JP2006008272A - Article arraying and conveying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article arraying and conveying device capable of conveying articles at a predetermined interval while maintaining the posture of the articles at a substantially constant posture, and consistently feeding cost-favorable or arrayed articles to a measuring instrument to enhance the measurement accuracy of the articles. <P>SOLUTION: An arraying and conveying conveyor having a large number of elastic projections with a cavity inside in a projection state is provided on an outer circumferential surface of an endless belt turning in an endless manner. The arraying and conveying conveyor is arranged above an article conveying conveyor to convey articles. When the projections are abutted on the articles on the conveyor from an upper side, the cavities are deformed to maintain the articles in the predetermined posture. The projections are formed to have the cavities with both ends orthogonal to the conveying direction opened by fixing a deformable sheet to a conveying belt in a bent state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an article aligning and conveying device for aligning while conveying agricultural products such as sudachi and mandarin oranges, agricultural products such as eggs, and other spherical and easy-to-roll articles.

  Conventionally, as this kind of alignment conveyance apparatus regarding agricultural products, it is disclosed by patent documents 1-3, for example. Among these, the alignment supply device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a plurality of brush hairs formed in a tunnel shape along the transport direction by forming a central portion in the lateral direction perpendicular to the transport direction shorter than both ends. It is planted in an endless belt and is centered in the central portion in the width direction of the transport conveyor while pressing the agricultural products transported on the sorting conveyor by the brush bristles.

In addition, the egg conveying device disclosed in Patent Document 2 has an endless belt having an elastic pad portion made of foam material or sponge above the connecting portion of the front and rear conveyor assemblies, and the elastic pad portion of the endless belt. The egg is gently moved between the front and rear conveyor assemblies while pressing the egg. Furthermore, the conveyance belt disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a large number of elongated sponge blocks fixed to the outer peripheral surface of an endless flat belt, and the packaged product is pressed against the block by the block. It is intended to prevent misalignment.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-25621 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 53-22958 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 59-18706

  However, in these devices, by simply pressing the article from the upper surface side with an elastic material such as brush bristles or solid sponge, the posture of the article such as agricultural products is aligned, so depending on the size of the article, For example, when the measurement device is arranged in the next process, the measurement result is likely to be adversely affected. Also, since elastic materials such as brush hair and sponge are used, it is difficult to adjust the elastic force, and the pressing force by each elastic material varies depending on the size of the article, and the elastic material is pressed with the optimum force according to the article It is difficult. Further, when brush hair is used as the elastic material, the length of the brush conveyor becomes long, and if the number of brush conveyors is large, the apparatus itself tends to be expensive.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to convey the articles at an advantageous cost in terms of being able to convey the articles at a constant interval while maintaining the posture of the articles substantially constant. To provide an apparatus. Another object of the present invention is to provide an article aligning and conveying apparatus that can stably supply aligned articles to the measuring apparatus and improve the measurement accuracy of the articles.

  In order to achieve such an object, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention is characterized in that an endlessly rotating endless belt has an elastic protrusion having a hollow portion inside in a protruding state. A plurality of alignment conveyors are provided, and the alignment conveyor is disposed above the article conveyor for conveying the articles, and the protrusions come into contact with the articles on the conveyor from above to deform the cavity. The article is maintained in a predetermined posture.

  As in the invention described in claim 2, the article transport conveyor includes an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and the alignment transport conveyor is located above and upstream of the connecting portion of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor. It is preferable to arrange at at least one position above the conveyor or above the downstream conveyor.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the protrusion is formed by fixing the deformable sheet to the endless belt in a bent state, and the cavity of the protrusion is in the conveying direction of the article conveying conveyor. It is preferable to open in the direction orthogonal to the direction. In this case, the sheet is formed of a long sheet having substantially the same width as the endless belt as in the invention described in claim 4, and a plurality of protrusions are formed by fixing the sheet in a bent state. Are preferably formed collectively at a predetermined interval.

  In addition, as in the invention described in claim 5, the protrusions are set such that the interval in the transport direction is smaller than the outer diameter of the article transported by the article transport conveyor, or as in the invention described in claim 6. The protruding height is preferably set to be equal to or higher than the outer diameter of the article conveyed by the article conveying conveyor. Moreover, as for the said alignment conveyance conveyor, as the invention of Claim 7, it is preferable that the space | interval dimension with respect to an article conveyance conveyor is adjusted according to the outer diameter of articles | goods, Moreover, the said article conveyance conveyor is a claim. As in the invention described in Item 8, it is preferable that article positioning means is provided on the transport surface facing the aligned transport conveyor.

