JP2001240229A - Agricultural product supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an agricultural product supply device capable of suppressing swing and springing-up of agricultural products and preventing jumping-out and changes of attitude of them to securely supply them from a supply conveyor on the upstream side to a treatment conveyor on the downstream side. SOLUTION: This agricultural product supply device supplies agricultural products fed from the supply conveyor supplying agricultural products at a fixed interval to the treatment conveyor on the downstream side. The treatment conveyor is provided with many pans having a through opening in the vertical direction at substantially center of a loading part in which agricultural products are loaded and a suction device sucking the agricultural products loaded on the pans through the through opening below the pan at a predetermined position on a conveyance start end side of the treatment conveyor. The treatment conveyor is formed by a bucket type conveyor having many pans on which agricultural products are loaded one by one or a conveyor conveying the pans on which agricultural products are loaded while they are not restrained by a conveyance means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to tangerines, apples,
It is preferably used in a sorting and packaging facility for agricultural products that sorts and packs and sells agricultural products such as tomatoes, and reliably supplies agricultural products that are sent out from the upstream supply device at regular intervals, for example, one by one to the placement section of the sorting conveyor. The present invention relates to a device for supplying agricultural products that can be produced.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a sorting and packing facility for agricultural products, it has been conventionally performed to manually supply agricultural products to a sorting conveyor. However, an apparatus for automatically supplying agricultural products to the sorting conveyor is also required. For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-47841, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-94187, or
-124722. First, the fruit and vegetable transfer and supply device disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-47841,
A pitched roller conveyor for pitching agricultural products on a transfer roller was arranged on the starting end side of a sorting conveyor having a shape sorting hole, and the agricultural products were discharged from the end of the pitched roller conveyor onto the sorting conveyor and dropped directly. Things.

A high-speed fruit and vegetable processing method and apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-94187 discloses a singularized conveyor having individual pockets before and after a processing conveyor having a large number of trays in the conveying direction. Are rotated in synchronization with each other, and the fruits put in the pockets are directly supplied to the tray of the processing conveyor. Further, the apparatus for adjusting the supply of long fruits and vegetables to a bucket conveyor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-124722 is provided with a roller conveyor (pitching conveyor) at a stage preceding the sorting conveyor, and the sorting conveyor is arranged from the end side of the roller conveyor. It is configured to drop directly into the bucket.

[0004]

However, in these apparatuses (referred to as supply apparatuses), a pitching conveyor (a roller conveyor or a zipper) capable of transporting agricultural products at a constant pitch is provided at the starting end of the sorting conveyor. Conveyor), and from the end side of this pitched conveyor,
Since the agricultural products are configured to be supplied to the starting end of the sorting conveyor by dropping the agricultural products onto a bucket of the sorting conveyor via a transfer guide (chute) or directly, there are the following problems. I have.

[0005] That is, when agricultural products are supplied to the sorting conveyor, the agricultural products may fluctuate or shake on the receiving tray to change the attitude thereof to the state at the time of the pitching conveyor, and the agricultural products may jump out of the receiving tray. Produces can easily harm agricultural products, as they may protrude. In addition, due to the change in the attitude of the agricultural products on the sorting conveyor or the jumping out of the agricultural products, it is necessary to manually correct the attitude and the like of the agricultural products, which makes it difficult to automatically save labor in the sorting and packaging of the agricultural products. Furthermore, it is necessary to secure a predetermined distance between the starting end of the sorting conveyor and the measuring device downstream from the sorting conveyor so that the swing of the agricultural products supplied on the sorting conveyor can be eliminated. The length of the machine is lengthened, so that the installation space of the sorting and packaging facility is wasted and the cost is likely to increase.

