JP2008018354A - Apparatus for sorting agricultural product - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for sorting agricultural products, in which the agricultural products can be conveyed in two conveying forms by using one conveying means for sorting. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for sorting agricultural products is constituted of: a first agricultural product sorting system by which an agricultural product (a mandarin) 1 is placed directly on a PK conveyer to which many inclinable supporting pieces 21 are connected endlessly, and the agricultural product is sorted and discharged by inclining the supporting pieces 21 at a corresponding sorting position; and a second agricultural product sorting system by which a free tray FT<SB>1</SB>where an agricultural product (a mango 2) is placed is put on the PK conveyer and the free tray FT<SB>1</SB>where the agricultural product is placed is pushed out horizontally in the lateral direction of the PK conveyer and discharged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  In the present invention, when sorting agricultural products, items (types) of agricultural products (types of mandarin oranges, kumquats, etc.) that can be freely handled such as dropping and rolling, and items (types) of agricultural products (types) that require careful handling are selected. , Dekopon, etc.) and a sorting apparatus for agricultural products that can be transported using a single transport path.

  2. Description of the Related Art In a sorting and packaging facility for agricultural products, it is a common practice to individually employ a sorting device according to the item (type) of agricultural products to be sorted.

  However, since the harvest period of agricultural products is short, it is unavoidable to install a sorting device corresponding to each specific item of agricultural products in consideration of cost effectiveness.

  Then, the proposal which enabled it to sort the agricultural products from which an item differs with one sorter is made (patent document 1).

  This sorter for agricultural products requires high-grade citrus, which is a high-quality citrus fruit such as navel that requires a pre-processing step such as washing and waxing, and a weight selection step for the received fruits and vegetables, and a pre-processing step and a shape selection step for the received fruits and vegetables in general. A normal citrus fruit, which is a common citrus fruit, is selected, and a transport path between the high-class citrus fruit and the normal citrus fruit is appropriately selected by using a forward / reverse conveyor for a station that performs these steps.

  When sorting high-quality citrus fruits, the forward / reverse conveyor is rotated forward, for example, and the fruits and vegetables discharged from the pretreatment line, which is the transport path for performing the pretreatment process, are subjected to the weight sorting process using the forward / reverse conveyor. Supply to fruit line. Further, when selecting normal citrus, the forward and reverse conveyor is reversed, for example, and the fruits and vegetables discharged from the shape type fruit selection line for performing the shape selection process are carried out by the same forward and reverse conveyor by the carry-out conveyor.

In this way, by rotating the single forward / reverse conveyor forward / reversely, it can be used for both the supply to the weight type selection line and the unloading from the shape type selection line. The installation area is reduced and the installation cost is reduced.
JP-A-5-228445

  By the way, the agricultural product sorting apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above is an agricultural product (type of mandarin orange, kumquat, etc.) of an item (kind) that can be freely handled as falling or rolling, with respect to the agricultural product to be sorted. It cannot meet the requirement of efficiently sorting both items (types) that require careful handling from agricultural products (eg mango, decapon).

  Here, considering the configuration of the sorting device from the viewpoint of handling agricultural products, for agricultural products of items that do not have any problems even with rough handling, sorting through the measurement position where the agricultural products are measured by the measuring means to determine the sorting category By using the keyboard conveyor to the sorting discharge position provided for each section, the number of processing per unit time can be increased. In addition, the keyboard type conveyor is used for the shape type selection line described in the prior patent document 1.

  A keyboard type conveyor has a strip-shaped support stand held in a horizontal position in a cantilevered state, and is arranged in the transport direction as a unit to support one agricultural product placed on a plurality of continuous support stands. To do. When the engagement means for holding the support table in the horizontal posture is disengaged, the agricultural product is tilted by the weight of the agricultural product on which the support table is placed, and the agricultural product is dropped and discharged while rolling.

  For this reason, if this keyboard type conveyor is used as a sorting and conveying means for agricultural products (mango, decopon, etc.) of items (types) that require careful handling, the agricultural products such as mango, decopon, etc. roll while sorting. It will fall and be discharged.

  Therefore, a keyboard conveyor cannot be used as a common sorting and conveying means for agricultural products having different handling modes.

  However, providing a sorting transport means for each agricultural product having a different handling mode causes a reduction in the use efficiency of the entire apparatus, and increases the size and cost of the equipment.

  The object of the present invention has been made in view of such a viewpoint. By using one sorting transport means, the agricultural products (citrus, kumquat) of items (kinds) that can be freely handled such as dropping and rolling are used. Etc.) and items (types) of agricultural products (mango, decopon, etc.) that require careful handling are to be provided efficiently.

  The first configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention has a number of tiltable agricultural product support portions as described in claim 1 and is endlessly rotated toward the agricultural product discharge portion. Conveying means, a first agricultural product sorting system for supplying agricultural products directly onto the agricultural product support part of the sorting conveying means, and tilting the agricultural product supporting part to enable sorting and discharging of agricultural products, and the sorting conveying means A second tray sorting system that feeds a free tray containing agricultural products onto the agricultural product support section and allows the free tray containing agricultural products to be discharged from the agricultural product support section.

  According to a second configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 2, in the configuration described above, the second agricultural product sorting system is held in the substantially horizontal posture. The present invention is characterized in that it has an extrusion discharge means for extruding the free tray containing the agricultural product placed on the agricultural product support part in the horizontal direction and sliding the agricultural product support part to discharge it.

  According to a third configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, in any one of the above configurations, the second agricultural product sorting system may include the sorting transport means. It has an agricultural product supply section that automatically supplies a free tray containing agricultural products to the starting end side.

