IL105422A - Carousel-type sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Description

nt>onp 0Ί)·»ϋ η>ηί? τ ϋθη CAROUSEL-TYPE SORTING APPARATUS CAROUSEL-TYPE SORTING APPARATUS The present invention relates to a carousel-type sorting apparatus for sorting various articles according to a predetermined characteristic. The invention is particularly useful for sorting pieces of fruit according to weight, and the invention is therefore described below with respect to this application.

Most sorting apparatus for sorting fruit are of the linear construction; that is, the pieces of fruit to be sorted are conveyed in holders, such as trays, along a linear path and are directed to assigned sort bins along the linear path according to the weight or" other characteristic to be used for grading the articles. Linear sorters, however, are generally of large and massive constructions which take up considerable space.

An object of the present invention is to provide a carousel-type sorter which can be built much more compactly than a linear-type sorter, and which therefore can be used in a more limited amount of space that may be available.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided sorting apparatus for sorting articles according to weight, comprising: a carousel mounted for rotary movement; a plurality of article holders carried at the outer circumference of the carousel and rotatable therewith through a circular path; and a weighing device at a weighing station in the circular path for weighing the articles carried by the article holders; the weighing device comprising a linear conveyor joining two points on the outer circumference of the carousel for conveying the -article holder, and the article carried thereby, through a linear path joining the two points on the outer circumference of the carousel while the article holder, and the article carried thereby, are in the weighing station.

It will thus be seen that in the sorting apparatus constructed in accordance with the foregoing features, the articles to be sorted are rotated through a circular path except when they arrive at the weighing device, at which time they are conveyed over the weighing device in a linear path, thereby avoiding the effects that centrifugal force may have on the article at the time it is being weighed.

According to further features in the preferred embodiment of the invention described below, each of the article holders is carried by a carrier member movably mounted at the outer surface of the carousel from a normal conveyor position to a lower weighing position when over the weighing device, to thereby lower the article holder on the conveyor of the weighing device. In addition, each of the carrier members is pivotal to the normal and lower positions, and to a further dumping position for dumping the contents of its article holder.

More particularly, in the described preferred embodiment, each of the carrier members is a ring pivotally mounted to the carousel, and each of the article holders is of an hour-glass configuration having a small diameter waist enclosed by its respective carrier member ring.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided sorting apparatus for sorting articles according to a predetermined characteristic, comprising: a carousel mounted for rotary movement; a plurality of article holders carried at the outer circumference of the carousel and rotatable therewith through a closed loop path; feeding means at a feeding station in the closed loop path for feeding an individual article to each of the article holders; a plurality of sort bins along the closed loop path for receiving the articles when sorted according to the predetermined characteristic; sensor means at a sensing station in the closed loop path, between the feeding station and the sort bins, for sensing the predetermined characteristic of each article when in the sensing station and for designating the sort bin to receive the article according to its sensed characteristic; and dumping means to actuate the article holder to a dumping position when it arrives at the sort bin designated by the sensor means to receive the article according to the sensed characteristic.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.

The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a three-dimensional view illustrating one form of carousel-type sorter constructed in accordance with the present invention; Fig. 2 is a three-dimensional view illustrating the weighing device in the sorter of Fig. 1 ; Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the main elements for each of the article holders in the sorter of Fig. 1, the article holder being shown in its feeding position in Fig. 3 and in its dumping position in Fig. 4; and Figs. 5-9 illustrate the various positions assumed by the carrier members in the apparatus of Fig. 1 as they move their respective article holders around the circular path of the carousel.