Further, when the agricultural product protrudes (is deviated) from the mounting position (approximately central portion) on the tray, for example, the angle of view and the brightness of the illumination related to the imaging of the camera of the measuring device arranged at a predetermined position of the sorting conveyor are reduced. In some cases, it is difficult to capture an accurate image, which may have an adverse effect on the measurement accuracy of the grade, weight, or internal quality of agricultural products.For example, measurement on a sorting conveyor to improve the efficiency of sorting work When agricultural products are supplied to the apparatus at a high speed, the sway of the agricultural products is further increased, and the recent sensor technology cannot cope with the fluctuations, which makes it difficult to speed up the sorting conveyor.

On the other hand, it is conceivable to form the tray of the sorting conveyor in a deep shape so as to prevent the agricultural products from jumping out when supplied, as much as possible. In addition, there is a problem that the exposed portion of the agricultural product is reduced, the imaging field of view is narrowed, and the sorting accuracy is deteriorated.
In other words, in this type of sorting conveyor, in order to supply produce to the saucer in a stable posture, the saucer may be of a deep type, but in order to capture an image with an optical sensor, the contact surface between the saucer and the produce is required. There is a need for a contradictory function regarding the setting of the tray of the sorting conveyor to minimize the (exposed part) as much as possible and widen the measurable imaging field of view. Currently, there is a supply device that satisfies such a function. In fact, it is hoped that they will appear.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to suppress the swing and jump of agricultural products from an upstream supply conveyor to a downstream processing conveyor. It is an object of the present invention to provide an agricultural product supply device which can prevent popping out and can be supplied without change in posture. Another object of the invention according to claim 1 is to allow the agricultural product to be more reliably placed at a predetermined loading position on the downstream processing conveyor, and to shorten the length of the processing conveyor,
In addition, the present invention provides an agricultural product supply device that eliminates the need for manual correction of the attitude of agricultural products on a processing conveyor and improves the efficiency of the post-process by supplying a substantially constant attitude of the agricultural products onto the processing conveyor. It is in. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an agricultural product supply device that can simultaneously improve both measurement accuracy and stable supply by enlarging the visual field.

[0009] The object of the invention according to claim 2 is, in addition to the object of the invention according to claim 1, a supply of agricultural products that can more reliably supply agricultural products one by one to a receiving tray of a processing conveyor and can stably transport the agricultural products. An object of the present invention described in claim 3 is to provide an apparatus for supplying agricultural products that can reliably and easily discharge agricultural products on a processing conveyor, in addition to the object of the invention described in claim 2. is there. An object of the invention described in claim 4 is to provide an apparatus for supplying agricultural products that can be formed at low cost by simplifying the configuration of the processing conveyor, in addition to the object of the invention described in claim 1. It is another object of the present invention to provide an agricultural product supply device that can further improve the measurement accuracy of agricultural products, in addition to the objects of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention. It is another object of the present invention to provide an agricultural product supply device capable of more efficiently and accurately selecting agricultural products, in addition to the objects of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention supplies the agricultural products sent out from a supply conveyor for supplying agricultural products at regular intervals to a downstream processing conveyor. Agriculture product supply device, wherein the processing conveyor is provided with a large number of trays having a vertical through-opening at substantially the center of the mounting portion on which the agricultural product is placed,
At a predetermined position on the starting side of the processing conveyor, below the tray,
A suction device is provided for sucking agricultural products placed on the saucer through the through-opening.

[0011] With this configuration, the agricultural products sent out from the supply conveyor are dropped onto the tray of the processing conveyor, and the agricultural products on the tray are sucked by the suction device through the through-opening and the receiving portion of the tray is placed. Placed on Since the agricultural products dropped on the tray are sucked and placed in the direction of the through-opening by the suction action, the agricultural products do not jump out from the tray of the processing conveyor, for example, and are reliably supplied to the tray, and Because it is stably mounted on the substantially central mounting portion, for example, it is possible to cope with the speeding up of the processing conveyor, and it becomes unnecessary to manually correct the agricultural products on the processing conveyor, and the length of the processing conveyor can be shortened. Installation space can be made more efficient. In addition, since the agricultural products are securely and stably placed at the predetermined positions on the tray, the work efficiency in the post-process can be improved, and the measurement accuracy and the stable supply can be improved by enlarging the field of view of the tray on the processing conveyor. Both can be satisfied simultaneously.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the processing conveyor is a bucket type conveyor having a large number of receiving trays for loading agricultural products one by one. With this configuration, the agricultural products can be more reliably supplied to the respective trays of the bucket-type conveyor one by one and can be stably transported.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a bucket type conveyor, wherein a tray on which agricultural products are placed is mounted on a mount provided at a predetermined interval in a conveying direction of the conveyor chain. It is characterized in that it is provided to be tiltable to one side. With this configuration, for example, the agricultural product measured by the measuring device is discharged onto a predetermined receiving box by tilting the mounting base at a predetermined position in a predetermined form, and the discharging operation of the agricultural product is reliable and easy. Can be done.

