JP2003164273A - Apparatus for peeling coat of field crop - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for peeling the coat of field crops capable of securely and smoothly doing an operation of separating unnecessary or uneatable coat from fried crops. <P>SOLUTION: This apparatus is such that the full length of Welsh onion A is kept in almost a vertical posture with a pair of supporters 3 constituting a hanging conveyor 2 and supplied to a coat separating device 10. The borderline part between the stem part Ab and the leaf part Ac of the Welsh onion A is inserted into a pair of air discharge parts 37 constituting a coat peeling unit 35 so as to support (or correct) the stem part Ab of the Welsh onion A in a condition of being almost uniformly sprayed with air G discharged from the air discharge parts 37 with a pair of support arms 36. The air G discharged from the pair of air discharge parts 37 is continuously sprayed to the peripheral surface of the stem part Ab of the Welsh onion A to separate unnecessary coat Ae all at once while descendingly moving the coat peeling unit 35 to almost the vertical direction along the stem part Ab of the Welsh onion A. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention separates unnecessary or edible epidermis (lower leaf) wrapping the outer surface of agricultural crops such as leeks, burdock roots, asparagus, cucumber, eggplant, carrots and potatoes. The present invention relates to a crop peeling device used for the work of peeling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for separating the onion epidermis of the above-mentioned example, it is unnecessary to spray air discharged from a nozzle onto the outer surface of the stalk portion of the spring onion held in a substantially vertical posture or a substantially inclined posture. Device for separating various epidermis (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-57
032, JP 2001-163A, JP 20
No. 00-312861).

[0003]

However, the above device separates the epidermis with the leaf part side of the leeks being held by a holding means such as a belt, a plate or a chuck, so that the air discharged from the nozzle is discharged. When was sprayed,
Due to the pressure of the air, the stalk side of the green onion easily swings back and forth and left and right, and the angle and interval of the air blown against the outer surface of the stalk is unstable. Moreover, since the air blowing force fluctuates, multiple skins may be separated at once or only thin skins may be separated, making it difficult to separate a predetermined number and thickness of skins, and unnecessary It has a problem that it is difficult to cleanly separate only the epidermis.

In view of the above problems, the present invention moves the fluid spraying means in a substantially vertical direction along the outer surface of the crop while spraying the fluid discharged from the fluid spraying means onto the outer surface of the crop held substantially vertically. By doing so, an object of the present invention is to provide a crop peeling device capable of separating the epidermis of a crop almost evenly and cleanly.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention separates the epidermis of a crop from a crop holding means for holding a long crop in a substantially vertically hanging posture and an outer surface of the crop held by the crop holding means. The fluid spraying means for spraying the fluid required to do so, and the fluid spraying part of the crop,
The crop supporting means for supporting the fluid discharged from the fluid spraying means in a state of being sprayed substantially evenly, and the fluid spraying means and the crop supporting means are vertically moved along the outer surface of the crop in a substantially vertical direction. It is a crop peeling device provided with a moving means.

The above-mentioned agricultural products can be composed of, for example, leeks, burdock roots, asparagus, cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, potatoes and the like. Further, the crop holding means can be composed of, for example, a holding body, a pad, a chuck or the like. Further, the crop support means can be configured by, for example, a support arm, a support chuck, a support claw, or the like. Further, the fluid spraying means can be composed of, for example, a discharge nozzle, a discharge hose, a member having a discharge hole of an air discharge portion connected to an air supply source. Further, the fluid can be composed of gas such as air or gas, liquid such as tap water or distilled water, and solvent. Further, the moving means can be constituted by, for example, a guide rail, a tow chain, an air cylinder, a solenoid, or the like.

That is, after holding a long crop in a substantially vertical posture by the crop holding means, the fluid sprayed portion of the crop is substantially evenly discharged from the fluid spraying means by the crop support means. Support (or correct) the sprayed state. While moving the fluid spraying means and the crop support means in a substantially vertical direction by the moving means, the fluid (for example, air) discharged from the fluid spraying means is sprayed on the outer surface of the crop to separate unnecessary epidermis at once.

As an embodiment, the crop holding means (holding body) and / or the crop supporting means (supporting arm) are:
It can be provided so as to be capable of being displaced substantially corresponding to the degree of deformation of the agricultural product. Further, a plurality of the fluid spraying means may be provided at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction centering on the crop supported by the crop supporting means. It is also possible to provide a skin removing means (for example, a separation roll, a chuck, a suction device, a cutting device, etc.) for removing the skin that hangs down on the lower end side of the agricultural product.

