JP2002173210A - Meter having article gathering mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article gathering mechanism capable of smoothly gathering articles downward in the article gathering mechanism of a meter for gathering the article discharged from plural places by being weighed. SOLUTION: This meter is a meter having the article gathering mechanism. The article gathering mechanism is a mechanism for gathering the articles discharged from the plural places by being measured, and has a forcedly gathering discharging part 7d composed of plural side walls 31 to 34. The respective side walls 31 to 34 extend vertically or obliquely, and introduce the articles downward. The first side wall 31 is a vertical conveyor, and forcedly transfers the articles downward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a weighing device,
The present invention relates to a weighing device having an article collecting mechanism for collecting articles weighed and discharged from a plurality of locations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is generally considered desirable to perform combination weighing in order to perform weighing at high speed and with high accuracy. In combination weighing, the weight and number of articles stored in each of a plurality of weighing hoppers are weighed by a load cell (weight detector), and a combination calculation of the weighed values is performed to select a plurality of hoppers having a weight within a predetermined range. The articles are collected from these hoppers. As a result, an aggregate of a predetermined weight or a predetermined number of articles can be obtained.

Devices for performing such combination weighing include a device in which a plurality of weighing hoppers are radially arranged in a circle and a device in which a plurality of weighing hoppers are arranged on a straight line.
One example is shown in FIG.

A weighing device 101 shown in FIG. 1 is a semi-automatic combination weighing device in which a plurality of heads including a weighing hopper and the like are arranged in a row, and distributes articles such as food to each weighing hopper and a booster hopper. The hopper is selected so that the sum of the values becomes the target value, and the articles are assembled for each predetermined weight. The weighing device 101 includes an upper table 102, a supply feeder 103, a pool hopper 104, a weighing hopper 105, a booster hopper 106, an article collecting mechanism 107, and the like.

[0005] Here, an operator inputs an appropriate amount of articles stocked on the table 102 into the supply feeder 103 from the plurality of input ports in a unit amount. The articles are supplied to the pool hopper 104 corresponding to the supply feeder 103, and the weight is detected by the weighing hopper 105. The control unit performs a combination calculation based on the weight data in the weighing hopper 105 and the booster hopper 106 so that the total weight approaches a preset target weight. When a combination of hoppers is selected, the gates of the corresponding hoppers are opened, and articles are transferred from those hoppers to the horizontal conveyor 10 of the article collecting mechanism 107.
7a. The articles discharged onto the horizontal conveyor 107a are collected by one of the collecting and discharging chutes 107b and 107c.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Are formed by metal side walls having a vertical surface or an inclined surface, and have lower openings. Horizontal conveyor 107a
Articles entering the upper opening from are guided to the side wall and collected in the lower opening and discharged. Collective discharge chutes in other weighing devices have a similar structure.

However, when the article is conveyed fast by a horizontal conveyor or the like and the article strongly hits the side wall of the collecting / discharging chute, even if the side wall has a vertical or nearly vertical inclination, the article remains on the side wall. May adhere. In particular, in the case of an article having high tackiness and easy to adhere, such an adhesion phenomenon often occurs. This phenomenon is also observed in foods such as pickles, but in the case of extremely sticky foods such as spaghetti containing meat sauce and salads containing mayonnaise, the frequency and amount of attachment are considerably large.

[0008] When such an adhesion phenomenon occurs, articles entering the collecting and discharging chute often hit the side walls and then fall off as if peeled off.
For this reason, it takes time to collect and discharge by the collective discharge chute, and it becomes impossible to increase the processing capacity of the entire weighing device. Although it is conceivable to reduce the speed of articles when entering the collecting and discharging chute in order to suppress the adhesion phenomenon, this also lowers the processing capacity of the entire weighing device.

Further, if the attached articles accumulate on the side wall of the collecting and discharging chute, the weight of the articles when combined and weighed is different from the weight of the ejected articles, so that the quantity of the ejected articles is small. More to do.

An object of the present invention is an article collecting mechanism of a weighing device for collecting articles weighed and discharged from a plurality of places, and smoothly collects the articles downward even when the articles have adhesiveness. It is an object of the present invention to provide an article collecting mechanism capable of performing the following.

[0011]

A weighing device according to a first aspect is a weighing device having an article collecting mechanism. The article collecting mechanism is a mechanism for collecting articles weighed and discharged from a plurality of locations, and includes a collecting and discharging unit including a plurality of side walls. The side walls of the collecting outlet extend vertically or obliquely and guide the articles downward. The first side wall, which is one of the side walls, has a forced downward transfer means. The forced downward transfer means forcibly transfers the article downward.

Here, the first side wall, which is one of the plurality of side walls of the collecting and discharging section, has a means for forcibly transferring articles downward (forcible downward transfer means). Therefore, even when the sticky article collides with the first side wall, the article adhesion can be suppressed or the article adhesion can be eliminated. Thus, even if the article has adhesiveness, the article can be smoothly collected at the lower portion of the collecting and discharging unit, and the processing capacity of the entire weighing device can be improved.

