JP2003236476A - Sorter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorter which has high sorting operation efficiency, can quickly sort a large amount of objects to be sorted, such as fruits and vegetables, and reduce the cost required for a sorting operation. <P>SOLUTION: This sorter is equipped with a conveying device having a feed part arranged on the upstream side, a distribution part arranges on the downstream side, and a measurement control part arranged between the feed part and the distribution part. The conveying device has a plurality of divided feed areas for grades each representing quality, moving from the upstream side to the downstream side. Each object to be sorted is put on the corresponding feed area for grades according to its quality, and sorted in the distribution part by grade and class. A pair of operation areas are disposed on both sides of the conveying device so as to face each other through the conveying device. The feed area for grades is made to be a common feed area for grades when operators access the feed area from both operation areas and put the object to be sorted on the feed area. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sorting apparatus for sorting objects to be sorted by grade and grade, for example, fruits and vegetables such as apples, mandarins and potatoes by grade showing quality and grade showing size. Regarding sorting equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional selection apparatus for fruits and vegetables, there is a selection apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-18486.
This sorting device 100, as shown in FIG.
The bucket conveyor 106 includes an endless bucket conveyor 106 having a tiltable bucket 104 on which 02 is mounted. The bucket conveyor 106 is provided with a supply unit 108 on the upstream side and a distribution unit 110 on the downstream side. It is arranged.

[0006] The supply unit 108 for each quality comprises a plurality of buckets 104 which are divided so as to be supplied for each appearance quality such as color, scratch and deformation of fruits and vegetables.
14 are continuously arranged. A quality lead sensor 116 is provided at the end of each quality-specific supply unit 114. A size read sensor 118 is provided between the supply unit 108 and the distribution unit 110.

Further, on one side of the supply section 108 of the bucket conveyor 106, a transfer conveyor 120 for transferring unsorted fruits and vegetables is arranged. In the conventional fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus having such a configuration, one worker who is located in front of the conveyor 120 of the supply unit 108 picks up unsorted fruits and vegetables flowing on the conveyor 120. Appearance qualities such as colors, scratches, and deformations are visually determined, and based on the results of the determinations, the quality-specific supply units 114 are supplied.

The quality lead sensor 116 detects the quality of the fruits and vegetables 102 supplied to the quality-specific supply unit 114, and the size lead sensor 118 detects the size of the fruits and vegetables. The distribution unit 110 is based on the detected quality information and size information.
In the above, by tilting the bucket 104, fruits and vegetables are distributed to the distribution table 124 of the distribution unit 110 according to quality and size.

[0006]

By the way, in the conventional apparatus for selecting fruits and vegetables having the above-mentioned structure, it flows on the conveyor 120 arranged on one side of the supply section 108 of the bucket conveyor 106. The present situation is that unsorted fruits and vegetables are sorted by a single worker located in front of the conveyor 120 of the supply unit 108.

Therefore, since it is a selection work by one worker, its work efficiency is low, and it takes time to produce a large amount of fruits and vegetables, and the cost is high. In view of such a current situation, the present invention has high sorting work efficiency,
For example, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sorting device that can quickly sort a large amount of objects to be sorted such as fruits and vegetables, reduce the cost required for sorting work, and have a small installation space.

[0008]

The present invention has been made in order to achieve the problems and objects in the prior art as described above, and the sorting apparatus of the present invention is a supply device arranged on the upstream side. Unit, a distribution unit arranged on the downstream side, and a conveyance device including a measurement control unit arranged between the supply unit and the distribution unit, and the conveyance device is arranged from the upstream side to the downstream side. It comprises a plurality of moving graded supply areas that represent quality, and in the graded supply area, objects to be sorted are placed in the corresponding graded supply areas according to the grade of the material to be sorted. In addition, the grade detection information from the grade detection means provided in each of the grade-based supply areas, the size of the objects to be sorted placed in each of the grade-based supply areas, and the internal quality detected by the measurement control unit. Based on equal class detection information representing In the distribution unit, the objects to be sorted are configured to be sorted in the distribution unit according to grades / classes, and on both sides of the transfer device, a pair of work areas facing each other via the transfer device is arranged. The graded supply area is configured so that a worker can access the graded supply area from the work areas on both sides to be a common graded supply area on which an object to be sorted is placed on the graded supply area. It is characterized by

With this configuration, a plurality of workers access the common graded supply area of the supply section of the transfer apparatus from the work area facing each other via the transfer apparatus to, for example, produce fruits and vegetables. Since the objects to be sorted can be sorted according to the grade and placed in the common supply area according to the grade, the efficiency of the sorting operation can be improved, and a large amount of the objects to be sorted can be quickly sorted, and the cost required for the sorting work. Can be reduced, and the installation space can be small.

