JP2000142626A - Article transfer apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article transfer apparatus wherein a plurality of articles can be automatically arranged in the same direction and stacked in an array on a plurality of stages by utilizing inspection information of an inspection device. SOLUTION: The article transfer apparatus comprises an inspection device 30 for inspecting whether an article 33 is good or defective and inspecting its direction or the like, an article sorter 70 for receiving a plurality of articles 33 from the inspection device 30, sorting the articles 33 according to their directions based on inspection information and forming an array comprising a plurality of articles 33 which face in the same direction, and an article stacking device 4a for sucking up the plurality of articles 33 constituting an array sorted by the sorter 70 and mounting a part of the array on a conveyer 34 and then stacking the remaining on the part of the articles. Thus the articles 33 are sorted according to their directions based on the inspection information of the inspection device 30, and the articles 33 facing in the same direction are stacked on the conveyer 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article transfer apparatus, and more particularly to an article transfer apparatus for aligning and transferring fruits and vegetables such as vegetables and fruits and stacking them in a plurality of stages.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 8 shows a distribution flow of a general fruit and vegetable sorting place. Fruits and vegetables brought from the producers to the fruit sorting place are fed to the fruit sorting conveyor 31 automatically or manually.
Each of the plurality of fruit selection dishes 32 is placed one by one. The fruits and vegetables placed on the sorting plate 32 of the sorting conveyor 31 move at a constant speed to the left in FIG.
Inspection of the presence / absence, shape, size, grade, etc. of the flaw is performed, and information data of each inspection result is stored and automatically output to the conveyors X, Y, Z, etc. for each purpose. . One of the purposes is as shown in FIG.
There is a line for stacking fruits and vegetables 33 (eggplants in the illustrated example) in a plurality of stages in the same direction, packing them in a transparent plastic bag 33a, and manufacturing sealed bagged eggplants 33b. In order for such an automatic bagging line to function, the eggplants 33 on the bagging conveyor 34 in the preceding stage are arranged in the same direction, and are arranged and stacked in a plurality of stages (the illustrated example shows three first stages, two stages). Need to stack two eyes).

However, according to the current technology, when moving from the fruit sorting conveyor 31 to the transporting conveyor 36, as described above, based on the information data of the inspection results for the eggplants 33 on the individual fruit sorting dishes 32, as described above. At a suitable timing, the conveying conveyor 36 tilting the fruit selection tray 32 and running therebelow.
The technique of dropping and transferring the eggplant 33 to the upper transport case 37 has been put to practical use and is actively used.
The method of accurately determining the direction of the “feed” of No. 3 and transferring the images in the same direction has not been put to practical use. Therefore, one of the current methods is to place the eggplants 33 in the direction of the "spots" on the fruit sorting tray 32 on the fruit sorting conveyor 31 by hand, while the other is the fruit sorting tray 32. The direction of “spot” is transferred at random by an automatic transfer device or the like, and as a result, the direction of “spot” is also transferred to the transfer case 37 on the transfer conveyor 36 without being aligned. This is a method that depends on human beings for processing, and none of the methods achieves automation.

On the other hand, the transport case 3 on the transport conveyor 36
7, the apparatus for transferring the eggplant 33 to the bag conveyor 34 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
This is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 218195, and the outline thereof will be described with reference to FIG. The transfer device 38 is for transferring the eggplants 33 onto the bagging conveyor 34 running at another position after sucking and holding the eggplants 33 arranged on the transport conveyor 36. A rail (not shown) is provided on the beam 40 of the gantry 39, and a traveling vehicle 42 is installed on the rail via a guide 41 so as to be able to travel freely (the direction thereof is the horizontal direction in the figure). A motor 51 is fixed to a bogie frame of the traveling bogie 42, and a pinion 51 a is fixed to an output shaft of the motor 51. The pinion 51 a meshes with a rack 52 provided on the beam 40. Thereby, the traveling vehicle 42 can reciprocate on the gantry 39.
Note that the solid line 38 and the two-dot chain line 38 indicate a state in which the transfer device is located above the conveyor 36 and above the bagging conveyor 34, respectively.