[0013] Further, if the surface itself on which the article collides is moved by the forced downward transfer means, the phenomenon of the article itself adhering to the surface of the first side wall itself can be suppressed. On the other hand, when the forced downward transfer means for forcibly dropping the articles attached to the first side surface downward is provided, it is possible to mainly remove the attached articles.

The weighing device mentioned here is a concept including a device for measuring the weight of an article and a device for measuring the quantity of an article. A weighing device according to a second aspect is the weighing device according to the first aspect, wherein the article collecting mechanism further includes a horizontal transfer unit. The horizontal transfer means transfers the articles discharged from a plurality of locations substantially horizontally to the collecting and discharging section. The collective discharge unit is disposed near the discharge end of the horizontal transfer unit. Further, the first side wall is arranged to face the discharge end of the horizontal transfer means.

Although it is desirable to provide a forced downward transfer means on all the side walls in order to avoid the adhesion of the articles, it is often difficult to realize this due to space restrictions and cost problems. Therefore, in the weighing device according to the second aspect, the first side wall capable of forcibly sending the article downward is disposed so as to face the discharge end of the horizontal transfer means. This realizes a state in which most of the articles do not adhere to any of the side walls even if the forced downward transfer means is not provided on all of the side walls.

A weighing device according to a third aspect is the weighing device according to the second aspect, wherein not only the first side wall but also the second side wall facing the first side wall is forcibly transporting the article downward. Forcible downward transfer means.

Here, in order to suppress the phenomenon in which the article transferred by the horizontal transfer means and directly hits the first side wall rebounds to the second side wall facing the first side wall and the article adheres to the second side wall, Forcible downward transfer means is also provided on the second side wall.

A weighing device according to a fourth aspect is the weighing device according to the third aspect, wherein the horizontal transfer means and the second side wall include:
They share a belt to transport goods. Here, since the horizontal transfer means and the second side wall share the belt, the structure can be simplified and the maintainability can be improved.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the weighing apparatus according to the second aspect, the horizontal transfer means includes first horizontal transfer means and second horizontal transfer means disposed on both sides of the collecting and discharging section. is there. The first side wall is disposed to face the discharge end of the second horizontal transfer means. The second side wall facing the first side wall is arranged to face the discharge end of the first horizontal transfer means, and has a forced downward transfer means for forcibly transferring articles downward.

A weighing device according to claim 6 is the weighing device according to claim 5, wherein the first horizontal transfer means and the first side wall share a belt for transferring articles. Further, the second horizontal transfer means and the second side wall also share a belt for transferring the articles.

A weighing device according to a seventh aspect is the weighing device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the article collection mechanism further includes a discharge position changing unit. The discharge position changing means moves at least one of the side walls to change the position of the articles discharged from the collective discharge section.

Here, the discharge position changing means is provided so that the discharge position of the articles from the collective discharge unit can be changed, so that the weighed items can be sorted and discharged.

[0023]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment <Configuration of Combination Weighing Apparatus 1> FIGS. 2 and 3 show a combination weighing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention. The combination weighing device 1 is a weighing device that sorts articles such as food into each of the weighing hoppers and the booster hoppers, selects a hopper so that the total of the weighed values becomes a target value, and collects the articles for each predetermined weight. . The combination weighing device 1 includes an upper table 2, a supply feeder 3, a pool hopper 4, a weighing hopper 5,
Booster hopper 6, article collecting mechanism 7, drive box 8,
It comprises a control panel 9 and the like.

[Table 2] The table 2 is formed as a rectangular tray capable of stocking articles. At the front of the bottom surface of the table 2, a plurality of input ports for inputting the articles on the table 2 to the respective feed feeders 3 are opened at equal intervals. A plurality of supply feeders 3 corresponding to the respective inlets are arranged below the inlets in a straight line in the horizontal direction.

[Supply Feeder 3] The supply feeder 3 is composed of an electromagnetic vibrator and an inclined trough. The articles fed from the table 2 to the rear of the inclined trough are vibrated to move the articles to the pool hopper 4. Conveyed to.

[Hoppers 4, 5, 6] The pool hopper 4
It is provided at the lower part of the tip of each supply feeder 3 and temporarily stores articles supplied from each feeder 3.

The weighing hoppers 5 are arranged directly below the pool hoppers 4 and receive and measure articles discharged from the pool hoppers 4. The booster hoppers 6 are arranged directly below the respective weighing hoppers 5 and temporarily store articles discharged from the respective weighing hoppers 5. The articles stored in the booster hopper 6 participate in the combination calculation together with the articles in the weighing hopper 5.

The structures of the pool hopper 4, the weighing hopper 5, and the booster hopper 6 are substantially the same. Each hopper is composed of a cylindrical main body formed of a synthetic resin and communicating vertically, and a gate attached to the lower surface of the main body so as to be openable and closable. Each hopper can store articles in the hopper body when the gate is closed, and discharges the stored articles downward when the gate is opened.

The weighing hopper 5 has a load cell 5a in the drive box 8, as shown in FIG.
The load cell 5a measures the weight of the article in the weighing hopper 5, and transmits the measured value to a control unit (not shown).