  According to a fourth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 4, in the first or second configuration, the second agricultural product sorting system includes the sorting conveying means. It has an agricultural product supply part which supplies and supplies a free tray with agricultural products by hand to the starting end side.

  According to a fifth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, in any one of the configurations described above, the sorting transporting unit tilts the agricultural product support section individually. It is a keyboard type conveyor that is configured by possible narrow plate-like members and in which many of the narrow plate-like members are endlessly rotatable.

  According to a sixth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 6, in the configuration according to any one of 1 to 4, the sorting transport means includes the agricultural product support unit. A keyboard-type conveyor in which a plurality of continuous narrow plate-like members that can be individually tilted is configured as a bucket unit, and a large number of the bucket units are provided to be endlessly rotatable.

  According to a seventh configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 7, in the configuration according to any one of 1 to 4, the sorting transporting unit includes the produce support unit. The bucket conveyor is configured by a tiltable bucket, and a large number of buckets are provided so as to be endlessly rotatable.

  According to an eighth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 8, in the configuration of the above 6 or 7, the sorting unit includes the bucket unit or the bucket. Measuring means for carrying and measuring the weight of agricultural products is arranged.

  A ninth configuration of an agricultural product sorting apparatus that achieves the object of the present invention is the first configuration according to claim 9, wherein the first agricultural product sorting is performed with respect to the carry-in end of the sorting conveying means. A common conveying means shared by the system and the second agricultural product sorting system, and an alignment means for aligning the agricultural products in a row therebetween, and a weight measuring means for measuring the weight while conveying the agricultural products, the first agricultural product sorting It is arranged to be switchable according to the selection between the system and the second agricultural product sorting system.

  According to a tenth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, in the ninth configuration, the first agricultural product transfer system and the It has the switching means which can selectively switch the path | route with 2 agricultural product conveyance systems, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The eleventh configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention is the discrimination according to claim 11, wherein the bucket unit constituting the sorting conveying means is discernable so as to be visible. It has the means.

  According to a twelfth configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, in the eleventh configuration, the discriminating means includes a leading support piece and a trailing support in a bucket unit. A configuration in which the piece is tilted in advance, a configuration in which the first support piece and the last support piece in the bucket unit are colored in a color different from the support piece in between, or a first support piece and the last support piece in the bucket unit And a length different from that of the support piece therebetween.

According to a thirteenth configuration of an agricultural product sorting apparatus that realizes the object of the present invention, as described in claim 13, in the eleventh configuration, the discriminating means is arranged on the side of the sorting transport means. A plurality of lamps arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying means are lit in accordance with the boundary position of the bucket unit.
According to a fourteenth configuration of an agricultural product sorting apparatus that achieves the object of the present invention, in any one of the above configurations, the first agricultural product sorting system includes an agricultural product washing / waxing device. It has the 1st path | route conveyed through, and the 2nd path | route conveyed detouring about this washing | cleaning and wax apparatus, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, the sorting conveying means has a function of tilting and discharging the agricultural product directly placed on the agricultural product support part, and a function of placing and transporting a free tray containing the agricultural product on the agricultural product support part. Because of this, it is possible to sort agricultural products such as mandarin oranges and kumquats that have no problem in handling with drop rolling, using the first agricultural product sorting system, and handle them carefully so that they do not fall or roll. Agricultural products such as mango that are required to be sorted can be sorted using a second agricultural product sorting system that transports them on a free tray. For this reason, it became possible to sort and discharge agricultural products with completely different handling methods using a single sorting device.

  In addition to the effects of the above-described invention, the following effects are obtained.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 2, since the free tray containing agricultural products mounted on the agricultural product support part currently hold | maintained in the substantially horizontal attitude | position is pushed out in the horizontal direction and discharged, it is mounted on the free tray. Agricultural products such as mango can be handled carefully.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the agricultural product-containing free tray can be automatically supplied to the sorting transport means, so that the worker only has to place the agricultural product on the free tray.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, as the agricultural product support part which comprises the conveyance means for selection, it is set as many of the narrow-plate-like members which can be inclined individually, and these many narrow-plate-like members can be rotated endlessly. Since the keyboard type conveyor is used, the agricultural product can be placed on any small plate-like member.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 6, the agricultural product support part which comprises the conveyance means for sorting is made into the bucket unit the plurality of continuous narrow plate-like members which can be individually inclined, and the bucket unit is endless as the sorting and conveying means. Since a large number of keyboard-type conveyors are provided so as to be able to rotate, for example, relatively heavy items such as mango-containing free trays can be stably conveyed.

  According to the invention according to claim 7, since the agricultural product support part constituting the sorting conveying means is constituted by a tiltable bucket, and as a sorting conveyor means a bucket conveyor provided with a large number of endlessly rotatable buckets, Agricultural products can be stably placed in any bucket.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 8, the weight of the agricultural product currently conveyed by the said conveyance means for a selection can be measured.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 9, in addition to the conveyance means for sorting, the sorting apparatus is made clear overall by providing the common conveyance means shared by the first agricultural product sorting system and the second agricultural product sorting system. It can be configured.