Further, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the processing conveyor is a conveyor for transporting a tray on which agricultural products are placed without being restrained by the transporting means. With this configuration, for example, a free tray type conveyor can be used as the processing conveyor, and the configuration can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the through-opening of the saucer is provided on the bottom side of the saucer in a state where the light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product is illuminated by illuminating the produce placed on the saucer. The light receiving device is directed to the light receiving device. With such a configuration, the agricultural product placed on the saucer transmits the illumination light therein,
This transmitted light is guided to the light receiving device below the tray in a light-shielded state through the through-opening. Thereby, the light transmitted through the agricultural product is reliably received by the light receiving device, and the measurement accuracy of the agricultural product can be further improved.

The invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the processing conveyor is a sorting conveyor for sorting agricultural products. With this configuration, the agricultural products are supplied and placed in a reliable and stable state on each tray of the sorting conveyor, so that the sorting of the agricultural products can be performed more efficiently and accurately, and the work efficiency in the sorting and packaging facility can be improved. Up can be achieved.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the agricultural product supply device according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front view thereof, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a main part, FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. Is a sectional view of a bucket portion, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG.

In FIG. 1, a feeding device 1 is provided between a driving sprocket 5 rotatably provided on a frame and a driven sprocket 6, and includes a bucket 9 having a tray 8 via a conveyor chain 7. Sorting conveyor 2 as a processing conveyor connected endlessly at predetermined intervals
And a supply conveyor 3 connected to the upstream side of the forward path of the sorting conveyor 2, and a suction device 4 arranged at a connection portion between the supply conveyor 3 and the sorting conveyor 2.

In the sorting conveyor 2, a weight measuring device 10 is disposed downstream of the suction device 4 from a load cell or the like, and an illumination 13 is provided downstream of the weight measuring device 10.
And a transmission light detecting device 11 including a light receiving device 14, and a discharge unit 1 including a plurality of discharge devices 15 (discharge solenoids) and a receiving box 16 downstream of the transmitted light detection device 11.
2 are provided. Then, as described later, the suction device 4
The agricultural product W placed on the receiving tray 8 by the operation is transported downstream by the sorting conveyor 2, the weight of the agricultural product W is first measured by the weight measuring device 10, and then the internal quality and the like are measured by the transmitted light detection device 11. The predetermined discharge device 15 is operated based on the result of the selection, and is discharged onto a predetermined receiving box 16.

The supply conveyor 3 has a large number of drum-shaped rollers 1 arranged with a predetermined gap along the conveying direction.
7 and a conveyor chain 18 connecting the drum-shaped rollers 17 in the transport direction, etc., and configured to transport the agricultural products W placed between the front and rear drum-shaped rollers 17 to the downstream side at a constant pitch. ing. The supply conveyor 3 and the sorting conveyor 2 are set to operate in synchronization.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the suction device 4 is disposed at a supply position (transfer start end) below the end side 3a of the supply conveyor 3 and has an overall length substantially equal to that of the sorting conveyor 2. Suction chamber 19 having a length corresponding to three consecutive trays 8 and having a suction port 19a on the upper surface wall thereof.
And a suction tube 21 having one end connected to the bottom wall of the suction chamber 19 and the other end connected to a blower 20 (see FIG. 3). When the blower 20 of the suction device 4 is operated, the inside of the suction chamber 19 is sucked through the suction pipe 21 to become a negative pressure. As a result, the suction chamber 19 passes through the through-opening 27 of the tray 8 described later communicating with the suction port 19a. Thus, the agricultural product W on the tray 8 is sucked. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the length L of the suction port 19a of the suction chamber 19 is set substantially equal to the distance L1 between the light-shielding cylinders 8b of the adjacent trays 8, which will be described later.