[Article Collecting Mechanism 7] As shown in FIG. 2, the article collecting mechanism 7 includes a horizontal conveyor 7a, an assembly discharge chute 7c, and a forced assembly discharge section 7d. As will be described later, the article collecting mechanism 7 collects and discharges the weighed articles dropped on the horizontal conveyor 7a from the booster hopper 6 selected in combination by the collecting and discharging chute 7c or the forced collecting and discharging unit 7d.

(Horizontal conveyor 7a) Horizontal conveyor 7a
Is a belt conveyor having a belt 21, which horizontally conveys the articles discharged from the booster hopper 6, and transfers the articles to the collective discharge chute 7c or the forced collective discharge section 7d. In addition, on both sides of the transport surface of the horizontal conveyor 7a,
A guide plate 22 for guiding a conveyed article is provided.

(Collecting discharge chute 7c) The funnel-shaped collecting discharge chute 7c is provided between the left and right horizontal conveyors 7a as shown in FIG. 2, and is used for collecting articles falling from the inner end of the horizontal conveyor 7a. Guide it down without scattering. The collective discharge chute 7c discharges the article from the lower opening by utilizing the drop of the article due to gravity.

(Forced Set Discharge Unit 7d) Forced Set Discharge Unit 7
d is the first side wall 31 and the second side wall 3 as shown in FIG.
It is composed of a second side wall 33 and a fourth side wall 34, and the articles are discharged from the lower opening 30 through the articles passing through the article passing space surrounded by these side walls 31 to 34 on all four sides.
A tray T is set below the lower opening 30 by another device (see FIGS. 4 and 5), and the articles discharged from the lower opening 30 enter the tray T.

The first side wall 31 is a vertical conveyor composed of a belt 31a, a driving pulley 31b, a driven pulley 31c, a motor 32d and the like. The belt 31a is a flat belt stretched over a driving pulley 31b and a driven pulley 31c. The driving pulley 31b is connected to the horizontal conveyor 7a.
Motor 31d so that the belt surface on the side moves downward.
Rotated by The width of the belt 31a is substantially equal to the width of the conveyor belt surface of the horizontal conveyor 7a.

The second side wall 32 is a metal plate extending obliquely downward from the lower space near the end of the horizontal conveyor 7a to approach the vicinity of the lower end of the first side wall 31. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second side wall 32 has inclined plates 33b, 33b of the third and fourth side walls 33, 34, as shown in FIGS.
It is connected to the hypotenuse of 34b.

The third and fourth side walls 33 and 34 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the first and second side walls 31 and 32 facing each other, the upper half being vertical plates 33a and 34a and the lower half being inclined plates. 33b and 34b. The vertical plates 33a and 34a are connected to the belt 2 of the horizontal conveyor 7a.
1 plays a role in suppressing the scattering of the articles carried to the side. In addition to such a role, the inclined plates 33b and 34b play a role of guiding the articles to be transferred downward to the lower opening 30. The lower opening 30 is an opening surrounded by the lower sides of the inclined plates 33b and 34b, the lower side of the second side wall 32, and the belt 31a of the first side wall 31 (see FIG. 6).

[Drive Box 8, Control Panel 9] Electromagnetic vibration device of supply feeder 3, drive motor for opening and closing gates of hoppers 4, 5, 6; drive motor of horizontal conveyor 7a; load cell of weighing hopper 5; Are arranged in the drive box 8. On the side of this drive box 8,
A column supporting the control panel 9 is fixed (see FIG. 2).

A control unit (not shown) includes a control panel 9
And in the drive box 8, and C
It is composed of a PU, a ROM, a RAM, an HDD, and the like, and is connected to each drive unit, the load cell 5a, and the like. This control unit performs a process such as a combination operation based on the measurement data from the load cell 5a, and controls the movement of each drive unit. The control panel 9 plays a role of an input unit that receives an input from the operator, and also plays a role of a display unit that performs various displays.

<Operation of Combination Weighing Apparatus 1> Next, the operation of this combination weighing apparatus 1 will be described. Combination weighing device 1
Are pool hopper 4, weighing hopper 5, booster hopper 6
(See FIG. 2), and can be used in various ways. For example, all 10 heads on the left and right are used for measuring one article,
A collective discharge chute 7c collects the weighed articles to a predetermined weight.
It is also possible to collectively discharge by order,
It is also possible to use the left and right sides for weighing different articles, respectively, and discharge the left weighed article by the forced discharge unit 7d and discharge the right weighed article by the collective discharge chute 7c.

As described above, the combination weighing apparatus 1 can be used in various ways. In the following, the articles having adhesiveness are weighed using the left five heads, and the weighed articles are transferred from the forced collecting and discharging section 7d to the tray T. How to discharge will be described. The articles to be weighed are assumed to be sticky foods such as spaghetti with meat sauce and burdock salad with mayonnaise.

[Operation from Input of Commodities to Combination Weighing] First, an operator standing behind the combination weighing apparatus 1 feeds the articles stocked on the table 2 from the plurality of inlets by the supply feeder 3. To the appropriate amount. The input articles are supplied from the supply feeder 3 to the corresponding pool hopper 4.

