JP2007137623A - Storage device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage device enabling distribution of article trays on which articles are mounted and performing distributing operation at high speed without providing a gate member on a storage conveyor for storing the article trays. <P>SOLUTION: A switching conveyor part 51 for switching the conveying direction of the article trays discharged from a tray conveyance conveyor 1d is provided in the upstream side of the storage conveyor 52. The switching conveyor part 51 is disposed between a pair of first fixation frames 51c extending to the conveying direction and opposing to each other, and is provided with a plurality of switching conveyance rollers 51a juxtaposed in the conveying direction. By oscillating the plurality of switching conveyance rollers 51a in the same direction within a plane including the conveying surfaces of the switching conveyance rollers 51a, the conveying direction of the article trays can be switched. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is preferably used in a sorting and packaging facility for agricultural products such as apples, tomatoes, and pears, and relates to a storage device that stores a tray containing articles discharged from a sorting conveyor according to a predetermined equal class for boxing.

  As a prior art, a storage device has been proposed that stores a tray containing articles discharged from a sorting conveyor according to a predetermined equal class for boxing. The storage conveyor constituting the storage device can store a plurality of article trays in a plurality of rows, and a discharge device is usually arranged on the extension of the middle row.

  As the abutment portion of the discharge device enters the conveying path of the sorting conveyor and abuts on the article-containing tray, the article-containing tray is discharged to the storage conveyor and sequentially stored in the middle row of the storage conveyor. It has become.

  Of these stored trays, when a new tray collides with the tray located on the most upstream side, the array of trays stored in the middle row collapses due to the impact at the time of collision, and these trays Moves to either the left or right row, or the traveling direction of a new tray is switched. For this reason, the arrangement state of the trays on the pool conveyor cannot be controlled.

In order to solve this problem, Patent Literature 1 discloses a pool conveyor in which a pair of two classifying discharge units are arranged in parallel, and a path switching mechanism is provided on the start end side of each classifying discharge unit. Yes. The path switching mechanism has a gate member that swings left and right and distributes the tray to the left and right, and the tray discharged to the pool conveyor is discharged into an empty space on the pool conveyor by contacting the gate member. The
JP 2002-263588 A

  However, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, during the switching operation by the switching mechanism, there is a risk that the tray will come into contact with the gate member to generate noise, or the agricultural product placed on the tray may be shaken by the impact at the time of contact. is there. Moreover, it takes time to switch the gate member, which hinders high-speed processing of the article-containing tray.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a storage device capable of sorting the trays with articles on the storage conveyor that stores the trays with articles on which articles are mounted, and having a high-speed sorting operation even without a gate member. Is one of the purposes.

  In order to solve the above problems, a storage device of the present invention is a storage device including a storage conveyor that stores a plurality of article-containing trays loaded with articles in a plurality of rows, which is discharged from a tray transfer conveyor. On the upstream side of the storage conveyor, there is provided a switching transport unit that switches the transport direction of the tray containing articles discharged from the tray transport conveyor, and the switching transport unit extends in the transport direction and is opposed to the pair. A plurality of switching conveying rollers arranged in parallel in the conveying direction, and the plurality of switching conveying rollers are arranged in a plane including a conveying surface of the switching conveying roller. The conveyance direction of the article tray can be switched by swinging in the same direction.

  Here, the storage conveyor has a plurality of storage conveyance rollers provided in parallel between the pair of second fixed frames that extend in the conveyance direction of the storage conveyor and are opposed to each other. In addition, it is preferable that the conveyance surface by the large number of storage conveyance rollers is provided in a downward slope toward the conveyance direction.

  In addition, the plurality of storage and conveyance rollers disposed on the upstream side among the plurality of storage and conveyance rollers are provided so as to be inclined toward the downstream side toward the center of the conveyance surface by the storage and conveyance rollers. It is preferable that the inclination angle of the storage and conveyance roller is substantially equal to the maximum inclination angle with respect to the conveyance direction of the oscillating switching roller.

