etc.

  It is known in the prior art machines and methods for clustering bulbs. In particular, the document FR 2 632 812 teaches to form clusters by manually arranging the bulbs on the cob flat around a horizontal stake and by winding helical wire around the stake and the stems of the bulbs using the machine, as the bulbs are added to the cob. A claw retains the rods during the winding operation. The machine simultaneously undergoes a movement of translation to the claw along the axis of the tutor, and a rotational movement of the wire spool for winding the wire around the tutor.

  It is also known from document FR 2 746 598 a machine and a method for clustering bulbs. The bulbs are guided manually through a horizontal groove towards a vertical stake, on which the stems of the bulbs are held by means of a wire wound helically by the machine on the stake, the latter descending as the bulbs are clustered. Once the cluster has reached the desired length, the upper end of the latter is stapled, then cut with pruning shears, and the cluster falls into a basket for collecting the formed clusters.

  Document FR 2 754 428 teaches a machine and a method for forming clusters of bulbs. The support, flexible or rigid, is kept vertical by a suction system, which also allows correct orientation of the bulbs, which are positioned in a cell holder.

  The bulbs are held on the stake by a wire wound helically through a turntable. The machine also includes means for stapling and cutting the stake.

  It is also known from document EP 0 955 238 a machine and a method for forming clusters of bulbs by winding wire around a stake on which the bulbs are positioned by means of a cell support.

  The bunch, instead of being cut as soon as it reaches a determined length, is collected in a tube located just under the machine, so as to prevent the bunch from falling into a container, which can damage the bulbs .

  A disadvantage of these machines and methods is that the wire holding the bulbs in a cluster around the stake can easily be cut, which makes the bunch fragile.

  The object of the present invention is to overcome certain drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a method for forming clusters of bulbs which are solid.

  This object is achieved by a method of clustering bulbs provided with a rod, characterized in that it comprises a step of stacking and securing a plurality of parts together, to wedge the rods of the bulbs. the cluster between said parts.

  According to another particular feature, the step of stacking and securing said pieces comprises the iteration of the steps, alternately, of gripping a piece, in a file of pieces, by a piece gripping system, and placing in place of said piece on a workpiece support by said workpiece gripping system, and in that the step of stacking and joining the workpieces is preceded by a step of positioning the workpiece support at an initial height.

  According to another particular feature, the step of fitting a part is preceded by a step of lowering, by a determined height, the support of the parts mounted sliding on a substantially vertical slide, by a step of rotation, at a determined angle, from the workpiece support fixedly mounted on a turntable, and from a step of inserting the bulb stems each between two substantially vertical tongues of said new workpiece, being guided by a guide located at the level of said piece.

  According to another feature, at least the steps of lowering and rotating the workpiece support, and the steps of gripping a workpiece and placing said workpiece on the workpiece support are triggered by means of a electronic system.

  In another feature, the parts are joined together by snapping them into one another, by penetration of teeth formed on a plurality of substantially vertical elastic tongues formed above a hollow cylindrical body provided with a plurality throats, in the throats of the body of the new part.

  io According to another particularity, the joining of the pieces is carried out by embedding the pieces one inside the other.

  According to another particularity, the parts are joined together by bonding the parts to each other.

  According to another particularity, the parts are joined together by holding the parts together with the aid of a tensioning element.

  According to another particular feature, the first step of placing a part on the part support is carried out by suction of said part from the part gripping system to the part support by means of a suction system.

  According to another particular feature, the step of stacking and securing the pieces together is followed by a step of fixing a hook on the last piece placed and / or a base under the first piece placed.

  Another object of the invention is to propose a device for implementing the method according to the invention.

  This object is achieved by a clustering device for implementing the method according to the invention, characterized in that it comprises a frame on which are mounted a workpiece support, mounted movable in rotation relative to the frame on an indexed turntable, itself mounted to slide relative to the frame on a slide, and a vibrating bowl 30 delivering on a rail, aligned and oriented, pieces to be stacked on the workpiece support by a workpiece pick-up system, so as to form the cluster by wedging the stems of the bulbs between said parts.

  According to another particular feature, the part gripping system is mounted movable in displacement between the rail and the part support, on the frame.

  According to another particular feature, the part gripping system comprises a jack of which a substantially vertical rod is attached, which grips and stacks one part at a time, said rod being constituted by an axis extended by a calibrated spring coupled to a sensor for measuring the deformation of said spring, itself extended by a gripping system, the gripping system being either a hollow cylinder, in which the parts are held by friction, either a suction system, or a clamp, and 0o said sensor for controlling the insertion force of a part on the previous one already placed on the workpiece support.

  According to another particular feature, the workpiece support is connected to a suction system making it possible to maintain a first workpiece placed on said workpiece support.