When there is no article in the weighing hopper 5 below the pool hopper 4, the gate of the pool hopper 4 opens and the article is discharged to the weighing hopper 5. Weighing hopper 5
Is detected by the load cell 5a, sent to the control unit, and stored.

When there is no article in the booster hopper 6 below the weighing hopper 5, after the weight detection is completed, the gate of the weighing hopper 5 opens and the article is discharged to the booster hopper 6. When the weighing hopper 5 becomes empty in this way, articles are supplied from the pool hopper 4 into the weighing hopper 5. The weight of the article is also detected by the load cell 5a, sent to the control unit, and stored. That is, the control unit stores the previously measured weight value of the article currently in the booster hopper 6 and the currently measured weight value of the article in the current hopper 5.

Such an operation is performed for each head composed of the pool hopper 4, the weighing hopper 5, and the booster hopper 6. Each time the weighing hopper 5 and the booster hopper 6 discharge an article and a new article is supplied, the data of the measurement value stored in each of the hoppers 5 and 6 is updated.

The control unit operates these weighing hoppers 5
Based on the measured value data in the booster hopper 6, the combination calculation is performed so that the total weight is close to a preset target weight. That is, the control unit selects several hoppers that are the most suitable combination from the weighing hoppers 5 and the booster hoppers 6 in the 10 rows, and the weight of the collective article matches the target weight or the target weight within the allowable range. To be close to

However, in order to select the measurement data of the article currently in the weighing hopper 5, the measurement data of the booster hopper 6 below the weighing hopper 5 must also be selected. In the combination calculation, the lower booster hopper 6 is given priority over the upper weighing hopper 5 within an allowable range.

When a combination hopper is selected, the gates of the corresponding hoppers are opened, and articles are discharged from these hoppers onto the horizontal conveyor 7a. If the combination is only the booster hopper 6, the empty booster hopper 6
Is supplied from the weighing hopper 5. When the combination includes the weighing hopper 5, the articles in the weighing hopper 5 are discharged together with the articles into the booster hopper 6 thereunder.

Then, after a new article is weighed by the weighing hopper 5, the article is supplied to the booster hopper 6. [Regarding Collecting Operation of Articles Discharged from Plural Booster Hoppers 6] The articles discharged from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal conveyor 7a are
The transfer is performed to the forcible set discharging section 7d by a. In this usage, when the weighing is normally completed, the compulsory collecting and discharging section 7d collects and discharges the articles, and uses the collecting and discharging chute 7c when discarding the articles in the hopper due to an error or the like.

The articles carried on the belt 21 of the horizontal conveyor 7a and conveyed to the forced collecting and discharging section 7d fall obliquely downward toward the first side wall 31 as shown by the white arrow A in FIG. , Into the space surrounded by the side walls 31 to 34. At this time, the belt 31 of the first side wall 31
The object a that is moving and collides with the belt 31a receives a downward force from the belt 31a. Therefore, the goods
It is less likely to adhere to the belt 31a and moves down quickly.

The moving speed of the belt 31a of the first side wall 31 is set to be equal to or faster than the moving speed of the belt 21 of the horizontal conveyor 7a.

The articles falling through the article passing space surrounded by the side walls 31 to 34 are the second side wall 32 and the third and fourth articles.
It is guided by the inclined plates 33 b and 34 b of the side walls 33 and 34 and is assembled into the lower opening 30. Then, the collected articles enter the tray T from the lower opening 30.

<Characteristics of the article collecting mechanism 7 of the combination weighing device 1> Here, the first side wall 31 of the forced collecting and discharging section 7d is
It is a vertical conveyor that can forcibly transfer goods downward. Therefore, the belt 31 of the first side wall 31
Even if the sticky article collides with a, the article hardly adheres, and even if the article adheres, the article easily peels off. As a result, even if the article has adhesiveness, the article can be collected smoothly downward.

Further, from the viewpoint of avoiding the attachment of articles, it is desirable that all the side walls 31 to 34 be vertical conveyors or inclined conveyors, but it is difficult to realize the side walls 31 to 34 due to space restrictions and cost problems. Therefore, here, only the first side wall 31 located at a position where most of the articles conveyed by the horizontal conveyor 7a directly hit (a position facing the discharge end of the horizontal conveyor 7a) is used as the conveyor.
Thereby, the adhesion of the article to the side walls 31 to 34 is substantially suppressed.

[Second Embodiment] In the first embodiment,
The discharge destination of the articles by the forced assembly discharge unit 7d is shown in FIGS.
However, as shown in FIG. 7, it is also possible to swing the forcible collecting and discharging unit 7d to distribute and weigh articles to the trays T set in parallel.

In this case, the forced collecting / discharging portion 7d composed of the side walls 31 to 34 has a structure capable of swinging about the upper part of the first side wall 31. Then, an air cylinder 7e for pushing or pulling the lower part of the first side wall 31 is provided, and the air cylinder 7e is controlled by the control unit so that the lower opening 30 comes in order above each of the trays T set in parallel. Control.