  Moreover, it is good to provide the end plate which stops the said tray containing goods conveyed from this storage conveyor by friction contact in the terminal part of this storage conveyor.

  Further, the angle of the end plate may be adjusted within a range where the friction of the article-containing tray can be stopped.

  Further, on the opposite side of the storage conveyor across the end plate, a recovery conveyor for recovering empty trays on the end plate from which articles have been removed is provided. It is good to provide below.

  According to the present invention, there is no switching mechanism that abuts the tray with articles and switches the transport direction by swinging the plurality of switching transport rollers in the same direction within the plane including the transport surface of the switching transport roller. However, the conveyance direction of the article tray can be switched. Further, since the transport direction can be switched by simply swinging the plurality of switching transport rollers, the swing width can be reduced and the switching operation can be performed at high speed.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a free tray type agricultural product sorting apparatus. FIG. 2 is a side view of the pool conveyor 5. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the conveyance orthogonal direction of the switching conveyor unit. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view in the transport direction of the switching conveyor unit, and FIG. 5 is another cross-sectional view in the transport direction of the switching conveyor unit. 6 and 7 are top views of the switching conveyor unit. FIG. 6 illustrates a state in which the switching roller is driven and the actual tray is stored on the left side in the transport direction. FIG. 7 illustrates the switching roller as illustrated in FIG. Shows a state where the actual tray is stored on the right side in the transport direction by driving in the opposite direction. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a control procedure for controlling the switching operation of the switching roller. FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram illustrating the angle of the inclined conveyor unit and the end plate with respect to the horizontal plane.

  In this embodiment, the conveyance direction of the conveyance conveyor 1 is the direction of arrow A in the figure. If the agricultural product supply unit 2 to which agricultural products are supplied is set as the conveyance start point, the conveyance conveyor 1 includes a plurality of measurement units 3 as a selection unit that sequentially measures the agricultural products (sorting classification) along the conveyance direction A from the conveyance start point side. The discharge device 4 (4a to 4l) is arranged. In FIG. 1, twelve discharge devices 4 (4a to 4l) are shown, but the present invention is not limited to this number.

  In the discharge direction of each discharge device 4, the agricultural products discharged from each discharge device 4 together with the free tray (hereinafter, the free tray on which the agricultural products are placed is referred to as an actual tray Tb, and the empty free tray is referred to as an empty tray Ta). The pool conveyor 5 which stores temporarily is provided. The width of the pool conveyor 5 is set to a width corresponding to two of the actual trays Tb, and a plurality of switching rollers 51a are arranged in parallel in the transport direction of the pool conveyor 5 at the start end. A switching conveyor 51 is provided. In addition, the pool conveyor 5 should just have the width dimension which can arrange the actual tray Tb in parallel, and is not limited to the dimension of a present Example.

  The plurality of switching rollers 51a constituting the switching conveyor unit 51 can be swung integrally in the horizontal direction (details will be described later), and the switching rollers 51a can be swung. Thus, the transport direction of the actual tray Tb supplied to the switching conveyor unit 51 can be changed on the pool conveyor 5.

  The actual tray Tb discharged to the switching roller 51a is transported in a direction corresponding to the swing position of the switching roller 51a, and the inclined conveyor unit constituting a part of the pool conveyor 5 connected to the terminal end of the switching conveyor unit 51. Enter 52.

  According to the above-described configuration, for example, when a plurality of actual trays Tb are stored in one row of the inclined conveyor unit 52 and are in a full state, the actual tray Tb is fed into the other row by swinging the switching roller 51a. be able to. Thereby, the space on the pool conveyor 5 can be used effectively.

  A boxing work area 7 is provided on the opposite side of the discharge device 4 across the pool conveyor 5, and a boxing worker 8 is disposed in the boxing work area 7. Agricultural products are taken out from the actual trays Tb on the end plate 6 disposed at the end of the conveyor 5, and boxing operations are sequentially performed on the boxes placed in the boxing work area 7.

