JP2007331782A - Leaf agricultural product selecting/packaging system and leaf agricultural selecting/packaging method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a leaf agricultural product selecting/packaging system capable of selecting leaf agricultural products such as Japanese basil leaves based on the size, shape, etc thereof, bundling them into a stack, and packaging them. <P>SOLUTION: The leaf agricultural product selecting/packaging system includes a supply conveyor B that conveys and supplies leaf agricultural products (a) etc., a taking-out device C that takes out the leaf agricultural products (a) etc. one at a time, a leaf agricultural product inspecting means that determines the size of each of the leaf agricultural products, selecting robots E1 and E2 that selects each leaf agricultural product based upon the result of the determination and stacks them into a bundle, and an automatic packaging machine H that packages the bundle. In addition, there is provided a leaf agricultural product selecting/packaging method for taking out each of the leaf agricultural products (a) etc. arranged in a stack, determining the size of it, selecting the leaf agricultural products (a) etc. based upon the result of the determination, conveying them in a bundle, and packaging them. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system and a leaf-like crop sorting / packaging method for sorting and packaging leaf-like crops having a non-uniform size and unstable shape, such as large leaves (blue perilla leaves). .

  Conventionally, after harvesting leafy crops such as large leaves, a series of operations such as sorting, bundling, bagging, etc. has been performed manually in many cases, but there is a mechanism for saving labor and reducing operating costs. As an apparatus, for example, those described in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are known.

  The leaf-like crop bundling mechanism described in Patent Document 1 pushes a large leaf that is preliminarily selected on the basis of size and quality and is mounted on a belt and transported between a pair of holding plates by a lift plate, and holds it. They are stacked and held between the plates. However, since this mechanism is only for making bundles, it requires sorting of large leaves in advance, and it is necessary to separately take out the large leaves stacked as a bundle by hand and wrap them. It is.

  The leaf-like crop bundling mechanism described in Patent Document 2 is a method of stacking large leaves to form a bundle and binding it with a so-called vinyl tie (a metal wire covered with a resin film). It must be sorted and supplied to the load receiving conveyor based on the shape.

The leaf-like crop alignment and supply mechanism described in Patent Document 3 is merely a mechanism that takes out large leaves one by one from the upper side of the stacked bundle and supplies them to a predetermined position.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-35888 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-59622 JP-A-11-91723

  Therefore, the present invention selects leafy crops such as large leaves on the basis of their size and shape, etc., makes them neatly stacked bundles, and further packs the leafy crop sorting and packaging system, and the leafy shape It is an object to provide a method for sorting and packaging crops.

  The present invention according to claim 1 is a supply conveyor B that conveys and supplies a plurality of leaf-like crops a in a stacked state, a take-out device C that takes out the leaf-like crops a conveyed by the supply conveyor B one by one, and the take-out The leaf-like crop inspection means for determining the size of each leaf-like crop a supplied by the apparatus C based on the image data of the leaf-like crop a, and each leaf-like crop a ... This is a leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system including sorting robots E1 and E2 that are stacked and bundled at the stacking positions F1 to F5, and an automatic packaging machine H that packages the bundle of leaf-like crops a.

  The present invention described in claim 2 is provided with a reversing conveyor G for reversing the bundle of leafy crops a supplied from the sorting conveyor F1 and sending it to the automatic packaging machine H.・ It is a packaging system.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, based on the image data of each leaf-like crop a, the sorting robots E1, E2 match the position and orientation of the plurality of leaf-like crops a. It is a sorting / packaging system of the leafy crops of Claim 1 or 2 piled up in the stacking position of -F5, and making it a bundle.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the supply conveyor B intermittently conveys a plurality of transport cartridges A containing a plurality of stacked foliate crops a. Sorting and packaging system.

  In the present invention described in claim 5, when the sorting conveyors F1 to F5 have a predetermined number of leaf-like crops a .. which are sequentially placed at the stacking positions by the sorting robots E1 and E2, the conveyor belts f1 to F5. The foliage crop sorting and packaging system according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein f5 is fed by one pitch.

