JP2000289711A - Selective packaging apparatus for agricultural product - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a selective packaging apparatus for agricultural products, in which a rest time of the operation of an automatically boxing means is short and whose operating efficiency is high. SOLUTION: A selective packaging apparatus for agricultural products comprises a plurality of collection conveyors for collecting agricultural products according to the agricultural products sorted and divided, two lines of boxing standby conveyors 301, 302 for making a plurality of groups of the agricultural products to be boxed and packaged standby separately, two box standby portions 601, 602 for making packaging boxes standby, a pack stacking and holding unit 8 for stacking and holding tray packs on which the agricultural products P are set, a pack take-out/fit-in means 7 for taking out the tray pack and fitting it into the packaging box on standby, and an automatically boxing means 9 for boxing the agricultural products into the packaging box 620 which is on standby at the box standby portions and into which the tray pack is fitted. Each of the boxing standby conveyors 301, 302 is operated in cooperation with each other so as to accept a group of the agricultural products selected from among the plural groups of the agricultural products on the collection conveyors and sent out.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus used for sorting, box-packing, and shipping agricultural products.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A variety of agricultural product sorting and packaging devices including automatic packaging devices (automatic packaging means) have been proposed and put into practice for packing and packaging agricultural products at fruit sorting facilities. A typical one of these devices is to allocate one boxing device for each sorting category set to sort agricultural products according to the specified grades and grades. This is a method of packing agricultural products sorted into categories, and the use of this type of automatic packing apparatus has an advantage of improving the present situation in which it is difficult to secure the number of workers.

[0003] However, the sorting and packaging apparatus of the type in which an automatic boxing apparatus specialized for each sorting section is installed has a problem that the efficiency of equipment investment cannot be increased so much. This is due to the problem that the distribution of agricultural products, which are natural and natural products, to a plurality of sorting categories is not normally averaged.
That is, usually, the size of agricultural products is distributed from large to small, but the degree of distribution is generally not average. Also, the degree of ripening is usually not average, for example, some are large and have a good ripening degree and have a high evaluation, while others are small and have a low ripening degree and thus have a low evaluation. In addition, there are various types of evaluations intermediate between these, and it is rather rare that the evaluations having different evaluations are distributed on average, and in many cases, the distribution generally has a normal distribution.

For this reason, according to the above-mentioned system in which a dedicated packing device is installed for each sorting section, the operating rate of the automatic boxing device installed for the sorting section with a small distribution is set to the setting for the sorting section with a large distribution. The operation rate of the automatic box packing device is much lower than that of the automatic box packing device, and as a whole, the downtime of a part of the box packing device is prolonged, and the capital investment efficiency is low.

Some proposals have already been made to solve such a problem and improve the efficiency of equipment investment.

[0006] For example, the present applicant has proposed a new system in which agricultural products of a plurality of sorting categories are packed in a box without dedicating a single packing device for agricultural product packaging of a specific sorting category. (JP-A-9-301304).

[0007] The sorting and packaging apparatus proposed in this proposal links an accumulation line for different sorting to one automatic packaging apparatus, manages the accumulation state of each accumulation line, and integrates the accumulation line with the automatic packaging apparatus. Is switched over.

According to this sorting and packaging apparatus, the operation ratio of a plurality of automatic boxing apparatuses is improved by combining the collection line of the less distributed and the more widely distributed sorting sections with one automatic boxing apparatus. Can be averaged, and as a whole, there is an advantage that a time during which a specific automatic packaging device is stopped is reduced, and a facility with high overall investment efficiency can be provided.

[0009]

By the way, improvement of the equipment investment efficiency is a universally required problem in industrial equipment, and from such a viewpoint, the present inventor has further studied diligently.

In the research and development, one of the problems required in the fruit sorting plant is that the cost of equipment investment must be reduced by improving the processing efficiency. In the equipment for work performed in the sorting plant called sorting, there is a demand from another aspect of quick processing of fresh agricultural products to be promptly sorted and supplied to the market. In general, if the operation efficiency of automatic packaging equipment, which tends to be expensive in the entire facility, is increased, the number of automatic packaging equipment can be reduced, leading to a reduction in capital investment costs. It turned out to be an important issue.

[0011] The present invention has been made from this viewpoint, that is, to improve the speed of processing when agricultural products are packaged.

Another object of the present invention is to reduce the downtime of the automatic packaging device during the packaging process as much as possible, or to perform other than the direct operation of packaging agricultural products (for example, fitting a tray pack or the like into a box). By avoiding the use of this automatic packaging device for the insertion operation, quick packaging work is realized, the operation efficiency of the automatic packaging device is further improved, and the investment cost for equipment is further increased. The challenge is to achieve a reduction in emissions.

[0013]

A feature of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned object and problem, lies in that it has the structure of the invention described in each of the claims.

[0014] That is, the invention of the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is characterized in that at least two boxing standby conveyors are provided side by side so that a group of agricultural products to be packaged and packed by sorting are individually put on standby by sorting. A pack stacking and holding means for stacking and holding tray packs having at least two box standby portions arranged in parallel for each of the box standby conveyors for holding the packaging boxes to be packed, and concave portions for placing agricultural products And one pack removal / insertion means for taking out the tray pack from the pack accumulation holding means and inserting it into the packaging box waiting at each box standby section, and waiting at each of the box standby conveyors. And automatic packing means for packing the produced agricultural products into the package-inserted packaging boxes waiting in the box standby section.

In general, the sorting and packaging apparatus of the present invention measures a sorting element of agricultural products while transporting the sorting product, and a sorting conveyor for determining the sorting category, and a tray (“free tray”) that is not mechanically connected to the sorting conveyor. ), And while the agricultural products are placed on the tray and the agricultural products are continuously transported on the sorting conveyor, the above various sorting elements (size,
Class elements such as weight, class elements such as color, scratches, sugar content, etc.), and based on the measurement results, determine which of the preset sorting categories it belongs to and branch along the sorting conveyor. It is preferably used as a device for packing agricultural products discharged from the sorting conveyor in a agricultural product sorting facility that discharges agricultural products together with trays into a collecting conveyor such as a branch conveyor for a plurality of sorting divisions.