  Between the end plate 6 and the boxing work area 7, there is provided an empty tray supply conveyor 10 for sending the empty tray Ta, which has been emptied by collecting agricultural products, to the empty tray collection conveyor 9. The operator 8 can move the empty tray Ta on the end plate 6 emptied by boxing to the empty tray supply conveyor 10 by manual work.

  Next, the configuration of each part of the sorting device will be described in detail.

  In the agricultural product supply unit 2, a plurality of transfer workers W are arranged along the first supply conveyor unit 1a and the second supply conveyor unit 1b, and each transfer worker W includes the first and second transfer workers W. An operation of placing agricultural products (for example, apples, tomatoes, pears, melons, etc.) is performed on the empty trays Ta conveyed on the supply conveyors 1a, 1b.

  The downstream side of the first and second supply conveyor units 1a and 1b in the conveying direction is joined to a single sorting conveyor unit 1c constituting a part of the conveying conveyor 1, and the sorting conveyor unit 1c includes an empty tray. It is sent in a state where Ta and the actual tray Tb are mixed.

  The measuring unit 3 includes an appearance inspection device 3a and an internal quality inspection device 3b arranged on the downstream side of the appearance inspection device 3a, and photographs agricultural products on the actual tray Tb (external photographing, transmitted light photographing, etc.). Based on the photographing result, the grade (excellent, excellent, good, etc.) and the grade (LL, L, M, S) of the agricultural products measured by a determination unit (not shown) are determined.

  On the downstream side of the measuring unit 3, a single sorting conveyor unit 1 d constituting a part of the transport conveyor 1 is provided. The sorting conveyor unit 1 d and the branching portion of the empty tray collection conveyor 9 are provided with a sorting conveyor. An empty tray discharge device 44 that can advance and retreat is provided in the conveyance path of the section 1d.

  The empty tray Ta and the actual tray Tb that have passed through the measuring unit 3 are conveyed downstream in the conveyance direction by the sorting conveyor unit 1d, and the empty tray Ta abuts on the empty tray discharge device 44 that enters the conveyance path of the sorting conveyor unit 1d. To the empty tray collection conveyor 9.

  The empty tray collection conveyor 9 is configured to convey the empty tray Tb conveyed from the empty tray conveyance conveyor 10 provided corresponding to each pool conveyor 5 described later to the agricultural product supply unit 2.

  The actual tray Tb remaining on the sorting conveyor unit 1d is further transported downstream in the transport direction, and is discharged by the discharge device 4 to the pool conveyor 5 of the corresponding sorting category in the sorting control described later while moving on the sorting conveyor unit 1d. Is done.

  In addition, the actual tray Tb that has not been discharged to any of the pool conveyors 5 is sent from the sorting conveyor unit 1d to the return conveyor unit 1e and sent again to the start end side (upstream side of the discharging device 4) of the sorting conveyor unit 1d. It is.

  For the sorting control for measuring the agricultural products on the actual tray Tb and discharging the measured agricultural products to the pool conveyor 5 for each sorting category determined based on the measurement result, a barcode is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the actual tray Tb. Is displayed, the barcode on the actual tray Tb is read by the first barcode reader 45 provided at the position immediately before entering the measuring unit 3, and the read barcode information is stored in a storage unit (not shown). Then, the control device (not shown) determines the equal class based on the measurement result measured by the measurement unit 3, and stores the determination result in the storage unit in association with the barcode information of the actual tray Tb.

