JP2005075474A - Conveying apparatus and combined metering apparatus including it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveying apparatus for conveying bar-like articles in a predetermined attitude and surely delivering the same to the downstream side, and a combined metering apparatus including it. <P>SOLUTION: An article conveying part 5 includes: a flat belt 51 having two or more partition members 52, 52 erected in the direction intersecting perpendicularly to the conveying direction (b) and circularly running between the upstream side and the downstream side; and a chute 6 provided at the downstream end part where the flat belt 51 is turned from the horizontal running and bent downward to run and having a cutout part 6' allowing passing of the partition members 52, 52. Each partition member 52 is composed of a backward tilting front face 52a and a forward tilting rear face 52b using a plate-like member, and fixed to the flat belt 51 through the lower ends of both front and rear faces 52a, 52b. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a conveying apparatus that conveys a rod-shaped article and a combination weighing apparatus including the same, and belongs to the technical field of article processing.

  Conventionally, in combination weighing devices used for automatic weighing of various articles, for example, the weight of articles to be supplied is weighed by a plurality of weighing hoppers connected to weight detectors, and a combination calculation is performed based on these weighing values. And the article weighed to the target weight is obtained by discharging the article only from the weighing hopper of the combination whose weight becomes the closest to the target weight within a predetermined range.

  Such a combination weighing device may include a conveyer that conveys articles discharged from each weighing hopper. As an example, Patent Document 1 describes such a conveyor. This conveyor has a flexible flat belt forming an article conveying surface, and a plurality of partition members are erected on the flat belt in a direction perpendicular to the conveying surface and perpendicular to the conveying direction.

  As a result, the rod-shaped article discharged from the upper weighing hopper is transferred onto the flat belt of the conveyor, and then the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped article is oriented in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction in the space between the front and rear partition members. In this way, the sheet is conveyed while being held at the downstream end, pushed forward by the rear partitioning member while maintaining the posture at the downstream end of the conveyor, and delivered to a timing hopper disposed in the vicinity of the downstream end.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-6003 (4th page, Fig. 1)

  By the way, when the member which has inclined surfaces, such as a chute which slides down the rod-shaped article discharged | emitted from this conveyor in front of the downstream end as mentioned above, the following problems may arise.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, the flat belt B provided on the conveyor A is conveyed in the direction of arrow b while being supported from behind by a partition member C having a height h provided at a predetermined pitch p. As shown in FIG. 10B, when the bar-shaped article X is transferred from the conveyor A to the chute E in the vicinity of the downstream roller D, that is, when the partition member C turns in the direction of the arrow c, The member C may be involved in the turning motion. As a result, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), when the partition member C tries to pass through a notch E ″ provided on the bottom surface E ′ of the chute E along a locus indicated by a two-dot chain line, X may be sandwiched and damaged by the partition member C and the bottom surface E ′ of the chute E, resulting in a problem that the commercial value is lost, and a rod-shaped article between the partition member C and the bottom surface E ′ of the chute E. When X is pinched, control may be performed so that the operation of the combination weighing device is stopped. In this case, there is a problem that the operation rate is lowered.

  Then, in view of the above present situation, this invention makes it a subject to provide the conveying apparatus which can convey a rod-shaped article with a predetermined attitude | position, and can deliver reliably downstream, and a combination weighing device provided with the same. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is configured as follows.

  First, the invention described in claim 1 includes an endless conveying member that has a plurality of partition members erected in a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction and that circulates along the conveying path, and the conveying member is located below the horizontal traveling. And a chute having a notch through which the partition member passes, and a conveying device that conveys the rod-shaped article supplied from the upstream side to the downstream side. The member is characterized in that the front surface is in a backward inclined posture.

  Next, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in the transfer apparatus according to claim 1, the rear surface of the partition member is in a forward inclined posture.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the conveying device according to the second aspect, the partition member is formed by forming a plate-shaped member and is fixed to the conveying member via lower ends of both front and rear surfaces. It is characterized by.

  The invention according to claim 4 is provided with weighing means for weighing the weight of the rod-shaped article, and calculation means for performing a combination calculation based on the measured values of the plurality of rod-shaped articles weighed by the weighing means, The present invention relates to a combination weighing device that collects articles selected by a combination operation, and collects the rod-shaped articles by the transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 provided downstream of the weighing means. It is characterized by that.

