JP2002011413A - Bucket for agricultural product sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bucket for an agricultural product sorting device which is capable of decreasing discharge falls with a tilting type and is capable of measuring transmitted light with high accuracy. SOLUTION: The bucket for the agricultural product sorting device having receiving tray supporting bases disposed at prescribed intervals in a transporting direction of a conveyor chain and receiving trays tiltable at a prescribed angle on the receiving tray supporting bases along side these bases is formed with through-holes for measuring the transmitted light in approximately the central parts of the receiving trays and is provided with light shielding cylinders for emitting the light transmitted through the agricultural products introduced through the through-holes to the lower side of the receiving tray on the lower part side of the receiving tray supporting bases. The light shielding cylinders are capable of shielding the light when the receiving trays are in a horizontal state. The light shielding cylinders are disposed at least either of the bottoms of the through-holes of the receiving trays and the hole segments facing the through-holes of the receiving tray supporting bases. The receiving trays are tilted by means of connecting rods for connecting the receiving trays and the receiving tray supporting bases disposed outside the turning region of the light shielding cylinders on at least one side before and behind the transporting direction or around the supporting shafts disposed outside the turning regions of the light shielding cylinders on approximately the center lines on the right and left of the transporting direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to apple, pear, peach,
The present invention relates to a bucket for an agricultural product sorting device used in an agricultural product sorting and packaging facility for sorting and packaging agricultural products such as citrus fruits.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, an agricultural product sorting apparatus of this kind irradiates agricultural products placed on a saucer with light due to the recent improvement in transmitted light measurement technology, and the transmitted light has a particularly high internal quality. The technology of measuring is adopted. Conventionally, in this transmitted light measurement, for example, a form in which an agricultural product is placed on a tray such as a free tray in which a hole for transmitted light measurement is formed is measured, and this tray is particularly easily damaged in a large facility. Often used for agricultural products.

On the other hand, as another form of transmitted light measurement, for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-146570, a form using a tiltable bucket is known. The bucket disclosed in this publication is configured such that a receiving body having a hole for transmitted light measurement and a bottom body forming the bottom surface thereof are integrated to form a bucket, and one side of the bucket is supported at one point to be tiltable. Things.

[0004]

However, this bucket has a structure in which the bucket is tilted by one-point support at one side, so that the entire bucket is tilted so that the agricultural product placed on the bucket is discharged. Since the head is increased and the agricultural product is only discharged in one direction (in the tilting direction), the agricultural product cannot be discharged to both sides in the transport direction and its versatility is poor. Further, in the case of this bucket, since there is no mechanism for measuring the weight of the bucket itself, it is not possible to measure the weight of the agricultural product placed on the bucket.

As shown in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 29568/1990 and Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 3-12737, a tray-shaped tray on which agricultural products are placed and a tray support for holding the tray tiltably to both sides in the transport direction. A bucket having a table (referred to as a bucket B) is known. Since the bucket B has a structure in which the pan is tilted with respect to the pan support, the head at the time of discharging the agricultural product is smaller than that of the bucket (bucket A) disclosed in JP-A-10-146570. In addition, the agricultural product on the tray can be discharged to both sides in the transport direction, and the weight of the agricultural product on the bucket can be measured. However, since the tray of the bucket B is merely a dish, it is impossible to measure transmitted light.

That is, in the case of the bucket A, although it is suitable for transmitted light measurement, it is not possible to tilt both sides, so that the head at the time of discharging agricultural products cannot be reduced, and in the case of the bucket B, both sides can tilt. Although the head at the time of agricultural product discharge can be reduced, transmitted light cannot be measured, but in the end, there is a problem that transmitted light cannot be measured while taking advantage of the bucket having a structure in which both buckets can be tilted. .