[0009]

According to the present invention, when the fluid sprayed from the fluid spraying means is sprayed onto the outer surface of the crop held substantially vertically by the crop holding means, the fluid sprayed part of the crop is supported by the crop supporting means. With this, since the fluid is supported in a state of being sprayed substantially uniformly, it is possible to prevent the fluid spraying portion from being displaced in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. Moreover, since the spraying angle of the fluid, the spraying interval, and the spraying amount are always constant, it is possible to reliably separate the outer skins of the crops by the desired number or thickness, and it is not necessary or edible. The work to separate only the non-existing skin can be done smoothly,
The epidermis of agricultural products can be separated almost evenly and neatly.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The drawings show an embodiment of a crop peeling device used for the work of separating the onion epidermis, which is an example of a crop, and in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, this crop peeling device 1
Is a supply section a set on the transport path by holding the received or harvested green onions A (for example, white onions) substantially vertically one by one by a pair of holding bodies 3 constituting the hanging conveyor 2.
And the separation section b and the discharge section c.

As shown in FIG. 3, the suspension conveyor 2 described above has a pair of holders 3 for holding the leaves Ac of the leeks A.
Are attached at predetermined intervals to the entire length of the revolving chain 4 stretched on both upper sides of the conveying path, and the revolving chain 4 is rotated in the conveying direction by the driving force of a motor with a speed reducer (not shown), The holder 3 is moved around.

The holder 3 has a holding force and a structure necessary for holding the leaf Ac of the leeks A in a substantially vertical state without crushing the leaf Ac, and the holder 3 is projected on the rear surface of the holder 3. Spindle 3
The bearing a is supported by the bearing portion 3c on the front surface of the support base 3b3b attached to the revolving chain 4 so as to be swingably rotatable in the front-rear direction (conveyance direction), and the holding body 3 and the support base 3b are supported. By the restoring force of the coil spring 3d stretched between them, the holding body 3 is rotationally biased in the direction of returning to the original state. Further, the holding body 3 can be provided so as to be swingable and rotatable in the left-right direction.

On the other hand, the lower end of the support base 3b is engaged with a guide rail 3e installed along the conveying path to hold the holder 3 in place.
Is moved in a closing direction in which the leaf portion Ac of the leek A is held and in an opening direction in which the holding is released. That is, the pair of holding bodies 3 are opened when moving from the discharge section c to the supply section a, and closed when moved to the supply section a to remove the green onion A that is cut and aligned by the cutting and aligning device 5 described later. Hold and transport in a substantially vertical position. When it moves from the supply section a to the discharge section c, it is closed, and when it moves to the discharge section c, it opens.
The skin-separated green onion A is discharged to a recovery conveyor 11 to be described later, and conveyed to the next step (for example, a sorting step or a shipping step).

The trimming device 5 arranged in the preceding stage of the above-mentioned supply section a picks up an image of the root Aa side of the green onion A conveyed by the supply conveyor 6 by an optical image pickup means (for example, an image pickup camera) and uses it as image information. Based on this, the cutting position of the root portion Aa is individually judged by the judging device 7. The root cutting device 8 arranged on the left side of the conveyance path determines whether the green onion A is based on the judgment of the judgment device 7.
The root portion Aa side of the leaf is cut into a predetermined dimension, and the leaf cutting device 9 arranged on the right side of the transport path trims the leaf portion Ac side of the leek A into a predetermined dimension. Further, the trimming device 5 described above can be configured by devices such as Japanese Patent Application No. 11-178235 and Japanese Patent Application No. 11-332693.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the epidermis separation device 10 arranged in the aforementioned separation section b is surrounded by a processing chamber 29 having an open-in side and an out-pass side. A plurality of stripping units 35 for separating the plurality of stripping units are provided on the front surface of the movable frame 32 that is installed on the left side of the transport path at an interval facing the plurality of green onions A carried into the processing chamber 29 of the separation section b (implementation). (3 units in the example).

Further, the unit main body 35a of the stripping unit 35 is provided on the front surface of the movable frame 32, and the guide rail 33 is provided.
The movable frame 32 is attached to the movable frame 32 so as to be vertically movable, and the movable frame 32 is attached to the guide rail 30 erected on the left side of the transport path so as to be movable back and forth. At the same time, the tow chain 31 is rotated in the forward and reverse directions by the driving force of a motor (not shown) with a speed reducer, and a plurality of sets of the peeling units 35 are set to a start position where the peeling of the epidermis Ae is started. It reciprocates back and forth to the end position where the stripping ends.