  Other features and advantages of the present invention will appear more clearly on reading the description below, made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: - Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of the clustering device according to the invention, - Figure 2 shows a side view of the clustering device according to the invention, - Figure 3 shows a front perspective view of a piece to be stacked, - Figure 4 shows a view of detail in longitudinal section of a cluster formed according to the method according to the invention, - Figure 5 shows a detailed view in section of the rod of the part gripping system and the part support.

  The method of clustering according to the invention consists in stacking a plurality of parts (5) between which are stuck the stems (201) of the bulbs (20) to be grappled.

  The clustering device according to the invention, shown in particular in Figures 1 and 2, comprises a frame (1) supporting two slides (2, 3), one substantially horizontal and the other substantially vertical, as well as '' a vibrating bowl (4). The frame (1) is, for example, provided with rollers (16), so that it can be moved easily.

  A first carriage (6), on which is fixed a part gripping system, slides on the horizontal slide (2). The part gripping system consists of a jack (7) at the lower end of which is located a rod (8), the shape of which is adapted to that of the parts (5) to be taken for stacking.

  A second carriage (9), on which is fixed a turntable (10), io slides on the vertical slide (3) thanks to a first actuator (11). The substantially horizontal turntable (10) is surmounted, for example in its center, by a workpiece support (115) in the form of a truncated cone, on which the workpieces (5) can be stacked allowing the bulbs to be placed in cluster. The workpiece support (115) is connected to a suction system (not shown) making it possible to hold the first workpiece (5) placed on said support (115) by suction. The turntable (10) is rotated by a second actuator (12).

  The horizontal slide (2) is located above the upper end of the vertical slide (3), one of the ends of the horizontal slide (2) being disposed near the upper end of the vertical slide (3 ) so that the rod (8) of the workpiece gripping system is aligned with the center of the workpiece support (115), so that workpieces (5) can be placed on the workpiece support (115).

  The part gripping system and the turntable (10) are connected to an electronic system, either preprogrammed so that the clustering is automatic, or connected to a control console and / or to a pedal, which can be actuated by an operator, or both so that the clustering is semi-automatic, with operator intervention on certain stages.

  The vibrating bowl (4) is of a known type. It delivers the parts (5) aligned on a rail (15), all in the same orientation, as can be seen in particular in Figure 1. When the part (5) located at the end of the rail (15) opposite to the vibrating bowl (4) is taken up by the part gripping system, the other parts (5) are offset towards said end of the rail (15) thanks to the vibrations of the vibrating bowl (4). The end of the rail (15) opposite the vibrating bowl (4) is provided with a stop for retaining the parts.

  The parts (5), visible in particular in FIGS. 3 and 4, are stacked one above the other on the part support (115) to wedge the rods (201) of bulbs (20) between said parts (5 ), so as to form a cluster of bulbs. The length of the rod (201) is, for example, between 2 and 4 cm.

  A cluster can contain as many bulbs as the operator wishes.

  In general, the mass of bulbs is about 500 g or 1 kg. The bulbs constituting a cluster can be of a single kind, for example only onions, or of several kinds, for example a mixture of onions, shallots, garlic and shallots. The distribution of the different kinds of bulb on the cluster is then chosen by the operator.

  The clustering device according to the invention also comprises a receptacle (17) containing the bulbs to be clustered, connected to a ramp (18) making it possible to pour into said receptacle (17) the number of bulbs necessary for the formation of 'a cluster. Thus, the cluster is finished when all of the bulbs contained in said receptacle (17) at the start of the clustering process have been used to form said cluster.

  In an alternative embodiment, the bulbs are pre-calibrated so that they all have the same mass. In this variant, the ramp (18) pours bulbs permanently into the receptacle (17). To give a determined mass to the cluster, the operator, for example, calculates the number of bulbs necessary to form a cluster weighing said determined mass and decides that the cluster is finished when he has used said number of bulbs necessary to form cluster.

  The pieces (5) to be stacked are either snapped into each other, or fitted into each other, or glued to each other, or held together using a tensioning element.

  Any other way, obvious to a person skilled in the art, of holding the parts together is also part of the invention.

  In the embodiment shown in the figures, the parts (5) are snapped into each other. In this embodiment, each piece (5), for example of plastic, has a hollow cylindrical body (51) provided with a plurality of circular grooves (510) on its internal surface. In an alternative embodiment, the plurality of circular grooves (510) is replaced by a thread.

  This cylindrical body (51) is surmounted by two elastic tabs (52), thus forming a groove (53) on the top of the part (5). Each of these tongues (52) is provided with at least one tooth (520) on its outer surface, designed to penetrate one of the grooves (510) of the cylindrical body (51) of the part (5) located above said piece.