Here, the structure of the bucket 9 arranged on the sorting conveyor 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. The bucket 9 basically has the tray 8 and a mounting base 23 to which the tray 8 is attached. The tray 8 is fixed at a lower end of the tray 8a having a recessed central portion and an opening 24. Light-shielding cylinder 8b having an inner hole 25 and a dish 8a
And a light-shielding cushion member 8c made of a sponge or the like disposed between the light-shielding cylinder 8b and the bottom of the light-shielding cylinder 8b. A mounting surface for the agricultural product W is formed by the inclined outer peripheral surface of the plate portion 8a and the upper surface of the cushion material 8c, and a through hole 26 having a predetermined inner diameter is formed in a central portion of the cushion material 8c. The through hole 26 of the cushion member 8c and the internal hole 25 of the light shielding tube 8b communicate with each other in the up-down direction to form a through opening 27.

On the other hand, a mounting table 23 to which the receiving tray 8 is mounted is formed by a bottom wall 23a and both side walls 23b. An opening 28 is provided in the bottom wall 23a, and a shaft hole 29 is loosely fitted in the side wall 23b. A hole 30 is formed. Both ends of a slider bar 31 are pivotally supported in the shaft hole 29, and the slider bar 31 is attached to the side wall 23 b by a spring 32.
A slider 33 biased in the direction is fitted so as to be movable in the axial direction. In the loose fitting hole 30 in the side wall 23b,
An attachment member 62 for assembling the bucket 9 to the conveyor chain 7 is inserted. The attachment member 62 is supported on an upper surface of a rail 63 made of a nylon rail or the like via an attachment pin member 34.

The slider 33 has an operating pin 36 projecting downward from the bottom surface thereof.
Is disposed movably in the opening 28 of the mounting base 23, and a linear guide 35 is provided below the operating pin 36 on one side of the operating pin 36 sandwiching the linear path of the operating pin 36, and linearly moves on the other side. A cam type guide 41 which is shorter than the guide 35 and has a cam surface is provided. The lower end of a connecting rod 37 is pivotally connected to the upper part of the slider 33 by a pin 38. The other end of the connecting rod 37 is connected to a pin receiving part 39 provided on the upper part of the light shielding tube 8b. Has been pivoted through.

The cam type guide 41 is provided with a course switching piece 42 for guiding the operating pin 36 to the cam surface thereof. The course switching piece 42 is provided in the straight path so that the operating pin 36 can travel straight. When the discharge device 15 disposed below the start end of the cam type guide 41 is operated to close the straight path, the operating pin 36 is moved to the cam type guide 41.
To the cam surface. By the guide of the operating pin 36 to the cam surface, the slider 33 moves along the slider bar 31 against the urging force of the spring 32, and the receiving tray 8 is shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. It is configured to be tilted to a position.

Next, the operation of the supply device 1 will be described. First, in the operation state of the sorting conveyor 2 and the supply conveyor 3, the suction device 4 is also set to the operation state. In these states, the agricultural products W which are transported by the supply conveyor 3 and dropped (released) from the terminal side 3a are shown in FIGS. As shown by the arrow 2 in FIG. 2, the sorting conveyor 2 is dropped to the transport start end (supply position) on the outward path. The dropped agricultural products W are supplied to the supply conveyor 3
And the sorting conveyor 2 are set so as to operate in synchronization with each other, so that the agricultural products W are supplied from the supply conveyor 3 onto the tray 8 of the bucket 9 of the sorting conveyor 2 at a constant pitch.