A traction chain 34 stretched on the front surface of the movable frame 32 is connected to a unit main body 35a, and the traction chain 34 is normally and reversely rotated by a driving force of a motor with a speed reducer (not shown) to remove the skin. The unit 35 has a raised position for holding a portion near the leaf Ac (for example, a soft white portion) of the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3, and a root A of the green onion A.
It moves up and down reciprocally to the descending position where it is extracted from c. Further, instead of the motor, the peeling unit 35 can be reciprocated by, for example, an air cylinder or a crank mechanism.

In the peeling unit 35, as shown in FIG. 6, the air G discharged from the air discharger 37, which will be described later, substantially removes the stem Ab of the leeks A held by the pair of holders 3. The unit main body includes a pair of support arms 36 that hold and correct the sprayed state evenly, and an air discharge unit 37 that discharges air G toward the peripheral surface of the stem Ab held by the pair of support arms 36. It is configured by being attached to a support frame 38 installed on the front end side of 35a.

The above-mentioned support arm 36 is used for the stem A of the leek A.
A filamentous body (for example, a piano wire) having strength necessary for correcting b to a state in which the air G discharged from the air discharger 37 is sprayed substantially uniformly, and large and small stems having various diameters. The Ab is formed into a shape (substantially horizontal V-shape) in which it is supported substantially straight. Moreover, the base end of the support arm 36 is fixed to the end of the support shaft 39 supported by the support frame 38, and the connecting rod 40 connected to the middle of the support shaft 39 is connected to the interlocking plate 41.

The advancing / retreating cylinder 43 attached to the unit main body 35a horizontally moves the pair of support arms 36 and the pair of air ejecting portions 37, 37 in the front-rear direction, and is held by the pair of holding bodies 3. The movement of A is stopped at the forward position where it is inserted into the substantially central portion of the air ejection portions 37, 37 and the backward position where the transportation of the green onion A is allowed.

Further, the opening / closing cylinder 42 attached to the movable frame 32 has a support shaft 39 through a connecting rod 40 and a connecting plate 41.
Is rotated forward and backward to rotate the pair of support arms 36 between a closed angle for holding the stem portion Ab of the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3 and an open angle for releasing the holding. Further, a support arm 36 having a substantially U shape or a substantially semicircular shape, or a support arm 36 having a rod shape or a plate shape may be used.

The above-mentioned air discharge part 37 is attached to the front surface of the support frame 38 so as to face both side surfaces of the stem Ab of the leek A held by the pair of holders 3, and the discharge nozzles 37a, 37b of the air discharge part 37 are attached. , 37c are provided at a predetermined interval (or a predetermined angle) with respect to the circumferential direction around the stem Ab of the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3, and the stem Ab peripheral surface and the epidermis Ae back surface are provided. (Or the back of the skin Ae)
The angle is set to an oblique downward angle at which the air G is discharged toward the peeled portion (the angle at which the epidermis Ae is peeled toward the root Aa). Further, the discharge direction of the discharge nozzles 37a to 37c is set to a direction in which the stem Ab is pressed against the intersecting portion of the support arms 36, 36, or the discharge nozzle 37.
The a to 37c may be provided so as to face the entire peripheral surface of the stem Ab.

The air discharger 37 is connected to an air supply source (not shown) such as an air blower or a compressor, and the discharge pressure of the air G discharged from the discharge nozzles 37a to 37c is set to the above-mentioned air. It is variably adjusted to an air discharge pressure suitable for separating a predetermined number of sheets or a predetermined thickness of skin Ae by weakening or strengthening the discharge pressure control means (not shown) connected to the supply source. Further, the number of discharge nozzles 37a to 37c attached and the discharge angle may be changed.

In the embodiment, the skin Ae of the leek A is separated by the air G (air), but a gas such as an inert gas or butane gas may be used. Further, instead of gas, liquid such as tap water, aqueous solution or solvent can be used.

As shown in FIG. 7, the epidermis removing device 46 arranged on the lower side of the carry-out side of the epidermis separating device 10 pulls and separates the epidermis Ae hanging from the lower end of the root Aa of the leek A. Separation roll 47 with required contact resistance
Is the root Aa of the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3.
The skin Ae of the leeks A is vertically mounted on the lower part of both sides of the conveying path by facing the side surface of the skin Ae that hangs downward, and a pair of separation rolls 47 is driven by a driving force of a motor with a speed reducer (not shown). On the other hand, they rotate substantially inward (inward) in the direction in which they are pulled and separated.