  According to the inventions according to claims 10, 11, 12, and 13, in addition to the invention according to claim 9 described above, the sorting device can be configured to be more entirely clean.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 11, the agricultural product containing free tray can be reliably mounted in the bucket unit of the conveyance means for a selection.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 14, about the 1st agricultural product selection system, it can selectively select about the agricultural product which requires washing | cleaning and wax, and an unnecessary agricultural product.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
First Embodiment FIGS. 1 to 4 show a first embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of an agricultural product sorting apparatus, and shows a state in which mango is being sorted as a kind of agricultural product that requires careful handling. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a type that allows free handling of dropping and rolling instead of the selection of mango shown in FIG. Shows the state of sorting mandarin oranges as agricultural products.

  In the present embodiment, washing and waxing are performed before measurement for a kind of agricultural product that can be freely handled such as dropping and rolling of mandarin oranges (hereinafter, mandarin orange 1 is taken as an example). Such as shape measurement and internal quality measurement as required. In addition, for types of agricultural products that require careful handling, such as mangoes (hereinafter referred to as “mangou 2”), washing and waxing are not performed, and measurement items include weight measurement, internal quality measurement, and appearance measurement. Is called.

  1 and 4, a keyboard type conveyor (hereinafter referred to as a PK (Piano Key) conveyor) 10 as a sorting and conveying means is connected to a first agricultural product supply unit 11 at the downstream end in the conveying direction, and is in the middle of the conveying path. The second agricultural product supply unit 12 is connected to the position.

  The first agricultural product supply unit 11 is for supplying the mandarin orange 1 to the PK conveyor 10. The first agricultural product supply unit 11 includes a belt conveyor that supplies a large amount of mandarin orange contained in the damper 13 to the washing / wax machine 14 little by little. And the aligning device 16 that aligns the washed and waxed mandarin oranges 1 sent from the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15 and supplies the mandarin orange to the transport start end of the PK conveyor 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the container 3 in which a large amount of mandarin orange 1 is accommodated is sent to the damper 13 by the load receiving conveyor 4.

  This aligning device 16 has a structure in which a plurality of roller conveyors are arranged in an inverted half-shape symmetrically in the left-right direction, and when the mandarin orange 1 conveyed at random by the belt conveyor 15 is supplied, the left and right roller conveyors 16a are While 1 is directed toward the center in the width direction, it is conveyed forward and aligned in a row. Then, the mandarin orange 1 is supplied to the PK conveyor 10 in an aligned state.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the PK conveyor 10 has an endless chain 18 installed on an endless guide member 17 disposed along a conveyance path on one side of a machine base (not shown). A structure in which a rod-like support member 19 is horizontally extended at a constant pitch, a pipe-like mounting base 20 is detachably fixed to the support member 19, and a tiltable elongated support piece 21 is attached to the mounting base 20. The support piece 21 extends in a direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the PK conveyor 10.

  A first support bracket 22 and a second support bracket 23 are fixed to the mounting base 20, and a support piece 21 is tiltably connected to the first support bracket 22 via a support pin 24. A lever member 25 having a hook 25a and an engagement release lever portion 25b is rotatably connected to the second support bracket 23 via a support pin 26.

  The lever member 25 is urged toward the engagement position by a return spring (not shown). When the support piece 21 is in a horizontal posture, the lever pin 25 is attached to the engagement pin 27 protruding from the side surface of the support piece 21. The hook 25a is engaged, and the support piece 21 is held in a horizontal posture, so that it is possible to place the agricultural product as the transported body. When the release lever portion 25b of the lever member 25 is pushed down against the spring force of the return spring, the lever member 25 rotates counterclockwise, the hook 25a is disengaged from the engagement pin 27, and the support piece 21 is It tilts downward with the support pin 24 as a fulcrum.

  Since the axis of the support pin 24 is arranged along the transport direction of the PK conveyor 10, when the support piece 21 is tilted, the mandarin orange 1 as the agricultural product placed is directed to the side of the PK conveyor 10. Discharge while rolling.

  The width of the support piece 21 (the length along the conveying direction of the PK conveyor 10) is narrow, and the single support piece 21 cannot completely support the mandarin orange 1, and the mandarin orange is formed by several continuous support pieces 21. 1 is supported.

  The lever operating mechanism 31 which is the first discharging means for tilting the support piece 21 by pushing down the release lever portion 25b of the lever member 25 has an electromagnetic solenoid in the drive portion, and is an operating rod (not fixed) that can move in the vertical direction. (Shown) is driven by the electromagnetic solenoid, and when it is lowered to the position where it interferes with the position in the height direction of the release lever portion 25b of the lever member 25 in the engaged state at the discharge position, The release lever portions 25b that move along the transport direction are successively brought into contact with each other and pushed down, so that the support piece 21 continuously tilts downward.

  Then, since a plurality of continuous support pieces 21 tilt downward with a slight time delay, the agricultural products supported by the plurality of support pieces 21 fall while gradually rolling without falling at once. Discharged.

  In order to disengage the hook 25a of the lever member 25 from the engagement pin 27, the lever member 25 may be rotated in a predetermined direction, and is not limited to the above-described configuration.

  In order to return the tilted support piece 21 to the original horizontal posture, for example, when the support piece 21 is turned 180 degrees from the conveyance end position of the PK conveyor 10 and turned downward, the support piece 21 is in a state close to the horizontal posture. Therefore, the hook 25a of the lever member 25 is automatically engaged with the engagement pin when the back surface of the support piece 21 is brought into contact with the guide member (not shown) from this position and pushed into the engagement position. 27, the horizontal posture of the support piece is held again and used for the next conveyance.

  In this embodiment, on the upper surface of the support piece 21, a plurality of fin-shaped projections 21a are provided along the left-right direction, and the projections 21a absorb shock when placing agricultural products. In addition, sliding contact members 21b made of a hard resin material are attached to both left and right ends of the support piece 21, and in a state where free trays FT described later are placed on a plurality of continuous support pieces 21, The bottom surface of the free tray FT is placed on the sliding contact member 21b at both ends in the left-right direction.