  First, according to the invention described in claim 1, the front surface of the partition member is inclined backward, so that when a bar-shaped article is delivered to the chute, compared to the case where a partition member having a conventional vertical posture is used. Since the article quickly rolls down in the chute direction along the front surface of the partition member, the article does not intervene between the partition member and the vicinity of the notch portion when the partition member passes through the notch portion of the chute.

  In addition, even when an article is interposed between the partition member and the vicinity of the notch when the partition member passes through the notch, the angle formed between the partition member and the vicinity of the notch is reduced compared to the conventional case. Therefore, the front surface of the partition member that turns is pushed out the article forward, and the separation of the article from the partition member is assisted. That is, the rod-shaped article is prevented from being caught when the partition member turns.

  Accordingly, since the rod-shaped article is not sandwiched between the partition member and the chute, the article is prevented from being damaged, and the article can be reliably delivered downstream.

  Further, in the case of a combination weighing device that is controlled so as to stop operation when a rod-shaped article is sandwiched between the partition member and the chute, as described above, the article is not sandwiched. It will be avoided.

  Furthermore, when the transport member is traveling horizontally, that is, when the bar-shaped article is transported horizontally, the article is securely held in the space between the partition members in a posture orthogonal to the transport direction by the front surface of the partition member that is inclined backward. Since it is conveyed, the alignment is improved. Therefore, for example, the discharge process and the bundling process of the rod-shaped article on the downstream side can be performed smoothly.

  Next, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the partition member is arranged in the case of using the partition member in the conventional vertical posture by setting the rear surface to the forward tilted posture in addition to the front tilted posture. If the partition member is disposed at the same pitch as the installation pitch, the area of the horizontal transport surface of the transport member formed by the inclined surfaces of the front and rear partition members is reduced. It becomes easy to be held in an orthogonal posture. Therefore, the rod-shaped article is conveyed while being held in a predetermined posture even better.

  According to the invention of claim 3, the partition member is formed of a plate-like member and fixed to the transport member via the lower ends of both front and rear surfaces thereof. The partition member does not obstruct the smooth curved traveling of the transport member because it travels while following the transport member well.

  In addition, since the partition member makes a turn while following the transport member well, the inclination angle of the front surface of the partition member fixed to the transport member via the lower ends of both front and rear surfaces is further blunted. Therefore, it is possible to further prevent the rod-shaped article from being caught by the partition member that turns.

  Furthermore, since the partition member follows the transport member well and turns, the height of the partition member when turning is lower than the height when horizontally running. Therefore, the size of the notch portion of the chute can be reduced, and the delivery of the bar-shaped article from the conveying member to the chute becomes smoother.

  On the other hand, if the height of the partition member when turning is made equal to the height when the conventional vertical partition member is turning, the height of the partition member when horizontally running is set higher than the height of the conventional partition member. In this case, the rod-shaped article can be more reliably held in the predetermined space. Therefore, since it is effectively suppressed that the rod-shaped article moves over the partition member and moves to the adjacent holding space during conveyance, for example, when this conveyance device is applied to a combination weighing device, the article weighed to the target weight. Can be reliably assembled after being conveyed downstream.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in the combination weighing device, the same action as that of the invention described in claims 1-3 can be obtained. That is, the transport device can transport the rod-shaped article weighed to the target weight in a predetermined posture and reliably deliver it to the downstream side without being damaged.

  Hereinafter, a combination weighing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, “front and rear” means “the front side and the rear side in the transport direction”.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the combination weighing device 1 is configured to measure a bar-like article such as asparagus supplied from the upstream side to a target weight, and then collect and discharge it to the downstream side. The product supply unit 2, the weighing unit 3, the bucket transport unit 4, the product transport unit 5, and the chute 6 are sequentially provided. The combination weighing device 1 also includes a touch panel type operation unit 7 for performing various settings and inputs, and a control unit 8 for performing various controls. Further, on the downstream side of the combination weighing device 1, a belt conveyor type article discharge unit 9 that conveys the bar-shaped articles that are gathered by sliding down the chute 6 to, for example, a bundling device is connected.

  The article supply unit 2 includes a supply table 21, a supply conveyor 22, and a relay conveyor 23, and supplies a bar-shaped article to the weighing unit 3.

  The weighing unit 3 includes a weighing hopper 31 whose lower part opens and closes. The weighing unit 3 receives, for example, 1 to 3 bar-shaped articles supplied from the upstream article supply unit 2 each time, and weighs the weight.