The sorter illustrated in Fig. 1 is particularly useful for sorting articles of fruit, such as apples, according to weight. The sorting apparatus is constructed in the form of a carousel, generally designated 2, mounted for rotary movement about a central rotary axis RA. A plurality of article holders 4 are carried at the outer circumference of the carousel 2 and are rotatable therewith through a circular path. The articles, e.g., apples A, are fed onto the carousel 2 by a conveyor 6 at a feeding station FS and are individually directed to the article holders 4, each carried by carrier member 8 at the outer circumference of the carousel 2. As the carousel is rotated, it conveys each of the article holders 4 first to a weighing station WS where the article A carried thereby is weighed by a weighing device 10, and then through a plurality of sorting stations SS where the article is dumped at the appropriate sorting bin SB, —SBC, according to the weight of the article.

I o As the articles A carried in holders 4 at the outer circumference of the carousel 2 are moved through the above-described circular path, the carrier members 8 are moved to a lower weighing position at the weighing station WS to enable the article to be weighed, and then to a dumping position at the appropriate sort bin SB1 —SB^ according to the weight of the article. The foregoing movements of the carrier member 8 are described below particularly with respect to Figs. 5-9.

The weighing device 10 at the weighing station WS in Fig. 1 is more particularly illustrated in Fig. 2. It includes a base 11 and a vertical column 12 supporting one end 13a of a load cell 13. The opposite end 13b of load cell 13 supports a conveyor device including a housing 14, a pair of closed-loop conveyor belts 15, 16, and a drive motor 17 for rotating the conveyor belts. During the operation of the sorter, as will _be_ described below, each. article holder 4 is lowered onto the conveyor belts 15, 16, so that the conveyor belts 15, 16 continuously convey the article A received thereon, not through a curved path during the weighing operation, but rather through a linear path, corresponding to that of a chord joining two points on the outer circumference of the circular path of the carousel 2. Accordingly, the measured weight of the article will not be affected by centrifugal forces, which would otherwise affect weight measurements in a carousel-type sorter, as distinguished from a linear sorter.

As shown particularly in Figs. 3 and 4, each of the article holders 4 is of an hour-glass configuration.

Each includes an upper end 4a of larger diameter and centrally dished for receiving an article A to be held, a lower end 4b also of large diameter but formed with a flat base for stably resting on the conveyor belt 15, 16 of the weighing device 10, and a central waist 4c of smaller diameter than its two ends 4a, 4b.

The carrier member 8 is in the form of a ring which encloses the waist portion 4c of the article holder 4 such that the ring engages the upper large-diameter end 4a of the article holder to support it in the normal conveying position of the carrier member ring 8. However, when the carrier member ring 8 is in the weighing station WS, it moves downwardly, as will be described more particularly below, to lower the article holder 4 onto the conveyor belts 15, 16 of the weighing device 10 at the weighing station, and to disengage from the upper end 4a of the article holder 4, such that the article holder, and the article held thereby, are now supported solely by the conveyor belts 15, 16.

Each of the carrier member rings 8 is pivotally mounted to a frame member 20 at the outer circumference of the carousel 2 by means of a first pair of arms 21 fixed to frame member 20, and a second pair of arms 22 pivotally mounted at pivot point 22a to arms 21 , and at pivot point 22b to a stem 23 integrally formed with ring 8. A second pair of arms 24 are also pivotally mounted at one end to pivot point 22b. The opposite ends of arms 24 are pivotally mounted, via pivots 24a, to members 25a secured to a plate 25. Plate 25 is pivotally mounted by a shaft 26 passing through members 25a to another frame member 27 of the carousel 2. Plate 25 carries a roller 28 which moves in contact with a track 29 fixed around the circumference of the carousel 2.

Track 29, contacted by rollers 28 of all the carrier rings 8, controls the various operations performed with respect to the articles A in the article holders 4 as their rings 8 are rotated with the rotation of the carousel 2. However, track 29 is interrupted for the portion of the circumference of the carousel occupied by the sorting station SS, in which the sorting bins SB^ —SB^ are located, so that the carrier member may be permitted to pivot to its dumping position, as shown in Fig. 4, at the proper time in order to dump its article into the proper sort bin SB^ —SB., according to the weight of the article. Plate 25 carries a retainer lug 30 which engages the bottom end 4b of the article holder 4 in this dump position, as shown in Fig. 4.