  In the present invention according to claim 6, the take-out device C is provided with a suction mechanism 33 that is movable up and down on the rotary table 31, and adsorbs the leaf-like crops a at the take-out position 26 of the supply conveyor B one by one. 6. A leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the leaf-like crop is taken out and transferred sequentially to the inspection device D of the leaf-like crop inspection means.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the inspection device D of the leaf-shaped crop inspection means includes an inspection table 41 having a transparent suction plate 42 having a suction hole 43 opened, and is mounted on the suction plate 42 by the take-out device C. The leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system according to claim 6, wherein the leaf-like crop a can be sucked and fixed by a negative pressure through the suction hole 43.

  The present invention according to claim 8 is to extract a plurality of leafy crops a... Supplied in a stacked state one by one in order from the top and determine the size thereof, and based on the determination result, the leafy crop a This is a method for sorting and packaging leafy crops that are sorted, stacked, conveyed in bundles, and packed.

  The present invention according to claim 9 is the method for sorting and packaging leafy crops according to claim 8, wherein the leafy crops a are stacked in the same position and orientation to form the bundle.

  The present invention according to claim 10 is the method for sorting and packaging leafy crops according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the bundle of leafy crops a ... is turned upside down and then supplied to the automatic packaging machine H for packaging.

  According to the present invention, leafy crops such as large leaves can be selected based on their size, shape, etc., and these can be neatly stacked into bundles and further packaged.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention, this invention is not limited to this.

  The leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system according to the present embodiment generally includes a plurality of transport cartridges A for storing a plurality of leaf-like crops (hereinafter simply referred to as “large leaves a”) such as harvested large leaves a. ..., a supply conveyor B that circulates, a take-out device C that takes out the large leaves a stacked in each of the transport cartridges A one by one from the top at the take-out position of the supply conveyor B, and a large leaf that is taken out by the take-out device C An inspection device D that places a and inspects its size, shape, and the like, and a large leaf a on the inspection device D is transferred to a predetermined sorting conveyor F1 to F5 based on the inspection / determination results. The sorting robots E1 and E2, the sorting conveyors F1 to F5 for transferring the sorted large leaves a as a bundle of a predetermined number of sheets, and the bundle of large leaves a supplied from the sorting conveyor F1 are moved up and down. And inverting conveyor G to rolling, it is made of the automatic packaging machine H etc. for packaging bundles of macrophyll a supplied from the inverting conveyor G.

The transport cartridge A is as follows.
Reference numeral 1 denotes a substantially flat base plate, and the left and right guide shafts 2 and 3 are erected on the center of the front edge (lower side in FIG. 4) with a space for receiving the stem of the large leaf a ... Has been. In addition, two guide shafts 4 and 5 are provided on the left and right sides of the base plate 1 at approximately the center in the front-rear direction with an interval sufficient to receive the tip of the large leaf a. The guide shafts 4 and 5 are slidable in the front-rear direction with respect to the base plate 1 and can be fixed at a desired position according to the size of the large leaf a to be accommodated.
Reference numeral 6 denotes a bottom plate disposed on the upper side of the base plate 1, which has a flat rectangular shape, and side plates 6 ′ and 6 ′ are erected on both left and right edges.
The bottom plate 6 includes a notch 7 through which the guide shafts 2 and 3 are inserted and insertion holes 8 and 9 which are long in the front-rear direction through which the guide shafts 4 and 5 are inserted. By being pushed up from below through a push-up hole (not shown), it is movable upward from the base plate 1 while being guided by the guide shafts 2 to 5.
The guide shafts 2 to 5 prevent the large leaves a placed on the bottom plate 6 from being displaced.

Reference numerals 10 and 10 denote bosses fixed to the left and right ends of the rear edge of the base plate 1, respectively. Shafts 11 and 11 projecting rearward are rotatably attached to the bosses 10 and 10, respectively.
Reference numerals 12 and 12 denote rotating plates fixed to the shafts 11 and 11, respectively.
Fin support arms 14 and 14 to which thin plate-like fins 13 and 13 made of a flexible material such as rubber and having a thickness of about 0.5 mm to 1 mm are fixed are respectively fixed to the front surfaces of the rotating plates 12 and 12. Further, roller shafts 16 and 16 to which rotatable rollers 15 and 15 are fixed are respectively fixed at positions closer to the inner side of the rear surface.
The fins 13 and 13 are for suppressing displacement, collapse, etc. of the large leaves a stacked on the bottom plate 6. When the rollers 15 and 15 are lowered, the fins 13 and 13 The large leaf a placed on the bottom plate 6 is pressed inward and horizontal (FIG. 4). When the rollers 15 and 15 are pushed up, the rotating plates 12 and 12 are pivoted. 11 and 11, the fins 13 and 13 open upward in the shape of a letter C when viewed from the front, making it easy to place the large leaf a (FIGS. 5 and 6).
The transport cartridge A can accommodate several tens of large leaves a on the bottom plate 6.