At this time, the agricultural product W supplied on the pan 8
Is placed on the cushion member 8c while receiving its elastic force while the bottom side is first guided on the inclined surface of the outer periphery of the tray 8a of the tray 8, and the blower 20 of the suction device 4 operates substantially simultaneously with the placement. , The suction tube 21, the inner hole 25 of the light shielding tube 8b, and the through hole 26 of the cushion material 8c.
, The bottom of the agricultural product W is sucked and placed in the center position of the through-opening 27, that is, substantially in the center (place) of the tray 8 in a suction state. As a result, the agricultural product W is instantaneously suctioned from being placed on the cushion material 8c to the central portion,
Even if there is a slight variation in the position at which the agricultural product W is placed on the cushion material 8c, the agricultural product W can be reliably drawn to the center by the suction action, and the agricultural product W that is dropped
Is reliably supplied onto the tray 8.

The agricultural product W placed and supplied on the tray 8 is conveyed to the downstream side by the sorting conveyor 2 and its weight is measured at the position of the weight measuring device 10. This weight measurement is
The mounting member 62 of the bucket 9 is attached to the loose fitting hole 30 of the mounting base 23.
The bucket 9 on which the agricultural product W is placed on the saucer 8 bends downward by a predetermined amount according to its weight, and the load cell of the weight measuring device 10 This is done by detecting.

Agricultural products W weighed by the weighing device 10
Is further conveyed to the downstream side by the sorting conveyor 2 and supplied to the transmitted light detection device 11, where the internal quality of the agricultural product W is measured. The measurement of the internal quality is performed by irradiating the agricultural product W on the saucer 8 with predetermined illumination light from the illumination 13 provided above the outgoing surface of the sorting conveyor 2, and transmitting the transmitted light of the irradiated light to the agricultural product W on the outgoing surface. This is performed by receiving light with the light receiving device 14 arranged below. At this time, since the agricultural product W on the tray 8 is placed on the cushioning material 8b having a light shielding property and on the through-opening 27, the cushioning material 8b for the illumination light is provided.
Infiltration into the interior and the light shielding tube 8b is prevented (shielded), and only the transmitted light transmitted through the agricultural product W is guided to the light receiving device 14 while being guided by the through opening 27, and the internal quality of the agricultural product W is measured with high accuracy. You.

The grade of the agricultural product W is determined by the internal quality and the weight measurement. In addition, instead of the weighing device 10, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
If the appearance measuring device 43 for measuring the appearance quality of the agricultural product W is arranged on the outward path, the grade and the like of the agricultural product W can be determined based on the appearance quality and the internal quality by the transmitted light detection device 11.

The agricultural product W measured by the transmitted light measuring device 11 and judged to be of the same grade is transported further downstream by the sorting conveyor 2 and supplied to the discharge unit 12. The agricultural products W supplied to the discharge unit 12 are discharged to the corresponding receiving box 16 by the operation of the discharge device 15 corresponding to the determined class. At this time, as described above, the operation pin 36 of the slider 33 of the bucket 9 is brought into contact with the cam surface of the cam type guide 41 by the operation of the discharge device 15 according to the grade, so that the slider 33 moves in the axial direction. As a result, the tray 8 is tilted to the right or left in the transport direction, and the agricultural products W on the tray 8 are discharged onto the predetermined receiving box 16.

As described above, in the supply device 1 of the above-described embodiment, the receiving portion 8 of the bucket 9 is provided at the connecting portion (supply position) with the supply conveyor 3 at the starting point of the transport of the sorting conveyor 2 on the outward path.
Is provided with the suction device 4 for sucking the through-opening 27 provided in the container, the agricultural product W dropped from the supply conveyor 3 can be instantaneously sucked into the through-opening 27 portion while being received by the tray 8, and the agricultural product W can be sucked. It can be reliably placed and supplied to the placement portion substantially at the center of the tray 8.