  Further, as in the invention described in claim 9, the article transporting conveyor preferably includes a measuring device for measuring the articles aligned on the aligned transporting conveyor. In this case, the measuring device is described in claim 10. As described in the invention, below the connecting part of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor forming the article conveyor, above the upstream conveyor, above the downstream conveyor, or above the conveyor connected to the downstream conveyor It is preferable to arrange in at least one position. Moreover, it is preferable that the said articles | goods are agricultural products, such as a spherical fruit and vegetables, as the invention of Claim 11.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the aligning and conveying conveyor is disposed above the article conveying conveyor, and the elastic protrusion having a hollow portion comes into contact with the article on the article conveying conveyor from above. As a result, the cavity is deformed and the article is pressed against the article conveying conveyor, so that the deformation of the projection cavity can regulate the movement of the article in the direction perpendicular to the conveying direction. An article alignment / conveying device that can be conveyed with a certain interval and at a constant interval on a conveying conveyor, and that can be supported by a protrusion that requires a hollow portion as a member for maintaining the posture of the article, and is advantageous in cost. Obtainable.

  According to the invention described in claim 2, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1, the alignment conveyor is located above the connecting portion of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, above or downstream of the upstream conveyor. Since it is arranged above the side conveyor, the alignment conveyance conveyor can be arranged at a desired position of the article conveyance conveyor composed of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, and can accurately cope with various articles and line configurations.

  Further, according to the invention described in claim 3, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 1 or 2, the hollow portion having both ends opened by fixing the deformable sheet to the endless belt in a bent state. Since the protrusions having the end portions are formed in the endless belt, the protrusions having the hollow portions can be easily formed, and the arrangement of the alignment transfer conveyor can be simplified to obtain an alignment transfer conveyor that is more cost-effective. Due to the opening, the projections can be deformed satisfactorily, the positional deviation of the article in each direction is reliably prevented, and the posture of the article can be further stabilized.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 3, the sheet forming the protrusion is formed of a long sheet having substantially the same width as the endless belt, By bending and fixing the sheet, a plurality of protrusions are formed in a lump at a predetermined interval, so a large number of protrusions can be easily formed on an endless belt, and an aligned conveying conveyor having protrusions is inexpensive. Can be formed.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 4, the interval (pitch) in the conveyance direction of the protrusion is smaller than the outer diameter of the article conveyed by the article conveyance conveyor. Since it is set, the upper surface side of the article can be reliably pressed by at least one protrusion, and the posture of the article can be further stabilized.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 5, the protrusion height of the protrusion is set equal to or higher than the outer diameter of the article conveyed by the article conveying conveyor. Therefore, the upper surface side of the article can be more reliably pressed by the protrusion, and the posture of the article can be further stabilized.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 6, the distance between the alignment conveyor and the article conveyor is an outer diameter corresponding to the article type, item, etc. Therefore, the height of the elastic material can be set to the optimum position according to the product type such as the height of the article, the item, etc. Improvements can be made.

  According to the eighth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to seventh aspects, the article positioning means is provided on the conveyance surface of the article conveyance conveyor facing the alignment conveyance conveyor. In this state, the article is positioned on the conveyance surface by the positioning means and can be pressed by the protrusions of the alignment conveyance conveyor, and the posture of the article can be further stabilized.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first to eighth aspects of the invention, the article transport conveyor includes the measuring device for measuring the articles aligned by the align transport conveyor. Articles whose postures are maintained constant by the conveyor and in a constant interval can be supplied to the measuring device, and for example, the appearance of the articles can be measured with high accuracy.

  According to the invention described in claim 10, in addition to the effect of the invention described in claim 9, the measuring device has a predetermined value such as a lower part of the connecting portion of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor forming the article transport conveyor. Since it is provided at the position, for example, the entire outer peripheral surface of the article can be measured with high accuracy by these measuring devices and can be easily applied to measurement of various articles.

  According to the invention described in claim 11, in addition to the effects of the invention described in claims 1 to 10, since the article is an agricultural product such as a spherical fruit and vegetable, an egg and other fruit and fruit sorting line such as sudachi and tangerine By applying to the above, it is possible to improve the efficiency of sorting the fruits and vegetables and improve the sorting accuracy.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1 to 12 show an embodiment of an article conveying apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of the aligning and conveying apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof, and FIGS. FIGS. 6 and 7 are sectional views of the belt conveyor and the sorting conveyor, FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the alignment conveying conveyor, and FIGS.