As the above-mentioned boxed standby conveyor of the present invention, a conveyor of a belt type, a roller type or the like can be used, and in a preferred embodiment, a conveyor for driving a tray (free tray) discharged from the sorting conveyor. The means can be combined with stopper means for stopping the agricultural products on the free tray at the leading end thereof until they are sequentially packed in boxes. In a particularly preferred embodiment,
It is preferable that the boxed standby conveyor configured by a standby conveyor or the like transports and stops agricultural products in a line as in the invention of claim 6. At least two or more of the box standby conveyors are provided, and in a preferred embodiment, two or three places are provided. The reason is to prepare to be able to start the next packing operation immediately while packing one box standby conveyor,
In the case where many of the accumulation conveyors according to the second aspect of the present invention which cooperate with the same box standby conveyor are the accumulation conveyors for receiving agricultural products in the sorting category where the distribution is small and the accumulation takes a long time, the box standby conveyor is set to two. It is preferable to provide three places rather than three places.

The box standby section of the present invention is provided in association with a means for supplying an empty box and a means for discharging a box after packing agricultural products. The number of the box standby units may be one to one corresponding to each of the two or more box standby conveyors, but is not necessarily limited thereto. A conveyor may be provided correspondingly. The object of the present invention to minimize the time other than the direct operation for packing agricultural products by the automatic packing means (apparatus) in the present invention is to install two box standby units for three box standby conveyors, for example. However, it is more advantageous to reduce the number of box standby portions, because it is possible to reduce the number of means for supplying empty boxes and the means for discharging boxes whose packing has been completed. In a preferred embodiment, the empty box supply means and the packed box discharge means provided in connection with the box standby section are constituted by using, for example, an elevator mechanism.

The above-mentioned pack accumulating and holding means of the present invention is generally provided so that tray packs can be taken out one by one from the upper or lower part of a pack holding section in which thin plastic tray packs are stacked. In the case of carrying out box packing of agricultural products having different numbers of boxes in the box packing device, for example, pack holding portions each of which holds a tray pack having a concave portion corresponding to the number of boxes, such as 18, 20, 24, etc., are arranged. Is done. In addition, not only the tray pack, but also a cushioning sheet having a cushioning property made of an elastic body or the like that prevents the agricultural product from being damaged, such as when the agricultural product is stacked in a box in two or more stages in a box. It is also possible to provide a sheet holding portion for this buffer sheet so that the pack accumulation holding means has the sheet holding portion.

In a preferred embodiment, the pack removing / fitting / inserting means of the present invention takes out a tray pack (buffer sheet) or the like one by one from the pack holding section and the sheet holding section of the pack stacking / holding means, and places it in a packaging box. Tray pack (buffer sheet) using suction means
And a mechanism for adsorbing and transferring. The transfer mechanism with suction means, the tray pack to be transferred, the shape etc. exactly match the standard dimensions as an industrial product,
In addition, since it is one of the standard types, the adsorption state is stable, and the shape is not uniform because it is a natural or natural product.

In a preferred embodiment, the automatic box packing means of the present invention requires an operation of lifting a plurality of agricultural products which are waiting in a line on a box standby conveyor in a line and packing them in a packing box. It is possible to use a lifting transfer mechanism that repeats the packaging a predetermined number of agricultural products a number of times. As the lifting transfer mechanism, a moving table provided to be movable in two axes directions (x-axis and y-axis directions) orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane from the upper part of the box standby conveyor to the upper part of the box standby part, A lifting rod having a suction cup at the lower end is hung in a row, and the suction cup can be moved up and down in a vertical direction (z-axis direction) to lift, move, and pack a row of agricultural products from a box standby conveyor. A package of agricultural products in a box by a series of operations of hanging them down in a box can be preferably used. If the spacing between adjacent agricultural products in the boxed standby conveyor is different from the spacing between adjacent agricultural products in the boxed state, a mechanism that allows the suspended state of the agricultural products to be changed and adjusted using a known pantograph mechanism, etc. It may be used. Note that the automatic box packing means of the present invention is not limited to a means for repeatedly performing an operation of lifting and transferring agricultural products in a row.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus of the present invention having the above-mentioned components is arranged so that another box is automatically packed between the box standby conveyor and the corresponding box standby section while the automatic box packing operation is being performed. In the standby section, the packaging box is prepared so that the next boxing operation can be performed. In addition, on a box standby conveyor corresponding to the other box standby section, agricultural products for each sorting category are prepared in a state of waiting for box packing.

According to the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described configuration, while one of the plurality (two in the preferred embodiment) of the set box standby units is performing the automatic boxing operation of the agricultural products, the number of the boxes is set to two. Or, among the more packaging standby conveyors, the packaging standby conveyors that are not currently performing the packaging operation are prepared to wait for the agricultural products according to the sorting category to perform the next packaging operation. In another box standby section (another box standby section in the preferred embodiment), an empty box in which a tray pack has been inserted and necessary for the next packing can be prepared. An automatic box packing means for packing the agricultural products is not used in the tray pack fitting operation, and a simple exclusive mechanism for taking out and fitting the tray pack (including the buffer sheet fitting operation) is not used. The use of the insertion means makes it possible to operate the automatic packaging means, which tends to be complicated and therefore expensive, at all times, only for the packing operation, substantially without interruption. Objective is achieved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, each of the box standby conveyors is linked so as to receive a group of agricultural products sent out from an accumulation conveyor selected from a plurality of accumulation conveyors for accumulating agricultural products according to sorting categories. It is characterized by having been done.

As the above-mentioned integrated conveyor of the present invention, a conveyor of a belt type, a roller type or the like can be used. In a preferred embodiment, a conveyor means for driving and driving a tray (free tray) discharged from the sorting conveyor. And a stopper means for stopping the discharged free tray at the leading end thereof until a predetermined number of free trays are accumulated. A plurality of stacking conveyors are linked to one automatic box packing device, and agricultural products of the same sorting category are discharged from the sorting conveyor and stacked on each stacking conveyor. Although the set of collecting conveyors may all accumulate produce of the same sorting category, in a preferred embodiment, agricultural products of different sorting categories can be accumulated within the set of accumulating conveyors,
Thereby, by averaging the frequency at which agricultural products accumulate on different groups of accumulation conveyor groups linked to each automatic packaging device (frequency at which the number of packaging units is accumulated), a plurality of automatic packaging devices are provided. The operation rate can be averaged. In addition, agricultural products of the same sorting category can always be accumulated on a specific accumulating conveyor, or the agricultural products in the number of packaging units are accumulated and each time they are sent out to the boxing standby conveyor, which is a boxing position, the next time. It is also possible to newly update the sorting category of the agricultural products to be accumulated in. Further, in a particularly preferred embodiment, the accumulating conveyor faired by the accumulating conveyor or the like is preferably configured to transport and stop agricultural products in a line as in the invention of claim 6.