  The bucket transport unit 4 sequentially receives the weighed bar-shaped articles discharged from the weighing unit 3 and delivers them to the downstream product transport unit 5. The bucket transport unit 4 includes a pair of front left and right (only one shown) sprockets 41 and 41 that are rotationally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown), and a pair of left and right sprockets 42 and 42 (only one shown), A pair of left and right endless chains (only one shown) 43, 43 wound between the corresponding sprockets 41, 41, 42, 42, and a plurality of parts that are hung between these chains 43, 43 and open and close at the bottom. Buckets 44... 44.

  As a result, when the chains 43 and 43 travel on the upper travel path in the direction of arrow a, the empty buckets 44... 44 supported by the chains 43 and 43 receive the weighed bar-shaped articles discharged by the weighing unit 3. Drive on the lower road. Then, when the buckets 44... 44 containing the rod-shaped articles enter the lower traveling path and face the lower article transport unit 5, the traveling is stopped, and based on the measured values of the articles accommodated in these buckets 44. A combination operation is performed. In that case, the suspended buckets 44... 44 circulate along the upper and lower traveling paths while maintaining the posture. The measured value obtained by the measuring unit 3 is associated with the bucket 44 that has received the rod-shaped article.

  The article conveying section 5 which is a characteristic part of the present invention is of a belt conveyor type, and has an endless flat belt 51 which travels in the direction of arrow b by a driving mechanism (not shown). The flat belt 51 is provided with a plurality of partition members 52. For the flat belt 51 and the partition members 52... 52, for example, a canvas coated with polyurethane is used.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the flat belt 51 of the article transport unit 5 is wound around a roller (not shown) on the upstream side and a roller 53 on the downstream side. Each of the partition members 52 provided on the flat belt 51 at a predetermined pitch p is formed in a triangular shape in cross section using a plate-like member, and the longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the transport direction b. It is fixed to the flat belt 51 by bonding or the like through the lower end. That is, each partition member 52 has a front surface 52a in a backward inclined posture and a rear surface 52b in a forward inclined posture. A space S for holding the rod-shaped article X is formed between the front and rear partition members 52, 52, and the buckets 44... 44 selected by the combination calculation among the buckets 44. The discharged rod-shaped articles X ... X are received in the holding spaces S ... S.

  The chute 6 is for gathering the rod-shaped articles X... X that have been weighed to the target weight discharged after the article transport unit 5 is transported in the direction of the downstream article discharge unit 9, and is arranged on the rear side. The downstream end of 5 is connected. Then, on the rear side of the bottom surface 6 ′ which is inclined downward toward the front side of the chute 6, the partition members 52... 52 which turn around as shown by a two-dot chain line or an arrow c at the downstream end pass without interference. In this way, a notch 6 ″ having a rectangular shape in plan view is formed. In this case, the dimension w1 of the notch 6 ″ in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction b is orthogonal to the transport direction b of the partition member 52. It is set to be larger than the direction dimension w2 and smaller than the length L of the rod-shaped article X. Thereby, the partition member 52 can pass through the notch 6 ″, while the rod-shaped article X cannot pass through the notch 6 ″.

  Next, the control system of the combination weighing device 1 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, an operation unit 7 operated by an operator to perform various settings and inputs is connected to a control unit 8 that comprehensively controls the combination weighing device 1.

  Further, the control unit 8 inputs each weighing signal output from the weighing unit 3 and performs a combination calculation based on these weighing signals to select a combination of buckets 44... 44 that becomes a target weight. And the control part 8 outputs the signal which controls opening and closing of the lower part of the measurement hopper 31 with which the measurement part 3 was equipped.

  Further, the control unit 8 outputs a signal for controlling the driving of the article supply unit 2, that is, the supply speed, the start / stop timing, and the like. And the control part 8 outputs the signal which controls the drive of the bucket conveyance part 4, ie, the running speed of the chains 43 and 43, the timing of starting and stopping, and the opening and closing of the lower part of the buckets 44 ... 44. Further, the control unit 8 outputs a signal for controlling the driving of the article conveying unit 5, that is, the running speed of the flat belt 51, the timing of starting and stopping, and the like.

  Then, when the rod-shaped article X is sandwiched between the partition member 52 and the chute 6, for example, when the operator inputs a signal by operating the operation unit 7, the control unit 8 operates the combination weighing device 1. Control to stop.