Therefore, it is conceivable to solve such a problem by providing a hole for measuring the transmitted light in the tray of the bucket B by applying, for example, the concept of the bucket A. Since the tray of the bucket B is tiltably supported on the fixed tray support, a structural relief portion (for example, a notch or a gap) is provided on the tray support in the tilting region of the tray. There is a need. For this reason, it is difficult to secure light-shielding properties around agricultural products on a saucer at the time of transmitted light measurement, and it is difficult to adopt such a structure as it is for transmitted light measurement because of measurement accuracy and the like. .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide a tilting type bucket for an agricultural product sorting apparatus capable of reducing a drop in the output of agricultural products and measuring transmitted light with high accuracy. Is to provide. Another object is to simplify the configuration of the light-shielding cylinder itself and the tilting mechanism of the tray, to improve the versatility of the bucket by applying the bucket to various layouts, or to produce agricultural products on the tray in addition to the above-mentioned objects. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bucket for an agricultural product sorting device capable of measuring the weight of a product and measuring its quality with higher accuracy and efficiency.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a tray supporter provided at a predetermined interval in a conveying direction of a conveyor chain;
In a bucket for an agricultural product sorting device having a tray that can be tilted to the side at a predetermined angle on the tray support, a through hole for transmitted light measurement is formed substantially in the center of the tray, and a through hole of the tray is formed. A lower part is provided with a light-shielding tube for emitting the agricultural product transmitted light introduced through the through-hole below the tray support, and the light-shielding tube can shield light when the tray is in a horizontal state.

[0010] With this configuration, the agricultural product placed on the tray is transported to a predetermined imaging stage by a conveyor chain of a bucket conveyor, where the agricultural product is irradiated with light irradiated from above. By analyzing the transmitted light, the internal quality of the agricultural product is measured. At the time of this measurement, since the pan is horizontal and the light-shielding cylinder is provided below the through hole, the agricultural product transmitted light is emitted below the saucer support with the light-shielding cylinder, that is, the agricultural product transmitted light is externally emitted. It is possible to satisfactorily guide the light to the light receiving portion below the tray support without leaking, thereby improving the accuracy of the transmitted light measurement of the agricultural product. The measured agricultural product is discharged to the discharge unit in a state where the discharge head is tilted to the side at a discharge stage separately from the pan support stand so as to be tiltable, so that the discharge head is reduced.

The light-shielding cylinder is preferably provided on at least one of the bottom of the through-hole of the receiving tray and the hole facing the through-hole of the receiving tray support, as in the second aspect of the present invention. With this configuration, the bottom portion of the through hole of the saucer, the hole portion facing the through hole of the saucer support,
Alternatively, only by providing a light-shielding tube in both of them, the transmitted light of agricultural products can be satisfactorily shielded, and the configuration of the light-shielding tube itself is simplified.

Further, the tray is connected via a connecting rod for connecting the tray and the tray support provided outside the rotation region of the light-shielding cylinder on at least one of the front and rear sides in the transport direction. And tilting about a support shaft provided outside the rotation region of the light-shielding cylinder on substantially the center line on the left and right in the transport direction. With such a configuration, the pivoting operation of the light-shielding cylinder can be performed via a connecting rod provided between the pan and the pan support stand or a support shaft provided on a substantially center line on the left and right outside the rotation area of the light-shielding cylinder. Since the tray is tilted without any hindrance, the tilting mechanism is simplified.

Preferably, the tray can be tilted to at least one side with respect to the left and right directions in the transport direction of the tray support, as in the fifth aspect of the present invention. Since the tray can be tilted to the left and / or right in the transport direction of the tray support, the tray can be tilted in a predetermined direction according to the layout of the sorting and packaging facility, and the versatility of the bucket is improved.

[0014] Further, it is preferable that the saucer is configured so that its weight can be measured, as described in the sixth aspect of the present invention. With such a structure, the agricultural product placed on the bucket can be measured. Since the weight is measured, the weight, which is a quality item other than that which can be measured by transmitted light, can be measured while being placed on the saucer, and the quality of the agricultural product can be measured more accurately and efficiently.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show one embodiment of an agricultural product sorting apparatus using a bucket according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the main part, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of the main part, FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a bucket portion, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view of FIG.