The supply conveyor B is configured to circulate a large number of the transport cartridges A along a planar elliptical track 21. Each of the transport cartridges A is fixed at an equal interval with respect to a chain 23 wound around a pair of sprockets (only one is shown with a reference numeral 22a) positioned on the inner periphery of the track 21. The sprocket 22a is rotated by the drive motor 22 'to circulate while moving intermittently.
24 is in contact with the roller 15... Of each circulating cartridge A... That circulates on the inner circumference of one side of the track 21 (supply position 25 for feeding the large leaf a onto each transport cartridge A...). This is a push-up guide of a required length arranged so that it can be pushed up.
Since the rollers 15 and 15 of each transport cartridge A... Reaching the supply position 25 ride on the push-up guide 24, the fins 13 and 13 of the transport cartridge A. Therefore, the large leaves a that are harvested and are to be sorted and packaged can be easily mounted on the transport cartridge A at the supply position 25.
Further, when the transport cartridge A... Passes the supply position 25, the fins 13 and 13 are closed as the rollers 15 and 15 descend from the push-up guide 24, and the misalignment or collapse of the bundle of large leaves a mounted on the transport cartridge A. Transport while preventing.

Reference numeral 26 denotes a take-out position from which the large leaf a is taken out on the side opposite to the supply position 25 of the track 21. An electric cylinder 27 is disposed below the take-out position 26, and a push-up member 28 is fixed to the upper end of the rod that expands and contracts in the vertical direction.
The transport cartridge A located at the take-out position 26 can receive the extended push-up member 28 through the push-up hole of the base plate 1, and the push-up member 28 pushes up the bottom plate 6 upward.

Above the take-out position 26, a distance sensor 29 for detecting the level (height) of the uppermost large leaf a in the transport cartridge A at the take-out position 26 and the presence or absence of the large leaf a in the transport cartridge A are detected. A large leaf detection sensor 30 is disposed.
The electric cylinder 27 is controlled on the basis of the detection of the distance sensor 29. Even if the large leaves a stacked in the transport cartridge A are sequentially taken out by the take-out device C, the electric leaf 27 of the uppermost surface always remains. The rod is extended and the bottom plate 6 is raised by the push-up member 28 so that the level falls within the height range that can be taken out by the take-out device C. Thereby, the take-out device C can reliably take out the large leaf a.
When the large leaf detection sensor 30 detects that all the large leaves a in the transport cartridge A at the take-out position 26 have been taken out, the supply is continued until the next transport cartridge A moves to the take-out position 26. The drive motor 22 'of the conveyor B is rotated.

The take-out device C is as follows.
31 is a planar circular rotary table supported horizontally on a base 32 and driven to rotate by a motor 32 '. Four sets of suction mechanisms 33... Is provided.
Each suction mechanism 33 is attached to a support member 35 supported by an air cylinder 34 so as to be movable up and down in an arrangement in which three suction devices 36... .
Each adsorber 36 is connected to a suction device (not shown) such as a suction pump by an air hose (not shown), and can adsorb the large leaf a by a negative pressure.
This adsorber 36 incorporates a compression spring 37 (FIG. 8 (a)) so that a sliding pad 36 ″ that is slidable in the vertical direction at the lower end of the base portion 36 ′ is biased downward. The sliding pad 36 ″ can slide upward by a stroke of about 10 mm while the compression spring 37 is contracted.
Therefore, the adsorber 36 can reliably adsorb the large leaf a without crushing it.
That is, the large leaf a has a non-uniform size and shape, is thin and light in weight, and its hardness varies greatly depending on the storage environment after harvesting. The adsorber 36 is provided on the uppermost surface of the large leaf a. Even if the height is uneven to some extent, the buffer spring has an effect of absorbing variations and unevenness by the stroke of the compression spring 37, and the pressing pressure against the large leaf a can be made constant. It also prevents the occurrence of scratches.