  1 and 2, the aligning and conveying apparatus 1 includes an aligning and supplying conveyor 3, an upstream conveyor 4, a downstream conveyor 5, and a sorting conveyor 6 that are connected in the conveying direction A to form an article conveying conveyor 2, and an upstream side. The lower surface measuring device 8 disposed below the connecting portion 7b of the conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5, the upper surface measuring device 9 disposed above the starting end side of the sorting conveyor 6, and the upstream conveyor 4 to the downstream conveyor 5 And an alignment transport conveyor 10 and the like disposed above the starting end side of the sorting conveyor 6.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the alignment supply conveyor 3 has a pair of ridges 11 as positioning means for positioning the produce W at the center in the width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction A of the rotatable conveyance belt 3 a. Are integrally formed, and on both sides in the width direction of the transport belt 3a, a large number of transport rollers 12 are arranged in parallel so as to be rotatable along the transport direction A. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport roller 12 is arranged in parallel in a reverse “C” shape with respect to the transport direction a, and as shown in FIG. The roller 12a and the roller shaft 12b have a central lower portion in the longitudinal direction of the roller 12a abutting on the drive belt 13 rotatably supported by the receiving roller 21a and the belt receiver 21b. It is designed to rotate in the reverse direction.

  As shown in enlarged views in FIGS. 4 and 5, the conveying roller 12 is provided with a notch 14 for preventing rotation at a predetermined position of the roller shaft 12b, and this notch 14 is formed at the upper part of the conveyor frame 3b. The rotation of the roller shaft 12b itself is restricted by being locked in the locking groove 15a of the fixed roller bracket 15. Further, the tip of the roller shaft 12b is penetrated through a slightly larger hole 15b of the roller bracket 15, and a retaining ring 16 for preventing removal is fitted to the outside thereof. As a result, the transport roller 12 can tilt with the hole 15 portion of the roller bracket 15 as an axis, and comes into contact with the drive belt 13 due to its own weight. Further, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the transport roller 12 is lifted upward by the operator holding the roller 12a, for example, so that the roller shaft 12b It moves in the locking groove 15a which is vertically long and open at the top, and can be tilted as shown by an arrow B.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the conveying roller 12 has an elastic material 17 such as rubber fitted and fixed to the tip of a cylindrical roller 12a, and a collar 18 is inserted into a roller shaft 12b inside the roller 12a. The bearings 19 are disposed at both ends of the collar 18 in a state in which the bearings 19 are prevented from coming off by a retaining ring 20 or the like. Then, the alignment supply conveyor 3 having such a conveyance roller 12 conveys, for example, the agricultural products W simultaneously supplied to the upstream side of the conveyor 3 in the conveyance direction A, while having a reverse “C” -shaped conveyance roller 12. While rotating the agricultural products W, they are gathered at the center in the width direction of the alignment supply conveyor 3, aligned and conveyed in a row on the ridge 11 of the conveyor belt 3 a, and supplied to the upstream conveyor 4 from the end side thereof. It has become.

  The upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5 are formed by belt conveyors arranged in a substantially horizontal state via a connecting portion 7b having a gap that can be measured by the lower surface measuring device 8, and have substantially the same structure. Is formed. The upstream conveyor 4 shown in FIG. 6 has a conveyor belt 4a wound endlessly while being supported on a conveyor frame 4b by a belt receiving bracket 4c or the like. A pair of protrusions 22 as a positioning means for the agricultural product W similar to the conveying belt 3a of the alignment supply conveyor 3 are integrally formed on the conveying surface of the conveying belt 4a, and the agricultural product W is obtained by rotating the conveying belt 4a. Is transported in the transport direction (a).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the sorting conveyor 6 has a bucket 24 that can rotate around a shaft 23, and the bucket 24 has a conveyor frame 6a (see FIG. 1), the bucket 26 is movably provided, and the chain 26 is rotated so that the buckets 24 on which the agricultural products W are respectively placed are conveyed in the conveying direction (b).

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIGS. 6 to 8, the alignment conveyor 10 has a flat belt 10a as an endless belt endless on a plurality of rollers 27 (see FIG. 1) provided at predetermined positions on the conveyor frame 10b. The elastic material 28 is integrally provided on the conveying surface (outer peripheral surface) of the flat belt 10a. As shown in FIG. 8, the elastic material 28 is formed of a sheet that can be bent (deformed) and has a width substantially the same as the width of the flat belt 10a, and the sheet has a corrugated shape when viewed from the front shown in FIG. And a plurality of protrusions 28a formed by fixing the bottom portion to the outer peripheral surface of the flat belt 10a with an adhesive or the like and integrating them.