In FIG. 1, an agricultural product sorting apparatus 1 is disposed between a driving sprocket 5 rotatably provided on a frame and a driven sprocket 6, and has a bucket 9 having a tray 8 via a conveyor chain 7. A sorting conveyor 2 connected endlessly at predetermined intervals, and a supply conveyor 3 connected upstream of the outward path of the sorting conveyor 2,
A suction device 4 is provided 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.
A transmitted light measuring device 11 including a plurality of discharge devices 15 (discharge solenoids) and a receiving box 16 is provided downstream of the transmitted light measurement device 11.
2 are provided. In addition, although not shown, an imaging device such as a camera may be arranged on the sorting conveyor 2 to image the appearance of the agricultural product W, and may be added to the element for sorting determination.

The agricultural product W placed on the tray 8 by the operation of the suction device 4 is conveyed to the downstream side by the sorting conveyor 2, and its weight is first measured by the weight measuring device 10, and then the transmitted light measuring device At 11, internal quality etc. are measured and sorted.
A predetermined discharge device 15 is operated based on the result of the selection, and the selected agricultural products W are 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 transport 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 through-hole 26 and the like of the receiving tray 8 described later communicate with the suction port 19a. The agricultural product W on the tray 8 is sucked through the tray.

Here, the structure of the bucket 9 constituting the gist of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The bucket 9 basically has the tray 8 and a tray support 23 that tiltably supports the tray 8. The receiving tray 8 has a dish 8a having a central portion recessed and having an opening 24, a light-shielding cylinder 25 having an inner hole 25b having an upper end flange 25a fixed to the lower end of the dish 8a, and a light shielding at the bottom of the dish 8a. It is formed of a light-shielding cushion material 8b made of a sponge or the like disposed between the cylinder 25 and the like.

The inclined outer peripheral surface of the plate portion 8a and the upper surface of the cushion member 8b form a mounting surface for the agricultural product W, and penetrates vertically through the central portion of the cushion member 8b, that is, the bottom of the tray 8. A through hole 26 having a predetermined inner diameter is formed. An upper end flange 25a of the light-shielding tube 25 is provided at a lower end of the plate portion 8a of the tray 8 which is a lower side of the through hole 26.
Is fixed, the light shielding tube 25 and the plate portion 8a are integrated, and the light shielding tube 25 is tilted in conjunction with the tilting operation of the receiving tray 8.

On the other hand, the pan support 2 for supporting the pan 8
3 is formed by a bottom wall 23a and both side walls 23b,
3a, a circular hole 27 corresponding to the through hole 26 and the internal hole 25b of the light shielding tube 25 is formed.
A pair of guide grooves 27a are formed outside the diagonal position of the pair. The center of the hole 27 of the bottom wall 23a and the internal hole 25b of the light-shielding tube 25 of the tray 8 substantially coincide with each other in the vertical direction when the tray 8 is in a horizontal state in which the tray 8 does not tilt.
The outer peripheral upper surface and the lower surface of the light-shielding cylinder 25 are set so as to have a very small gap or to be substantially in contact with each other. With this setting, a sufficient light-shielding property is secured in the light-shielding cylinder 25 as described later.

Also, on the side wall 23b of the tray support 23,
A shaft hole 28 and a loose fitting hole 29 are formed. Both ends of a slider bar 30 are supported by the shaft hole 28, and a slider 32 urged in the direction of the side wall 23 b by a spring 31 is supported by the slider bar 30. It is fitted movably in the direction. Further, the loose fitting hole 29 in the side wall 23b has a bucket 9
33 for assembling the conveyor chain 7
The mounting member 33 is attached to the mounting pin member 3.
4 is supported on the upper surface of a rail 35 made of a nylon rail or the like.

The slider 32 has an operating pin 36 projecting downward from the bottom side thereof.
Is inserted movably into the guide groove 27a of the tray support 23, and a linear guide 37 is provided at a lower portion of the operating pin 36 on one side of a linear passage of the operating pin 36 and on the other side. A cam type guide 38 which is shorter than the straight guide 37 and has a cam surface is provided. The lower end of a connecting rod 40 is rotatably connected to the upper part of each slider 33 by a pin 41, and the other end of the connecting rod 40 is connected to a pin receiving part 42 provided on the upper part of the light shielding cylinder 25. Each is pivotally connected via 43.