At the take-out position 26 of the supply conveyor B, the take-out device C adsorbs the large leaves a ... in the transport cartridge A one by one by the adsorber 36 and lifts them upward to intermittently rotate the rotary table 31 counterclockwise. By rotating it automatically, the back surface inspection described later is carried out and further transferred to the inspection device D.
That is, the adsorbed large leaf a is rotated by 90 °, temporarily stopped at the back surface inspection position 38, and then rotated by 90 ° and transferred to the inspection apparatus D.
Reference numeral 39 denotes a back surface inspection mechanism disposed below the back surface inspection position 38, and an illumination device that illuminates the lower surface (back surface) of the large leaf a that is adsorbed by the suction unit 36 and located at the back surface inspection position 38, and this is photographed. And a camera for obtaining back side image data of each large leaf a.

  Note that the number of the suction mechanisms 33 provided on the rotary table 31 is not necessarily four sets, and may be three sets, five sets, or other numbers depending on the configuration and processing capability of the entire machine.

The inspection device D is as follows.
Reference numeral 41 denotes a flat circular inspection table, and reference numeral 42 denotes a suction plate fitted and fixed to the upper plate 41 ′ of the inspection table 41 every 90 °.
The suction plate 42 is a transparent plate made of an acrylic plate or the like, and has many fine suction holes 43.
The inspection table 41 is rotated by a motor 44, and a suction device such as a suction pump is connected to the suction holes 43.
The large leaf a mounted on the suction plate 42 at the receiving position 45 by the take-out device C is sucked by the negative pressure of the suction holes 43... And completely spread on the suction plate 42, and the inspection table. It is fixed so that it does not shift even if a centrifugal force is applied by the rotation of 41.
When the inspection table 41 rotates clockwise in this state, the large leaf a is first moved to the first inspection position 46 which is a position rotated by 90 °, and then the second inspection position 47 which is a position further rotated by 90 °. , And finally it is further rotated 90 ° and moved to the take-out position 48.

Illumination devices 48 and 49 for illuminating the large leaves a of both inspection positions 46 and 47 from below (the back side) are disposed below the upper plate 41 ′ of the first inspection position 46 and the second inspection position 47. It is.
Further, above the inspection positions 46 and 47, cameras 50 and 51 such as a CCD camera for photographing the large leaf a from the upper side (surface side) are arranged.

At the first inspection position 46, the large device a is photographed by the camera 50 while illuminating the large leaf a on the suction plate 42 from below with the irradiation device 48 to obtain first image data.
At the second inspection position 47, the large leaf a illuminated by the irradiation device 49 is photographed by the camera 51 to obtain second image data (color image data).

A calculation control device such as a personal computer (not shown) that constitutes the leaf-like crop inspection means together with the inspection device D, the position of each large leaf a placed on the suction plate 42 based on the first image data, As shown in FIG. 13, for example, the orientation, size, etc. of the placement, the base point of the large leaf a (the center point of the base of the leaf blade) x with respect to a predetermined origin A on the suction plate 42 An angle θ1 with respect to the y-axis of the straight line connecting the coordinates (x, y) in the axial direction and the y-axis direction, the base point B and the virtual tip point (intersection of the virtual extension lines on both sides of the leaf) C, the base point B and the virtual tip It recognizes the angle θ2, the maximum leaf length h, the leaf area s, the presence / absence of perforated j, etc. formed by the straight line connecting points C and the straight line connecting the base point B and the leading edge point D of the leaf.
And size determination based on the values of h, s, etc., specifically, L size (a length from the base of the leaf blade to the tip is about 8.5 cm to 11 cm that can be shipped), 2 L size (L size) Larger size) or M size (smaller than L size), and the forward bending of the large leaf a is determined based on the value of θ2 (the large leaf a that is bent to some extent is unacceptable). Further, the sorting robots E1 and E2 are driven based on the values of x, y, and θ1, and the large leaves a are neatly stacked at the stacking positions of the sorting conveyors F1 to F5. Driving parameters are calculated.