[0005] Elevating shafts 43 are provided at four corners of the traveling vehicle 42.
The frame 44 is supported on the elevating shaft 43 so as to be able to move up and down. An elevating cylinder 45 is provided on the upper part of the traveling vehicle 42, and the frame 44 moves up and down by driving the elevating cylinder 45. Brackets 46 are fixed to both lower width ends of the frame 44, and the two brackets 46 support both ends of a shaft 47 extending in the left-right direction in the figure. A plurality of sets of vacuum suction devices 48a, 48b,... One or more vacuum pipes 49 are connected to each of the vacuum suction devices 48a, 48b,.
The suction pad 50 is fitted to the tip of the. Based on such a configuration, the eggplants 33 on the transport conveyor 36 are respectively held by the suction pads 50, and then the suction pads 5 are held.
0, and in this state, the traveling cart 42 is moved above the bag-packing conveyor 34, and the suction pads 50 are lowered to release the suction, whereby the eggplants 33 on the transport conveyor 36 are released. Can be transferred onto the bag conveyor 34.

[0006]

However, the transfer device 38 does not have a function of stacking the eggplants 33 on the traveling bag-packing conveyor 34 in a multi-stage manner. It is necessary to install a plurality of transfer devices 38 at a distance above, but this becomes complicated due to the system configuration and increases the cost. Therefore, at present, the actual situation depends on human labor.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and automatically arranges a plurality of articles in the same direction and stacks them in a plurality of stages using information data of an inspection apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article transfer device capable of performing the following.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an article transferring apparatus for inspecting a good / defective or orientation of an article, and a plurality of articles by the inspecting apparatus. Received, and sorts a plurality of articles according to their directions based on the inspection information, and configures an article sorting apparatus for forming a row composed of a plurality of articles facing in the same direction, and one row sorted by the article sorting apparatus. An article stacking device for adsorbing and lifting a plurality of articles, and stacking these articles in a plurality of stages at a predetermined location so as to face in the same direction.

In this article transfer apparatus, first, information on the orientation of an article is inspected by an inspection apparatus, and based on the inspection information, the article sorting apparatus sorts the articles according to their directions, and a plurality of articles oriented in the same direction. Are formed. Then, the article stacking device sucks and lifts a plurality of articles forming a row, and stacks these articles in a plurality of stages at a predetermined place so as to face the same direction. As described above, by utilizing the information data of the inspection apparatus, a plurality of articles can be automatically arranged in the same direction, and further, can be arranged in a plurality of stages and stacked. Here, the predetermined location is a bag packing conveyor, and a plurality of articles stacked on the bag packing conveyor are packed by a bag packing device.

[0010] As a specific form of the article sorting apparatus, the article sorting apparatus includes a sorting conveyor capable of receiving a plurality of articles from the inspection apparatus and selectively dropping the articles, and a section immediately below the sorting conveyor. And a transfer case provided immediately below the alignment and transfer device, the sorting conveyor includes inspection information of the inspection device. Only the articles having the same orientation based on are transferred to the upper aligner of the aligning and transferring apparatus, and the aligning and transferring apparatus sequentially transfers the articles received by the upper aligner to the lower aligner and the transport case. is there.

[0011] Further, as a concrete form of the article stacking device, a rotating means 4 is rotated in a horizontal plane.
A rotary transfer device comprising: a rotary member; and a vacuum suction device having a plurality of suction pads provided to be movable up and down with respect to each of the rotary members and capable of holding a plurality of articles in a row by suction. Device, by the interaction of the rotating means and the vacuum suction device, after placing a part of the articles constituting a row on a predetermined conveyor, the remaining articles are aligned with the orientation of the part of the articles They are piled up.