That is, the tray 8 is supported by the pair of connecting rods 40 provided in a cross shape outside the rotation region of the light-shielding cylinder 25 before and after the light-shielding cylinder 25 in the transport direction A.
It is supported so that it can tilt. The tilting mechanism of the tray 8 is not limited to the pair of connecting rods 40 in the front and rear direction of the transporting direction. For example, a cross-shaped connecting rod 40 may be provided on one side in the front and rear, and the other side may be simply supported. In the case where 8 is tilted to one side, 1 is used without using the cross-shaped connecting rod 40.
A book connecting rod 40 can also be used.

The cam type guide 38 is provided with a course switching piece 44 for guiding the operating pin 36 to the cam surface. The course switching piece 44 is provided in the straight path so that the operating pin 36 can travel straight. Is released, and when the discharging device 15 disposed below the start end of the cam type guide 38 is operated to close the straight path, the operating pin 36 is moved to the cam type guide 38.
To the cam surface. By the guide of the operation pin 36 to the cam surface, the slider 32 moves along the slider bar 30 against the urging force of the spring 32, and the receiving tray 8 is shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. It is configured to be tilted to a position.

Next, an example of the operation of the agricultural product sorting apparatus 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 operated,
In these states, the sheet is conveyed by the supply conveyor 3 and the terminal side 3
The agricultural product W dropped (discharged) from a is dropped to the transport start end side (supply position) on the outward path of the sorting conveyor 2 as shown by the arrow B in FIGS. Since the dropped agricultural products W are set so that the supply conveyor 3 and the sorting conveyor 2 operate in synchronization with each other, the agricultural products W are transferred from the supply conveyor 3 to the receiving tray 8 of the bucket 9 of the sorting conveyor 2 at a constant pitch. Supplied to

At this time, the agricultural product W supplied on the saucer 8
Is placed on the cushion member 8b 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 almost simultaneously with the placement. , Suction tube 21, internal hole 25 b of light shielding tube 25
And the agricultural product W through the through hole 26 of the cushion material 8b.
Is sucked and placed in the suction position at the center position of the through hole 26, that is, substantially at the center of the tray 8 (mounting portion).

Thus, the cushion material 8b of the agricultural product W
Even if the placement of the agricultural products W on the cushioning material 8b slightly varies from the placement on the top to the center, the suction may be drawn to the center by the suction action. As a result, the dropped agricultural product W is reliably supplied onto the tray 8. Then, the agricultural product W placed and supplied on the tray 8 is transported to the downstream side in the transport direction A by the sorting conveyor 2 and its weight is measured at the position of the weighing device 10.

This weight measurement is performed by using the mounting member 3 of the bucket 9.
The bucket 9 on which the agricultural product W is placed on the tray 8 is bent downward by a predetermined amount in accordance with the weight of the bucket 3 since the bucket 3 is loosely fitted in the loose fitting hole 29 of the tray support 23 so as to be vertically movable. This is performed by detecting the amount of deflection by the load cell of the weight measuring device 10. The agricultural products W weighed by the weighing device 10 are further conveyed to the downstream side by the sorting conveyor 2 and supplied to the transmitted light measuring device 11, where the internal quality of the agricultural products W is measured.

The internal quality is measured by irradiating the agricultural product W on the receiving tray 8 with predetermined illumination light from the illumination 13 provided above the outgoing surface of the sorting conveyor 2, and irradiating the agricultural product W with the emitted light.
Is received by the light receiving device 14 disposed below the outward road surface. At this time, the agricultural product W on the saucer 8 is placed on the cushioning material 8 b having
6, the light-shielding property is maintained between the light-shielding tube 25 and the hole 27 of the saucer support 23 when the pan 8 is in a horizontal state. Penetration into the light-shielding cylinder 25 and leakage of the agricultural product transmitted light in the light-shielding cylinder 25 to the outside of the light-shielding cylinder 25 are reliably prevented, and the light-shielding property is sufficiently ensured.