  The protrusions 28a are formed with a predetermined height h from the outer peripheral surface of the flat belt 10a and at substantially constant intervals. A cavity 28b is formed inside each protrusion 28a, and a sheet of the cavity 28b is formed. Openings 28c (see FIGS. 6 and 7) are formed at both ends in the width direction. And the protrusion 28a of this elastic material 28 contacts the agricultural product W, for example as shown in FIG. 7, and deform | transforms the internal cavity 28b simultaneously. As the sheet for forming the elastic member 28, a material that can hold the agricultural product W with a predetermined pressure with a synthetic resin, cloth, nonwoven fabric, or the like and that can deform the sheet itself is used.

  Further, by setting the length of the peripheral surface of each projection 28a of the elastic material 28 formed of this sheet to be substantially the same, the volume of the cavity portion 28b inside each projection 28a is set to be substantially the same, The height h of each protrusion 28a is set to be equal to or higher than the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W, and the pitch P between the adjacent protrusions 28a is set to be smaller than the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W. Has been.

  Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the alignment transport conveyor 10 is set to have a length that extends from the upstream conveyor 4 to the start end side of the sorting conveyor 6, for example, a predetermined position on the downstream side is slightly set. By bending upward, the distance H between the start end side and the upstream conveyor 4 and between the end end side and the sorting conveyor 6 becomes wider than the central portion, and the contact of the protrusion 28a with the agricultural product W starts (pinch). And the contact release is set to be smooth.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the lower surface measuring device 8 includes a measurement camera 31 and a mirror 32 arranged in a housing 30, a light source (not shown), etc., and a connection between the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5 from the light source. While irradiating light to the part 7b, the lower surface side of the agricultural product W located in the connection part 7b is imaged with the measurement camera 31, and the lower surface quality etc. of the agricultural product W are measured from the imaging data. The upper surface measuring device 9 includes a measurement camera 34 disposed in the housing 33, a light source (not shown), and the like, and irradiates the produce W on the bucket 24 at the measurement position S1 of the sorting conveyor 6 from the light source. At the same time, the agricultural product W is imaged by the measurement camera 34, and the upper surface quality and the like of the agricultural product W are measured from the imaging data.

  Next, an example of the operation of the alignment transport device 1 will be described. Spherical agricultural products W such as sudachi, for example, put on the starting end side of the alignment supply conveyor 3 are placed in a line on the ridges 11 of the conveyance belt 3a by the rotation action of the conveyance rollers 12 of the supply conveyor 3. It is conveyed to the end side and supplied to the start end side of the upstream conveyor 4. Agricultural products W supplied to the upstream conveyor 4 are transferred onto the ridges 22 of the conveyor belt 4a in a single row, conveyed to the terminal end side of the conveyor belt 4, and from the connecting section 7b to the downstream conveyor 5 It is supplied to the start end side and conveyed to the end side by the conveyor 5. Further, the agricultural product W conveyed to the end side by the downstream conveyor 5 is transferred from the conveyor 5 onto the sorting conveyor 6, and is conveyed by the sorting conveyor 6 to the inspection position S1.

  Then, during the transfer of the agricultural product W from the alignment supply conveyor 3 by the upstream conveyor 4, the downstream conveyor 5, and the sorting conveyor 6, the alignment conveyance conveyor 10 acts on the agricultural product W, and its posture is substantially as follows. Maintained constant. That is, the interval dimension H between the conveyor belt 10a of the alignment conveyor 10 and the conveyor belt 3a of the alignment supply conveyor 3, the conveyor belts 4a and 5a of the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5, or the bucket 24 of the sorting conveyor 6 is Since it is set to be slightly larger than the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W, when the agricultural product W is on these conveyors 4, 5 or the sorting conveyor 6, the protrusion 28 a of the elastic material 28 of the alignment transport conveyor 10 is It is always in contact with the upper surface of the agricultural product W and deformed.

  At this time, when the agricultural product W is on the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5, as shown in FIG. 6, the protrusion 28 a of the elastic material 28 of the aligned transport conveyor 10 is pressed against the upper surface of the agricultural product W, The projection 28a is deformed so that the central portion in the width direction is depressed and both end portions are pulled slightly inward. In the deformed state of the projection 28a, the hollow portion 28b inside the projection 28a is also deformed simultaneously by the air intervening inside through the openings 28c at both ends, and the upper surfaces on both sides in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction A of the produce W are projected 28a ( That is, it is pressed by the cavity 28b), and the movement of the agricultural product W in the orthogonal direction indicated by the arrow C in FIG. 6 is restricted.