  Further, the arithmetic and control unit determines the quality of the product based on the presence or absence of the leading edge k, discoloration m, or the like based on the second image data and the back surface image data.

  Note that photographing by the cameras 50 and 51 at both the inspection positions 46 and 47 is performed in a state where the large leaf a is sucked through the suction holes 43. Further, the placement position is not shifted by the centrifugal force due to the rotation of the inspection table 41.

The sorting robots E1 and E2 are so-called SCARA robots (horizontally articulated robots) installed on one side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the inspection apparatus D, and are located at the take-out position 48 of the inspection apparatus D. A large leaf a is adsorbed by an adsorption mechanism similar to the adsorption mechanism 33 of the take-out device C, sorted based on the inspection / determination result by the leaf-shaped crop inspection means, and transferred to one of the sorting conveyors F1 to F5. To do.
The large leaves a are transferred to the sorting conveyors F1 to F5 based on the driving parameters of the sorting robots E1 and E2 calculated for each large leaf a. The stem, the tip, and the root of the leaf are mounted in a clean manner, and a bundle of the required set number (about 5 to 20) is made.
The number of sorting robots may be one or three or more.

The sorting conveyor F1 is disposed at a position where both of the sorting robots E1 and E2 can place the large leaf a. The large leaves a are supplied, and this is a bundle in which a predetermined set number of sheets are stacked, and the bundle is intermittently and sequentially conveyed to the reversing conveyor G connected to the conveyance end.
That is, the conveyor belt is stopped until a predetermined number of large leaves a are stacked, and the conveyor belt f1 is fed by one pitch when the predetermined number of sheets are stacked at the stacking position. The speed at the time of conveyance is about 150 mm / s.

  The sorting conveyors F2 and F3 are disposed at positions where the large leaf a can be placed by the left sorting robot E1, and supply of the 2L size large leaf a and the M size large leaf a is performed at each stacking position. It is received from the robot E1 and sequentially conveyed as a bundle in which a required number of sheets are stacked in the same manner as the sorting conveyor F1.

  The sorting conveyors F4 and F5 are disposed at positions where the large leaf a can be placed by the left sorting robot E2, and supply the 2L size large leaf a and the M size large leaf a at the respective stacking positions. In the same manner as the sorting conveyors F1 and F2, they are received from the sorting robot E2 and sequentially conveyed as a bundle in which a required number of sheets are stacked.

  The defective large leaf a is discharged and collected by a defective conveyor via a chute (not shown).

The reversing conveyor G inverts a bundle of large leaves a supplied from the sorting conveyor F1 with the front side facing up and supplies the bundle to the conveyor belt 91 of the automatic packaging machine H.
Adsorption by the adsorber 36 is easier on the front surface than on the back surface of the large leaf a. Therefore, the large leaf a is transferred with the surface facing up to the sorting conveyor F1 so that the adsorption can be performed reliably.
On the other hand, when packaging the bundle of large leaves a by the automatic packaging machine H, the packaging film must be welded on the upper surface side, and if the welded portion of the packaging film is located on the surface side of the large leaf a, As a result, the appearance of the packaging film is welded to the back side of the large leaf a by reversing the bundle of the large leaf a up and down with the reversing conveyor G installed in the previous stage of transfer to the automatic packaging machine H. It can be packaged so as to be positioned.
The reverse conveyor G is as follows.

The reversing conveyor G has a pair of upper and lower conveyors 61 and 62 that convey a bundle of large leaves a sandwiched between them, and are disposed in a rotating frame 63 that can be turned upside down.
The rotating frame 63 has a hollow frame 63c fixed between the front and rear annular frames 63a and 63b. The conveyors 61 and 62 are arranged between the belt rollers 64a, 64b and 64c that are pivotally supported by the rotating frame 63. In addition, endless conveyor belts 68 and 69 are wound between the belt rollers 66a, 66b, and 66c, respectively, and the opposed surfaces of both the conveyor belts 68 and 69 are brought into close proximity.
One conveyor 61 is driven via a sprocket 70 fixed to the shaft of a motor 65 fixed to the outer surface of the rotating frame 63, a chain 71, and a sprocket 72 fixed to a belt roller 64a.
The other conveyor 62 includes a gear 73 fixed to the shaft of the motor 65, a gear 74 meshing with the gear 73 and rotating in the opposite direction, a sprocket 75 fixed coaxially with the gear 74, and the belt roller 66a. It is driven through a chain 76 that has been wound around.
As a result, the opposing surfaces of the conveyor belts 68 and 69 have the same traveling direction, and the bundle of large leaves a is sandwiched and conveyed.