As a result, only the agricultural product transmitted light transmitted through the agricultural product W is guided to the light receiving device 14 while being guided by the through hole 26 and the internal hole 25 b of the light shielding tube 25, that is, emitted to the lower side of the tray support 23. As a result, the internal quality of the agricultural product W is measured with high accuracy. The grade of the agricultural product W is determined based on the internal quality and the weight measurement. Then, the agricultural products W measured by the transmitted light measuring device 11 and determined to have the same rank are transported further downstream by the sorting conveyor 2 and supplied to the discharge unit 12.

The agricultural product W supplied to the discharge section 12 is
When the discharge device 15 corresponding to the determined class is operated, the discharge is performed to the corresponding receiving box 16. At this time,
As described above, when the operation pin 36 of the slider 32 of the bucket 9 is brought into contact with the cam surface of the cam type guide 38 by the operation of the discharge device 15 according to the class, the slider 32 moves in the axial direction, and 8 is tilted rightward or leftward in the transport direction. In addition, since the connecting rod 40 is integrated with the receiving tray 8 and provided outside the rotation region of the light-shielding cylinder 25 projecting downward, the tilting operation of the receiving tray 8 is performed by the connecting rod 40. It will be done smoothly without any hindrance.

As described above, the agricultural product sorting apparatus 1 of the above embodiment is described.
In this case, the light-shielding cylinder 25 is integrally provided on the pan 8 provided to be tiltable on the pan support 23, and when the pan 8 is in the horizontal state, the agricultural product transmitted light is blocked by the light-blocking cylinder 25. Therefore, the transmitted light of the agricultural product W placed on the receiving tray 8 is reliably prevented from leaking out of the light-shielding tube 25 to the transmitted light of the agricultural product W and the penetration of the external light into the light-shielding tube 25. Thus, the transmitted light of the agricultural product W can be measured with high accuracy.

Further, since the tray 8 is tiltably provided on the tray support 23, the agricultural product W which has been conveyed by measuring the transmitted light can be discharged to the discharge portion 12 by the tilting operation of the tray 8. At this time, since the receiving tray 8 separate from the receiving tray support 23 is tilted, the discharge head of the agricultural product W can be reduced, and the agricultural product W can be reliably prevented from being damaged at the time of discharging. it can. Thus, it is possible to obtain the bucket 9 capable of measuring transmitted light with high accuracy while taking advantage of the tiltable tray 8, and to produce the agricultural product W.
The transmitted light measurement, which is an important factor for sorting, can be added to conventional items (color damage and shape of camera, weight of weigher, etc.), and highly reliable sorting can be performed. become.

Further, since the weight of the bucket 9 can be measured, the weight of the agricultural product W on the tray 8 can be measured in the mounted state, and measurement can be performed with the transmitted light necessary for sorting the agricultural product W. Weight, which is another quality item that can be measured, can also be measured at the same time, and more accurate measurement of the quality of agricultural products W is possible. In addition, transmitted light measurement and weight measurement can be performed while the product is mounted, which improves the efficiency of measurement work. Can be achieved.

Further, by fixing the upper end flange 25a of the cylindrical light shielding tube 25 to the lower portion of the tiltable receiving tray 8, the light shielding tube 25 is integrated with the receiving tray 8, so that the light shielding tube 2
5 itself can be simplified, and the pan 8
Can be formed by the cross-shaped connecting rod 40 and the like, and the tilting mechanism can be simplified. As a result, it is possible to ensure reliable light shielding at low cost, and since the light shielding cylinder 25 is provided on the tiltable tray 8, adjustment and maintenance thereof can be easily performed.