  With the above configuration, the rod-shaped articles X... X selected by the combination calculation by the control unit 8 and discharged from the buckets 44... 44 of the bucket transport unit 4 are erected on the flat belt 51 of the lower article transport unit 5. It is held in the space S ... S formed by the plurality of partition members 52 ... 52.

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the front surface 52a of the partition member 52 is inclined backward, so that when the rod-shaped article X is delivered from the flat belt 51 to the chute 6 in the vicinity of the downstream roller 53, Compared with the case where the conventional vertical partition member C as shown in FIG. 10B is used, the article X quickly moves in the direction of the chute 6 along the front surface 52a of the partition member 52 that turns in the direction of the arrow c. As shown in FIGS. 5 (b) and 6, the partition member 52 turns around in the direction of arrow c and passes through the notch 6 ″ on the bottom surface 6 ′ of the chute 6 as shown in FIGS. Article X does not intervene between 52 and the vicinity of notch 6 ″.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, even if the article X is interposed between the partition member 52 and the vicinity of the notch 6 ″ when the partition member 52 passes through the notch 6 ″ of the chute 6, it is conventional. In comparison, the angle formed between the partition member 52 and the vicinity of the notch 6 ″ becomes dull, so that the front surface 52b of the partition member 52 that turns is pushed forward, and the article X from the partition member 52 is pushed forward. In other words, the rod-shaped article X is prevented from being caught when the partition member 52 turns.

  Accordingly, since the rod-shaped article X is not sandwiched between the partition member 52 and the notch 6 ″, that is, between the partition member 52 and the chute 6, the article X is prevented from being damaged, and the article X is placed in the article discharge section 9 on the downstream side. It will be possible to deliver it reliably.

  Further, in this combination weighing device 1, control is performed such that the operation is stopped when the rod-shaped article X is sandwiched between the partition member 52 and the chute 6, but the article X is not sandwiched as described above. A reduction in the operating rate due to the shutdown is avoided.

  Further, when the flat belt 51 is traveling horizontally, that is, when the bar-shaped article X is transported horizontally, the article X is reliably transferred to the space S between the partition members 52 and 52 by the front surface 52a in the backward inclined posture of the partition member 52. Since the sheet is conveyed in the downstream side while being held in an orthogonal posture, the alignment is improved. Therefore, for example, the discharge process of the rod-shaped articles X... X by the article discharge unit 9 on the downstream side, the binding process by the binding device, and the like can be smoothly performed.

  The partition member 52 has the same pitch p as the arrangement pitch p in the case of using the partition member C of the conventional vertical posture by setting the rear surface 52b to the forward tilt posture in addition to the front surface 52a having the rear tilt posture. When the partition member 52 is disposed, as is apparent from a comparison between FIG. 2 and FIG. 10A, the horizontal conveyance surface of the flat belt 51 formed by the inclined surfaces 52a and 52b of the front and rear partition members 52 and 52. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the bar-shaped article X is easily held on the horizontal conveyance surface in a posture orthogonal to the conveyance direction b. Therefore, the rod-shaped article X is conveyed while being held in a predetermined posture even better.

  The partition member 52 is formed of a plate-like member and is fixed to the flat belt 51 via the lower ends of the front and rear surfaces 52a and 52b, so that the partition member 52 is attached to the flat belt 51 when the flat belt 51 is curved. The partition member 52 does not obstruct the smooth curved traveling of the flat belt 51 since it travels well following the turning.

  In addition, since the partition member 52 follows the flat belt 51 well and turns, as shown in FIG. 5B, the partition member 52 is fixed to the flat belt 51 via the lower ends of the front and rear surfaces 52a and 52b. The inclination angle of the front surface 52a of the partition member 52a is further blunted. Therefore, the rod-shaped article X is further prevented from being caught by the partition member 52 that turns.

  Furthermore, since the partition member 52 follows the flat belt 51 well and turns, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5B, the height h ′ of the partition member 52 when turning is horizontal. It becomes lower than the height h of time. Therefore, the size of the notch 6 ″ of the chute 6 can be reduced, and the delivery of the rod-shaped article X from the flat belt 51 to the chute 6 becomes smoother.

  On the other hand, the height h ′ of the partition member 52 when turning is equal to the height h when the partition member C of the conventional vertical posture is turning, or the height h when the partition member 52 is horizontally driven. If set, the height when the partition member 52 travels horizontally can be set higher than the height h of the conventional partition member C or the height h of the partition member 52 during horizontal travel. This further ensures the holding of the rod-shaped article X in the predetermined space S. Therefore, the rod-shaped article X can be effectively suppressed from moving over the partition member 52 to the adjacent holding space S, so that the article X weighed to the target weight can be reliably conveyed downstream. become.