Further, the apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that each boxed standby conveyor is linked to one or more integrated conveyors. In a preferred embodiment, while the automatic packaging operation is being performed between the packaging standby conveyor and the corresponding packaging standby unit, the packaging boxes may perform the next packaging operation in the other packaging standby units. Prepared to be ready. In addition, a group of agricultural products is sent out from one of the accumulation conveyors linked to the box standby conveyor corresponding to the other box standby section, and a state is prepared in which the agricultural products are on standby for packing. In a preferred embodiment, for example, a plurality of collecting conveyors may be linked to each of the box standby conveyors so that a group of agricultural products can be sent to the box standby conveyor for the next box preparation without delay. Note that the number of boxed standby conveyors linked to the accumulation conveyor is not necessarily limited to one. For example, the accumulation conveyor may be linked to a plurality of boxed standby conveyors, and may have a switching unit for switching between sending out the agricultural products from the accumulation conveyor to one of the linked plurality of boxed standby conveyors, In this way, there is an advantage that the timing of sending a group of agricultural products to one certain boxed standby conveyor can be set more freely.

The selection of an accumulation conveyor for sending a group of agricultural products from a plurality of accumulation conveyors to a boxed standby conveyor associated therewith can be performed by monitoring the accumulation state of the agricultural products on each accumulation conveyor. Such monitoring can be performed by an appropriate method such as a method of counting the number of discharged agricultural products from the sorting conveyor to each collecting conveyor, a method of directly detecting the state of collecting agricultural products on the collecting conveyor with a sensor, or the like. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, the number of integrated conveyors constituting one set together with one automatic box packing means (apparatus) and one pack unloading / inserting means can be increased as compared with the conventional apparatus. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the number of automatic boxing devices in the whole fruit sorting facility, and it is possible to obtain an effect of reducing capital investment.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in each of the above inventions,
The pack stacking and holding means has a plurality of pack holding portions for stacking and holding different types of tray packs, and one pack extracting / inserting means selects a tray of a predetermined shape by selecting from the pack holding portions. It is characterized in that the pack is taken out and fitted into the packaging box waiting at each box standby section.

According to the present invention, since the automatic box packing means is not used for inserting and inserting the pack, the operation efficiency of the automatic box packing means can be improved, which is advantageous for reducing the capital investment cost.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in each of the first and second aspects of the present invention, the pack accumulation and holding means comprises at least one pack holding portion and a sheet holding portion for stacking and holding a buffer sheet for protecting agricultural products. One pack removal / insertion means has a function of removing these tray packs and buffer sheets.
It is characterized in that it is also used for insertion.

According to the present invention, agricultural products can be suitably packed in a stacked box by inserting the buffer sheet.

The invention of claim 5 is characterized in that, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, one automatic packing means packs agricultural products of a plurality of sorting categories.

According to the present invention, agricultural products of different sorting categories can be packed in boxes, and the number of times of sending the agricultural products sent to each boxed standby conveyor can be averaged.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in each of the above-mentioned inventions, the accumulating conveyor and the boxing standby conveyor are transport conveyor means for transporting agricultural products in a line, and a stopper for stopping the transport on the conveyor. It is characterized by being constituted by a combination with the means.

According to the present invention, the free trays on which the agricultural products are placed can be smoothly transported in a line, and the automatic packing means is a relatively simple type in which the line is repeatedly lifted and transferred. A configuration can be used.

A seventh aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, two or more boxing standby conveyors are arranged side by side in the lateral direction of the conveyance.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the second to seventh aspects of the present invention, the plurality of collecting conveyors branch and sort to a sorting conveyor for measuring and judging sorting elements and discharging each agricultural product by sorting category. At least two of the packing standby conveyors provided side by side and linked to these stacking conveyors are arranged at a predetermined distance from the end of the conveyor that sends out the agricultural products of the stacking conveyor, and the box packing standby The conveying direction of the conveyor is provided so as to be oriented in a direction orthogonal to the accumulation conveyor.

According to the present invention, since the stacking conveyor and the box-packing standby conveyor are arranged in an orthogonal posture, and the end of the stacking conveyor and the box-packing standby conveyor are spaced at a predetermined distance, the pack stacking and holding in this space. Means can be arranged, the space required for the fruit sorting facility can be reduced, and a transport path for transporting the free tray from the accumulation conveyor to the boxed standby conveyor can be easily provided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned second to eighth aspects, the terminal for sending out the agricultural products on the accumulation conveyor is provided;
It is characterized in that pack accumulation holding means, pack take-out / insertion means, and two or more box standby parts are arranged between the terminal and a boxed standby conveyor arranged at a predetermined distance from the end.

According to the present invention, the box standby section can be arranged by more suitably utilizing the space between the end of the accumulation conveyor and the boxed standby conveyor.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the first to ninth aspects of the present invention, the two or more box standby units are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the box standby conveyor.

According to the present invention, a portion of the space formed between the accumulating conveyor and the boxed standby conveyor near the boxed standby conveyor is used for the installation of the box standby section, and a portion near the terminal end of the integrated conveyor is used. The part can be used for the installation of the pack accumulation holding means and the pack removal / insertion means, and the space can be effectively utilized, and the moving length of the agricultural product suspension means constituting the automatic box packing means can be limited to a narrow range. As a result, an efficient automatic packing operation can be realized.

The invention according to claim 11 is the invention according to claims 1 to 10
In the invention of (1), the automatic packing means has agricultural product suspending means which is movable in a range from above each packing standby conveyor to above each box standby section.

In the above configuration, as the agricultural product suspending means, a movable table that moves in an axial direction along the direction adjacent to the two or more box standby units can be used. In a preferred embodiment, for example, As described above, a lifting rod having a suction cup at the lower end is hung in a row on a movable table provided so as to be movable in two axes directions (x-axis and y-axis directions) orthogonal to each other in a horizontal plane. To be able to move up and down in the vertical direction (z-axis direction), and to carry out packing and packing of agricultural products by a series of operations of lifting, moving, and hanging down to a packaging box from a packing standby conveyor. Can be. The movement in the directions of the x-axis and the y-axis can be easily configured by using a moving table that runs on rails extending in these directions.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the above-described eighth to eleventh aspects.
In the invention of the present invention, of each of the box standby conveyors, the box standby conveyor positioned farthest from the accumulation conveyor is a dedicated line for manual packing work, or a dual-purpose automatic packing and manual packing operation can be selected. It is characterized by being provided as a line.