6 and 7 show another embodiment of the bucket according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is a sectional view similar to FIG.
Is a sectional view similar to FIG. Hereinafter, the same portions as those in the above-described embodiment will be described by assigning the same reference numerals. In the bucket 9 of this embodiment, a first light-shielding cylinder 51 is integrally provided on the bottom of the tray 8, and a second light-shielding cylinder 52 facing the first light-shielding cylinder 51 is integrally formed on the tray support 23. Provide.

The first light-shielding cylinder 51 has its upper end flange 5
1a is fixed by being fixed to the bottom of the plate portion 8a of the receiving tray 8, is integrated, has an internal hole 51b, and its bottom surface is formed by a convex (or concave) spherical surface 51c. The second light-shielding cylinder 52 is integrally formed with the hole 27 of the bottom wall 23a of the pan support 23, has an internal hole 52a, and has a concave (or convex) spherical surface 5a on its upper surface.
2b. Further, a ball 53 elastically supported by a spring 54 is interposed between the bottom surface of the first light shielding tube 51 and the upper surface of the second light shielding tube 52.

A slider 5 having a guide pin 55a on the upper side is provided on one side in the front-rear direction of the tray support 23.
5 is disposed so as to be movable in the direction of arrow C in FIG. The center of the slider 55 is a slider bar 59.
And is elastically supported by a spring 58 interposed between the side walls 23b of the tray support 23, and an upper guide pin 55a is provided with a vertically long guide hole formed on the outer surface of the first light shielding cylinder 51. 56 are engaged.

The upper end flange 51a of the first light-shielding cylinder 51 (that is, the tray 8) is rotatably supported on the front and rear side walls 23b of the tray main body 23 via the support shaft 57. The support shaft 57 is provided at a substantially central position on the left and right in the transport direction of the tray 8 and at a substantially central position of a circle as viewed from the front side of the spherical surface 51c. In response, the ball 53 is tilted while being elastically supported by the ball 53. At this time, the spherical surface 51c of the first light shielding cylinder 51
Is tilted along the spherical surface 52b of the second light-shielding cylinder 52.

The bucket 9 is used for receiving the tray 8 when measuring transmitted light.
Is in the horizontal state, the spherical surface 5 of the first light shielding cylinder 51 of the pan 8 is
1c and the spherical surface 52b of the second light-shielding cylinder 52 of the pan support stand 23
Are opposed to each other in the vertical direction, so that one light-shielding cylinder is formed. Therefore, the first light-shielding cylinder 51 and the second light-shielding cylinder 52 can have the same function as the light-shielding cylinder 25 of the above embodiment, and the bucket 9 of this embodiment can be obtained.
In this case, the same operation and effect as those of the above embodiment can be obtained, and the tray 8 can be tilted directly to the tray support 23 via the support shaft 57. The effect of being simplified is also obtained.

In this embodiment, the heights of the first light-shielding cylinder 51 and the second light-shielding cylinder 52 are set to be substantially the same.
Since the structure is tilted by c and 52b, the height of the first light-shielding cylinder 51 can be shortened by appropriately setting the curvature of the spherical surfaces 51c and 52b, as shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. In addition, the height of the second light shielding cylinder 52 can be increased. In addition to the light-shielding cylinder of the present invention being provided not only on the saucer 8 or on both the saucer 8 and the saucer support 23, it is of course possible to provide the light-shielding tube only on the saucer support 23 depending on the shape setting, for example.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the shapes of the tray 8 of the bucket 9 and the tray main body 23, the tilting mechanism of the tray 8 with respect to the tray support 23, and the like are also examples, which deviate from the gist of each invention according to the present invention. It can be changed appropriately within a range not to be performed.