The illustrated embodiment is configured as described above, and the skin peeling Ae of the green onion A by the crop peeling device 1 will be described below.
The operation for separating the will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the received or harvested green onions A are aligned and placed on the supply conveyor 6 so that the root Aa side is leftward with respect to the conveying direction, and are placed on the trimming device 5. Supply one by one. Based on the determination by the determination device 7 of the trimming device 5, the root Aa side of the green onion A is cut by the root cutting device 8 and the leaf Ac side of the green onion A is cut by the leaf cutting device 9, and then a predetermined size is obtained. The cut and aligned leek A is continuously conveyed one by one with respect to the supply section a.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the green onion A conveyed by the supply conveyor 6 is held by the hand of an operator standing by on the side of the supply section a so that the leaf portion Ac faces upward. After being erected in a substantially vertical posture, the leaf Ac side of the green onion A is inserted between a pair of holding bodies 3 constituting the hanging conveyor 2, and the whole length of the green onion A is held in a substantially vertical posture to separate the section. Transport to b. Further, as another method of supplying the leek A to the pair of holding bodies 3, for example, a mechanical supply means such as a robot arm or a raising mechanism can be used.

Next, the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3 is carried into the processing chamber 29 of the epidermis separation device 10, and a plurality of sets of the peeling units 35 are set by the pair of holding bodies 3. It moves in the transport direction substantially in synchronism with the held plural green onions A.

At the same time, the peeling unit 35 is moved forward to insert the green onion A held by the pair of holding bodies 3 into the substantially central portions of the air discharge portions 37, 37, and then, as shown in FIGS. 6, the air G discharged from the discharge nozzles 37a to 37c of the air discharger 37 is sprayed on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab of the spring onion A held by the pair of holders 3 to remove the air of the spring onion A. After peeling the epidermis Ae to the root Aa side from the support position of the support arms 36, 36, the stem A of the leek A
b from the discharge nozzles 37a to 37a by the support arms 36, 36.
The air G discharged from 37c is supported and corrected in such a manner that the air G is sprayed substantially evenly on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab. Also,
It is also possible to positively press the stem portion Ab of the leek A against the intersection of the support arms 36, 36 for centering.

Subsequently, the peeling unit 35 is moved in a substantially vertical direction from the leaf Aa side toward the root Aa side along the stem Ab of the leek A, and the discharge nozzles 37a to 37c.
The air G discharged from the onion A is continuously sprayed on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab of the spring onion A to separate the unnecessary epidermis Ae at once, and the onion A after the epidermis separation is conveyed to the discharge section c. At this time, the pair of holders 3 pivotally rotate in the front-rear direction (or the left-right direction) substantially following the bending state (deformation state) of the stem Ab,
The work of separating the epidermis Ae is performed smoothly.

At the same time, the separated epidermis Ae is put into the epidermis insertion section 48 arranged at the lower part of the conveyance path to periodically collect or discard. Thereafter, similarly to the above, the support arm 36 is opened, the peeling unit 35 is vertically lifted, and the plurality of peeling units 35 are reciprocally moved in the front-rear direction to convey a plurality of pieces by the hanging conveyor 2. Epidermis A of leek A
Continue the work of separating e.

When the skin Ae of the leek A hangs down from the lower end of the root Aa, as shown in FIG. 7, the skin Ae is pulled by the pair of separating rolls 47 constituting the skin removing device 46 in the vertical direction. Separate and remove. Also, the epidermis A
It is also possible to discharge e to a discharge conveyor (not shown) and supply it to, for example, a residue collecting unit or a residue processing unit.

Next, the holding of the green onion A by the pair of holding bodies 32 is released in the discharge section c, and the green onion A whose skin has been separated is discharged to the recovery conveyor 11 with their directions aligned in substantially the same direction.
It is conveyed to a sorting process (not shown) for sorting according to the items of the next process. Further, the skin-separated leeks A released from the pair of holding bodies 32 are held one by one by the operator's hand and placed on the collecting conveyor 11, or by the mechanical collecting means as described above. It can also be collected.

As described above, when the air G discharged from the air discharge portion 37 of the peeling unit 35 is sprayed on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab of the spring onion A held substantially vertically by the pair of holders 3, Since the fluid G sprayed portion of the stem Ab is supported by the pair of support arms 36 in a state where the air G is sprayed substantially uniformly, the fluid sprayed portion of the stem Ab is prevented from displacing back and forth and left and right. be able to. Moreover, since the spraying angle, spraying interval, and spraying amount of the air G are always constant, it is possible to reliably separate only the unnecessary number of skins Ae on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab by the desired number or thickness. The work of separating only the epidermis Ae that is unnecessary or cannot be used for food can be smoothly performed, and the epidermis Ae of the leek A can be separated substantially evenly and neatly.