  Also, in the deformed state of the protrusions 28a in the orthogonal direction, the protrusions 28a are deformed as shown in FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 9, when one protrusion 28a contacts and deforms the agricultural product W, the protrusion 28a is crushed by the agricultural product W, and the cavity 28b is expanded along the conveying direction A. Thus, the upper surface of the agricultural product W is pressed by the protrusions 28a expanded in the transport direction (a), and movement in the transport direction (a) is restricted. In the case of this example, it is a form that is likely to occur when the tip of the protrusion 28a is pressed evenly from the substantially vertical direction to the approximate center of the upper surface of the agricultural product W.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, when the front and rear protrusions 28a are deformed together by contacting the agricultural products W with the front and rear adjacent protrusions 28a substantially evenly, the front protrusion 28a is pushed forward and the rear protrusion 28a is pushed backward, that is, the pair of front and rear protrusions 28a are deformed in a widening direction, and each cavity 28b is also deformed in accordance with the deformation of each protrusion 28a. Then, the front and rear portions on the upper surface side of the agricultural product W are pressed by the deformed front and rear projections 28a, and the movement of the agricultural product W along the conveying direction A is restricted. In the case of this example, it is a form that is likely to occur when the approximate center of the upper surface of the agricultural product W is pressed against the front and rear projections 28a with a substantially equal force.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 11, when the agricultural product W abuts against the front and rear adjacent protrusions 28 a and they are deformed together, the front and rear protrusions 28 a are deformed as in FIG. 10, but each protrusion 28 a is deformed. Due to the difference in force applied to the first projection 28a, one projection 28a (rear projection 28a in the figure) is greatly deformed and the other projection 28a (front projection 28a in the figure) is deformed smaller. Also in this case, each cavity 28b is also deformed in accordance with the deformation of both protrusions 28a, and the front and rear portions on the upper surface side of the agricultural product W are pressed by the deformed protrusions 28a before and after the deformation. Movement along is restricted. In the case of this example, it is a form that is likely to occur when the approximate center of the upper surface of the agricultural product W is pressed against the front and rear projections 28a unevenly.

  That is, when the protrusion 28a of the elastic material 28 is brought into contact with the produce W and deformed, the hollow portion 28b inside the protrusion 28a is also deformed at the same time, and the predetermined at least one protrusion 28a is pressed against the upper surface of the produce W. Thus, the movement of the agricultural product W in the entire region of approximately 360 degrees, such as the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction A as well as the conveying direction A of the agricultural product W, is restricted.

  When the projection 28a is deformed, the projection 28a itself is formed of a deformable thin sheet, and a cavity portion 28b is provided inside, and the cavity portion 28b is opened at both ends in the width direction of the projection 28a. Therefore, the deformation of the cavity 28b, that is, the deformation of the protrusion 28a can be performed smoothly, and the upper surface of each agricultural product W can be pressed using the air pressure of the cavity 28b formed inside each protrusion 28a. Thus, each agricultural product W conveyed in a single row can be favorably maintained in a fixed posture, for example, a substantially uniform pressing state can be easily obtained on each agricultural product W.

  By the way, in the above description, although the attitude | position maintenance of the agricultural products W on the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5 was demonstrated, the agricultural products W located in the terminal side (connection part 7a) of the alignment supply conveyor 3, and selection The produce W on the bucket 24 located on the start end side (the connecting portion 7 c) on the conveyor 6 is also maintained in a state where the orientation is conveyed by the alignment conveyor 10. Since this operation is also performed in the same manner as the agricultural products W on the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  And the agricultural products W conveyed on the respective conveyors 3 to 6 while the posture is maintained constant by the aligned conveying conveyor 10 in this way are transferred from the upstream conveyor 4 to the downstream conveyor 5 by the connecting portion 7b. The lower surface quality is measured by the lower surface measuring device 8. At this time, since the agricultural products W are supplied to the connecting portion 7b at a constant posture and at a constant longitudinal interval on the starting end side of the aligned conveying conveyor 10, the lower surface quality and the like can be measured with high accuracy by the lower surface measuring device 8. become.

  Also, the agricultural products W transferred from the downstream conveyor 5 onto the sorting conveyor 6 are kept in a constant posture by the protrusions 28a of the aligning and conveying conveyor 10 during the transfer and during the transfer on the starting end side of the sorting conveyor 6. Therefore, the upper surface quality and the like are measured by the upper surface measuring device 9 while maintaining the posture as measured by the lower surface measuring device 8, and thereby, the outer appearance and the like of the entire peripheral surface of the agricultural product W are measured by both measuring devices. 8 and 9 can be measured with high accuracy.

  In addition, the alignment conveyance conveyor 10 has an appropriate shape as shown in FIG. 12 in which the height h and pitch P of the protrusions 28a of the elastic material 28 are as shown in FIG. Can be adopted. That is, when the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W is small, the height h and the pitch P are set small, and when the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W is large, the height h and the pitch P are set large. Further, the entire conveying conveyor 10 can be moved up and down by a vertical mechanism (not shown), and the distance between the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5 according to the outer diameter D according to the type and item of the produce W. It can also be set as the structure which can set H to the optimal value for the attitude | position maintenance of the agricultural product W.