In particular, the length L of the suction port 19a of the suction device 4
Is set to be larger than the distance L1 between two successive trays 8, the suction port 19a can always be located at the lower end of the light-shielding tube 8b, and the suction of the through-opening 27 can be performed reliably. Can be. As a result, it is possible to prevent the agricultural products W from jumping out of the tray 8 when the agricultural products W are supplied to the tray 8 and to prevent the agricultural products W from jumping during the placement and supply and a large change in the attitude (orientation) when the supply conveyor 3 is transported. Thus, a stable mounting state of the agricultural product W on the receiving tray 8 can be obtained.

The following effects can be obtained by stably placing the agricultural product W on the saucer 8.
That is, first, the stable placement on the tray 8 suppresses the swing and change in the attitude of the agricultural products W on the tray 8 when the sorting conveyor 2 is accelerated, and can easily cope with the speeding of the sorting conveyor 2. In addition, the efficiency of the sorting operation can be improved, and even if the agricultural products W supplied from the supply conveyor 3 are various agricultural products having different shapes such as tangerines, tomatoes, and apples, the agricultural products W can be easily and stably supplied. it can.

Further, it is not necessary to perform a manual operation such as a posture correcting operation and a replenishing operation of the agricultural products W on the sorting conveyor 2, so that the automatic labor saving at the sorting and packaging facility can be further improved, and the agricultural products on the sorting conveyor 2 can be removed. Since the postures (orientations) are aligned, for example, sorting conveyor 2
The discharge posture to the receiving box 16 on the downstream side can be made uniform as much as possible. For example, the box packing posture is also made uniform, so that the trouble of correction can be saved. Further, the sorting conveyor 2 does not need a conveying path of a predetermined length for stabilizing the posture as in the related art, and the machine length of the sorting conveyor 2 itself can be shortened. Down can be achieved.

Further, in the supply device 1 of the above embodiment, the tray 8 is made of a light shielding cylinder 8 having a plate portion 8a and an internal hole 25.
b and the cushion material 8c having the through hole 26, and the through hole 27 is formed by the internal hole 25, the through hole 26, and the like. Only the transmitted light that has passed through the inside can be satisfactorily guided to the light receiving device 14 through the through opening 27, and the internal quality of the agricultural product W can be measured with high accuracy.

In particular, since the inner hole 25 having a relatively large inner diameter and the light-shielding tube 8b having a predetermined length are provided below the dish portion 8a of the receiving tray 8, the transmitted light can be favorably guided by the light-shielding tube 8b. As a result, the field of view of the transmitted light detection device 11 can be expanded, and the agricultural product W can be reliably and stably supplied by the suction action via the light-shielding tube 8b. It becomes possible to do.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show other embodiments of the supply device according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a front view similar to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment of the suction device, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but showing still another embodiment of the sorting conveyor. Hereinafter, these embodiments will be described by assigning the same reference numerals to the same portions as those in the above embodiment.

First, a feature of the suction device 4 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is that a perforated transport band 46 is disposed on the upper surface of the suction port 19a of the suction chamber 19, and the perforated transport band 46 includes a bucket. Holes 46a corresponding to 9 pitches are formed.
The perforated transport band 46 is provided with a pair of sprockets 47.
a and 47b, for example, one of the sprockets 47a is connected to the drive sprocket 5 of the sorting conveyor 2 and rotates at the same pitch.
6 is set so that the movement of the hole 46a and the movement of the light-shielding cylinder 8b of the tray 8 of the sorting conveyor 2 are synchronized. Also with the suction device 4 of this embodiment, at the supply position of the agricultural product W from the supply conveyor 3, the suction opening 19a can be made to correspond to the light-shielding cylinder 8b of the tray 8, and the through opening 27 can be sucked. The same operation and effect as the suction device 4 can be obtained.

The sorting conveyor 2 of the embodiment shown in FIG.
Is characterized in that, instead of the bucket 9 having the pan 8,
The difference lies in the use of a belt 48 with a belt and, for example, a round free tray 49. The belt 48 with holes is composed of the holes 4a and holes 4.
8b, the free tray 49 has a dish 49a having a concave upper surface center portion, and a through hole 49b formed in the bottom of the dish 49a so as to penetrate vertically. The through-hole 27 is formed by the through-hole 49 b of the free tray 49 and the hole 48 b of the belt 48 with a rung. The through-opening 27 communicates with the suction chamber 19 of the suction device 4.