Further, the sorting apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the common grade-based supply area is composed of a plurality of grade-based supply areas in the width direction of the conveying device. With this configuration, since there are a plurality of common grade-based supply areas on which the objects to be sorted selected by the workers are placed,
The work efficiency will be further improved.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments (examples) of the present invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of the sorting apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 10
Shows a sorting apparatus of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the sorting apparatus 10 includes an endless bucket conveyor 16 including a tiltable bucket 14 on which the fruits and vegetables 12 to be sorted are placed, as a transport device.
The bucket conveyor 16 is provided with a supply unit 18 on the upstream side and a distribution unit 20 on the downstream side. A measurement control unit 22 is arranged between the supply unit 18 and the distribution unit 20.

Then, the supply unit 18 is classified according to grades (for example, the appearance qualities of fruits, vegetables, such as color, scratches, and deformation).
A graded supply region 24 including a plurality of buckets 14 partitioned so as to supply superior, excellent, and good grades is continuously arranged. In the case of this embodiment, for example, three grade-specific supply regions 24A, 24B, and 24C corresponding to the grades of excellent, excellent, and good, respectively, are continuously arranged.

The grade-specific supply areas 24A, 2
4B and 24C each have a plurality of (3 in this embodiment).
Buckets 14 are provided. In this embodiment, the grade-specific supply areas 24A, 24B and 24C are
Although three buckets 14 are provided for each, for example, 4
The number is not particularly limited, such that the number can be one or more.

Further, each graded supply area 24A,
Grade detection means 26 including a sensor such as a photoelectric switch is provided at the end portions of 24B and 24C. Also,
On both sides of the bucket conveyor 16, the bucket conveyor 1
A pair of work areas 28 and 30 facing each other through 6 are arranged, and workers 32 and 34 are located in these work areas 28 and 30, respectively.

These graded supply areas 24A, 24B,
24C constitutes a common graded supply area where workers 32 and 34 located in these work areas 28 and 30 access the graded supply area and place fruits and vegetables on the graded supply area. There is. Furthermore, these work areas 28, 30
Conveyors 38 and 40 for conveying the containers 36 containing the unsorted fruits and vegetables 12 are provided outside the containers, respectively.

A distribution table 42 for distributing the selected fruits and vegetables 12 by grade and rank is provided on one side of the distribution unit 20. Furthermore, the measurement control unit 22
Is the internal quality of fruits and vegetables, for example, by measuring the internal quality such as sugar content and ripeness of fruits and vegetables using absorption and reflection of light, irradiating light in a specific wavelength range of chlorophyll, and absorbing wavelength in reflected light. An internal quality inspection device 44 that measures the amount of reflection of the belt and detects the ripeness of the fruits and vegetables 12, a measurement device 46 that detects the size of the fruits and vegetables 12 using, for example, an optical imaging device, and detection information of these. Control device 4 for processing
8 and.

The sorting apparatus 1 of the present invention thus constructed
0 operates as follows. First, in the supply unit 18, the unsorted fruits and vegetables 12 in the container 36 transported on the transport conveyors 38 and 40 are respectively transferred to the work area 2
The workers 32 and 34 located in the numbers 8 and 30 visually determine the grades (for example, grades such as excellent, excellent, and good) indicating the appearance quality such as color, scratch, and deformation of fruits and vegetables. Then, according to the determined grade of the fruits and vegetables 12, common supply regions 24A, 24B classified by grade corresponding to the fruits and vegetables are provided.
Placed at 24C.

Then, each graded supply area 24
Whether or not the fruits and vegetables 12 are present in the bucket 14 is detected by the grade detecting means 26 disposed at the end portions of A, 24B, and 24C, and the grade-based detection result, for example, grade information and conveyor address information, It is adapted to be sent to the control device 48 of the measurement control unit 22. When these grade-based supply areas 24A, 24B, and 24C are transported by the bucket conveyor 16 and pass through the measurement control unit 22, the grade-based supply areas 24A, 24B, and
At 24C, the internal quality inspection device 44 detects the internal quality such as the sugar content of the fruits and vegetables 12, and the measuring device 46 detects the size of the fruits and vegetables 12.