[0012]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an entire embodiment of an article transfer device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, first, the main devices constituting the article transfer apparatus are a fruit sorting apparatus 30 (an article inspection apparatus) for articles 33 (eg, eggplant) and a fruit sorting conveyor 31.
(Sorting conveyor), a first sorting / transferring device 1a and a second sorting / transferring device 1b provided directly below the fruit sorting conveyor 31, and a first sorting / transferring device 1a. A first transport case for transporting the first transport case 2a containing a plurality of eggplants 33 to the bagging conveyor 34 side.
And a second conveyor case 2b, in which a plurality of eggplants 33 facing opposite to the same direction are stored by the second conveyor unit 3b and the second aligning and transferring apparatus 1b, to the bagging conveyor 34 side. A first article stacking device 4a (first rotary transfer device) for picking up the eggplant 33 in the second conveyor 3b and the eggplant 33 in the first conveyor case 2a and stacking them on the bagging conveyor 34 in a plurality of stages. A second article stacking device 4b (second rotary transfer device) for picking up the eggplants 33 in the second transport case 2b and stacking them on a bag-packing conveyor 34, and a bag-packing conveyor 34
And the bagging device 35. In addition, the fruit sorting conveyor 31
And first alignment transfer device 1a (second alignment transfer device 1b)
Constitute an article sorting apparatus 70.

The fruit sorting device 30 (article inspection device) is an eggplant 3
Good or bad, such as 3 scratches or size, or "spot" (that is, head)
The eggplant 33 after the inspection is transferred to the fruit sorting conveyor 31 (see arrow A). This inspection information data is input to a control unit (not shown) of the fruit sorting conveyor 31. The fruit sorting conveyor 31 receives the eggplants 33 that have been inspected from the fruit sorting device 30 one by one on the fruit sorting dish 32 side by side,
When this is conveyed in the direction of arrow B, the direction in which “spot” faces is indicated by arrow b based on the inspection information data of the fruit sorting device 30.
At the first drop station R1 and drop the eggplant 33 at the first aligning and transferring device 1a, which will be described later, on the other hand, the eggplant 33 with the direction of the "spot" pointing in the opposite arrow b to the first drop station R1. At a second drop station R2 downstream of R1, it is dropped onto a second alignment and transfer device 1b described later.

The first aligning / transferring device 1a is arranged such that "heads" are indicated by the arrow b in each space defined on the cells in the first transfer case 2a at the first drop station R1.
The eggplants 33 facing are aligned. Second alignment transfer device 2a
Aligns the eggplants 33 whose "letters" face the opposite arrow b in each of the spaces defined on the cells in the second transfer case 2b at the second drop station R2. First
Of the first conveyor case 2a full of eggplants 33 as shown by the arrow C1.
Transport to the 4 side. The second conveyor 3b includes eggplant 33
Is transported to the bag-packing conveyor 34 side as shown by an arrow C2. The first article stacking device 4a (first rotary transfer device) is arranged above the bag conveyor 34, picks up the eggplant 33 from the first transport case 2a, and aligns the eggplant 33 on the bag conveyor 34. Stack in multiple layers. In this example, there are three in the first row,
The two rows are stacked (see FIG. 9). The second article stacking device 4b (second rotary transfer device)
The eggplant 33 is provided at the rear of the article stacking device 4a (first rotary transfer device), and the eggplant 33 is picked up from the second transport case 2b and placed on the bag-packing conveyor 34 in the same manner as the first article stacking device 4a. Align and stack in multiple layers.

The bag conveyor 34 conveys the stacked eggplants 33 to a bag packing device 35 as shown by arrow D. The bagging device 35 packs the stacked eggplants 33 into bags to produce bagged eggplants 33b (bagged articles) (see FIG. 9). The first return conveyor 10a is juxtaposed to the first transport conveyor 3a, and is used to transfer the empty first transport case 2a to the first horizontal conveyor 17a below the fruit sorting conveyor 31 (FIG. 3).
). Second return conveyor 10
b transfers the empty second transfer case 2b to the second horizontal transfer conveyor 17b below the fruit sorting conveyor 31 (see FIG. 3).