  On the other hand, a second barcode reader 46 is provided between the terminal end of the return conveyor unit 1e and the discharge device 4a, and reads the barcode of the actual tray Tb passing through the second barcode reader 46. . Then, the sorting section corresponding to the barcode information is read from the storage unit, and in synchronization with the actual tray Tb reaching the corresponding discharge device 4, the discharge device 4 is operated to change the actual tray Tb. Discharge to the pool conveyor 5.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the switching conveyor unit 51 constituting the start end side of the pool conveyor 5 has a pair of left and right conveyor frames 51 c and a plurality of switching rollers 51 a arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction of the pool conveyor 5. is doing. The left rotation shaft portion 511b of each rotation shaft 51b of the switching roller 51a is movable and rotatable with respect to a plurality of long hole portions 51d extending in the longitudinal direction of the pool conveyor 5 formed in the conveyor frame 51c. Is engaged.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a left guide plate 53 is attached to the outer side surface of the conveyor frame 51c. The left guide plate 53 is set to have a shorter dimension in the transport direction than the slot 51d. A plurality of recesses 53a are formed, and the left rotation shaft portion 511b protruding from each slot 51d is rotatably engaged with these recesses 53a.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of recesses 54a having substantially the same dimensions as the recesses 53a are formed on the right guide plate 54 paired with the left guide plate 53. The right rotation shaft portion 512b is rotatably engaged.

  In FIG. 3, a slide guide member 55 extending along the transport direction is provided on the outer surface of the right guide plate 54, and a guide groove portion 55a formed in the slide guide member 55 is provided on the inner side of the conveyor frame 51c. A slide rail 56 attached to the surface is slidably engaged.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the cylinder device 57 that drives the right guide plate 54 includes a piston rod 57 a and a cylinder housing 57 b in which the piston rod 57 a advances and retreats. It is attached to the right guide plate 54 via a mounting bracket 57c.

  A cylinder bracket 57d extends downward at the front end and the rear end of the cylinder housing 57b. The cylinder bracket 57d is fixed to a cylinder support plate 59 attached to a motor support plate 58. Yes. In the above configuration, the right guide plate 54 can be slid along the guide groove 55a by moving the piston rod 57a forward and backward with respect to the cylinder housing 57b.

  The motor support plate 58 has a reverse hat shape, and its upper end is attached to the conveyor frame 51c.

  The motor support plate 58 is provided with a motor 61 for rotating the switching rollers 51a around the rotation shaft 51b. The motor 61 has a motor body 61a and an output shaft 61b. A driving pulley 61c is provided below the tip of 61b and below the switching roller 51a.

  A driving belt 62 is wound around the driving pulley 61c, and the driving belt 62 is engaged with the outer peripheral surface of the switching roller 51a.

  Further, a roller support flange 63 is attached to the conveyor frame 51c, and a drive belt 62 is disposed between a pair of meandering prevention rollers 64 supported by the roller support flange 63.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the motor 61 is driven and its output shaft 61b is rotated in the clockwise direction in the above-described configuration, this rotational force is transmitted to each switching roller 51a via the drive belt 62, Each switching roller 51a rotates in the counterclockwise direction around the rotation shaft 51b. At this time, since the drive direction of the drive belt 62 is regulated by the pair of meandering prevention rollers 64, the switching conveyor unit 51 can be driven stably.

  According to the above-described configuration, by rotating the piston rod 57a with respect to the cylinder housing 57b, each rotating shaft 51b moves in the long hole portion 51d, and the plurality of switching rollers 51a are integrally swung in the horizontal direction. (See FIGS. 6 and 7). Thereby, since the conveyance direction of real tray Tb can be changed according to the storage condition of pool conveyor 5, the storage space of real tray Tb vacant on pool conveyor 5 can be used without waste. The actual tray Tb is switched in its transport direction depending on the direction of the switching roller 51a constituting the transport surface of the actual tray Tb, and can be switched without a switching mechanism as in the prior art. In this case, it is possible to prevent the actual tray Tb from coming into contact with the switching mechanism and receiving an impact or generating an impact sound.