  The PK conveyor 10 is configured to measure the internal quality such as sugar content of agricultural products from the merging unit 30 where the free tray FT carrying the agricultural products discharged from the second agricultural product supply unit 12 merges toward the downstream side in the conveying direction. An appearance sensor 33 including a quality sensor 32 and a camera or the like for measuring the appearance of the outer shape or the like of the agricultural product is sequentially arranged.

In this embodiment, the 1st discharge part 34 for discharging the mandarin orange 1 as an agricultural product directly mounted on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 for every sorting division is arrange | positioned in the downstream of the external appearance sensor 33, Further, on the downstream side of the first discharge unit 34, a free tray FT (hereinafter referred to as an actual tray) on which the mango 2 as an agricultural product placed on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 is placed, and its code is The second discharge unit 35 is disposed for discharging each FT ₁ ).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first discharge unit 34 has a plurality of belt conveyors 36 arranged for each sorting section along the transport direction of the PK conveyor 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the mandarin orange 1 discharged from the PK conveyor 10 while being rolled is disposed at a position slightly lower than the tip of the support piece 21 with the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 tilted downward. Are dropped onto the discharge conveyor 36. These discharge conveyors 36 extend in a lateral direction substantially orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the PK conveyor 10, and the mandarin oranges 1 of the same sorting section conveyed to the discharge end of the discharge conveyor 36 are temporarily stored in the receiving box 37. It is done. Note that a hopper or the like may be provided at the discharge end of the discharge conveyor 36 and temporarily stored, and when a predetermined number or a predetermined weight is counted, it may be discharged into a product box disposed below the hopper.

  In addition, corresponding to each discharge conveyor 36, a lever operating mechanism 31 is arranged on each side of the PK conveyor 10, and when the lever operating mechanism 31 is driven by a sorting discharge signal from a processing device (not shown), The lever members 25 that hold the support pieces 21 of the portion where the mandarin orange 1 of the sorting section is placed in a horizontal posture are released one after another, and the support pieces 21 are tilted.

  In addition, the structure of the 1st discharge part 34 is not limited to what used the above-mentioned discharge | emission conveyor 36, but the mandarin orange 1 falls by the inclination of the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 set for every sorting division You may make it arrange | position the receiving box 37 which receives the mandarin orange 1 directly in a position.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second discharge unit 35 includes a pool conveyor 38 composed of a plurality of roller conveyors or the like for each sorting section along the transport direction of the PK conveyor 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the transport surface of the pool conveyor 38 is substantially flush with the upper surface of the sliding contact member 21 b provided on the support piece 21 in a state where the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 is held in a horizontal posture. Are arranged. Each pool conveyor 38 extends in a horizontal direction substantially orthogonal to the transport direction of the PK conveyor 10, similar to the discharge conveyor 36, and a free tray on the opposite side of the PK conveyor 10 with respect to the pool conveyor 38. Discharge devices 39 are respectively arranged.

As shown in FIG. 2, the free tray discharge device 39 has a disk-like push plate 39c attached to the tip of the push rod 39b of the actuator 39a that reciprocates linearly in the horizontal direction, and a sorting discharge signal is sent from the processing device to the actuator 39a. The actuator 39a pushes the push bar 39b forward at a high speed and returns to the retracted position shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the actuator 39a is arranged with the extrusion plate 39c facing the pool conveyor 38 located on the opposite side. Therefore, when the extrusion bar 39b is pushed forward at a high speed, the extrusion plate 39c becomes a PK conveyor. The actual tray FT ₁ placed on the ten support pieces 21 is pushed out toward the pool conveyor 38. Since the actual tray FT ₁ is placed on the sliding contact member 21b of the plurality of continuous support pieces 21, the actual tray FT ₁ is pushed toward the pool conveyor 38 while sliding on the sliding contact member 21b.

  When the PK conveyor 10 is used with a free tray FT placed on the upper surface of the support piece 21, the support piece 21 is always in a non-actuated state in which a sorting discharge signal is not transmitted from the processing device to each lever operation mechanism 31. Is maintained in a horizontal posture so that the free tray FT is not dropped.

In the product box 41 such as a cardboard box, the worker W manually picks up the mango which is an agricultural product on the actual tray FT ₁ which is stopped by turning on a stopper (not shown) disposed at the discharge end of each pool conveyor 38. To house. The free tray FT (hereinafter referred to as the empty tray FT ₀ ) that has been emptied by the agricultural products taken up at the discharge end of the pool conveyor 38 is sent to the free tray return conveyor 40. When a predetermined number of mangoes are stored in the product box 41, the product box 41 is placed on a carry-out conveyor 49 and sent to a collection place or the like.

The free tray return conveyor 40 has a transport start end in contact with the discharge end of each pool conveyor 38 and is arranged in parallel with the PK conveyor 10, and the end is the start of the second agricultural product supply conveyor 43 of the second agricultural product supply unit 42. Connected to the department. When the stopper disposed at the discharge end of each pool conveyor 38 is turned OFF, the empty tray FT ₀ that has been dammed is sent to the free tray return conveyor 40. When transmission of the empty tray FT ₀ is confirmed, the stopper prevents the delivered remains loaded trays FT1 is loaded with mango free tray return conveyor 40 turned ON again.