The internal quality detection information of the fruits and vegetables 12 by the internal quality inspection device 44 and the size detection information of the fruits and vegetables 12 by the measuring device 46 are sent to the control device 48.
Equal class information is created based on a predetermined program. Based on the equal class information and the classification-based detection result by the class detection unit 26, the bucket 14 is selectively tilted by the control of the controller 48 in the distribution unit 20, and the selected fruits and vegetables 12 are classified. It is adapted to be distributed to a predetermined distribution table 42 according to each class.

With this structure, the plurality of workers 32, 34 from the work areas 28, 30 facing each other via the bucket conveyor 16 which is a transfer device are classified by the common grade of the supply section 18 of the bucket conveyor 16. Supply area 24
A, 24B, 24C can be accessed and the fruits and vegetables can be sorted and placed in the common grading supply area 24A, 24B, 24C according to grade, so that the efficiency of the sorting work is improved and a large amount of fruits and vegetables can be collected. In addition to quick sorting, the cost required for sorting work can be reduced, and the installation space can be small.

In the case of the above embodiment, the work area 2 facing each other via the bucket conveyor 16 which is a transfer device.
Although a pair of sets 8 and 30 is used, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sets of work areas 2 are provided in the carrying direction of the bucket conveyor 16.
It is also possible to set 8 and 30. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the common grade-based supply areas 24A, 24B, and 24C are provided as one row, but as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of common grade-based supply areas 24A, 24B, and 24C are provided in the bucket conveyor 16. It can also be installed on top.

With this configuration, since there are a plurality of common grade-specific supply areas 24A, 24B, 24C on which the fruits and vegetables 12 selected by the workers are placed, the work efficiency can be further improved. . Although the preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this. In the above embodiment, the fruits and vegetables are described as the objects to be sorted, but other than the fruits and vegetables, for example, Various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention, such as being applicable to the selection of foods and other products.

[0023]

According to the sorting apparatus of the present invention, a plurality of workers access the common graded supply area of the supply section of the transfer apparatus from the work areas facing each other via the transfer apparatus, and, for example, , Sorted items such as fruits and vegetables can be sorted according to grade and placed in a common grade supply area, so that the efficiency of sorting work can be improved and a large amount of sorted items can be sorted quickly. The work cost can be reduced and the installation space can be small.

Further, according to the sorting apparatus of the present invention, since the common grade-based supply area is composed of a plurality of grade-based supply areas in the width direction of the conveying device, the objects to be sorted selected by the worker. Since there are a plurality of common grade-based supply areas for mounting, it is an extremely excellent invention that has many operational effects such as further improvement in work efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sorting apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a sorting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a sorting apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a conventional sorting device.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Sorting device 12 fruits and vegetables 14 buckets 16 bucket conveyor 18 Supply Department 20 distributor 22 Measurement control unit 24 Supply Area by Grade 24A, 24B, 24C Grade supply area 26 Grade detection means 28,30 working area 32, 34 workers 36 containers 38, 40 Conveyor 42 sorting table 44 Internal quality inspection equipment 46 Measuring device 48 Control device 100 sorter 102 fruits and vegetables 104 buckets 106 bucket conveyor 108 supply unit 110 distributor 114 Supply Department by Quality 116 Quality lead sensor 118 size lead sensor 120 conveyor 124 sorting table

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A conveyance device comprising: a supply unit arranged on the upstream side; a distribution unit arranged on the downstream side; and a measurement control unit arranged between the supply unit and the distribution unit, The transfer device includes a plurality of graded supply regions that move from the upstream side to the downstream side to represent the divided quality, and in the graded supply region, the objects to be sorted are classified according to the grade of the objects to be sorted. While being placed in each corresponding grade-specific supply area, grade detection information from the grade detection means provided in each of the grade-specific supply areas, and in each grade-specific supply area detected by the measurement control unit. Based on the size and internal class detection information indicating the internal quality, etc., of the placed objects to be sorted, the dispensing unit is configured to sort the objects to be sorted by grade / class in the dispensing unit, and the transport device. On both sides of the A pair of work areas facing each other are arranged, and the grade-based supply area allows the worker to access the grade-based supply area from the work areas on both sides to place the objects to be sorted on the grade-based supply area. A sorting device, which is configured so as to have a common grade-based supply area. 2. The sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the common grade-specific supply area is composed of a plurality of grade-specific supply areas in the width direction of the conveying device.