  The inclined conveyor unit 52 constituting a part of the pool conveyor 5 connected to the terminal end of the switching conveyor unit 51 is configured by arranging a plurality of rotating rollers 52b in parallel in the conveying direction, and is arranged on the upstream side. The two rotating rollers 52b are arranged in a shape of a plan view inclined toward the downstream side toward the center of the conveying surface, and the inclination angle is relative to the conveying direction of the switching roller 51a when oscillating. It almost corresponds to the maximum inclination angle (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

  Thus, the actual tray Tb can be smoothly transferred from the switching conveyor unit 51 to the inclined conveyor unit 52 by substantially matching the inclination angles of the rotating roller 52b and the switching roller 51a arranged on the upstream side of the inclined conveyor unit 52. Since it can enter, the impact added to the real tray Tb can be suppressed.

  Photoelectric fullness detection sensors 71 for detecting the storage state of the actual tray Tb stored on the inclined conveyor unit 52 are provided on the left and right sides of the conveyor on the starting end side of the inclined conveyor unit 52. The full detection sensor 71a disposed on the right side in the transport direction detects the storage state of the real trays Tb in the right side of the transport direction, and the full detection sensor 71b disposed on the left side in the transport direction is the real tray in the left side of the transport direction. The storage state of Tb is detected.

  These full detection sensors 71a and 71b are electrically connected to a control circuit (not shown), and the control circuit allows the light emitted from the light emitting element of the full detection sensor 71a to reach a predetermined time or more by the actual tray Tb. When it is blocked, it is determined that the row to be detected is full, and the switching operation by the switching roller 51a is started.

  An end plate 6 is provided at the end of the pool conveyor 5 to stop the actual tray Tb fed from the pool conveyor 5 by a frictional force. In the end portion of the frame of the inclined conveyor portion 52, a hole portion and a long hole portion extending in the vertical direction are formed in this order from the upstream side in the transport direction (not shown), and the end plate 6 has these hole portions. And it is pivotally supported via a bolt (not shown) with respect to the elongated hole portion.

  By moving the end portion of the end plate 6 on the downstream side in the conveying direction in the up-down direction, the end plate 6 rotates about the upstream bolt as a supporting shaft, and the inclination of the end plate 6 can be adjusted. Here, the inclination of the end plate 6 can be adjusted within a range in which the actual tray Tb can be frictionally stopped. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the inclination of the end plate 6 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ1. The angle can be adjusted within a range satisfying the condition of θ1 <θ2 when the inclination of the conveying surface 52a of the inclined conveyor section 52 with respect to the horizontal plane is θ2. In addition, as illustrated by a dotted line in FIG. 9, the angle of the end plate 6 may be set so as to be inclined upward toward the downstream side.

  An empty tray supply conveyor 10 connected to an empty tray collection conveyor 9 is installed between the end plate 6 and the work area 7, and an empty tray conveyance surface of the empty tray supply conveyor 10 is from the end plate 6. Is also arranged below. As a result, the boxing operator 8 removes the articles from the actual tray Tb placed on the end plate 6 and performs the boxing operation, and then slides the empty tray Ta remaining on the end plate 6 to the near side. Only by moving, transfer work can be completed on the empty tray supply conveyor 10, and work labor can be reduced.

  Next, a control procedure for controlling the switching operation of the switching roller 51a will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 8A is a flowchart illustrating the control procedure of the switching operation of the switching roller 51a.

  First, when the power of the conveyor 1 is turned on, the detection operation by the full detection sensor 71 is started (step S101).

  Then, when the actual tray Tb transported on the transport conveyor 1 reaches the pool conveyor 5 of the corresponding sorting section, the corresponding discharge device 4 enters the transport path of the sorting conveyor section 1d, and the discharged discharge device 4 that has entered. The actual tray Tb that is in contact with is discharged toward the pool conveyor 5 of the corresponding sorting section.