Plate 25 for each of the carrier rings 8 further includes a latching element 31 cooperable with a lever 32 fixed to one end of a rod 33. The opposite end of rod 33 is fixed to an arm 34 carrying at its opposite end a further arm 35. Arm 35 is cooperable with a tripping element 36 —actuatable by a solenoid 37 controlled by the load cell 13 of the weighing device 10.

As will be described below, at the sorting station SS where track 29 is interrupted, plate 25 is permitted to pivot by the disengagement of roller 28 from track 29 (Fig. 8), but latching element 31 engageable with lever 32 prevents the carrier ring 8 from pivoting to its dumping position until the ring reaches the tripping element 36 designating the bin to which the ring content is to be dumped. At that time the tripping element 36 engages arm 35 to pivot lever 32 out of engagement with latching element 31 , thereby permitting the carrier ring 8 to pivot downwardly to its dumping position as shown in Fig. 9.

For purposes of feeding the articles A from the conveyor 6 to the individual article holders 4, the upper end of the carousel 12 is formed with a sloped wall 40, sloping downwardly from its center rotary axis RA to its outer circumference. A plurality of .radially-extending separator plates 41 are fixed to the outer circumference of wall 40 to direct each of the articles A to a separate location thereon. In addition, the end of wall 40 is turned upwardly to define a stop 42 for retaining each of the articles at the outer circumference until the article is to be transferred to its respective article holder 4. For the latter purpose, the stem 23 for each of the article holder rings 8 carries a pair of lifting elements 43 which project through slots 44 formed in the carousel wall 40 and its upturned end 42. The position of the lifting elements 43 is controlled by track 29 engaged by roller 28 such that, at the proper time during the rotation of the carousel 2, lifting elements 43 rise through slots 44 to lift the article A at the respective location in the outer circumference of the carousel wall 40 over stop 42, to permit the article to move by gravity into its respective article holder 4.

The illustrated apparatus operates as follows: The articles to be sorted are fed by conveyor 6 onto the upper wall 40 of the carousel 2 and are directed by the slope surface of wall 40 to the outer circumference of the carousel where each is retained by stop 42 in alignment with one of the article holders 4 carried by the ring carriers 8. As the carousel moves (counter-clockwise) through the feeding station FS (Fig. 1), track 29 (Fig. 5) engaged by the rollers 28 of all the article holders in the feeding station FS and in the weighing station WS, pivots arms 22 of the next article holder 4 to receive the article in the upward direction, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, thereby raising the lifting elements 43. Elements 43 thus raise the article at that location of the carousel over its stop 42 and permit the article to fall by gravity into its respective article holder 4.

As the carousel further rotates (counterclockwise), the so-loaded article holder enters the weighing station WS . Here, the track 29 is formed with a dip 29a (Fig. 7), such that the roller 28 for the respective article holder descends and causes the respective carrier ring 8 also to descend to bring the article holder into contact with the conveyor belts 15, 16 of the weighing device 10. The article holder 4, including the article A carried thereby, is now supported solely by the conveyor belts 15, 16 of the weighing device, so that the weight of the article can be measured by the load cell 13 (Fig. 2). Moreover, during this weighing process, the article holder is moved through a linear path, rather than through a circular path, so that the weight measurement is not influenced by centrifugal forces. The diameter of ring 8 is sufficiently large compared to waist 4c of the article holder 4 to accommodate lateral displacement of the article holder with respect to the ring during this linear movement of the article holder and the curved movement of the carrier ring.

The article holder 4 then leaves the weighing station WS and enters the sorting station SS, occupied by the plurality of sort bins SB^ —SB^ . Track 29 does not extend during this portion of the movement of the article holder by the carousel, so that roller 28, leaving the track 29, permits plate 25 to pivot to the position illustrated in Fig. 8. However, the carrier ring 8 is retained in its upper (non-dumping) position by latching element 31 engageable by lever 32, until the carrier ring 8 arrives at the proper bin SB^ —SB^ to receive the article carried thereby according to the weight measured in the weighing station WS. Thus, after the article has been weighed in the latter station, it actuates a solenoid 37 for the bin to receive the article according to the article's weight.