According to the present invention, it is possible to set a manual packing operation position which may be required in some cases without interfering with automatic packing means or the like.

The sorting and packaging apparatus of the present invention comprises apple, persimmon,
It is suitably used for fruits such as peaches, melons and citrus fruits and vegetables such as tomatoes.

[0048]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

Embodiment 1 A fruit sorting facility provided with an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to the present invention includes a supply unit (not shown) for placing agricultural products on a free tray (a tray), and an agricultural product transported on the sorting conveyor 1. A sorting unit (not shown) for measuring and judging the class / class of the sorting unit to determine a sorting category, and an accumulation conveyor device 2 composed of a number of accumulation conveyors 201 branched and connected to the sorting conveyor 1; Agricultural products P whose grade and rank have been determined
And a group of agricultural products P that are selectively sent out from each of the collecting conveyors 201 of the sorting and discharging unit to each of the free trays and packed in a box. Waiting conveyors 301 and 30 for waiting for
And a packaging unit having a packaging standby conveyor device 3 composed of a container 2. The sorting and packaging device of the present embodiment shown in FIG. It is provided as a range reaching the packaging unit. In the following description, a free tray containing agricultural products is indicated by reference numeral 4, and a free tray from which agricultural products have been taken out and emptied is indicated by reference numeral 41.

The integrated conveyor device 2 of this embodiment is composed of a large number of integrated conveyors 201 which are branched at substantially right angles in the horizontal direction and connected to the sorting conveyor 1, and each of these integrated conveyors 201 has a sorting section. After being sent out a group of free trays 4, the sorting of agricultural products to be received next can be changed and assigned.

The components of the sorting and packaging apparatus described above and the connection relationship thereof will be described below in order. First, the agricultural products are sorted from the sorting conveyor 1 to the collecting conveyors 201 of the collecting conveyor apparatus 2.
And the free tray 4 is sorted and discharged.

In the present embodiment, one integrated conveyor device 2 (one set of six integrated conveyors in this example) is provided corresponding to one automatic box packing device, and the free tray discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 is provided. Conveyors that store and accumulate the free trays 4 in a line, and a retractable free tray that is provided at the end of the conveyor so as to switch the linkage when sending a group of free trays 4 from the accumulation conveyor 201 to the packaging unit. And a stopper 202. Further, the discharging device 101 for discharging the agricultural products together with the free trays from the sorting conveyor 1 can be configured by using, for example, a sorting and discharging device disclosed in JP-A-6-278848. One is provided corresponding to the two integrated conveyors 201 branched from,
Therefore, three discharging devices 101 are arranged for the six-row integrated conveyor 201. In addition, each discharge device 101 of the present example is provided with a free tray 4
It is configured to have a function of sorting out. That is, when different sorting divisions are assigned to the two accumulation conveyors 201, for example, one of the accumulation conveyors 201 has a classification class of size L and a classification of A (A-
L) is assigned to the other integrated conveyor 201,
Assuming that the sorting category (BM) is assigned, the agricultural products for which the sorting category is determined are conveyed on the sorting conveyor while the collecting conveyor 20 to which the sorting category is assigned.
When passing through the position of the discharge device 101 associated with the device 1, the electromagnetic attraction unit 1011 rotating on the turntable of the discharge device 101 is fixed at a predetermined position by a command from a control means (not shown) such as a computer. When the free tray 4 is excited by the exciting unit 1012 disposed thereon, the free tray 4 is attracted to the free tray 4 and is turned and discharged laterally from the sorting conveyor 1 in accordance with the rotation of the rotary table. Then, the excitation release unit 1013 or 1010 provided at a predetermined angle position
When the excitation of the electromagnetic attraction unit 1011 is released in one of the fourteen, the free tray 4 discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 is separated from the rotary table and sent to one of the lanes of the stacking conveyor 201 arranged in two rows. Will be.

The transportation of the free tray 4 containing agricultural products sent to the accumulation conveyor 201 is stopped because the stopper plate of the free tray stopper 202 provided at the end of the conveyor usually projects above the transportation surface. In this state, a predetermined number of free trays 4 (usually a group of packing units to be packed) on which agricultural products classified in the same sorting category are loaded are accumulated and accumulated.

Next, the relationship between the above-mentioned integrated conveyor device 2 and the boxed standby conveyor device 3 composed of two boxes of the boxed standby conveyor 301 will be described.
01 is divided into two sets of three strips, and each set of integrated conveyors 201 is one boxed standby conveyor 301.
And a group of free trays 4 stored and accumulated are selectively fed out. That is, in the present example shown in FIG. 1, the right three-row accumulation conveyor 201 in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, when distinguishing between the right and left sets of accumulation conveyors, the right three stripes are 2011 and the left three stripes are 2012) A first boxed standby conveyor 301 extending in a direction orthogonal to the accumulation conveyor 201 (a direction parallel to the sorting conveyor 1) at a position separated by a predetermined length from the end of the accumulation conveyor 201, Integrated conveyor 201 selected from the above three articles
The release stop by the free tray stopper 202 at the end of 1 is released (the stopper plate is immersed downward from the transport surface), so that the group of free trays 4 stored and accumulated in the accumulation conveyor 2011 is stored in the first package. Standby conveyor 301
Sent to.

In the same manner, the three conveyors 2012 on the left side of FIG. 1 are arranged side by side on the side adjacent to the first packing standby conveyor 301 and closer to the collection conveyor than the first packing standby conveyor 301. Second boxed standby conveyor 302
In the same manner, the stop of the sending out by the free tray stopper 202 at the end of the accumulation conveyor 2012 selected from the three strips is released (submerged downward from the conveyance surface), and the accumulation / accumulation in the accumulation conveyor 2012 is similarly performed. The group of free trays 4 is sent to the second box standby conveyor 302. In this example, the standby positions of the first and second boxed standby conveyors 301 and 302 are shifted from each other in the extending direction as shown in the drawing. This is to make it suitable for speeding up the operation of automatic packaging of agricultural products in the packaging boxes that are waiting in the box standby section described later.

Reference numeral 303 denotes a retractable free tray stopper similar to the free tray stopper 202 provided at the end of the accumulation conveyor, which is usually fed from the accumulation conveyor 201 because the stopper plate protrudes on the transport surface. The stopped free tray 4 is stopped, and the free tray 41, which has been emptied after the lifting of the agricultural products, is discharged to the return conveyor 5 by the immersion of the stopper plate below the conveying surface. The discharged free trays 41 join the empty free trays 41 discharged from the respective sorting and wrapping devices by the joining return conveyor 51, and return to the agricultural product supply section of the sorting equipment.