As described above, the eggplants 33 inspected by the fruit sorting device 30 are individually conveyed to the fruit sorting conveyor 31 together with the inspection information data. The number of rows of the sorting trays 32 arranged on the sorting conveyor 31 is not particularly limited, but is three in FIG. The fruit sorting conveyor 31 can tilt the fruit sorting dish 32 and drop the eggplant 33 based on the inspection information data. Below the fruit sorting conveyor 31, a first sorting and transferring device 1a and a second sorting and transferring device 1b are provided at a first drop station R1 and a second drop station R2 for receiving the falling eggplant 33. The first transport case 2a and the first transport case 2b are respectively disposed below the three rows. When the transport cases 2a and 2b are filled with the eggplant 33, respectively, they are moved to the transport conveyors 3a and 3b,
At the same time, the empty transport cases 2a and 2b waiting on the return conveyors 10a and 10b are respectively transferred to the first side-out conveyor 17a and the first side-out conveyor 17a, respectively, and further the first alignment transfer. It is configured to be supplied to a position below the loading device 1a and the second alignment and transfer device 1b, respectively.

Next, the detailed structure of each part will be described.
2 is a plan view of a first sorting and transferring apparatus in the article sorting apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a side view of a first drop station (sorting station) in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is FIGS. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the transfer case shown in FIG. Since the structure of the first drop station R1 (sorting station) and the structure of the second drop station R2 (sorting station) are the same, the first drop station R1 will be described as an example.

The first aligning and transferring apparatus 1a of the present embodiment comprises:
The eggplants 33 are arranged and transferred five by five. The first sorting and transferring apparatuses 1a are arranged in three rows below the fruit sorting conveyor 31 corresponding to the three rows of sorting trays 32. A pair of shafts 14 are interposed between frames 13 supported by columns 12 that contact the floor.
a and 14b penetrate 5 pairs each in the vertical direction. A total of 10 pairs of upper and lower shafts 14a and 14b are rotatably fixed to the frame 13, and one end of each shaft is connected to an actuator 15a or 15b. A pair of shafts 1
4a and 14b have a pair of open / close plates 16 over substantially the entire length thereof.
a and 16b (hopper) are fixed at one end, and the pair of open / close plates 16a and 16b are connected to the actuators 15a and 16b.
It is opened and closed by the action of 15b. A pair of open / close plates 16a, 1
6b is inverted "C" when closed, so that the eggplant 33 can be held thereon (see FIG. 7 (a)). On the other hand, when it is opened, it extends in the vertical direction (two-dot chain line 16a in FIG. 3). ,
16b). Each pair of open / close plates 16a, 16b of this example
Are composed of five opening / closing plate pieces 16c, respectively, but are not limited to this structure.

A pair of open / close plates 16a each having five upper and lower parts,
16b and actuators 15a and 15b, upper aligners 61a to 61e and lower aligners 62a to 62b.
e is formed. Immediately below each of the three rows of sorting trays 32 of the first sorting and transferring apparatus 1a, three first transport cases 2a are arranged on the upper surfaces of the three rows of the first horizontal conveyors 17a with the same pitch. Are located. As shown in FIG. 4, the first transport case 2a is divided into five sections K by a partition plate 2d, and one eggplant 33 is placed in one section K, and a total of five eggplants 33 are placed. Can accommodate. In each section K, a pair of support plates 2c for supporting the accommodated eggplants 33 are provided upright. The three rows of the first horizontal conveyor 17a are the first return conveyor 1
The first transport case 2a that is empty from the first transport case 2a is transported immediately below the three rows of first aligning and transferring devices 1a, and the first transport case 2a that is full is transported to the first transport conveyor 3a.
a, which are individually driven.

When the eggplants 33 are aligned in the first transport case 2a and transferred to the bag-packing conveyor 34 by the first transport conveyor 3a, the eggplant 33 is transferred to the bag-packing conveyor 34 by the first rotary transfer device 4a. Will be transferred to Since the first rotary transfer device 4a and the first two rotary transfer devices 4b have the same configuration, the first rotary transfer device 4a will be described as an example. FIG. 5 is a front view of a vacuum suction device constituting the rotary transfer device (article stacking device) shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG.