Moreover, the stem Ab to which the air G is blown
The air G discharged from the air discharger 37 is sprayed substantially evenly on the peripheral surface of the stem Ab while correcting or correcting the same to a state of being hung substantially straight by the pair of support arms 36. Onion A with a curved surface A
Since e can also be reliably separated, it is most suitable for the work of separating the epidermis Ae of the leek A having a peculiar shape.

Further, when the stem Ab of the leek A is corrected by the pair of support arms 36, the pair of holding bodies 3 are moved substantially in the front-back direction substantially following the bending state (deformation state) of the stem Ab. Since it is swung and rotated, the load applied to the leek A is reduced, and the work of separating the epidermis Ae of the leek A can be smoothly performed without resistance.

Furthermore, the pair of support arms 36 is moved in a substantially vertical direction along the peripheral surface of the leek A so as to follow the separated epidermis Ae, and the separated epidermis Ae is peeled off toward the root portion Aa. Since the guide is used, even if the number of separated epidermis Ae is large or the epidermis Ae is thick, the epidermis Ae
Can be forcefully separated and removed.

FIG. 8 shows an example in which the peeling unit 35 is attached so as to be swingable at a predetermined angle with respect to the front-rear direction (conveyance direction), and a support frame 38 is provided on a front surface of the unit main body 35a. 35b is attached so as to be swingable and rotatable at a predetermined angle with respect to the front-back direction, and the stem portion Ab of the green onion A
When the stem A is moved in a substantially vertical direction, the peeling unit 35 and the support arm 36 pivotally swing at a predetermined angle substantially following the bending state (deformation state) of the stem portion Ab. The load applied to the portion Ab is reduced, and the operation and effect substantially similar to those of the above-described embodiment can be achieved. Further, the peeling unit 35 can be attached so as to be horizontally movable in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction, for example.

In the correspondence between the constitution of the present invention and the above-mentioned embodiments, the agricultural products of the present invention correspond to the leeks A, burdock, asparagus, cucumber, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, etc. of the embodiments, and so on. The fluid corresponds to gas such as air G (atmosphere) or gas, tap water or distilled water, liquid such as solvent, and the crop holding means is used for the hanging conveyor 2 and the pair of holding bodies 3, pads, chucks and the like. Correspondingly, the fluid spraying means corresponds to the air discharge part 37, the discharge hose, a member having a discharge hole, etc., the crop support means corresponds to the support arm 36, the support chuck, the support claw, etc., and the moving means is Unit body 35
a and the guide rail 33, the tow chain 34, the air cylinder, the solenoid, etc.
Although it corresponds to the skin removing device 46 and the separating roll 47, the chuck, the suction device, the cutting device, etc., the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above-described embodiment.

The agricultural product peeling apparatus 1 of the embodiment can be applied to the work of peeling the skins of agricultural products such as burdock, asparagus, cucumber, eggplant, carrot, and yam.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a crop peeling device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a carry-in operation and a carry-out operation of leeks with respect to the epidermis separation device.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a leek carrying operation by a hanging conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a peeling operation by the epidermis separation device.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a peeling operation by the peeling unit.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view showing the peeling operation by the peeling unit.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a removing operation by the skin removing device.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing an example in which the peeling unit is swingably attached.

[Explanation of symbols]

A ... Leek Ab ... stem Ae ... Epidermis G ... Air 1… Crop peeling device 2… Hanging conveyor 3 ... Holder 4 ... Circulating chain 5 ... trimming device 6 ... Supply conveyor 10 ... Skin separation device 35 ... Peeling unit 36 ... Support arm 37 ... Air discharge part 37a to 37c ... Discharge nozzle

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A crop holding means for holding a long crop in a substantially vertically hanging posture, and a fluid necessary for separating the epidermis of the crop on the outer surface of the crop held by the crop holding means. Fluid spraying means for applying, crop supporting means for supporting the fluid spraying part of the crop in a state in which the fluid discharged from the fluid spraying means is sprayed substantially evenly, the fluid spraying means and the crop support A crop peeling device comprising: a moving unit that vertically moves the device along the outer surface of the crop in a substantially vertical direction. 2. The crop peeling device according to claim 1, wherein the crop holding means and / or the crop supporting means are provided so as to be displaceable substantially corresponding to the deformation of the crop. 3. The crop peeling device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the fluid spraying means are provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction around the crop supported by the crop supporting means. 4. The crop peeling device according to claim 1, further comprising a skin removing means for removing the skin hanging down from the lower end of the crop.