Reference numerals 304 and 305 denote the three-row accumulation conveyors 2011 and 2012, respectively,
This is a relay conveyor that forms a relay conveyance path when the free tray 4 is sent to the free tray 302, and in this example, the accumulation conveyor 20
1 between the terminal end portion and the box standby conveyors 301 and 302.
In the state shown in FIG. 1, the left side is extended so as to form a U-shape in which the left side is opened so that a space for installing a box standby portion and the like can be formed.

It should be noted that the above-described monitoring of the accumulation state of the free tray 4 on the accumulation conveyor 201, the discharge control of the free tray 4 by the discharge device 101 related thereto, and the control of the stop and release of the free tray stoppers 202 and 303. And the like can be performed using a computer including an MPU (microprocessor unit) not shown.

Next, a box packing unit for packing agricultural products in a packing box will be described. The box packing unit includes two box standby units 301 and 302 in which the two box standby units 601 and 602 are arranged side by side. Are arranged adjacent to each other along the extending direction of these boxed standby conveyors 301 and 302.

The structure of the box packaging unit having the box standby units 601 and 602 is shown in FIGS.
An empty box supply device 610 is provided at a position where the empty box supply device 610 does not hinder the manual packing operation at a manual packing position to be described later so that empty boxes can be supplied corresponding to the empty boxes 1 and 602 respectively. The box 620 is lowered in the empty box supply device 610 by an elevating device (not shown) and placed on the lower box conveyors 611 and 612.
12, the box standby sections 631, 6 for manual filling work
32, and is lifted up to the box standby portions 631, 632 by the lifting devices 6311, 6321.
Alternatively, the sheet is conveyed by the box conveyors 611 and 612 to a position below the above-mentioned box standby units 601 and 602 for the automatic box packing operation, and the box standby units 601,
602. 603,63
Reference numeral 3 denotes a box stopper which stops and stops the empty box 620 conveyed to below each box standby section below the box conveyors 611 and 612. Usually, a stopper plate protrudes above the conveying surface to convey the box. After the box is stopped, it is raised to the box standby units 601 and 602 (or 631 and 632), and the box for which the predetermined packing operation has been completed is lifted by the lifting / lowering devices 6011 and 6021 (or 631).
When it is lowered to the box transport conveyor in (1,6321), it is immersed below the transport surface to release the stop, and the box 621 packed with agricultural products is transported to the transport downstream side. The terminal ends of the box conveyors 611 and 612 are connected to the product unloading conveyor 640.

As described above, the empty box 620 is placed in the box standby section 60.
1 and 602, a mechanism for performing a series of operations to be discharged from the box standby units 601 and 602 after the agricultural products P are packed in a box is described. Waiting units 601, 6 of empty boxes 620 for use
02, and the movement of discharging the packaging box after the packaging, and the packaging standby conveyor 301,
A series of movements of supply to the 302 and discharge of the empty free tray 41 are appropriately performed.

Next, one of the characteristic structures of the present embodiment will be described. This is the case of the packaging box 620 which is handled as described above and is made to stand by in the box standby parts 601 and 602 for automatic packing. In contrast, pack holding portions 811 to 831 prepared so as to be suitable for taking out and inserting the tray packs 81 to 83 required when packing agricultural products, and suitable for stacking and packing agricultural products. Is provided, and the tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheets 84 are taken out one by one from each of the prepared holding units. An empty packing box 620 waiting in the box waiting units 601 and 602 is provided with a dedicated pack removal / insertion device 7 for selecting an appropriate one of them and taking out and inserting the same. Is described as a configuration (Fig. 1,
2, 4 and 5).

That is, in this example, the pack accumulation holding device 8
Holding tables 812 to 832 of the pack holding units 811 to 831
, The well-known tray packs 81 to 83 made of thin plastic molded products for placing agricultural products are stacked and held, respectively.
It has recesses (recesses) for packing of 8, 20 or 24. The buffer sheet 84 is made of a plastic sheet having a certain degree of cushioning property, and is laminated on the holding table 842.

In this example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, each of the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack stacking and holding device 8 has a space above the relay conveyors 304 and 305 near the end of the stacking conveyor 201. Then, the packing standby conveyors 301 and 302 are linearly arranged in a line along the extending direction, and in this manner, a
The operation of the insertion device 7 can be simplified. Further, each holding unit 81 of the pack accumulation holding device 8 of the present example.
As shown in FIG. 4, 1 to 841 are configured to take out the tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheet 84 from the uppermost part, and rotate the holding tables 812 to 842 in accordance with the take out. By raising the mechanism 85, the take-out position of the uppermost tray pack or the like is always kept constant. Reference numeral 851 denotes a frame for supporting the holding tables 812 to 842 and the chain rotating mechanism 85.

The pack removal / insertion device 7 for taking out the tray packs and the like stacked and held by the above-mentioned pack accumulation and holding device 8 one by one and inserting the tray packs into the packaging box 620 waiting in the box standby portion 601 or 602. In the present embodiment, the suction hanging portion 701 for sucking and suspending the tray pack and the like, and the lifting position of the tray pack etc., and the box by moving the suction hanging portion 701 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. And a linear moving mechanism 710 for moving to a position of insertion into the packaging box 620 waiting in the standby units 601 and 602. Further, the suction lifting mechanism is used to simplify the mechanism for horizontal movement. A parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720 for connecting the holding section 701 and the linear moving mechanism 710 is provided.

That is, the suction suspension portion 701 is connected to the connecting portion 702 of the upper parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720.
The hanging rod 703 is suspended from
4 are assembled. This suction head 704 is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, a suction chamber 705 to which the suction pipe 706 is connected, and an air seal mat 707 for preventing air from coming out of the tray pack recess by air sealing a predetermined area around the suction chamber 705 are provided. It is configured as follows.

On the other hand, the linear moving mechanism 710 is horizontally mounted on a rail 711 extending along the linear arrangement direction of the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack stacking and holding device 8 so as to be slidable in the same direction. A moving slider 712,
A vertical axis (vertical axis) 713 fixed to the horizontal movement slider 712, and a vertical movement slider 714 assembled to the vertical axis 713 and slidable in the same vertical direction.
In this manner, the vertical movement slider 714 is provided with one axis (y
(Axis) direction and vertical movement in the vertical axis (z axis) direction. The driving means for these movements is not shown. The vertical movement slider 714 is provided with a connecting portion 715 for connecting to the connecting portion 702 of the parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720 above the suction hanging portion 701.