  Preferably, each elastic tongue (52) comprises a plurality of 15 teeth (520), for example three, each penetrating into a different groove, to allow good maintenance of one piece (5) in another.

  The elastic tongues (52) are substantially vertical and are arranged near the outer edge of the cylindrical body (51), opposite one another.

  The top of the cylindrical body (51) comprises, between the tongues (52), two pairs of teeth (54), arranged opposite one another.

  The bottom of the cylindrical body (51) also has two recesses (55) located opposite one another, which make it possible to receive and block the rods (201) inserted in the part (5) from below. The axis 25 passing through the recesses (55) makes, for example, an angle of 60 with the axis passing through the two pairs of teeth (54) located between the tongues (52).

  In this way, the parts (5) are stacked on top of each other after having been rotated by an angle of 60 around their axis, which makes it possible to produce a cluster which is both compact and aesthetic.

  In the rail (15), the parts are positioned cylindrical body (51) at the bottom and tabs (52) at the top, all the parts having substantially the same orientation.

  The method of clustering a determined quantity of bulbs discharged into the receptacle (17) provided for this purpose by the discharge ramp (18) begins with the positioning of the turntable (10) at an adequate determined initial height ( see below). The turntable 5 (10) is indexed to rotate by a determined angle, corresponding to the angle between the axis of the teeth (54) located between the tongues (52) of a part and that of the recesses (55) of the part (5) to be placed above it.

  While the turntable (10) is positioned at the determined initial height 10, the workpiece gripping system, in the high position, slides on the horizontal slide (2) to position itself above the workpiece (5) located at the end of the rail (15) opposite the vibrating bowl (4). The rod (8) of the part gripping system then descends to a low position to take said part, then rises. The workpiece gripping system slides in the opposite direction to position itself above the workpiece support (115). The rod (8) descends to its low position. The part (5) is then sucked on said support (115) thanks to the suction system and is released from the rod (8). The rod then rises to the high position. While the workpiece gripping system searches for a second workpiece, the turntable (10) descends from the height of the body (51) of a workpiece (5) and rotates by the determined angle, for example 60, then the rods (201) of two bulbs (20) are inserted in the groove formed by the tongues (52) of the part (5) in place on the part support (115), opposite one of the other, either by an operator, or by an automated system (not shown). The operation of inserting the stems (201) of bulbs (20) is facilitated by a guide (85) located at the level of the last piece placed. The workpiece gripping system then positions the second workpiece (5) on the first workpiece (5), on which it clicks, thereby holding the stems of the bulbs. While the part gripping system is looking for a third part, the turntable (10) descends and turns, 30 then rods are inserted on the last part (5) placed, and so on until the cluster has reaches the desired size.

  The aspiration is then stopped, then the cluster formed is removed from the clustering device, either by an operator or by an automated system. The last piece (5) snapped in keeps the stems of the last bulbs inserted in the groove of the penultimate piece, but the groove of this last piece does not receive a bulb stem.

  The clustering device according to the invention also comprises a weir (19) allowing the operator to drop the finished cluster in a basket (not shown).

  All the positions of the workpiece gripping system are preprogrammed and saved in a memory of the electronic system.

  All the steps of the method according to the invention can be either completely manual, or completely automatic, or semi-automatic, with the intervention of an operator on certain steps, for example using the console and / or the pedal. .

  The determined initial height of the turntable (10) corresponds to the adequate height so that the preprogrammed movement of descent of the rod allows that, when the rod is in the low position, it can, on the one hand, take a part (5) on the rail (15) and, on the other hand, position the part (5) on the part support (115).

  The rod (8) of the part gripping system, visible in particular in FIG. 5, consists of an axis (80) extended by a calibrated spring (81), itself extended by a gripping system (82) of the parts (5). The calibrated spring (81) is coupled to a sensor for measuring the deformation of said spring (81), so as to precisely control the insertion force of the parts (5). In fact, too great a pressure causes the rods (201) of the bulbs (20) to shear and a too low pressure does not allow the rods (201) of the bulbs (20) to be sufficiently maintained.

  In the embodiment of the figures, the gripping system (82) of the part gripping system is a hollow cylinder, in which the tongues (52) of the parts (5) are held by friction. The suction force must therefore be greater than the friction force to allow the first part (5) to be deposited on the workpiece support (115).

  In an alternative embodiment, the gripping system (82) is a suction system, the force of which is less than the suction force of the suction system of the workpiece support (115).

  In another alternative embodiment, the gripping system (82) is a clamp.