  As described above, in the aligning and conveying apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment, the elastic material 28 of the aligning and conveying conveyor 10 disposed above the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5 has the protrusion 28 a above the produce W. Since the hollow portion 28b is deformed by the abutment to maintain the agricultural product W in a predetermined posture, the agricultural product W on the article conveying conveyor 2 can be pressed by the deformation of the protrusion 28a of the elastic material 28 and the hollow portion 28b. . As a result, the deformation of the protrusions 28a restricts the movement of the produce W in the conveyance direction A and the direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction A, and maintains the posture of the produce W on the conveyors 3 to 6 of the article conveyance conveyor 2 at a constant level. While being transported at regular intervals

  In particular, by fixing a deformable sheet as the elastic material 28 to the flat belt 10a in a bent state, a large number of protrusions 28a having hollow portions 28b that are open at both ends orthogonal to the conveying direction A are formed. The projection 28a can be satisfactorily deformed by the opening 28c, and at least one projection 28a can be satisfactorily deformed and pressed along the outer shape of each agricultural product W. Moreover, the pitch P of each protrusion 28a of the elastic material 28 is set smaller than the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W conveyed by each conveyor 3-6, or the protrusion height h of each protrusion 28a is conveyed by each conveyor 3-6. Since it is set to be equal to or higher than the outer diameter D of the agricultural product W to be produced, the upper surface side of the agricultural product W can be reliably pressed by the projection 28a.

  Moreover, since the volume of the cavity part 28b is set substantially the same by setting the length of the peripheral surface of each processus | protrusion 28a of the alignment conveyance conveyor 10 substantially, the pressing force of the agricultural products W by each processus | protrusion 28a is set. It can be made substantially uniform, and the posture of the agricultural product W that is continuously conveyed can be further stabilized. At the same time, the volume of the hollow portion 28b of each projection 28a can be set to a desired value by setting the length of the peripheral surface of each projection 28a to a predetermined value. Therefore, the pressing force of the produce W by each projection 28a can be adjusted. It can be done easily.

  By these, for example, compared with the case where it presses with the solid elastic material shown in patent documents 2 and patent documents 3, or the case where a belt-like member is simply pressed on the upper surface of a plurality of agricultural products, etc. It can be pressed against the upper surface side of each agricultural product W using the pressure of the cavity 28b. As a result, it is possible to reliably prevent misalignment of the agricultural product W in each direction, and to maintain the posture more stably, for example, to supply the agricultural product W in a stable state to the connecting portion 7b, the inspection position S1, and the like. In addition, it is possible to reliably prevent the agricultural product W from being damaged by the elastic material 28.

  Furthermore, since the alignment transport conveyor 10 is disposed from the end side of the alignment supply conveyor 3 to the start end side of the sorting conveyor 6, if one alignment transport conveyor 10 is disposed in a range where the posture needs to be maintained constant. It is possible to simplify the configuration of the aligning / conveying apparatus 1 and to deal with the arrangement of one aligning / conveying conveyor 10, so that it can be easily attached to an existing sorting line or the like. Also, a single long sheet having the same width as the flat belt 10a is prepared, bent into a corrugated shape, and the bottom thereof is fixed to the flat belt 10a to form a large number of protrusions 28a at once. Therefore, the flat belt 10a having the elastic material 28 can be easily manufactured.

  Also, if the height position of the elastic material 28 is configured to be adjusted according to the outer diameter D according to the type and item of the agricultural product W, the height of the elastic material 28 is optimized according to the type and item of the agricultural product W. It can set to a position, can press down various agricultural products W reliably, and can improve the versatility of the alignment conveyance apparatus 1 significantly. As a result, it is possible to obtain an arrangement and conveyance conveyor 10 that is simple in construction and inexpensive, and can provide an arrangement and conveyance apparatus 1 that is advantageous in terms of cost.

  Further, since the article transport conveyor 2 includes a lower surface measuring device 8 and an upper surface measuring device 9 for measuring the agricultural product W, and these are arranged at predetermined positions with respect to the aligned transport conveyor 10, the posture of the aligned transport conveyor 10 is constant. Can be stably supplied to the measuring devices 8 and 9. As a result, the entire area of the outer peripheral surface such as the lower surface and the upper surface of the agricultural product W can be reliably measured, for example, it can be supplied to the upper surface measurement position 9 without changing the posture of the agricultural product W measuring the lower surface, and the appearance quality and the like are improved. It can be measured with high accuracy. In particular, since the lower surface measuring device 8 is disposed below the connecting portion 7b of the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5, the lower surface side of the agricultural product W is easily measured using the gap between the connecting portions 7b. be able to.