Therefore, the empty tray FT ₀ sent to the free tray return conveyor 40 is conveyed to the second agricultural product supply conveyor 43. Free The discharge end of the tray return conveyor 40, the empty tray supply adjustment stopper (not shown) is provided to prevent the supply of empty trays FT ₀ by the stopper ON state for the air tray supply adjustment, for spatial tray supply adjustment The empty tray FT ₀ pooled on the discharge end side of the free tray return conveyor 40 in the stopper OFF state is sent to the second agricultural product supply conveyor 43.

The second agricultural product supply conveyor 43 is joined to the PK conveyor 10 at the junction 30 at the leading end of the conveyance. The second agricultural product supply conveyor 43 has a configuration in which two conveyors, that is, an upstream conveyor 43a and a downstream conveyor 43b are arranged in series at intervals. On one side of the upstream conveyor 43a, so that installing a plurality of agricultural supply station 12a, places the mango 2 on the empty tray FT ₀ worker W is manually at each agricultural supply station 12a. Each agricultural product supply station 12a is provided with a branch conveyor 44a branched from a container conveyor 44 such as a roller conveyor, and a container 44b containing a large number of mangoes is transferred from the container conveyor 44 to each branch conveyor 44a. Sent to.

In the present embodiment, a weight measuring conveyor 45 for measuring the weight of the moving actual tray FT ₀ is disposed between the upstream conveyor 43a and the downstream conveyor 43b, and the second agricultural product supply unit 12 starts the free tray. The weight of the agricultural product placed on the FT is measured as one of the sorting information. The weight measuring conveyor 45, the weight of loaded trays FT1 measured by the load cell while the upper conveyor loaded trays FT ₁ moves, transmits the weighing data to the processing device (not shown). In addition, since the weight of many free trays FT to be used is substantially constant, the said processing apparatus records the weight of only agricultural products.

The conveyance surface of the downstream conveyor 43 b is set to the same surface position as the upper surface of the sliding contact member 21 b provided on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 in the junction 30 with the PK conveyor 10. Further, a delivery conveyor 46 having a rotation axis in the vertical direction is disposed obliquely at the end of a conveyance path parallel to the PK conveyor 10. The delivery conveyor 46 is filled tray in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the FT _1, PK conveyor 10 and parallel with the upper support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 to accelerate the actual tray FT ₁ transported on the downstream side conveyor 43b To send.

The free tray FT has self-identification information. By detecting this self-identification information, the measurement information of the agricultural products placed on each real tray FT ₁ is recorded for each identification information in the processing device. Can do. The _first self-identification for detecting the self-identification information of the actual tray FT1 immediately before the weight-measuring conveyor 45 in order to associate the measurement data of the actual tray FT1 measured on the weight-measuring conveyor 45 with the mango which is the agricultural product. An information detecting means 47 is arranged. Further, since the PK conveyor 10 has a constant conveyance speed, if the self-identification information of the actual tray FT ₁ being conveyed on the PK conveyor 10 is detected between the internal quality sensor 32 and the merging unit 30, the detection is performed. Since the distances from the position to the internal quality sensor 32, the appearance sensor 33, and the free tray discharge device 39 for each sorting section are determined, the actual tray FT ₁ being measured by the internal quality sensor 32 and the appearance sensor 33 is selected. The processing device can output a sorting discharge signal to the free tray discharging device 39 provided in the sorting section when the actual tray TF1 corresponding to the sorting section position determined based on the measurement result reaches. it can. For this reason, the second self-identification information detection means 48 is arranged immediately before the internal quality sensor 32 on the upstream side in the transport direction.

  In the present embodiment, a barcode is used as the self-identification information provided in the free tray FT. For this reason, the first self-identification information detection means 47 and the second self-identification information detection means 48 are used as barcode readers. (Hereinafter, the first self-identifying information detecting means 47 is referred to as a first bar code reader 47, and the second self-identifying information detecting means 48 is referred to as a second bar code reader 48). Of course, in the present invention, the self-identification information provided in the free tray FT is not limited to the barcode, but may be an IC tag, a magnetic recording medium, etc. In this case, each measurement information is stored in the IC tag, the magnetic recording medium. You may make it memorize | store.

  The above shows the configuration of the present embodiment, and the selection of the types of agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as mandarin orange 1) that can be freely handled, such as the dropping and rolling of mandarin oranges, and the careful handling of mango etc. The selection of the required types of agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as Mango 2) will be described.

  First of all, referring to FIG. 1, the mango 2 is required to be carefully handled, and the classification items are weight measurement, internal quality measurement such as sugar content, the appearance of handling the presence or absence of external flaws and the quality of the shape. The case of measurement will be described as an example.

  The first agricultural product supply unit 11 used only for the above-described sorter of the agricultural products that can be freely handled, such as mandarin oranges, is put in a rest state, drives the PK conveyor 10 and the free tray return conveyor 40, and The necessary worker W is placed at a predetermined position with the second agricultural product supply unit 12 and the second discharge unit 35 in an operating state. Further, the sorting discharge signal is prevented from being output from the processing device to the lever operating mechanism 31 as the first discharging means.

The worker W to the empty tray FT ₀ sent from the free tray return conveyor 40 to the second of agricultural products feed conveyor 43 is placed one after the other mango taken out from the side of the container 44b. For the actual tray FT ₀ conveyed on the upstream conveyor 43 a, the bar code displayed on the peripheral side surface of the free tray FT is read by the first bar code reader 47. The read barcode information is transmitted to the processing device and registered as an actual tray number.