  In another embodiment (not shown), the parts gripping system is not mobile, but is fixed to the frame (1). In this embodiment, the clustering device does not include a horizontal slide (2), nor a carriage (6). The rail (15) feeds the gripping system of 10 parts into parts (5) directly at the level of the rod (8) from the vibrating bowl (4) thanks to a gun-type charger charger positioned at the end of the rail ( 15) located near the rod (8) of the parts gripping system.

  After the cluster has been removed from the clustering device, a net may be added around the cluster, for example by an operator, so as to protect the cluster. A label, for example in the form of a ribbon, can also be added. A hook (21) can also be added to the last piece (5) placed, for example by snap-fastening, so as to hold the net and / or to be able to suspend the bunch. A base (25) can also be added under the first piece (5) placed, so that the cluster can be placed, for example on a work surface in a kitchen. These operations can be carried out either by an operator or by a suitable system.

  The hook (21), visible in particular in FIG. 4, comprises in its base at least one circular groove in which the teeth (520) of the tongues (52) of the last piece fitted snap into place.

  The cluster thus formed appears as a substantially cylindrical stake in which are stuck the bulb stems, which can then be easily torn off by a consumer.

  It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention allows embodiments in many other specific forms without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. Therefore, the present embodiments should be considered by way of illustration, but may be modified in the field defined by the scope of the appended claims, and the invention should not be limited to the details given above.

Claims (14)

  1. A method of clustering bulbs (20) provided with a rod (201), characterized in that it comprises a step of stacking and securing a plurality of parts (5) together, to wedge the rods (201) of the bulbs of the cluster between said parts.   2. A method of clustering according to claim 1, characterized in that the step of stacking and joining said pieces (5) comprises the iteration of the steps, alternately, of gripping a piece (5), in a file of parts (5), by a part gripping system (6, 7, 8), and placing o of said part (5) on a parts support (115) by said part gripping system , and in that the step of stacking and securing the pieces (5) is preceded by a step of positioning the piece support (115) at an initial height.   3. A method of clustering according to claim 2, characterized in that the step of placing a part is preceded by a step of lowering, by a determined height, from the part support (115) slidably mounted on a substantially vertical slide (3), by a rotation step, by a determined angle, from the workpiece support (115) fixedly mounted on a turntable (10), and by a step for inserting rods (201) of bulbs 20 (20) each between two substantially vertical tongues (52) of said new part (5), being guided by a guide (85) located at said part.   4. A method of clustering according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that at least the steps of descent and rotation of the workpiece support (115), and the steps of gripping a workpiece and setting place of said piece on the workpiece support (115), are triggered by means of an electronic system.   5. A method of clustering according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the joining of the parts (5) is carried out by snap-fastening of the latter into each other, by penetration of teeth (520) formed on a plurality substantially vertical elastic tabs (52) formed above a hollow cylindrical body (51) provided with a plurality of grooves (510), in the grooves (510) of the body (51) of the new part (5) .   6. Clustering method according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the joining of the parts (5) is carried out by embedding the parts (5) in each other.   7. A method of clustering according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the joining of the parts (5) is carried out by gluing the parts (5) to each other.   8. A method of clustering according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that the joining of the parts (5) is carried out by maintaining the parts (5) to each other using a tensioning element.   9. A method of clustering according to one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the first step of placing a part on the part support (115) is carried out by suction of said part of the pick-up system. workpiece to workpiece support (115) using a vacuum system.   10. A method of clustering according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the step of stacking and joining the parts (5) together is followed by a step of fixing a hook (21) on the last piece (5) installed and / or a base (25) under the first piece installed.   11. Clustering device for implementing the method according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that it comprises a frame (1) on which are mounted a workpiece support (115), mounted movably in rotation relative to the frame (1) on an indexed turntable (10), itself slidably mounted relative to the frame (1) on a slide (3), and a vibrating bowl (4) delivering on a rail (15) , aligned and oriented, of the 30 pieces (5) to be stacked on the piece support (115) by a piece gripping system (5), so as to form the cluster by wedging the stems (201) of the bulbs (20) between said parts (5).   12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the part gripping system is mounted movable in movement between the rail (15) and the workpiece support (115), on the frame (1).   13. Device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the part gripping system comprises a jack (7) which is integral with a rod (8), substantially vertical, which grips and stacks a part (5) at the same time said rod (8) consisting of an axis (80) extended by a calibrated spring (81) io coupled to a sensor for measuring the deformation of said spring (81), itself extended by a gripping system (82), the gripping system (82) being either a hollow cylinder, in which the parts (5) are held by friction, or a suction system, or a clamp, and said sensor making it possible to control the insertion force of a part on the previous one already placed on the parts support (115).   14. Device according to one of claims 11 to 13, characterized in that the workpiece support (115) is connected to a suction system for maintaining a first workpiece (5) placed on said workpiece support (115).