  In addition, since the alignment supply conveyor 3 is arranged in a reverse “C” shape and has a large number of conveying rollers 12 inclined so that the central portion in the width direction is lowered, the alignment supply conveyor 3 is arranged at the start end side of the alignment supply conveyor 3. The fed agricultural products W can be aligned on the central conveyor belt 3a while being transported, and the transport roller 12 itself rotates by contacting the drive belt 13 with its own weight. Or all the transport rollers 12 rotate at the same rotational speed, so that the agricultural product W can be transported smoothly. Further, since the elastic material 17 such as rubber is fixed to the front end portion of the conveying roller 12, the agricultural product W can be reliably prevented from being damaged by the conveying roller 12.

  Further, since each transport roller 12 is disposed so as to be tiltable, it can be tilted upward by a predetermined angle by holding the tip portion by hand, and maintenance work for the transport roller 12 and its lower part can be easily performed. And the agricultural products W can be stably aligned with the central portion of the conveyor belt 3a by the ridges 11 provided on the conveyor belt 3a. By these, it becomes possible to supply the agricultural products W from the alignment supply conveyor 3 to the upstream conveyor 4 in a stable alignment state, and by using this alignment supply conveyor 3 and the alignment conveyance conveyor 10 having the above-described effects together. For example, it can be suitably used for a sorting line of a sorting field for agricultural products W such as sudachi and mandarin oranges, so that the efficiency of sorting operations of the agricultural products W and the sorting accuracy can be improved.

  FIGS. 13 and 14 are a schematic front view and a plan view similar to FIGS. 1 and 2, showing another embodiment of the aligning and conveying apparatus according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the same parts as those in the above embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals. The feature of the aligning and conveying apparatus 1 of this embodiment is that the upper surface measuring device 9 is disposed above the upstream conveyor 4, and the first alignment is located upstream of the upper surface measuring device 9 and above the starting end side of the upstream conveyor 4. 10 A of conveyance conveyors are arrange | positioned, and it is the 2nd alignment conveyance conveyor 10B from the upstream end side upper side of the downstream conveyor 5 to the upper start side side of the selection conveyor 6 in the downstream of the transfer part 7b of the upstream conveyor 4 and the downstream conveyor 5. It is in the point where it is arranged.

  In other words, the first alignment conveyor 10A having a relatively short length in the conveyance direction A is arranged above the upstream side of the upstream conveyor 4 and is supplied from the alignment supply conveyor 3 to the upstream side of the upstream conveyor 4. Keep W's posture constant. And the upper surface measurement apparatus 9 is arrange | positioned above the upstream conveyor 4 of the downstream of this 1st alignment conveyance conveyor 10A, and the upper surface quality of the agricultural product W etc. by which the attitude | position was kept constant by the 1st alignment conveyance conveyor 10A etc. Measure.

  Further, a lower surface measuring device 8 is disposed below the connecting portion 7b, and the lower surface measuring device 8 measures the lower surface of the agricultural product W that is conveyed by the upstream conveyor 4 and supplied to the connecting portion 7b. The farm products W are supplied to the sorting conveyor 6 in a state in which the posture is kept constant by the second alignment transport conveyor 10B. That is, in the case of this embodiment, the agricultural product W on the alignment supply conveyor 3 immediately before transferring to the upstream conveyor 4 at the connecting portion 7a is pressed down by the protrusion 28a and the cavity portion 28b of the first alignment transport conveyor 10A. At the same time, the agricultural product W immediately after the transfer at the connecting portion 7b is pressed by the protrusion 28a and the cavity 28b of the second alignment conveyor 10B.

  Also in the aligning and conveying apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the agricultural product W can be satisfactorily pressed by the action of the elastic material 28 having the projections 28a and the cavity 28b, and the posture of the agricultural product W can be maintained constant. In addition to the same effects as the above-described embodiment, since the aligned conveying conveyors 10A and 10B are arranged in a divided state, when the machine length of the upstream conveyor 4 or the downstream conveyor 5 is long, the predetermined length Thus, it is possible to achieve the operational effects such as maintaining the posture of the agricultural product W constant while efficiently arranging the aligned conveying conveyors 10A and 10B having the same machine length.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, a long sheet is used as the elastic material 28, and a large number of protrusions 28a each having a hollow portion 28b are formed in a lump by bending the sheet into a waveform in front view. However, the elastic material of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the protrusions 28a may be formed at predetermined intervals by bending a short sheet and fixing the sheet to the flat belt 10a individually. Further, the protrusion 28a is not limited to the shape having the opening portions 28c at both ends orthogonal to the conveying direction A. For example, the protrusion 28a is formed by a semicircular convex portion or a bulging portion having a hollow portion opening in a predetermined direction. It is possible to use an elastic material having a hollow portion and a projection, a convex portion, a bulging portion, etc. having a predetermined shape that is set so that air in the hollow portion is released in a predetermined direction during deformation.