The weight of the actual tray FT _{1 that} has passed through the first barcode reader 47 is measured by the weight measuring conveyor 45 immediately after that, and the weight information is recorded in the latest actual tray number registered in the processing apparatus. The actual tray FT1 that has passed through the weight measurement conveyor 45 is conveyed to the junction 30 with the PK conveyor 10 by the downstream conveyor 43b, and is sent out on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 by the delivery conveyor 46. Incidentally, the conveyor 46 is sent from the downstream side conveyor 43b than the rate to sending the actual tray FT1, by increasing the conveying speed of the PK conveyor, the margin interval loaded trays FT ₁ being conveyed PK conveyor 10 above Therefore, the actual tray FT ₁ is prevented from being conveyed in series during the following measurement.

The actual tray FT ₁ sent to the PK conveyor 10 at the junction 30 is read by the second barcode reader 48, and the sugar content and the like are detected by the internal quality inspection sensor 32 that has arrived after a certain period of time. Internal quality information is measured, and this internal quality information is stored in the corresponding actual tray number stored in the processing apparatus. The appearance of the actual tray FT _{1 that} has passed the internal quality inspection sensor 32 is photographed by the appearance sensor 33 that has reached a certain time after passing through the second barcode reader 48, and the appearance information is stored in the processing device. It is stored in the corresponding actual tray number. This completes the measurement of mango, and the processing device determines the grade and class, and on the basis of the determination result, at the timing when the corresponding actual tray FT ₁ reaches the free tray discharge device 39 of the determined sorting section. Output sorting discharge signal.

Free the tray sorting discharge signal to the discharge device 39 is inputted, the actual trays FT ₁ resting on a plurality of support pieces 21 by an extrusion plate 39c is pushed toward the pool conveyor 38, pool the pool conveyor 38 Is done.

In the second discharge unit 35, the worker W picks up the mango 2 of the most advanced real tray FT ₁ pooled on the pool conveyor 38 and stores it in the product box 41. Then, ON the stopper release switch (not shown) Then, the empty tray FT ₀ is sent to the free tray return conveyor 40, thereby immediately the stopper stops the loaded trays FT ₁ is turned ON.

In this embodiment, the downstream side of the free tray return conveyor 40 and the upstream side of the agricultural product supply conveyor 43 are arranged in series, and empty trays FT ₀ are sequentially sent from the free tray return conveyor 40 to the agricultural product supply conveyor 43. In addition, although not shown, a part (constant length) on the downstream side of the free tray return conveyor 40 and a part (constant length) on the upstream side of the agricultural product supply conveyor 43 are in parallel and in contact with each other. The empty tray FT ₀ may be placed on the agricultural product supply conveyor 43 by the operator from the free tray return conveyor 40, and the agricultural product may be placed and supplied on the empty tray FT ₀ .

By doing so, the empty tray FT ₀ is not conveyed on the agricultural product supply conveyor 43, and only the actual tray FT 1 is supplied on the agricultural product supply conveyor 43.

In the present embodiment, the agricultural products on the actual tray FT ₁ discharged from the second discharge unit 35 are manually clogged, but a mechanical automatic boxing device may be used.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, description will be given of selection of agricultural products of the kind that can be freely handled such as dropping and rolling of the mandarin orange 1. As an example of pre-processing for selection of mandarin oranges, washing and waxing are performed, and as an example of classification classification, external quality measurement such as sugar content, external appearance measurement that handles the presence or absence of external scratches and the shape is good. I will explain. In addition, when selecting the mandarin orange 1, the 2nd agricultural product supply part 12, the free tray return conveyor 40, and the 2nd discharge part 35 are made into a stop state.

  The mandarin orange 1 brought in from the producer is accommodated in the container 3, transported on the cargo receiving conveyor 4, and put into a damper 13 constituting the first agricultural product supply unit 11. The mandarin oranges 1 are dropped and supplied from the lower side of the damper 13 to the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15, and the mandarin oranges 1 subjected to the cleaning / waxing process after passing through the cleaning / waxing machine 14 are aligned in a line by the alignment conveyor 16 and PK. It is sent to the conveyor 10. The conveyance speed of the PK conveyor 10 is set to be higher than the conveyance speed of the alignment conveyor 16, thereby preventing the mandarin orange 1 from being conveyed on the PK conveyor 10 in a continuous manner.

  In the PK conveyor 10, one mandarin orange 1 is directly supported on a plurality of continuous support pieces 21. In order to cause the support piece 21 to tilt and drop the mandarin orange 1 at the sorting position, the lever operation mechanism 31 is sorted. What is necessary is just to incline these several support pieces 21 continuously even if it outputs at least a discharge signal.

  In the mandarin orange 1 conveyed on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10, first, internal quality information such as sugar content is measured by the internal quality sensor 32. If the time when the mandarin orange 1 passes through the internal quality sensor 32 is used as a reference, the position of each mandarin orange 1 moving downstream from the reference position in the transport direction can be specified. As a result, the processing apparatus can identify the mandarin orange 1 that has reached the appearance sensor 33, and therefore, the sorting classification of the mandarin orange 1 based on the internal quality information of the mandarin orange 1 that has passed through the appearance sensor 33 and the appearance information measured by the appearance sensor 33. judge.

  The processing device outputs a sorting discharge signal to the lever operating mechanism 31 of the corresponding sorting section at the timing when the mandarin orange 1 determined to be the sorting section reaches the corresponding sorting section position.

  The lever operating mechanism 31 is kept ON for a predetermined time, and sequentially tilts the plurality of continuous support pieces 21. Thereby, the mandarin orange 1 is dropped and discharged onto the discharge conveyor 36 while rolling on the tilted support piece 21, and is transported on the discharge conveyor 36 and dropped into the receiving box 37.