The above-described rotary link mechanism 720 for connecting between the suction suspension section 701 and the linear moving mechanism 710 is
The details are shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, and the connecting part 702 of the suction hanging part 701 and the connecting part 715 of the linear moving mechanism 710 are shown.
At the same time, two (one pair) connecting rods 721 and 722 whose ends are rotatably connected thereto are provided so as to constitute a parallelogram type link mechanism, and these two connecting rods 721 are provided. , 722 are provided at different positions in the vertical direction. And one connecting rod 721 of the connecting rod
In addition, a rotation drive motor 723 is connected to a connection portion 715 provided on a vertical movement slider 714 of the linear movement mechanism 710, and a pair of connection rods 721, 722 are rotated about the connection portion 715 side in a horizontal plane. Can be rotated 180 °.

With the above configuration, the pack unloading / inserting device 7 of the present embodiment is selected from the tray packs 81 to 83 or the buffer sheet 84 held by each pack holding portion of the pack stacking and holding device 8. To the holding part (8
11 to 841), the suction head 704 is moved upward to be in close contact with the uppermost portion of the stack, suctioned, and one of the sheets is lifted and slightly lifted to take out.
By rotating the rotary link mechanism 720 with the rotary drive motor 723, the rotary link mechanism 720 is rotated in a 180 ° horizontal plane (see FIG. 1).
In this state, the horizontal movement slider 712 is moved in the y-axis direction to move it above the packaging box 620 to be inserted, and then the vertical movement slider 714 is moved (down) in the z-axis direction to end the insertion operation. be able to. In the parallelogram type rotary link mechanism 720, the pair of connecting rods 721 and 722 are vertically displaced from each other, so that the parallelogram is rotated 180 ° without any inconvenience.

Next, the automatic box packing device 9 will be described.
The automatic packaging device 9 of this embodiment is shown in detail in FIGS.
A pair of horizontal x-axis rails 9 orthogonal to 01 and 302
03, a y-axis direction rail 901 having both ends supported by an x-axis direction movement slider 902, a y-axis direction movement slider 904 traveling on the y-axis direction rail 901, and a y-axis direction slider 904. The movable slider 904 is provided so as to be able to move up and down in the vertical direction, and is provided so as to include a hanging rod support member 905 which holds a row of agricultural product hanging rods 906 having a suction cup 907 at a lower end thereof.
Y-axis rail 901 by axial movement slider 902
Moving in the x-axis direction and a slider 904 for moving in the y-axis direction.
, The hanging rod support 905 is moved from the position above the box standby conveyors 301 and 302 to the box standby section 601,
It is configured to be freely movable in a horizontal plane between positions above 602. Then, the vertical shaft 9051 extending upward from the hanging rod support 905 relatively moves in the vertical axis (z-axis) direction with respect to the y-axis moving slider 904, so that the boxing standby conveyors 301 and 302 are moved. The agricultural product P placed on the free tray 4 waiting in a line is sucked and lifted by the suction cup 907, and then the hanging rod support 905 is lowered. Is moved above the box standby unit 601 or 602, and the suspended row of agricultural products P is fitted into the packaging box 620. At this time, if the separation interval of one row of agricultural products on the box standby conveyor is different from the separation interval at the time of packing, the suspension rod 90 suspended by the suspension rod support 905 is used.
6 can be adjusted using a known pantograph mechanism 908 and a drive motor 909 or the like. The sliders 902 and 904 and the suspension rod support 90
The illustration of the mechanism for driving 5 and the like is omitted.

As described above, the boxed standby conveyors 301, 3
The agricultural products P waiting at 02 can be completed in a predetermined automatic boxing operation by repeatedly performing one-line lifting and insertion into a packaging box.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, as described above, the box standby sections 631 and 632 for manual filling are provided.
Agricultural products on the boxed conveyors 301 and 302
Since 00 is configured so that it can be manually packed in a box,
As a result, it is possible to perform the manual packaging without performing the automatic packaging, or to perform the manual packaging only for one (outer) packaging standby conveyor 301 and the other. Can perform automatic packaging.

The state of the automatic packing operation by the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
01 and 302, the agricultural products in the predetermined sorting section assigned to each of the three conveyors are sequentially discharged from the sorting conveyor 1 to the three conveyors 201 associated with each of the three conveyors. It is stored and accumulated until it becomes.

For the predetermined number of the conveyers 201, the stop of the free tray stopper 202 is released, and the accumulated agricultural products are placed on the condition that no other conveyers are sent out. The free tray 4 is sent out, and the box standby conveyor 30
This is sent to 1 or 302. As described above, in the present example, the boxed standby conveyor 301 is linked to the three right-hand stacked conveyors 2011 of FIG. 6, and the other boxed standby conveyor 302 is linked to the three left-hand stacked conveyors 2012 of FIG. 6. It is configured to be.

On the other hand, the empty boxes 620 in the opened state are fed into the box standby sections 601 and 602 by the box conveyors 611 or 612 and the box stoppers 603 and 633 and the lifting / lowering devices 6011 and 6021 attached thereto. As described above, any one of the tray packs 81 to 83 matching the sorting category of the agricultural products sent from the predetermined collecting conveyor 201 is used by the pack removing / inserting device 7 to empty the box 620.
Is inserted.

Then, for the empty box 620 ready for packing, the box standby conveyor (in this example, the box standby conveyor 301 and the box standby unit 601 correspond to the empty box 620 corresponding to the empty box 620). (The conveyor 302 and the box standby unit 602 correspond)
After that, the box packing operation by the automatic box packing device 9 is performed.

Then, assuming now that the boxed standby conveyor 301
Assuming that a packaging operation is being performed on the packaging box 620 of the box standby unit 601 during this operation, the agricultural product is sent to the other box standby conveyor 302 and the box standby unit 60 is operated during this operation.
The empty box 620 is supplied to the empty box 2 and any of the tray packs 81 to 83 is inserted into the empty box.

In the above state, the boxed standby conveyor 301
Is completed, the packaging box 62 of the box standby section 602 is moved from the other box standby conveyor 302 at that time.
Thus, a state is ensured in which the packing operation of the agricultural products to zero is immediately performed. Therefore, the packing operation by the automatic packaging device 9 is performed on the agricultural products on the box standby conveyor 302. In addition, the next group of agricultural products is placed on the accumulation conveyor 2 on the packaging standby conveyor 301 after the automatic packaging operation is completed.
011 and the box standby unit 601
Is supplied to the empty box 620, and any of the tray packs 81 to 83 is inserted into the empty box.