  The rotating frame 63 is supported by the flanged rollers 79 attached to the support frame 78 on the gantry 77 at the annular frames 63a and 63b, and is smoothly turned upside down without causing back and forth and right and left play. It is possible to rotate.

Reference numeral 80 denotes a reversing mechanism for rotating the rotating frame 63 upside down (FIG. 10).
Reference numeral 81 denotes a cylinder fixed to the support frame 77 and the pedestal 76, and a rack 84 is fixed to a rod 82 of the cylinder 81 that can expand and contract in the vertical direction via a fixing plate 83. The rack 84 is guided by guide bosses 85 and 86 so as to be slidable up and down.
Reference numeral 87 denotes a pinion gear which is engaged with the rack 84 and rotates as the rack 84 moves up and down.
Reference numeral 88 denotes a sprocket fixed coaxially to the pinion gear 87, which meshes with a chain 89 fixed to the outer periphery of the annular frame 63a.
Therefore, when the cylinder 81 is expanded and contracted, the rotary frame 63 rotates upside down.

The speeds of the conveyor belts 68 and 69 are variable in the range of about 50 to 150 mm / s. When accepting a bundle of large leaves a from the sorting conveyor F1, the speed is adjusted to the speed of the sorting conveyor F1. When the bundle of a is sent to the automatic packaging machine H, it is operated in accordance with the speed of the conveyor belt 91 of the automatic packaging machine H.

  The automatic wrapping machine H is supplied with a bundle of large leaves a from the reversing conveyor G with the back facing up to the conveyor belt 91 (conveyance speed of about 50 mm / s). In addition, it is encapsulated with a long roll-shaped packaging film, and the film is appropriately cut and welded.

The leaf crop crop sorting / packaging system having the above-described configuration includes a drive motor 22 ′ of the supply conveyor B, an electric cylinder 27 at the take-out position, a motor 32 ′ of the take-out device C, an air cylinder 34 of the suction mechanism 33, and the suction mechanism 33. Suction pump for applying negative pressure to the adsorber 36, the illumination device and camera of the back surface inspection mechanism 39, the motor 44 of the inspection device D, the illumination devices 48 and 49, the cameras 50 and 51, the motor 65 of the reversing conveyor G, the cylinder 81, etc. Are controlled by the above-mentioned arithmetic and control unit to sort out and package the large leaves a.
The method for sorting and packaging the leafy crops is performed according to the following steps.

<1> Supply Process to Supply Conveyor Harvested large leaves a ... are directed upward by several tens of sheets to the transfer cartridge A with the fins 13 and 13 opened at the supply position 25 of the supply conveyor B. It is accommodated one after another in a stacked state.
Each of the transport cartridges A is rotated along the track 21 to sequentially transport the accommodated large leaves a to the take-out position 26 and stop there.

<2> Extracting Step from Supply Conveyor When the transport cartridge A containing the large leaves a... Stops at the extraction position 26, the adsorber 36. The sliding pad 36 "comes into contact with the upper surface of the uppermost large leaf a.
Subsequently, the adsorbers 36 ... adsorb the large leaves a by the negative pressure generated by driving the suction device.

The adsorbed large leaves a are pulled upward by the extension drive of the air cylinder 34. At the time of pulling up, the fins 13 and 13 prevent the lower large leaf a from being pulled up together, so that pulling up can be performed one by one.
That is, depending on the shape of the large leaf a (the jagged outer ring, etc.) and the moisture state, when the upper large leaf a is adsorbed and raised, the lower large leaf a may be caught or stuck under what is taken out. Although it may occur, the fins 13 and 13 can be expected to hold down the bottom and pull off the leaf that is caught on the one that is being pulled up.