  Next, a partition member having a configuration different from that of the partition member 52 will be described. Note that components that are the same as those in the above-described embodiment are given the same reference numerals unless confusing.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8, each partition member 152 erected on the flat belt 51 at a predetermined pitch p ′ along the conveyance direction b has a front surface 152 a in a backward inclined posture and a rear surface 152 b in a vertical posture. ing. In this case, since the rear surface 152b is not inclined forward, the area of the horizontal conveyance surface of the flat belt 51 is made equal to the area of the horizontal conveyance surface of the flat belt 51 when the partition member 52 is used. When set, there is an advantage that the arrangement pitch p ′ of the partition member 152 can be made shorter than the arrangement pitch p of the partition member 52.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, each partition member 252 that is erected on the flat belt 51 along the conveyance direction b has a front surface 252 a that is tilted backward. In this case, since the partition member 252 has a simple configuration, there is an advantage that the configuration of the article transport unit is simplified.

  In the combination weighing device 1 according to the embodiment, the article transport unit 5 is below the bucket transport unit 4 that accommodates and transports the measured bar-shaped articles X... X discharged from the weighing hopper 31 of the weighing unit 3. However, like the combination weighing device described in Patent Document 1 described above, the article conveying unit 5 may be arranged below a plurality of weighing hoppers.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the member which coated polyurethane on the canvas was used for the partition member 52, it is not limited to this, The application which has moderate softness | flexibility and shape retention property is possible. is there.

  As described above, according to the present invention, a conveying device that conveys a rod-shaped article in a predetermined posture and reliably delivers it to the downstream side, and a combination weighing device including the conveying device are provided. That is, the present invention relates to a conveying device that conveys a bar-shaped article and a combination weighing device including the same, and is widely suitable for the technical field of article processing.

1 is a schematic side view of a combination weighing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part excerpt side sectional view near the downstream end of an article conveyance part. It is an arrow view by the II-II line of FIG. It is a block diagram of a control system. FIGS. 3A and 3B are side sectional views of an essential part corresponding to FIG. 2, in which FIG. 2A shows a state in which a bar-shaped article is discharged to a chute by a partition member that is turning, and FIG. The state that passes is shown. It is an arrow line view by the III-III line of FIG.5 (b). It is a principal part excerpt side sectional view equivalent to FIG. 2, Comprising: The effect | action of the partition member in case a rod-shaped article is going to be pinched | interposed is shown. It is a sectional side view which shows the partition member of another structure. It is a sectional side view which shows the partition member of another structure. It is a principal part excerpt side sectional view of the conveyance conveyor near the downstream end for explaining the problem of the conventional partition member, and (a) is the state where the bar-shaped article is conveyed while being supported from the back by the partition member. b) shows a state in which the rod-shaped article is about to be caught by the partition member during turning, and (c) shows a state in which the rod-shaped article is sandwiched between the partition member and the chute.

Explanation of symbols

1 Combination weighing device 3 Weighing unit (measuring means)
5 Goods transport section (transport device)
6 chute 6 ″ notch 8 control unit (calculation means)
51 Flat belt (conveying member)
52, 152, 252 Partition member 52a, 152a, 252a Front surface 52b Rear surface X Bar-shaped article

Claims (4)

  An endless transport member that has a plurality of partition members standing in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction and that circulates along the transport path, and is provided in the vicinity of the downstream end where the transport member curves downward from horizontal travel. And a chute having a notch through which the partition member passes, and a transport device that transports the rod-shaped article supplied from the upstream side to the downstream side, and the front surface of the partition member is tilted backward. A conveying apparatus characterized by that.   The conveying device according to claim 1, wherein a rear surface of the partition member is inclined forward.   The transport apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the partition member is formed by forming a plate-shaped member and is fixed to the transport member via lower ends of both front and rear surfaces. A combination of weighing means for weighing a bar-shaped article and calculation means for performing a combination calculation based on the measurement values of a plurality of bar-shaped articles measured by the weighing means, and collecting the articles selected by the combination calculation 4. A combination weighing device, wherein the bar-shaped articles are gathered by a conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is provided on a downstream side of the weighing means.

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