  At this time, when the direction of the switching roller 51a is tilted to the left oblique direction with respect to the conveyance orthogonal direction of the pool conveyor 5 as shown in FIG. 6, the actual tray Tb discharged onto the switching conveyor unit 51 is The transfer tray 51 is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X, and the actual trays Tb are sequentially accumulated in the left column of the pool conveyor 5. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 7, when tilted in the diagonally right direction with respect to the conveyance orthogonal direction of the pool conveyor 5, the actual tray Tb discharged onto the switching conveyor unit 51 is conveyed by the switching conveyor unit 51. The sheet is conveyed in the direction of arrow Y on the surface, and the actual trays Tb are sequentially accumulated in the right column of the pool conveyor 5.

  When the full detection sensor 71 detects that any one of the pool conveyors 5 is full (step S102), the switching operation by the switching conveyor unit 51 is started (step S103). The actual tray Tb discharged to the section 51 enters the other row while sliding down on the conveyance path of the switching roller 51a.

  In the above-described embodiment, the switching operation by the switching conveyor unit 51 is performed by detecting the storage state in the inclined conveyor unit 52 by the full detection sensor 71. However, the number of the discharge devices 4 operated or the switching conveyor The number of actual trays Tb discharged to the unit 51 may be counted, and the switching operation may be performed based on the count result. When the switching operation by the switching conveyor unit 51 is performed based on the number of the discharge devices 4 operated, switching control may be performed according to the drive sequence shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, after the detection operation is started (step S201), the number of times the discharge device 4 is operated is counted (step S202), and the switching operation is started when the count result reaches a predetermined number (step S203).

  FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a free tray type conveyor different from the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a plan view of the pool conveyor. In addition, about the component same as Example 1, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In this embodiment, the transport conveyor 1 is formed in a plane circulation type, and the transport direction of the transport conveyor is sequentially in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 10, the external inspection device 3a, the internal quality inspection device 3b, and the discharge device 4 (4a-4f ) Is arranged.

  A pool conveyor 5, an end plate 6, and a boxing work area 7 similar to those of the first embodiment are provided on the side of each discharging device 4.

  Between the end plate 6 and the boxing work area 7, there are disposed an empty tray transfer conveyor 10 that transfers an empty free tray and an empty tray pool conveyor 91 that is connected to the empty tray transfer conveyor 10.

  This empty tray pool conveyor 91 has substantially the same width as the pool conveyor 5, and as shown in FIG. 11, in the center of the empty tray pool conveyor, the empty tray Ta can be stored in two rows. A partition plate 91a is provided extending in the storage direction.

  A switching guide 10a for distributing the empty tray Ta to the empty tray pool conveyor 91 is provided at the end of the empty tray transport conveyor 10, and an arc-shaped contact portion 101a that constitutes the guide surface of the switching guide 10a. However, it extends toward the empty tray pool conveyor 91.

  Further, the switching guide 10a is slidable in the transport direction of the empty tray transport conveyor 10, and one row of the empty tray pool conveyor 10 according to the storage state on the empty tray pool conveyor 91 as will be described later. Is controlled to slide between a first switching position for discharging the empty tray Ta and a second switching position for discharging the empty tray Ta to the other row.

  A stopper 91 b is provided at each end portion of each row in the empty tray pool conveyor 10 and at the joining portion of the transport conveyor 1. Further, upstream of the empty tray pool conveyor 91, optical fullness detection sensors 91c are provided on both sides of the empty tray pool conveyor 91, and the switching guide 10a is switched based on the output signal of the full tray detection sensor 91c. I have control. This switching control is executed by a control circuit (not shown) and is the same method as the method for controlling the switching roller 51a. That is, when it is detected that the one row of the empty tray pool conveyor 91 is full, the switching guide 10a is slid to the second switching position, and it is detected that the other row is full. In this case, the switching guide 10a is slid to the one switching position.

  In the present embodiment, a fixed number of free trays are transported on the plane circulation type transport conveyor 1, and even after the actual tray Tb is discharged onto the pool conveyor 5 as the selection operation proceeds. The same number of empty trays Ta are replenished onto the transport conveyor 1 from the empty tray pool conveyor 91 so that a fixed number of free trays can always be transported onto the transport conveyor 1.