As described above, by adopting a structure in which the position of the lower opening 30 which is the article discharge port of the forced collecting and discharging section 7d can be changed, it is possible to sort and discharge the weighed objects.

[Third Embodiment] In the first embodiment,
Only the first side wall 31 at the place where most of the articles transferred by the horizontal conveyor 7a directly hit is used as a conveyor,
As for the other side walls 32 to 34, a conventional metal plate is adopted. However, as shown in FIG. 8, a configuration may be adopted in which two opposite side walls of the forcible collecting and discharging unit are both moved downward. It is possible.

In the article collecting mechanism of the third embodiment, the first side wall 7g is placed at the position of the first side wall 31 of the first embodiment, and is placed horizontally at the position of the second side wall 32 and the left horizontal conveyor 7a of the first embodiment. A vertical conveyor 7f is provided. The article collecting mechanism collects and discharges the weighed articles dropped from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal portion 51a of the horizontal and vertical conveyor 7f above the tray T.

[First Side Wall 7g] The first side wall 7g is a vertical conveyor composed of a belt 61, a driving pulley 62, a driven pulley 63 and the like. The belt 61 includes the driving pulley 6
2 is a flat belt stretched over the driven pulley 63 and the driven pulley 63. The drive pulley 62 is rotated by a motor (not shown) so that the belt surface on the horizontal / vertical conveyor 7f side moves downward.

The first side wall 7g and the like are
It has a structure that can swing around the vicinity, and swings under the control of the air cylinder 64. The driven pulley 63 below the first side wall 7g and the driven pulley 54 of the horizontal / vertical conveyor 7f described later are connected at both ends (not shown) by pin supporting members so that the distance between their centers does not change. Therefore, it is surrounded by the lower part of the first side wall 7g, the lower part of the horizontal and vertical conveyor 7f, and the lower part of two side walls orthogonal to these (corresponding to the third and fourth side walls in the first embodiment; not shown). The lower opening of the forced assembly discharge section
As shown in FIG. 8, the position moves so as to sort and discharge the two trays T.

The moving speed of the belt 61 on the first side wall 7g is set to be equal to the moving speed of the belt 51 on the horizontal and vertical conveyor 7f. [Horizontal / Vertical Conveyor 7f] The horizontal / vertical conveyor 7f includes a belt 51, a driving pulley 53, driven pulleys 52 and 54, a tension adjusting pulley 55, and the like, and is driven by a motor (not shown). The belt 51 is stretched around pulleys 52 to 55 arranged as shown in FIG.
1a and an inclined vertical portion 51b. The driving pulley 53 and the driven pulley 52 are fixed in position, but the driven pulley 54 moves in conjunction with the driven pulley 63 on the first side wall 7g described above. Further, the tension adjusting pulley 55 is
In accordance with the movement of 4, the belt 51 moves so as to maintain the tension.

The horizontal portion 51a transfers the articles discharged from the booster hopper 6 selected for combination to the first side wall 7g side. The inclined vertical portion 51b is arranged so as to face the first side wall 7g, and approaches the first side wall 7g as it goes down.

[Assembling Operation of Articles Discharged from Plural Booster Hoppers 6] Articles discharged from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal portion 51a of the horizontal / vertical conveyor 7f move toward the first side wall 7g. Is transferred.
The article conveyed to the end of the horizontal portion 51a falls obliquely downward toward the first side wall 7g and enters the space between the first side wall 7g and the inclined vertical portion 51b. At this time, the belt 61 on the first side wall 7g is moving,
The article colliding with 1 receives a downward force from the belt 61. Therefore, the article is less likely to adhere to the belt 61 and moves down quickly.

Further, an article which once collides with the belt 61 and rebounds may hit the inclined vertical portion 51b. However, the inclined vertical portion 51b also moves downward at a speed similar to that of the belt 61, and the article is less likely to adhere to the belt 51, and moves downward quickly.

Further, the articles falling on the belt 61 or the like are guided to two side walls (not shown) orthogonal to the belt 61, the belt 61, and the inclined vertical portion 51b, and are collected in a space immediately above the tray T. Then, the collected articles enter the tray T from the lower opening.

<Characteristics of the Article Collecting Mechanism of the Third Embodiment> Here, the article directly hitting the first side wall 7g is the first side wall 7g.
Even if it rebounds to the inclined vertical part 51b facing g, the article hardly adheres to the belt 51 (the inclined vertical part 51b) because the inclined vertical part 51b moves downward. That is, although the structure is slightly more complicated than that of the article collecting mechanism of the first embodiment, the degree of suppression of the adhesion of the articles is further improved.

[Fourth Embodiment] In each of the above embodiments, the configuration is such that the side wall itself against which the article collides moves downward, but the scraper scrapes off the adhered article against the fixed side wall surface. By installing the device, it is also possible to suppress the trouble due to the adhesion of the article.

FIGS. 9 and 10 show a forced collecting and discharging unit 7h in the fourth embodiment. This forced assembly discharge section 7h
Can be adopted in place of the forced set discharging unit 7d of the first embodiment.