  A product box base 50 is provided on the front side of the receiving box 37, a product box 41 is placed on the product box base 50, and an operator places the mandarin orange 1 in the receiving box 37 into the product box 41 by hand clogging. Clog. When a predetermined number of mandarin oranges 1 are packed, the product box 41 is placed on the carry-out conveyor 49.

  In the present embodiment, the agricultural products discharged from the first discharge unit 34 are manually clogged, but a mechanical automatic weighing machine may be used.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the agricultural products are directly placed on the surface of the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 and sorted, and the free tray FT is placed on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 10 to convey the agricultural products. Thus, the two transport modes can be achieved by one PK conveyor 10.

Second Embodiment FIGS. 5 to 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 5 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of an agricultural product sorting apparatus, and shows a state in which mango is being sorted as a kind of agricultural product that requires careful handling. FIG. 6 shows a state in which mandarin oranges and kumquats are being selected as agricultural products of a kind that can be freely handled such as dropping and rolling, instead of the selection of mangoes shown in FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a front view of FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another example of displaying a bucket unit of the PK conveyor. 5 to 9, the same members as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

In the first embodiment described above, the PK conveyor 10 has a configuration in which a large number of endlessly rotating support pieces 21 are independent from each other, and the support piece 21 on which the actual tray FT ₁ is placed is not specified.

  On the other hand, the PK conveyor 100 of the present embodiment is configured in a bucket shape as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and one bucket unit 101 is attached to a two-row chain 18 that rotates endlessly, and a plurality of bucket units are attached. In the state where 101 is connected, all the support pieces 21 are arranged at an equal pitch. In one bucket unit 101, a plurality of (9 in this embodiment) support pieces 21 are attached to the mounting base 102 so as to be tilted at a fixed interval. The support piece 21 is held in a horizontal posture, and the mechanism for releasing the holding of the horizontal posture is the same as in the first embodiment.

  The mounting base 102 is detachably fixed to the carrier base 103, for example, and the carrier base 103 is connected to the endless rotating chain 18.

  A plurality (two in this embodiment) of connecting shafts 18 a are passed between the pair of left and right endless rotating chains 18 for each bucket unit 101, and the support 103 is penetrated through the connecting shaft 18 a. A hole 103b is formed. Therefore, the bucket unit 101 moves by transmitting the power of the chain 18 that rotates endlessly through the connecting shaft 18a. The pair of left and right endless rotating chains 18 are supported by the chain guide rails 108 and endlessly rotated so as not to be off the track.

  In the present embodiment, the weight measuring device 107 is installed in the middle of the conveyance path of the PK conveyor 100, the internal quality sensor 32 is installed upstream of the weight measuring device 107, and the appearance sensor 33 is installed downstream.

  The configuration of the weight measuring device 107 will be described with reference to FIGS.

  7 and 8, a pair of width direction rails 105 a and 105 b are attached to the machine base 104 of the PK conveyor 100 via the load cell 106 corresponding to the left and right bottom wall parts 103 a formed at the bottom of the support base 103. It has been. The pair of rails 105a and 105b are attached to a rail support base 105, and the rail support base 105 is attached to a load cell 106 to constitute a weight measuring device 107.

  When the one-bucket unit 101 reaches the weight measurement position, the left and right bottom wall portions 103a of the carrier 103 slightly ride on the pair of rails 105a and 105b.

Since the through hole 103b of the carrier 103 is formed with an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the connecting shaft 18a and has play, when the carrier 103 rides on the pair of rails 105a and 105b, the carrier 103 is connected to the connecting shaft. The engagement with 18a is released, and a free state is obtained in the vertical direction. For this reason, the load cell 106 can measure the weight of the actual tray FT ₁ .

  In this embodiment, the 1st discharge part 34 and the 2nd discharge part 35 which are arrange | positioned in the conveyance direction downstream of the PK conveyor 100 are distributed and arrange | positioned on both right and left sides with respect to the conveyance direction of the PK conveyor 100. The second discharge unit 35 that performs boxing of mango and the second agricultural product supply unit 42 that places the mango on an empty free tray FT and transfers it to the PK conveyor are arranged on the same side with the PK conveyor 100 as a boundary. is doing. Thereby, the path | route of the free tray return conveyor 40 can be simplified.

In the second agricultural supply 42, the second agricultural feed conveyor 43, PK conveyor contact with 100 transport path is arranged, the container 3 to the operator W is empty tray FT ₀ arranged in agricultural supply station 12a The inner mango 2 is placed, and the actual tray FT ₁ is transferred to the bucket unit 101 of the PK conveyor 100.

Since one bucket unit 101 is supported by a pair of left and right chain guide rails 108 via connecting shafts 18a provided at the front and the rear in the transport direction that penetrate the carrier table 103, an actual tray FT that is a heavy object _{Even if 1} is placed, it is transported smoothly.

  By the way, even if the worker W arranged at the agricultural product supply station 12a looks at the transport surface of the PK conveyor 100, it is impossible to determine where the bucket unit 101 is. Therefore, it is conceivable to provide the mark 101a and perform the discrimination of the bucket unit 101. If all the support pieces 21 constituting one bucket unit 101 adjacent to the support piece 21 constituting one bucket unit 101 are color-coded as the mark 101a, it is possible to determine one bucket unit 101 without fail.