In the sorting conveyor 2 of this embodiment,
At the supply position of the agricultural products W from the supply conveyor 3, the agricultural products W placed on the plate portion 49a of the free tray 49 can be suctioned and placed and supplied by the suction device 4, and the same operation as the sorting conveyor 2 of the above embodiment. The effect can be obtained. In addition,
Reference numeral 50 in the figure denotes an empty tray supply conveyor that supplies empty freight trays 49 to the sorting conveyor 2 at a constant pitch.

Further, the sorting conveyor 2 shown in FIG. 8 is characterized in that the receiving tray 8 is formed by an annular sealing material 51, a lower receiving seat 52 and a cover 53, and the receiving tray 8 is tilted by a tilting mechanism 54. It is in the point which did. That is, in the annular sealing material 51, a hole 51a is formed in the center of the bottom, and a sealing lip portion 51b is formed on the outer periphery of the bottom so as to become thinner in order toward the upper part. The light-shielding cylindrical portion 52a is fitted and fixed. The flat portion 5 of the lower seat 52
A light-shielding cover 53 made of sponge or the like is fitted on 2b. In this embodiment, the through-opening 55 is formed by the hole 51a of the annular sealing material 51 and the internal hole of the light-shielding tubular portion 52a of the lower seat 52. Is formed. The lower seat 52
The suction chamber 19 of the suction device 4 is connected to the lower part of the light-shielding tube portion 52b.

On the other hand, the tilting mechanism 54 includes a tray-side bracket 56 fixed to the lower surface of the outer peripheral end of the lower seat 52 of the tray 8.
And a link-side bracket 57 fixed to the link 7a of the conveyor chain 7, a tilt-prevention hook 58, and the like. The tray-side bracket 56 and the link-side bracket 57 are connected via a pin 59, and the tilt-prevention hook 58 is rotatably connected to the link-side bracket 57 via a pin 60. Also, a hook 5 for preventing tilting
Reference numeral 8 indicates that the engaging portion engages with a pin 61 provided on the tray-side bracket 56 to prevent the tray 8 from tilting.

According to the sorting conveyor 2 of this embodiment, when the discharging device 15 is operated, the tilt preventing hook 5
8 is disengaged from the pin 61, for example, the above-described slider 33 of the bucket 9 moves in a predetermined direction or abuts on a guide rail (not shown), and the tray 8 is tilted to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in the drawing. The produce W on the tray 8 is discharged to the receiving box 16. Also in the sorting conveyor 2 of this embodiment, the same operation and effects as those of the sorting conveyor 2 of the above embodiment can be obtained.

In the above embodiment, the suction device 4
The light-shielding cylinder 8b of the tray 8 adjacent to the length L of the suction port 19a
The spacing L1 is set to be substantially the same as the spacing L1, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the length L (size) of the suction port 19a may be slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the light-shielding cylinder 8b of one receiving pan 8. At the supply position of the agricultural product W, for example, the suction port 19a can be set to an appropriate size such that the suction port 19a can surely face at least one light shielding cylinder 19, and the shape of the suction chamber 19 itself is also set in the above embodiment. It is not limited to this and can be set as appropriate. In addition, the configuration of the sorting conveyor 2, the bucket 9 and the tray 8 in the above-described embodiment, the tilting mechanism of the tray 8, and the like are also examples, and various changes can be made without departing from the gist of each invention according to the present invention.