Four rotating plates 7 (rotating members) are rotatably attached to the top of the gantry 5 of the rotating transfer device 4a, and a rotating device 6 (rotating means) is installed at the center of the rotating plate 7. ing. A vacuum suction device 8 to be described later is disposed at the tip of each of the four rotating plates 7, and the vacuum suction device 8 is also configured to be rotated by the small rotation device 9. The empty first transfer case 2a after the eggplant 33 has been vacuum-sucked and lifted by the vacuum suction device 8 is automatically transferred to the first return conveyor 10a, respectively, and further the first alignment transfer device 1
It is supplied again to the a side. That is, the system from the fruit sorting device 30 to the automatic bag filling device 35 is automated by the present system.

The vacuum suction device 8 is connected via a frame 19 to a rotating shaft 18 provided at the tip of a rotating plate 7 rotatably mounted on the top of the gantry 5 shown in FIG. 9 allows forward and reverse rotation. The vacuum suction device 8 has elevating shafts 24 erected at four corners of the pedestal 20, and a frame 25 is supported on the elevating shaft 24 so as to be able to move up and down. An elevating cylinder 26 is provided above the pedestal 20, and the frame 25 can be moved up and down by driving the elevating cylinder 26.

Brackets 27 are fixed to both lower ends of the frame 25, and a shaft 28 is suspended between the brackets 27. Case units 29 a to 29 e are supported on the shaft 28, and the case units 29 a to 29 e are
2 is supported to be able to move up and down. One or two suction pads 23 are provided at the tip of the vacuum suction device 22. Among the case units 29a to 29e, the right end case unit 29e in FIG. 6 is fixed to a predetermined position of the shaft 28, and the other case units 29a to 29e are independently and movably supported by the shaft 28. The pitch between each of the case units 29a to 29e can be changed by a retractable mechanism that does not. In addition, this expansion and contraction mechanism
This is the same as that described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-218195.

Next, the operation of the article transfer device of the present embodiment will be described. First, the operation of the first alignment and transfer device 1a will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 7 (a), the inspected eggplants 33 are mounted on the fruit sorting tray 32 on the fruit sorting conveyor 31 and are traveling, and each pair of the upper sorting devices 61a to 61e of the first sorting and transferring apparatus 1a is provided. Opening / closing plates 16a, 16b,
And a pair of opening / closing plates 16 of the lower aligners 62a to 62e.
Both a and 16b are open. Now, for example, according to the inspection information data of the fruit sorting device 30, the fruit sorting plate 32 on which the eggplant 33 with the “hepata” facing right tilts and falls sequentially into the upper sorting devices 61a to 61e of the sorting and transferring device 1a. When the upper aligners 61a to 61e are full, the actuator 15 operates to open the pair of open / close plates 16a and 16b as shown in FIG. 7B, thereby dropping the eggplant 33 to the lower aligners 62a to 62e. Let it.

The pair of open / close plates 16a, 16b of the upper sorters 61a-61e immediately return to the closed state, and the fruit conveyor 31 is always running, so that the "letters" of the eggplant 3 are directed rightward.
3 falls sequentially. The eggplant 33 temporarily received by the lower aligners 62a to 62e confirms that an empty transport case 2a disposed immediately below the eggplant 33 is prepared, and then acts on the actuator 15 to act as shown in FIG. Then, the pair of open / close plates 16a and 16b is momentarily opened, the eggplant 33 is moved to the first transport case 2a, and the pair of open / close plates 16a and 16b is immediately closed and the lower aligner 62a is closed.
62e are in a standby state. The first where eggplant 33 was transferred
Transport case 2a is transported onto the first transport conveyor 3a by the first horizontal conveyor 17a,
An empty first transport case 2a is supplied from the first return conveyor 10a on the opposite side to the first side-out conveyor 17a.