The large leaf a pulled up by the suction unit 36 is moved to the back surface inspection position 38 when the turntable 31 of the take-out device C rotates 90 ° counterclockwise.
At this position, the back surface of the large leaf a is photographed by the camera of the back surface inspection mechanism 39, and whether the color inspection of the back surface of the large leaf a and the suction by the suction device 36 are reliably performed based on the acquired back surface image data. Confirmation is performed.

  Subsequently, the rotary table 31 is further rotated 90 ° counterclockwise, and the air cylinder 34 is driven to degenerate, whereby the large leaf a sucked by the suction device 36 is placed on the suction plate 42 at the receiving position 45 of the inspection device D. Then, the large leaf a is transferred to the inspection apparatus D by stopping the suction of the adsorber 36.

The large leaves a in the transport cartridge A are sequentially taken out one by one as described above, and transferred and supplied to the inspection apparatus D.
If the large leaves a are taken out one by one from the transport cartridge A, the height of the stacked large leaves a gradually decreases, and the suction operation by the suction mechanism 33 may become unstable. Therefore, the electric cylinder 27 is driven based on the detection of the level of the uppermost large leaf a by the distance sensor 29, and the bottom plate 6 of the transport cartridge A is pushed up by the push-up member 28, so that the suction position is kept constant and reliable suction is performed. Do.

  When the large leaf detection sensor 30 detects that all the large leaves aA in the conveying cartridge A have been removed by sequentially removing the large leaves a from the conveying cartridge A, the drive motor 22 'of the supply conveyor B is driven. Then, the transport cartridge A of the next order is moved to the take-out position 26, and subsequently, the large leaves a ... in the transport cartridge A are taken out.

<3> Inspection Step After the large leaf a is mounted on the suction plate 42 at the receiving position 45 of the inspection device D by the take-out device C, the large leaf a is sucked through the suction holes 43. In the expanded state, it is fixed on the suction plate 42.

The large leaf a moves to the first inspection position 46 by rotating the inspection table 41 by 90 ° clockwise while keeping the suction state.
At the first inspection position 46, the first image data is obtained by photographing the large leaf a illuminated from below by the irradiation device 48 with the camera 50 from above.

Subsequently, the large leaf a is moved to the second inspection position 47 by further rotating the inspection table 41 by 90 ° in the clockwise direction in the suction state.
At the second inspection position 47, the large leaf a illuminated by the illumination device 49 from below is photographed by the camera 51 to obtain the second image data.

Thereafter, the inspection table 41 is further rotated 90 ° clockwise, and the large leaf a is moved to the take-out position 48. Here, the suction through the suction holes 43 is stopped.
Each large leaf a... Is judged by the arithmetic and control unit based on the image data, and the selection conveyors F1 to F5 (or chutes) are determined.

<4> Sorting / stacking process The large leaf a at the take-out position 48 of the inspection device D is determined by the sorting robot E1 or E2 by the sorting robot E1 or E2 according to the quality determination and size determination in the arithmetic and control unit. Move to either one and be sorted.

  In the case of movement to the sorting conveyors F1 to F5, each large leaf a is positioned on the basis of a predetermined stacking origin of the stacking positions of the conveyor belts f1 to f5 based on the driving parameters calculated by the arithmetic and control unit. The orientation is adjusted, and the stem and the base of the leaf blade are aligned with the tip of the stem.

<5> Conveying Process Each of the sorting conveyors F1 to F5 moves the bundle by one pitch when the large leaves a that are sequentially placed become a bundle of a suitably set number of sheets of about 5 to 20 sheets.
The sorting conveyor F1 that receives the transfer of the L-sized large leaves a conveys the bundle to the reversing conveyor G for packaging by the automatic packaging machine H, while it is transferred to the sorting conveyors F2 to F5. The 2L and M sizes are usually packed in trays and used as processing materials.