[0046]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a through-opening is provided in the receiving portion of the tray of the processing conveyor, and a suction device for sucking agricultural products through the through-opening. With this arrangement, agricultural products sent out from the supply conveyor can be reliably and stably placed and supplied to the receiving portion of the receiving tray by suction through the through-opening of the suction device, and the processing conveyor can be easily operated at high speed. And the need for manual correction of agricultural products on the processing conveyor becomes unnecessary, and the length of the processing conveyor can be shortened, so that the installation space can be made more efficient. Also,
Agricultural products are placed on the receiving tray in a reliable and stable state, so that work efficiency in the post-process can be improved,
It is possible to simultaneously satisfy both improvement of measurement accuracy by enlarging the field of view and stable supply to the tray of the processing conveyor.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the present invention, a bucket type conveyor having a large number of trays for loading agricultural products one by one is used as a processing conveyor. Agricultural products can be supplied more reliably one by one and transported stably.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second aspect, the receiving tray of the mounting base of the bucket type conveyor is provided so as to be tiltable to one of the left, right, left and right sides. Therefore, for example, the agricultural product on the tray measured by the measuring device can be tilted at a predetermined position in a predetermined form, and the agricultural product can be reliably and easily discharged onto a predetermined receiving box.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects, for example, a free tray type conveyor can be used as the processing conveyor, thereby simplifying the configuration of the processing conveyor itself. And the cost can be reduced.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects, the light transmitted through the inside of the agricultural product through the through-opening of the receiving tray is guided to the light receiving device in a light-shielded state. Therefore, the light transmitted through the agricultural product can be reliably and satisfactorily received by the light receiving device, and the measurement accuracy of the agricultural product can be further improved.

According to the sixth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fifth aspects, since the processing conveyor is a sorting conveyor for sorting agricultural products, the agricultural products are placed on each tray of the sorting conveyor. It is possible to carry out placing and supplying in a reliable and stable state, to perform the sorting operation of agricultural products more efficiently and accurately, and to achieve effects such as improvement of the working efficiency in the sorting and packaging facility.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an agricultural product supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a main part of the same.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the bucket portion.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG. 4 as viewed from the side.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing another embodiment of the suction device of the supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of the processing conveyor of the supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a main part of still another embodiment of the processing conveyor of the supply device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... supply device 2 ... sorting conveyor 3 ... supply conveyor 4 ... Suction device 8 ········ Receiving tray 8a ·········· Dish portion 8b ········ Cushion material 8c ·············· 9 Bucket 10 Weight measuring device 11 Transmitted light detection device 12 Discharge Unit 13 Lighting 14 Light receiving device 15 Discharge device 16 Receiving box 19 Suction chamber 19a Suction port 20 Blower 21 Suction tube 23 .... Mounting stand 25 ..... Internal hole 2 6, through-hole 27, through-opening 33, slider 43, appearance measuring device 46, ········· Perforated transport band 46a ······························································ ······ Free tray 49b ··································································· · Lower seat 52a ································· Inclination mechanism 55 ·····························・ Agricultural products

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for supplying agricultural products which is supplied from a supply conveyor for supplying agricultural products at regular intervals to a processing conveyor on the downstream side, wherein the processing conveyor is substantially at a center of a mounting portion on which the agricultural products are placed. Suction device that has a plurality of trays having through-holes in the vertical direction, and suctions agricultural products placed on the trays below the trays at predetermined positions on the transport start end side of the processing conveyor through the through-holes. An agricultural product supply device comprising: 2. The agricultural product supply device according to claim 1, wherein said processing conveyor is a bucket type conveyor having a plurality of trays on which agricultural products are placed one by one. 3. The bucket type conveyor according to claim 1, wherein a tray on which agricultural products are placed is provided on a mounting table provided at a predetermined interval in a conveying direction of the conveyor chain so that the tray on which the agricultural products are placed can be tilted to one side, left or right or left. 3. The agricultural product supply device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The agricultural product supply device according to claim 1, wherein said processing conveyor is a conveyor for transporting a tray on which agricultural products are placed without being restricted by transport means. 5. A through-opening of the tray for illuminating a produce placed on the tray to guide light transmitted through the inside of the produce to a light-receiving device provided on the bottom side of the tray in a light-shielded state. The agricultural product supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: 6. The agricultural product supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing conveyor is a sorting conveyor for sorting agricultural products.