The above operation is automatically repeated, and the eggplant 33
Are arranged and transferred to the first rotary transfer device 4a by the first conveyor 3a. The eggplants 33 that have passed through the first dropping station R1 without falling have the "spot" directions in the opposite direction, and these are aligned and transferred at the first dropping station R2 in the same manner as described above. In addition,
The eggplant 33 whose defect, size and the like are defective by the fruit sorting device 30 does not fall at any of the first drop station R1 and the second drop station R2, is conveyed as it is, and is collected downstream thereof. You.

Next, the operation of the first rotary transfer device 4a will be described. Of the four vacuum suction devices 8 attached to each rotary plate 7 of the first rotary transfer device 4a shown in FIG. 1, each of the case units 29a to 29e of the vacuum suction device 8 at the position of the symbol a is The five eggplants 33 in a row are sucked from the first transport case 2a transported from the first transport conveyor 3a, respectively, and thereafter, the eggplants 33 are lifted by the lifting cylinder 26, and the rotating device 6 is driven to drive the symbol b. Then, the three eggplants 33 adsorbed on the three case units 29a to 29c are transferred onto the bag-packing conveyor 34. While holding the two eggplants 33 adsorbed on the remaining two case units 29d and 29e, the rotating device 6
Drives to reach the position of the symbol d via the position of the symbol c. During this time, the small rotating device 9 is driven and the vacuum suction device 8 is turned halfway in order to change the direction of the “spread” of the eggplant 33. In this manner, the case units 29a to 29e are moved down by the elevating cylinder 26, so that the two eggplants 33 are stacked on the three eggplants 33 previously transferred on the bag-packing conveyor 34 at the same timing, and are kept as they are. It is transferred to the automatic bagging device 35. First transport conveyor 3a
The next first transporter that has been transported to the first rotary transfer device 4a
For the transfer case 2a, the same operation is performed by the next vacuum suction device 8. The second rotary transfer device 4b includes:
As in the case of the first rotary transfer device 4a, a row of eggplants 33 is sequentially taken out from the second transfer case 2a transferred from the second transfer conveyor 3b, and is sequentially stacked on the bag-packing conveyor 34.

As described above, the first embodiment according to the present invention is described.
And the second aligning and transferring devices 1a and 1b and the first and second rotary transferring devices 4a and 4b align and align the eggplants 33 in the direction of "spot", and stack and pack them in multiple stages. Complete automation was achieved. In addition, by arranging the articles 33 by utilizing the inspection information data of the fruit sorting conveyor 31, the cost was significantly reduced.

In the above embodiment, the sorting trays 32 of the sorting conveyor 31 are arranged in three rows, and correspondingly, the first sorting and transferring device 1a (and the second sorting and transferring device 1b), First
Transfer case 2a (second transfer case 2b), and first horizontal conveyor 17a (second horizontal conveyor 17).
Although b) is arranged in three rows each, the arrangement is not limited to this, and each row may be arranged in one row or another plurality of rows. Further, in the above embodiment, the first transport case 2a
In the (second transport case 2b), five eggplants 33 (articles) are housed in a line, and the eggplants 33 are taken out and stacked in two stages. However, the present invention is not limited to this.
May be stored in a line in the transfer case 2a (second transfer case 2b), taken out, and stacked in three or more stages.