By repeating the above operation, the automatic packaging device 9 can be operated continuously without substantially stopping and without performing any operation other than the packaging operation of the agricultural products. A packing operation can be performed. In addition, even if the number of accumulation conveyors that can be shared by one automatic boxing device 9 is increased, the automatic packing operation efficiency is high in the present example, so that it is possible to sufficiently cope with this. The advantage that the number of the automatic box packing devices 9 can be reduced is also obtained.

In this example, two agricultural products were placed in the packaging box.
Assuming a case in which boxes (or more) are stacked and packed in a box, the holding section 841 is a stacked holding section for the buffer sheet 84. As a preferred embodiment, the following boxing operation can be performed. That is, the first-stage agricultural products are first packaged in the two-tiered packaging boxes 620 that are waiting in one of the packaging standby units. Next, an automatic box is placed on the packaging box 620 of the other box standby section, which is ready to start the boxing operation at that time, so that the corresponding boxing standby conveyor carries out the agricultural product boxing operation. The packing device 9 is moved to immediately start the packing operation. Then, during the work, the pack removal / insertion device 7 inserts and inserts the buffer sheet 84 into the packaging box in which the first-stage agricultural products have already been packed, before packing the second-stage agricultural products in the box. Perform Then, when the packing of the agricultural products in the other packaging box is completed, if the process is immediately shifted to the packing of the second agricultural products, the same highly efficient work as described above can be performed. it can.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, the holding portions 811 to 841 of the pack stacking and holding means are arranged in a straight line in a straight line, so that the operation of taking out and inserting by the pack removing and inserting device 7 is simple. Therefore, there is an advantage that the mechanism can be simplified.

Embodiment 2 In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the box standby conveyor is extended for one automatic box packing apparatus (the detailed configuration is omitted because it is the same as the embodiment 1). The three packing conveyors 301 (302) are linked to the two boxed waiting conveyors 301 and 302, respectively, and the two boxed waiting conveyors 310 and 2011 are linked to each other. A configuration in which the conveyors 201 (2013) are linked is adopted. In addition, each boxed standby conveyor 30
Box standby units 60 corresponding to 1, 302 and 310, respectively.
1, 602 and 610 (three in the box standby section). Reference numeral 320 denotes a relay conveyor for linking the boxed standby conveyor 310 and the two integrated conveyors 2013.

According to the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus having such a configuration, the agricultural products of the sorting category in which the speed of accumulation on each accumulating conveyor is low (the number of items discharged from the sorting conveyor per time is small due to small distribution). Also in the case of automatic packaging, the automatic packaging device can be operated more efficiently without stopping.

In the present embodiment, the box standby sections are provided corresponding to the three-section box standby conveyor, respectively. However, the two-box standby sections may correspond to the three-section box standby conveyor. By doing so, the mechanism for supplying and discharging the packaging box can be simplified accordingly.

Third Embodiment In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the positions of the relay conveyors 304 and 305 in the first embodiment are changed to the boxed standby conveyor 361 and
362, and the four pack holding portions 861 to 864 of the pack accumulation holding device 86
Embodiment 1 differs from Embodiment 1 in that they are arranged along 1,362.
Although not shown, the configuration related thereto is similarly changed, but the other points are the same as the first embodiment.

According to the present embodiment, substantially the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
6 is advantageous in that the device can be designed without being restricted by the length in the arrangement direction of the integrated conveyor.

[0087]

As described above, according to the invention of the agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus of the present invention, processing for packaging agricultural products can be performed quickly, and in particular, the downtime of the automatic packaging apparatus can be reduced. It is possible to minimize the use of the automatic packaging device other than the direct operation for packaging agricultural products (for example, the operation of inserting a tray pack or the like into a box). Since the operation can be performed efficiently and the number of automatic packing devices required for the fruit sorting equipment can be reduced, there is an effect that the investment cost for equipment can be optimized.

In addition to the above-mentioned effects, the following effects are exhibited by the invention of each claim.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the number of integrated conveyors constituting one set together with one automatic box packing means (apparatus) and one pack unloading / inserting means can be reduced. Therefore, the number of automatic packing devices in the whole sorting facility can be reduced, and the capital investment can be reduced.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the automatic packing means is not used for inserting and inserting the pack, the operation efficiency of the automatic packing means can be improved, and one of the plurality of packing standby conveyors provided. During the boxing operation,
The tray pack is inserted into the packaging box by the special pack removal / insertion means and ready for packing immediately.By specializing this pack removal / insertion means, there is no mistake such as removal. realizable.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by using one of the pack holding portions for holding the buffer sheets in a stacked manner, it is possible to preferably pack the agricultural products in the stacked boxes.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, agricultural products of different sorting categories can be packed in boxes, and the number of times agricultural products can be sent to each of the box standby conveyors can be averaged.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, a free tray on which agricultural products are placed can be smoothly transported in a line, and the automatic packing means can be repeatedly lifted and transferred in a line. A simple configuration can be achieved.

According to the seventh and eighth aspects of the present invention, the end of the accumulation conveyor and the box standby conveyor are arranged at a predetermined interval, and the pack accumulation holding means can be arranged in this space. The required space can be reduced, and the installation of a transport path for transporting the free tray from the accumulation conveyor to the box standby conveyor can be facilitated.

According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, the box standby section can be disposed by suitably utilizing the space between the end of the accumulation conveyor and the box standby conveyor.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, the two or more box standby units are sequentially arranged along the transport direction of the box standby conveyor, thereby being formed between the accumulation conveyor and the box standby conveyor. A portion of the space near the box standby conveyor is used for the installation of the box standby section, and a portion near the terminal end of the accumulation conveyor is used for the installation of the pack accumulation holding means and the pack unloading / inserting means. It can be used effectively. Further, the moving length of the agricultural product suspending means constituting the automatic box packing means can be limited to a narrow range, and the automatic box packing operation can be performed quickly and efficiently.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the automatic packing means has agricultural product suspending means which is movable from above each of the box waiting conveyors to above each box waiting section. A mechanism for hanging agricultural products can be easily configured by using a movable table that moves in a horizontal plane in the directions of the x axis and the y axis.