Solenoid 37 actuates a tripping element 36 to raise it into the path of arm 35 of the dumping mechanism. Thus, when the article reaches its proper bin, arms 35 and 34 are pivoted by the tripping element 36 to pivot shaft 33 and lever 32 such as to cause the latter lever to disengage from latching element 31. As soon as this occurs, plate 25, including the carrier ring 8 carried thereby, pivots by gravity to its dumping position illustrated in Fig. 9, whereupon the article in the article holder 4 of the respective carrier ring 8 falls by gravity into its respective bin SB^ —SB,..

As the carousel further rotates, roller 28 engages the track 29 to return the carrier ring 8 to its horizontal position, where it is retained by latching element 31 engaged by lever 32, preparatory to receiving another article at the feeding station.

While the invention has been described with respect to one preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that this is set forth merely for purposes of example, and that many other variations, modifications and applications of the invention may be made.

Claims (11)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. Sorting apparatus for sorting articles according to weight, comprising: a carousel mounted for rotary movement; a plurality of article holders carried at the outer circumference of said carousel and rotatable therewith through a circular path; and a weighing device at a weighing station in said circular path for weighing the articles carried by said article holders; said weighing device comprising a linear conveyor joining two points on the outer circumference of the carousel for conveying the article holder, and the article carried thereby, through a linear path joining said two points on the outer circumference of the carousel while the article holder, and the article carried thereby, are in said weighing station.

2. The apparatus according to Claim 1 , wherein each of said article holders is carried by a carrier member movably mounted at the outer surface of the carousel from a normal conveyor position to a lower weighing position when over said weighing device to thereby lower the article holder on said conveyor of the weighing device.

3. The apparatus according to Claim 2, wherein each of said carrier members is pivotal to said normal and lower positions, and to a further dumping position for dumping the contents of its article holder.

4. The apparatus according to Claim 3, wherein each of said carrier members is a ring pivotally mounted to said carousel. -

5. The apparatus according to Claim 4, wherein each of said article holders is of an hour-glass configuration having a small diameter waist enclosed by its respective carrier member ring.

6. The apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein each of said carrier members further includes a retainer element engageable with the article holder for retaining it within its respective carrier member when in said dumping position.

7. The apparatus according to any one of Claims 2-6, wherein the apparatus further includes a stationary track, and each of said carrier members includes a contact element moveable along said track for controlling the vertical position of its article holder in accordance with the configuration of said track.

8. The apparatus according to Claim 7, wherein said track has a dip at said weighing station effective to lower the article holder and thereby to cause the weight of the article holder and the article held thereon to be applied to said weighing device.

9. The apparatus according to Claim 8, further including a plurality of sort bins along said circular path for receiving the articles according to their respective weights; and dumping means effective to dump the contents of PA 105422/2 - 14 - each article holder into its respective bin according to the weight of the article held thereby and determined by said weighing device.

10. The apparatus according to Claim 9, wherein said dumping means comprises a latching element carried by each of said carrier members for latching it in its non-dumping position; and a tripping element located at each of the sort bins and actuatable by said weighing device to engage the latching element of a carrier member when arriving at the sort bin to receive the article thereof.

11. The apparatus according to any one of Claims 1-10, wherein said feeding means comprises: a sloped wall at the upper end of said carousel sloping downwardly from the center of the carousel to its outer circumference; a stop at the outer edge of said sloped wall in alignment with each of said article holders and engageable by an article to be fed to its respective article holders; and a lifting device for lifting the article over its stop to thereby permit the article to move by gravity into its article holder . an or T. Co P.O. Box 2273 Rehovot 76122 c:B8275