[0031]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. The article transfer device according to claim 1 first inspects information on the direction of the article by an inspection apparatus, and based on the inspection information, the article sorting apparatus sorts the articles according to their directions, and a plurality of articles oriented in the same direction. Are formed. Then, the article stacking device sucks and lifts a plurality of articles forming a row, and stacks these articles in a plurality of stages at a predetermined place so as to face the same direction. As described above, by utilizing the information data of the inspection apparatus, a plurality of articles can be automatically arranged in the same direction, and further, can be arranged in a plurality of stages and stacked. As a result, automation is achieved,
The cost can be greatly reduced. Then, a bag-packing conveyor is adopted as the conveyor, and a plurality of articles stacked in multiple stages are automatically bag-packed by a bag-packing device.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an article sorting apparatus comprising: a sorting conveyor capable of receiving a plurality of articles from the inspection apparatus and selectively dropping the articles; By composing a sorting / transferring device having two rows of aligners in a row and a transport case supplied immediately below the sorting / transferring device, the sorting and sorting of articles are fully automated, and the equipment cost is increased. No. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the article stacking device, four rotating members that are rotated in a horizontal plane by a rotating unit, and a plurality of articles that are provided to be able to move up and down with respect to each of the rotating members are respectively suctioned. By using a rotary transfer device provided with a vacuum suction device having a plurality of suction pads that can hold the product, the stacking of articles can be fully automated, and the equipment cost does not increase.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an entire embodiment of an article transfer device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a first sorting and transferring apparatus in the article sorting apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a first drop station (sorting station) in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the transport case shown in FIGS. 1 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a front view of a vacuum suction device constituting the rotary transfer device (article stacking device) shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the article sorting device.

FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining a distribution flow of a general fruit and vegetable sorting place.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the bagged article (bagged eggplant) shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a conventional article transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1a, 1b Alignment transfer device 2a, 2b Transport case 3a, 3b Transport conveyor 4a, 4b Rotary transfer device 5 Mount 6 Rotating device (rotating means) 7 Rotating plate (rotating member) 8 Vacuum suction device 9 Small rotating device 10a, 10b Return conveyor 14a, 14b Shaft 15a, 15b Actuator 16a, 16b Opening / closing plate (hopper) 17a, 17b Side-out conveyor 22 Vacuum adsorber 23 Suction pad 29a-29e Case unit 30 Fruit sorting device (inspection device) 31 Fruit sorting conveyor ( Sorting conveyor) 32 Sorting dishes 33 Eggplant (articles) 34 Bagging conveyor 35 Automatic bagging device 61a-61e Upper aligner 62a-62e Lower aligner R1, R2 Drop station (sorting station)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Koji Nishiyama 5007 Itozaki-cho, Mihara-shi, Hiroshima Prefecture Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mihara Works F-term (reference) 3E054 AA10 CA08 DA03 DA04 DC03 DC12 DE02 DE05 EA02 FA04 FA07 FC09 FC13 FC15 FE03 GA01 GA06 GB03 GC05 3F080 AA44 BA03 BB03 BF07 CE01 DA17

Claims (4)

[Claims] An inspection device for inspecting in advance whether the article is good, defective, or in an orientation; receiving a plurality of articles from the inspection device; sorting the plurality of articles according to their directions based on the inspection information; An article sorting device for forming a row of a plurality of articles facing each other, and a plurality of articles constituting a row sorted by the article sorting apparatus are sucked and lifted, and the articles are predetermined so as to face in the same direction. And an article stacking device for stacking the articles at a plurality of places at a location. 2. The article transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined location is a bag-packing conveyor, and the apparatus further comprises a bag-packing device for packing a plurality of articles stacked on the bag-packing conveyor. . 3. An article sorting apparatus comprising: a sorting conveyor capable of receiving a plurality of articles from the inspection apparatus and selectively dropping the articles; and a plurality of rows of aligners provided immediately below the sorting conveyor. An alignment transfer device provided with two upper and lower stages, and a transport case supplied immediately below the alignment transfer device, wherein the sorting conveyor only sorts articles whose orientations match based on inspection information of the inspection device. 3. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device transfers the articles received by the upper aligner to the lower aligner and the transfer case in order. Article transfer device. 4. The article stacking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rotating means is configured to adsorb four rotating members which are rotated in a horizontal plane by a rotating means, and a plurality of articles arranged in a row with respect to each rotating member. A rotary transfer device comprising: a vacuum suction device having a plurality of suction pads capable of holding; a plurality of articles forming a line are partially conveyed by a predetermined conveyor by an interaction between the rotating means and the vacuum suction device. The article transfer device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein, after being placed on the article, the remaining articles are stacked on the part of the articles so as to have the same orientation.