According to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to set a manual boxing work position which is necessary in some cases without interference with the automatic boxing means or the like.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first embodiment of an agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the box packaging device according to the first embodiment is vertically cut from a stacking conveyor side on a vertical plane including the same.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the first embodiment is cut along a vertical plane along AA in FIG. 1 to explain a packing operation state by an automatic packing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the sorting and packaging apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the operation of the pack removal / insertion device of the sorting and packaging device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the movement of the tray pack and the agricultural product when the tray pack is supplied and the agricultural product is packed in the sorting and packaging apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a sorting and packaging apparatus according to a second embodiment having three boxed standby conveyors.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a sorting and packaging apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Sorting conveyor 101: Ejector 1011: Electromagnetic attraction unit 1012: Exciting unit 1013: Excitation canceling unit 1014: Excitation canceling unit 2: Integrated conveyor 201: Stacking conveyor 2011, 2012, 2013: Stacking conveyor 202: Free tray stopper 3 : Box standby conveyor device 301, 302, 310, 361, 362: Box standby conveyor 303: Free tray stopper 304, 305, 320: Relay conveyor 4: Free tray (receiving tray) 41: Empty free tray 5: Return conveyor 51 : Return conveyor 601, 602, 610: Box standby section 6011, 6021: Lifting device 603: Box stopper 610: Empty box supply device 611, 612: Box transport conveyor 620: Empty box 621: (Box packed) box 631, 632: Box wait (for manual stuffing) Units 6311 and 6321: Lifting device 633: Box stopper 7: Pack removal / insertion device 701: Suction suspension unit 702: Connecting unit 703: Hanging rod 704: Suction head 705: Suction chamber 706: Suction tube 707: Air seal mat 710 : Linear movement mechanism 711: Rail 712: Horizontal movement slider 713: Vertical axis 714: Vertical movement slider 715: Connection section 720: Rotary link mechanism 721: 721, 722: Connection rod 723: Rotation drive motor 8, 86: Pack accumulation holding Apparatus 81-83: Tray pack 84: Buffer sheet 811-831, 861-864: Pack holding section 841: Buffer sheet holding section 812-832,842: Holding table 85: Chain rotating mechanism 851: Frame 9: Automatic box packing apparatus 901: rail in the y-axis direction 902: slider in the x-axis direction 903: x-axis Rail 904: y-axis direction moving slider 905 Hanging rod support 9051: Vertical axis 906: Agricultural hanging rod 907: Suction cup 908: Pantograph mechanism 909: Drive motor 100: Worker

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazuhiko Matsui 630 Shinagawase-cho, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka Pref. (72) Inventor Hiroshi Matsuzawa 630 Shinagawase-cho, Hamamatsu-shi, Shizuoka F-term (F-term ( 3E028 AA02 BA01 BA02 BA03 BA04 CA03 EA01 GA01 GA02 GA05 GA08 HA02 3E054 AA10 CA08 DC03 DC12 EA02 FA03 FA07 FE03 GA01 GA07 GB03 GC02 HA04 HA07 3F079 AC21 AC23 BA09 BA12 CA09 CC01 CC13 DA03 DA11 DA21 DA28

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A packaging standby conveyor provided in parallel for individually arranging a group of agricultural products to be box-packaged according to sorting categories individually according to sorting categories, and packaging to be packed corresponding to each of the packaging standby conveyors. At least two box standby units arranged side by side for holding boxes, pack stacking and holding means for stacking and holding tray packs having recesses for placing agricultural products, and taking out the tray packs from the pack stacking and holding means, One pack take-out / fitting means for fitting and inserting into the packaging boxes waiting in each box standby section, and the packs in the standby state in the box standby section for the agricultural products waiting in each of the box standby conveyors. A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, comprising one automatic box packing means for packing in a packing box. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the box standby conveyors is linked so as to receive a group of agricultural products sent out from an accumulating conveyor selected from a plurality of accumulating conveyors for accumulating agricultural products according to sorting categories. A sorting and packaging device for agricultural products. 3. The pack accumulating and holding means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the pack accumulating and holding means has a plurality of pack holding portions for stacking and holding different types of tray packs, and one of the pack removing / inserting means has a plurality of packs. Wherein the tray pack is selected from the pack holding section, and the tray pack is taken out and inserted into the packaging box waiting at each of the box standby sections. 4. The pack collecting and holding means according to claim 1, wherein the pack collecting and holding means has at least one pack holding portion and a sheet holding portion for stacking and holding a buffer sheet for protecting agricultural products. An agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus characterized in that the fitting means is used for taking out and fitting the tray pack and the buffer sheet. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A single automatic packing means for packing agricultural products of a plurality of sorting categories in a sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The accumulation conveyor and the boxed standby conveyor are characterized by being constituted by a combination of transport conveyor means for transporting agricultural products in a row in a row and stopper means for stopping transport on the conveyor. Sorting and packaging equipment. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein
A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, wherein two or more boxed standby conveyors are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction of the conveyance. 8. The method according to claim 2, wherein
The plurality of stacking conveyors are provided in a branching and juxtaposed manner with respect to a sorting conveyor for measuring and judging sorting elements and discharging each agricultural product according to sorting categories, and at least two of the box packings associated with these stacking conveyors. The standby conveyor is disposed at a predetermined distance from the end of the conveyor that sends out the agricultural products of the accumulation conveyor, and is provided in a posture in which the transport direction of the boxed standby conveyor is oriented in a direction orthogonal to the accumulation conveyor. Sorting and packaging equipment for agricultural products. 9. The method according to claim 2, wherein
Between the terminal that sends out the agricultural products of the accumulation conveyor and the boxed standby conveyor that is arranged at a fixed distance from this terminal,
A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, comprising a pack stacking / holding unit, a pack extracting / inserting unit, and two or more box standby units. 10. The agricultural product sorting and packaging apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the two or more box standby units are sequentially arranged along the conveying direction of the box standby conveyor. 11. The automatic packaging device according to claim 1, wherein the automatic packaging device has an agricultural product suspension device that is movable in a range from above each packaging standby conveyor to above each box standby section. Sorting and packaging equipment for agricultural products. 12. The packaging standby conveyor according to claim 8, wherein, among the packaging standby conveyors, a packaging standby conveyor located farthest from the accumulation conveyor is provided with a dedicated line for manual packing operation or an automatic packaging operation. A sorting and packaging apparatus for agricultural products, wherein the sorting line is provided as a dual-purpose line capable of selecting any one of manual operations.