  In each of the above embodiments, the alignment transport conveyors 10 and 10B are configured to warp upward by a predetermined angle. However, the alignment transport conveyors 10 and 10B may be formed flat like the alignment transport conveyor 10A. The number and position of the arrangement and transfer conveyors, the form of the article transfer conveyor, the position of various measuring devices, etc. are also examples, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the gist of each invention related to the present invention. .

  The present invention can be applied not only to sudachi and mandarin but also to an apparatus for aligning and conveying spherical agricultural products such as apples, pears, peaches, melons, melons or eggs, and spherical articles such as balls other than agricultural products.

Schematic front view of an apparatus for aligning and conveying articles according to the present invention The plan view Cross-sectional view of the alignment supply conveyor Enlarged view of the transport roller Sectional view Cross section of the upstream conveyor Cross section of the sorting conveyor Cross section of the same conveyor Operation explanatory diagram of the same alignment conveyor Other operation explanatory drawing of the same alignment conveyance conveyor Still another operation explanatory view of the aligned conveying conveyor Sectional drawing which shows the modification of the alignment conveyance conveyor The schematic front view which shows other embodiment of the aligning and conveying apparatus of the articles | goods concerning this invention. The plan view

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Alignment conveyance apparatus, 2 ... Article conveyance conveyor 3 ... Alignment supply conveyor, 3a ... Conveyance belt, 4 ... Upstream conveyor, 4a ... Conveyance belt, 5 ... Downstream Side conveyor, 5a ... conveyor belt, 6 ... sorting conveyor, 7a, 7b, 7c ... transit section, 8 ... lower surface measuring device, 9 ... upper surface measuring device, 10 ... alignment Conveyor, 10a ... flat belt (endless belt), 11 ... ridge (positioning means), 12 ... conveyance roller, 22 ... ridge (positioning means), 24 ... bucket, 28 ... elastic material, 28a ... projection, 28b ... cavity, 28c ... opening, 31, 34 ... measuring camera, S1 ... inspection position, W ... produce.

Claims (11)

Provided on the outer peripheral surface of the endless belt that rotates endlessly, an alignment transport conveyor provided with a number of elastic projections having a hollow portion in the protruding state inside,
The alignment transport conveyor is disposed above the article transport conveyor for transporting articles, and the protrusions abut on the articles on the article transport conveyor from above to deform the hollow portion and maintain the articles in a predetermined posture. An article aligning and conveying apparatus characterized in that:   The article transport conveyor includes an upstream conveyor and a downstream conveyor, and the aligned transport conveyor is at least one above the connection between the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor, above the upstream conveyor, or above the downstream conveyor. The apparatus for aligning and conveying articles according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is arranged at a position.   The protrusion is formed by fixing a deformable sheet to the endless belt in a bent state, and the cavity of the protrusion is open in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the article conveying conveyor. An apparatus for aligning and conveying articles according to claim 1 or 2.   The sheet is formed of a long sheet having substantially the same width as the endless belt, and a plurality of protrusions are collectively formed at predetermined intervals by fixing the sheet in a bent state. The apparatus for aligning and conveying articles according to claim 3.   5. The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protrusions are set such that an interval in a conveying direction is smaller than an outer diameter of an article conveyed by an article conveying conveyor.   6. The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protrusion height is set to be equal to or higher than the outer diameter of the article conveyed by the article conveying conveyor. .   The apparatus for aligning and conveying articles according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a distance between the aligning and conveying conveyor and the article conveying conveyor is adjusted according to an outer diameter of the article.   The article transporting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article transporting conveyor is provided with an article positioning means on a transporting surface facing the aligning transporting conveyor.   9. The article conveying and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article conveying conveyor includes a measuring device that measures the articles arranged by the aligning and conveying conveyor.   The measuring device is at least below the connecting part of the upstream conveyor and the downstream conveyor forming the article transport conveyor, above the upstream conveyor, above the downstream conveyor, or above the transport conveyor connected to the downstream conveyor. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the apparatus is arranged at one position.   11. The article aligning and conveying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article is an agricultural product such as a spherical fruit or vegetable or an egg.

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