[0046]

As described above in detail, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the light shielding cylinder is provided below the through hole of the tiltable pan, and the light shielding cylinder is used when measuring the transmitted light when the pan is in a horizontal state. As a result, the transmitted light of the agricultural product is emitted below the tray support, so that the transmitted light of the agricultural product is guided to the lower portion of the tray support without leaking out of the light-shielding cylinder, and the light receiving unit can receive the light well, thereby improving the accuracy of the transmitted light measurement of the agricultural product. In addition to this, it is possible to take advantage of the advantage that the tiltable saucer can reduce the head of the agricultural product at the time of discharging, and it is possible to reliably prevent the agricultural product from being damaged.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect, the light-shielding cylinder may be provided at least in a hole portion facing the through hole of the receiving tray and the receiving hole of the receiving tray support. Since it can be dealt with simply by providing one of them, it is possible to satisfactorily shield the agricultural product transmitted light with this simple light shielding cylinder.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect, the pan and the pan support provided outside the rotation region of the light shielding cylinder on at least one of the front and rear sides in the transport direction. Since the tray is tilted via the connecting rod connecting the table, the tilting mechanism of the tray can be simplified, and the tray can be tilted smoothly without being affected by other components.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first or second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the support shaft provided on the substantially center line on the left and right in the transport direction outside the rotation region of the light shielding cylinder. Therefore, the tilting mechanism of the pan can be simplified, and the pan can be smoothly tilted without being affected by other components.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fourth aspects, the tray is configured to be tiltable to at least one side with respect to the right and left directions in the transport direction of the tray support. Therefore, the tray can be tilted in the left and right predetermined directions according to the layout of the sorting and packaging facility or the like, and the versatility of the bucket can be improved.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first to fifth aspects, the weight of the agricultural product placed on the bucket can be measured. It is possible to measure the weight, which is a quality item, in a mounted state, and to measure the quality of agricultural products with higher accuracy and efficiency.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a main part showing an embodiment of an agricultural product sorting apparatus employing a bucket 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 sectional view similar to FIG. 4, showing another embodiment of the bucket according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1... Agricultural product sorting device 2...... Sorting conveyor 3. · Suction device 7 ········· Conveyor chain 8 ········ Receiving tray 8a ······· Dish portion 8b ··· Cushion material 9 Bucket 10 Weight measuring device 11 Transmitted light measuring device 12・ Discharge unit 13 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Lighting 14 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Light receiving device 15 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Discharge device 16 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Receiving box 23 receiving tray support 24 opening 25 light-shielding cylinder 25a top flange 25b ..... Internal holes 26・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Through hole 27 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Hole 27a ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Guide groove 40 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Connection rod 51 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・..First light-shielding cylinder 51a... Upper end flange 51b... Internal hole 51c. 2 light-shielding cylinder 52a ... internal hole 52b ... spherical surface 57 ... support shaft 58 ... slider W ...・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Agricultural products i ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ Transport direction

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3F015 AA07 DA02 3F034 GA05 GB03 GC06 GD01 LA08 LB05 LB08 3F079 AC21 CA29 CB12 CB29 CB34 CC07 DA18

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A bucket for an agricultural product sorting device, comprising: a tray supporter provided at a predetermined interval in a conveying direction of a conveyor chain; and a tray which can be tilted laterally at a predetermined angle on the tray supporter. Form a through hole for transmitted light measurement at approximately the center of the
A light-shielding tube for emitting the agricultural product transmitted light introduced through the through-hole to a lower side of the through-hole of the saucer is provided below the saucer support, and the light-shielding tube shields light when the saucer is in a horizontal state. A bucket for an agricultural product sorting device, characterized by being obtained. 2. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light-shielding cylinder is provided on at least one of a bottom portion of the through-hole of the receiving tray and a hole portion of the receiving tray support that faces the through-hole. Bucket. 3. The pan according to claim 1, wherein the pan is tilted via a connecting rod for connecting a pan provided outside the rotation area of the light-shielding cylinder and a pan support on at least one of the front and rear sides in the transport direction. Item 3. A bucket for an agricultural product sorting device according to item 1 or 2. 4. The agricultural product sorting device according to claim 1, wherein the tray is tilted about a support shaft provided outside a rotation region of the light-shielding cylinder on a substantially center line on the left and right in the transport direction. Bucket for 5. The bucket according to claim 1, wherein the tray can be tilted to at least one side with respect to the right and left directions of the tray support in the conveying direction. . 6. The bucket for an agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the weight of the tray is measurable.