  That is, when one real tray Tb is discharged to the pool conveyor 5 by the discharge device 4, the portion (the dotted line portion in FIG. 11) where the discharged real tray Tb is placed in the conveyor 1 is empty. Therefore, the stopper 91b is operated in synchronization with the empty portion reaching the outlet side of the empty tray pool conveyor 91, and one empty tray Ta positioned at the head of the empty tray pool conveyor 91 is moved to the empty portion. The number of free trays that are lacking is maintained at a constant number.

  In this way, a fixed number of free trays are always circulated and conveyed on the conveyor 1, and even if the actual tray Tb is discharged from the conveyance path of the conveyor 1 by the sorting operation and the number of free trays is temporarily reduced. Since the empty tray Ta is immediately replenished to the empty portion and recovered to the predetermined number, the empty tray Ta can always be supplied to the agricultural product supply unit 2 without excess or deficiency. Therefore, the stable conveyance of agricultural products can be realized from the start of fruit selection.

The figure which shows the Example which applied this invention to the sorting apparatus of free tray type agricultural products Side view of pool conveyor 5 Cross section of transfer conveyor section Sectional view of the transfer direction of the switching conveyor Another sectional view of the transfer direction of the switching conveyor A top view of the switching conveyor unit illustrating a state where the switching tray is driven and the actual tray is stored on the left side in the transport direction. FIG. 6 is a top view of the switching conveyor unit illustrating a state in which the switching roller is driven in the direction opposite to that in FIG. Flow chart illustrating control procedure for controlling switching operation of switching roller Schematic diagram illustrating the angle of the inclined conveyor and end plate relative to the horizontal plane The figure which shows Example 2 different from Example 1 which applied this invention to the sorting apparatus of the free tray type agricultural products. Top view of pool conveyor

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyor 2 Agricultural product supply part 3 Measurement part 4 Discharge device 5 Pool conveyor 6 End plate 7 Boxing work area 8 Boxing worker 9 Empty tray collection conveyor 10 Empty tray supply conveyor

Claims (6)

A storage device including a storage conveyor that stores a plurality of article-containing trays loaded with articles discharged from a tray transport conveyor in a plurality of rows,
On the upstream side of the storage conveyor, there is provided a switching transport unit that switches the transport direction of the tray containing articles discharged from the tray transport conveyor,
The switching conveyance unit is provided between a pair of first fixed frames that extend in the conveyance direction and are arranged to face each other, and includes a plurality of switching conveyance rollers arranged in parallel in the conveyance direction,
The storage apparatus, wherein the plurality of switching transport rollers can be switched in the same direction within a plane including a transport surface of the switching transport rollers, thereby switching the transport direction of the article tray. The storage conveyor is provided between a pair of second fixed frames that extend in the transport direction of the storage conveyor and are opposed to each other, and has storage transport rollers arranged in parallel in the transport direction,
The storage device according to claim 1, wherein a transport surface by the plurality of storage transport rollers is provided in a downward slope toward the transport direction.   The plurality of storage and transport rollers arranged on the upstream side among the plurality of storage and transport rollers are provided so as to be inclined toward the downstream side toward the center of the transport surface by the storage and transport rollers, and the plurality of storage and transport rollers. The storage device according to claim 2, wherein an inclination angle of the conveying roller is substantially equal to a maximum inclination angle with respect to the conveying direction of the swinging switching roller.   4. The end plate of the storage conveyor is provided with an end plate for stopping the tray containing articles conveyed from the storage conveyor by frictional contact. 5. Storage device.   The storage device according to claim 4, wherein the end plate can be angle-adjusted within a range in which the article-containing tray can be frictionally stopped. On the opposite side of the storage conveyor across the end plate is provided a recovery conveyor for recovering empty trays on the end plate from which articles have been removed,
The storage device according to claim 4, wherein the collection conveyor is provided below the end plate.

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