(Structure of Forced Collecting Discharge Portion 7h) The forced collective discharging portion 7h has a first side wall 71, a second side wall 72, and a third side wall 7h.
It is constituted by a third and fourth side wall 74 and a scraper moving mechanism 75, and discharges the article from the lower opening 70 through the article in the article passing space surrounded by these side walls 71 to 74 on all four sides. A tray T is set below the lower opening 70 by another device, and the articles discharged from the lower opening 70 enter the tray T.

The first side wall 71 is a metal plate extending in the vertical direction, and is arranged at a small distance from the end of the horizontal conveyor 7a. The second side wall 72 is a metal plate extending obliquely downward from a lower space near an end of the horizontal conveyor 7a to approach a lower end of the first side wall 71. As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the second side wall 72 is connected to the oblique sides of the inclined plates 73b and 74b of the third and fourth side walls 73 and 74, respectively.

The third and fourth side walls 73 and 74 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the first and second side walls 71 and 72 facing each other, the upper half being vertical plates 73a and 74a and the lower half being inclined plates. 73b and 74b. The vertical plates 73a and 74a are connected to the belt 2 of the horizontal conveyor 7a.
1 plays a role in suppressing the scattering of the articles carried to the side. The inclined plates 73b and 74b play a role of guiding the articles to be transported downward to the lower opening 70 in addition to such a role. The lower opening 70 is an opening surrounded by the lower sides of the inclined plates 73b and 74b, the lower side of the second side wall 72, and the lower side of the first side wall 71 (see FIG. 10).

The scraper moving mechanism 75 is connected to the first side wall 71.
Sprockets 75a arranged near the four corners of
The chain 75b is hung on the upper and lower two sprockets 75a on the third side wall 73 side, the chain 75b is hung on the upper and lower two sprockets 75a on the fourth side wall 74 side, and both ends are fixed to both chains 75b. And a plurality of scrapers 75c. When the sprocket 75a is rotated by the motor, each of the scrapers 7a
5c moves around the first side wall 71 so as to scrape off the articles attached to the first side wall 71 on the side of the horizontal conveyor 7a.

[Regarding Collecting Operation of Articles Discharged from Plural Booster Hoppers 6] The articles discharged from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal conveyor 7a are transported by the horizontal conveyor 7a to the forced collecting and discharging section 7h. Is done.

The article carried on the belt 21 of the horizontal conveyor 7a and conveyed to the forced collecting and discharging section 7h falls obliquely downward toward the first side wall 71 and enters the space surrounded by the side walls 71 to 74. Go. At this time, the scraper 75c is moving, and the articles that collide with and adhere to the first side wall 71 are scraped off by the scraper 75c.

The articles falling in the article passing space surrounded by the side walls 71 to 74 are guided by the second side wall 72 and the inclined plates 73b and 74b of the third and fourth side walls, and are gathered in the lower opening 70. Let me do. Then, the collected articles enter the tray T from the lower opening 70.

[Fifth Embodiment] In each of the above embodiments,
The present invention is applied to a weighing device in which each head composed of a pool hopper 4, a weighing hopper 5, and a booster hopper 6 is arranged on a straight line. The present invention can also be applied to such cases.

For example, instead of a conventional funnel-shaped collecting chute, eight inclined conveyors arranged below each head are arranged so as to be octagonal in plan view with respect to eight circular heads. An article discharged from each head can be forcibly transferred downward.

In addition, when there is a fear that the article is not attached to the conventional funnel-shaped collecting chute but is attached to the cylindrical article transfer member located below the collecting chute, the forcing as shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to arrange | position the article transfer mechanism 7i with a transfer function under the funnel-shaped chute.

An article transfer mechanism 7i shown in FIG. 11 includes a belt 81 made of elastic synthetic rubber and a belt 8
A plurality of rollers 82 supporting the upper and lower parts 1,
And a drive roller 85. The belt 81 is
A plurality of rollers 82 arranged on the circumference at each of the upper and lower sides
Is supported in a rolled-up state. The drive roller 85 is in contact with the belt 81 from the outside, and rotates around a horizontal axis. When the driving roller 85 rotates, the upper part of the outer peripheral surface of the belt 81 moves to the upper part of the inner peripheral surface,
The belt 81 rotates so that the lower part of the inner peripheral surface of the belt 81 moves to the lower part of the outer peripheral surface. As a result, a state occurs in which the inner peripheral surface of the belt 81 is constantly moving downward, and articles entering the space surrounded by the belt 81 as indicated by a white arrow A are removed from the inner peripheral surface of the belt 81. When the vehicle collides with the belt 81, it is sent downward without adhering to the belt 81.

[Sixth Embodiment] <Configuration of Combination Weighing Apparatus> FIG. 12 shows a combination weighing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention. This is performed by the forced collecting and discharging unit 7 of the article collecting mechanism 7 of the combination weighing device 1 shown in FIG.
What is equivalent to d is two horizontal conveyors 7a1, 7a
It is a device arranged between the two. Therefore, the configuration of the table 2, the supply feeder 3, the hoppers 4, 5, 6, the drive box 8, and the control panel 9 are the same as in the first embodiment.