<6> Reversing Step The bundle of large leaves a discharged from the sorting conveyor F1 is completely transferred to the reversing conveyor G at the same speed as this and is sandwiched between the conveyors 61 and 62.
The conveyors 61 and 62 that are initially operated at the same speed as the sorting conveyor F1 are decelerated so as to be the same speed as the conveyor speed of the automatic packaging machine H when receiving the bundle of large fields a.
Subsequently, the rod 82 of the cylinder 81 extends to rotate the rotating frame 63, and the conveyors 61 and 62 are turned upside down.
The reversing conveyor G discharges the bundle of large leaves a in the reversed state to the conveyor belt 91 of the automatic packaging machine H, and then retracts the rod 82 to return the rotating frame 63 to the original state and the speeds of the conveyors 61 and 62. Is increased at the same speed as the sorting conveyor F1, and the subsequent bundle of large leaves a is received.

<7> Packaging process The automatic packaging machine H that has received a bundle of large leaves a from the reversing conveyor G encloses each bundle with a roll-shaped long packaging film, and appropriately cuts the film. Complete the packaging by welding.

1 is a plan view of a leaf-like crop sorting and packaging system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a principal part enlarged plan view of the sorting and packaging system. It is a partially broken front view of the sorting / packaging system. It is a top view of a conveyance cartridge. It is the side view. It is the front view. It is a top view of the adsorption | suction mechanism of a taking-out apparatus. (A) is a partially broken side view when the air cylinder of the adsorption mechanism is driven upward, and (b) is a side view of the state where the air cylinder is driven downward to adsorb leafy crops. It is a top view of an inversion conveyor. It is the front view It is the II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is the II-II longitudinal cross-sectional view of FIG. It is a top view of a foliate crop.

Explanation of symbols

a Large leaf (leafy crop)
A Conveying cartridge B Supply conveyor C Unloading device D Inspection devices E1, E2 Sorting robots F1-F5 Sorting conveyor G Reverse conveyor H Automatic packaging machine

Claims (10)

A supply conveyor for transporting and feeding a plurality of foliate crops,
A take-out device for taking out the leaf-like crops conveyed by the supply conveyor one by one;
Leaf-shaped crop inspection means for determining the size of each leaf-shaped crop supplied by the take-out device based on image data of the leaf-shaped crop;
A sorting robot that sorts each leaf-like crop based on the determination result, and stacks the bundles at the stacking position of the sorting conveyor;
A system for sorting and packaging leafy crops, comprising: an automatic packaging machine for packaging the bundle of leafy crops.   2. The leaf-like crop sorting / packaging system according to claim 1, further comprising a reversing conveyor that vertically flips a bundle of leaf-like crops supplied from the sorting conveyor and sends the bundle to the automatic packaging machine.   2. The sorting robot, based on the image data of each leaf-like crop, stacks a plurality of leaf-like crops at the stacking position of the sorting conveyor in the same position and orientation to form a bundle. Or the leaf-like crop sorting and packaging system described in 2.   4. The system for sorting and packaging leafy crops according to claim 1, wherein the supply conveyor intermittently transports a plurality of transport cartridges containing a plurality of stacked leafy crops.   5. The sorting conveyor according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein the sorting belt feeds the conveyor belt by one pitch when a predetermined number of leafy crops are sequentially placed at the stacking position by the sorting robot. Leaf-shaped crop sorting and packaging system.   The take-out device is provided with a suction mechanism that is movable up and down on the rotary table, and picks up and takes out leafy crops one by one at the take-out position of the supply conveyor, and sequentially transfers them to the inspection device of the leafy crop inspection means. The leaf-like crop sorting and packaging system according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5.   The inspection device of the foliar crop inspection means comprises an inspection table having a transparent suction plate with a suction hole, and the leaf-like crop mounted on the suction plate by the take-out device is sucked and fixed by negative pressure through the suction hole. The leaf-like crop sorting and packaging system according to claim 6, which is possible.   A plurality of leafy crops supplied in a stacked state are taken out one by one in order from the top, their sizes are judged, the leafy crops are selected based on the judgment results, stacked and transported in bundles, and this bundle A method for sorting and packaging foliate crops, characterized by packaging.   9. The method for sorting and packaging leafy crops according to claim 8, wherein the leafy crops are stacked in the same position and orientation to form the bundle.   10. The method for sorting and packaging leafy crops according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the bundle of leafy crops is turned upside down and then supplied to an automatic packaging machine for packaging.

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