[Structure of the article collecting mechanism] The article collecting mechanism of the sixth embodiment has a horizontal conveyor 7a as shown in FIG.
1, 7a2 and a forced set discharging unit 7j. As will be described later, the article collecting mechanism collects and discharges the weighed articles dropped from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal conveyors 7a1 and 7a2 by the forced collecting and discharging unit 7j.

(Horizontal Conveyors 7a1 and 7a2) The horizontal conveyors 7a1 and 7a2 are belt conveyors, which horizontally convey articles discharged from the booster hopper 6 and convey them to the forced assembly discharge section 7j. Further, guide plates for guiding the articles to be conveyed are provided on both sides of the conveying surface of the horizontal conveyor 7a.

(Forced Set Discharge Unit 7j) Forced Set Discharge Unit 7
j is composed of a first side wall 91, a second side wall 92, a third side wall, and a fourth side wall, and discharges the article from the lower opening through the article through four sides into the article passage space surrounded by these side walls. Below this lower opening, a tray T
Is set (see FIG. 12), and the articles discharged from the lower opening enter the tray T.

The first side wall 91 is a vertical conveyor composed of a belt, a driving pulley, a driven pulley, a motor, and the like, and is arranged substantially along the vertical direction as shown in FIG. The first side wall 91 is provided on the horizontal conveyor 7a2.
Is disposed to face the discharge end of the.

The second side wall 92 is also a vertical conveyor composed of a belt, a driving pulley, a driven pulley, a motor, and the like, and is arranged substantially along the vertical direction as shown in FIG. The second side wall 92 is provided on the horizontal conveyor 7a1.
Is disposed to face the discharge end of the.

As is apparent from FIG. 12, the first side wall 91 and the second side wall 92 face each other. A third side wall and a fourth side wall (not shown) are metal plates, and are disposed so as to be orthogonal to the first and second side walls 91 and 92, and are formed in a cylindrical space together with the first and second side walls 91 and 92. (Article passing space).

<Operation of Combination Weighing Apparatus 1> Next, the operation of this combination weighing apparatus 1 will be described. In the combination weighing device 1 of the present embodiment, five heads each composed of a pool hopper 4, a weighing hopper 5, and a booster hopper 6 are arranged on the left and right sides (see FIG. 12). The articles used for weighing the articles and weighed to a predetermined weight are collectively discharged by the forced collecting and discharging section 7j.

[Regarding Operation from Input of Article to Combination Weighing] This operation is the same as in the first embodiment. [Regarding Collecting Operation of Articles Discharged from Plural Booster Hoppers 6] The articles discharged from the combination-selected booster hopper 6 onto the horizontal conveyor 7a are
It is transported to the forced set discharging unit 7j by a1 and 7a2.

The articles carried on the belt of the horizontal conveyor 7a1 and conveyed to the forced collecting and discharging section 7j are separated from the second side wall 9a.
Fall diagonally downward toward 2. In addition, horizontal conveyor 7
The article carried on the belt a2 and conveyed to the forced collecting and discharging unit 7j falls obliquely downward toward the first side wall 91. In this way, the article enters the space surrounded by the first to fourth side walls. At this time, the belt on the first side wall 91 and the belt on the second side wall 92 are moving and collided with each belt. The article receives a downward force from the belt. Therefore, the article is less likely to adhere to the belts of the first side wall 91 and the second side wall 92, and moves downward quickly.

The belt speed of the first side wall 91 and the second side wall 92 is set to be equal to or higher than the belt speed of the horizontal conveyors 7a1 and 7a2.

The articles moving downward in the space surrounded by the first to fourth side walls as described above are gathered into the lower opening, and enter the tray T from the lower opening. Seventh Embodiment In addition to the configuration of the sixth embodiment, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a scraper 95 for scraping an article may be provided below the first side wall 91 and the second side wall 92 (near the discharge end). If the scraper 95 is fixed in this way, even when an article adheres to the belt on the first side wall 91 or the second side wall 92, the scraper 95 scrapes off the adhered article and guides it to the tray T.

[Eighth Embodiment] In the sixth embodiment,
Although the first and second side walls 91 and 92, which are vertical conveyors, are separated from the horizontal conveyors 7a1 and 7a2, horizontal and vertical conveyors 191 and 192 shown in FIG. 14 may be provided instead.

Here, the horizontal portions 191a, 19
2a serves to transfer the articles discharged from the booster hopper 6 to the forced collecting and discharging section 7k between the horizontal and vertical conveyors 191 and 192. The inclined vertical portions 191b and 192b of the belt serve as the first side wall 91 and the second side wall 92 in the sixth embodiment.

[Ninth Embodiment] As shown in FIG.
In the embodiment, the guide plates 22 are provided on both sides of the belt 21 of the horizontal conveyor 7a, but instead of providing such guide plates 22, a horizontal conveyor using a belt having a conveyed surface having a concave shape may be used. It is also conceivable to employ a horizontal conveyor having a recess at the center of the belt.

The belt 21a of the horizontal conveyor 17a shown in FIG. 15 (a) has a concave cross-section, and both sides play a role of guiding articles to be conveyed. FIG.
The inner surface of the belt 21b of the horizontal conveyor 17b shown in (b) is supported by the support pieces 41, 42, and 43, and the belt is curved in an arc shape so that the center of the outer surface of the belt (transport surface) is depressed. Therefore, the conveyed article is less likely to spill to the side.

If the horizontal conveyors 17a and 17b as shown in FIG. 15 are employed, the guide plate 22 can be omitted, and the amount of articles that adhere to the guide plate 22 and are not conveyed can be reduced. .

[0097]

According to the present invention, since the first side wall, which is one of the plurality of side walls of the collecting and discharging portion, has means for forcibly transferring the article downward, the first side wall has an adhesive article. In the case where a collision occurs, it is possible to suppress the adhesion of the article or to eliminate the adhesion of the article. Thereby, even if the article has adhesiveness, the article can be smoothly collected at the lower portion of the collecting and discharging unit, and the processing capacity of the entire weighing device can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional combination weighing device.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the combination weighing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the combination weighing device.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a forced collecting and discharging unit.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a first side wall of a forced collecting and discharging unit.

FIG. 6 is a view of the vicinity of a first side wall of a forced collecting and discharging unit as viewed from above.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a forced collecting and discharging unit according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 8A is a front view of a forced collecting and discharging unit according to a third embodiment. (B) A front view showing a change in the posture of the forced assembly discharge unit.

FIG. 9 is a front view of a forced collecting and discharging unit according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a first example of a forced set discharging unit in the fourth embodiment.
The figure which looked at the vicinity of the side wall from the upper side.

FIG. 11A is a perspective view of an article transfer mechanism with a forced transfer function according to a fifth embodiment. (B) Top view of the article transfer mechanism.

FIG. 12 is a front view of a combination weighing device according to a sixth embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a layout view of a scraper according to a seventh embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a combination weighing device according to an eighth embodiment.

FIG. 15A is a cross-sectional view of a belt of a horizontal conveyor according to a ninth embodiment. (B) Sectional drawing of the belt of another horizontal conveyor in 9th Embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Combination weighing device (weighing device) 7 Article collection mechanism 7a Horizontal conveyor (horizontal transfer means) 7a1 Horizontal conveyor (first horizontal transfer means) 7a2 Horizontal conveyor (second horizontal transfer means) 7d Forced collection discharge section (collection discharge section) 7e Air cylinder (discharge position changing means) 7f Horizontal / vertical conveyor (horizontal transfer means; second side wall) 7g First side wall 7h Forced discharge unit (collection discharge unit) 7i Article transfer mechanism (collection discharge unit) 31 First side wall 31a Belt (forced lower transfer means) 31b Drive roller (forced lower transfer means) 31c Driven roller (forced lower transfer means) 31d Motor (forced lower transfer means) 32 Second side wall 33 Third side wall 34 Fourth side wall 64 Air cylinder (discharge) Position changing means) 51 belt 81 belt (first side wall) 91 first side wall 92 second side wall

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B65B 37/18 B65B 37/18 39/00 39/00 C (72) Inventor Akinori Muko Ritto, Kurita-gun, Shiga In-house Ishida Shiga Plant at 959, Machishita Huka (72) Inventor Hideaki Ana F-term (reference) 3E018 AB10 BB10 DA02 DA04 EA01 3E055 AA02 BB04 CA01 CA03 CB04 DA03 DA05 DA12 EA01 EA07 EB01 EB09 FA10 3F011 AA07 BA10 BC01

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A weighing apparatus having an article collecting mechanism for collecting articles weighed and discharged from a plurality of locations, wherein the article collecting mechanism extends vertically or diagonally from a plurality of side walls for guiding the articles downward. A weighing device, comprising: a collective discharge portion comprising: a first side wall, which is one of the side walls, having a forced downward transfer means for forcibly transferring an article downward. 2. The article collecting mechanism further includes horizontal transfer means for transferring the articles discharged from the plurality of locations substantially horizontally to the collecting and discharging section, wherein the collecting and discharging section includes the horizontal transferring means. The weighing device according to claim 1, wherein the weighing device is disposed near a discharge end of the horizontal transfer unit, and the first side wall is disposed to face a discharge end of the horizontal transfer unit. 3. The weighing device according to claim 2, wherein the second side wall facing the first side wall also has a forced downward transfer means for forcibly transferring the article downward. 4. The weighing device according to claim 3, wherein the horizontal transfer means and the second side wall share a belt for transferring articles. 5. The horizontal transfer means is a first horizontal transfer means and a second horizontal transfer means disposed on both sides of the collecting and discharging unit, and the first side wall is a discharge end of the second horizontal transfer means. A second side wall facing the first side wall and facing the discharge end of the first horizontal transfer unit, and forcibly transporting articles downward. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein
A weighing device according to claim 1. 6. The first horizontal transfer means and the first side wall share a belt for transferring an article, and the second horizontal transfer means and the second side wall form a belt for transferring an article. The weighing device according to claim 5, which is shared. 7. The article collecting mechanism further includes discharge position changing means for moving at least one of the side walls to change a position of an article discharged from the collecting and discharging section.
The weighing device according to claim 1.