  However, since the internal quality sensor 32 and the appearance sensor 33 irradiate light toward the agricultural products, the surface of the support piece 21 is naturally also irradiated with light, but the color applied to the surface of the support piece 21 The wavelength of the reflected wave changes, resulting in variations in analysis of measurement information. For this reason, it is not a good idea to color-code all the support pieces 21.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the leading support piece 21F and the trailing support piece 21R as viewed in the conveying direction in one bucket unit 101 are tilted in advance. A thing is used as the mark 101a and is moved toward the second agricultural product supply unit 42. Of course, the first support piece 21F and the last support piece 21R may be colored with other colors in order to be distinguished from the other support pieces 21.

As described in the first embodiment, the arbitrary support piece 21 can be tilted by controlling the lever operating mechanism 31. Then, each bucket unit 101 constituting the PK conveyor 100 can be identified from above, and the worker W of the second agricultural product supply unit 42 can tilt the leading support piece 21F and the last support piece. It is only necessary to place the actual tray FT ₁ between 21R.

  As a method of recognizing and tilting the leading support piece 21F and the last support piece 21R in one bucket unit 101, for example, an encoder pulse coaxially with the drive pulley around which the endless rotating chain 18 of the PK conveyor 101 is wound. A plate (not shown) is provided, and a support piece detection signal is output from the encoder pulse plate in accordance with the timing at which the last support piece 21R reaches the specific lever operation mechanism 31 in the first discharge section 34. The interval between the first support piece 21F and the last support piece 21R is constant in each bucket unit, and the support piece following the last support piece 21R is the first support piece 21F of the next bucket unit 101. Therefore, the sorting discharge signal is output to the specific lever operating mechanism 31 in accordance with the passage time of the two support pieces 21, and then the passage timing of the first support piece 21F and the last support piece 21R is determined. In addition, the sorting discharge signal may be output again. Then, by executing the output of the sorting discharge signal at this series of timings by the number of bucket units 101 in the PK conveyor 100, the leading support piece 21F and the last supporting piece 21R of all bucket units 101 are tilted. be able to.

  In the present embodiment, the container conveyor 44 also serves as a path for conveying not only the container 3 containing the mango 2 but also the container 3 containing the mandarin orange 1 and kumquat 5 to the damper 13.

  From the damper 13 to the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15, the citrus root 51 passing through the cleaning / waxing device 14 shown in the first embodiment and the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15 bypassing the cleaning / waxing device 14. And a kumquat route 52 connected to.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the agricultural product supplied from the damper 13 is sent to the transport direction switching conveyor 53, and when the transport direction switching conveyor 53 is selected to transport in the forward direction, the agricultural product is transported to the orange root 51. If the conveyance in the reverse direction is selected, the agricultural product is conveyed to the kumquat route 52. The upstream end of the transport direction switching conveyor 53 is connected to the upstream end in the transport direction of the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15, and the reverse direction transport end is connected to the upstream end of the transport direction of the kumquat transport conveyor 54. The kumquat conveyor 54 bypasses the cleaning / waxing device 14 and is connected to the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15.

  Therefore, when selecting the kumquat, by switching the transport direction switching conveyor 53 to the reverse transport direction, the kumquat 5 from the damper 13 is sent from the transport direction switching conveyor 53 to the kumquat transport conveyor 54, and the first It is sent to the agricultural product supply conveyor 15. Then, it is aligned in a line by the aligning device 16 and sent to the PK conveyor 100. In addition, when performing selection of mandarin oranges, the conveyance direction switching conveyor 53 is switched to the normal conveyance direction, whereby the mandarin orange 1 is sent to the washing / waxing device 15, and the PK conveyor is passed through the alignment device 16 as in the first embodiment. To 100.

  In the PK conveyor 100 of the present embodiment, a plurality of support pieces 21 are provided in the bucket unit 101. However, it is first possible to tilt each support piece 21 of each bucket unit 101 independently of the bucket unit 101. Similar to the embodiment, when sorting mandarin oranges and kumquats, the agricultural products are not carried by the bucket unit 101, and the agricultural products are randomly placed on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyor 100. Then, based on the time when it passes through the internal quality sensor 32, a sorting discharge signal is output to the lever operating mechanism 31 corresponding to the sorting category at a predetermined timing for a predetermined time, thereby dropping the mandarin orange 1 and kumquat 5 onto the discharge conveyor 36. To discharge.

  As shown in FIG. 7, there is a gap between the tilting tip of the support piece 21 and the discharge conveyor 36 in a state where the support piece 21 is tilted to a position in contact with the stopper 103 c fixed to the carrier 103. In such a case, a relatively small-diameter agricultural product such as a kumquat may fall from the gap. Therefore, a guide plate 36a that closes the gap is disposed, and the kumquat rolls on the guide plate 36a to the discharge conveyor 36. Discharged.

  In the second embodiment, as a means for visually recognizing the bucket unit 101, as shown in FIG. 9A, the leading support piece 21F and the trailing support piece 21R are tilted. It is not limited to this, You may use the means shown in FIG.9 (b) (c).

  In the example shown in FIG. 9B, in the second agricultural product supply unit 42, LED flashers 122 in which a large number of LEDs 121 are arranged in parallel with the PK conveyor 100 are arranged close to each other, and the top and the end of the bucket unit 101 are arranged. The LED 121 is lit at intervals corresponding to the tail, and the lit LED 121 is moved at the same speed as the transport speed of the PK conveyor 100. In this case, the lighting timing of the LED can be controlled by using the signal from the encoder pulse plate.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9C, the length of the first support piece 21 </ b> F and the last support piece 21 </ b> R of the bucket unit 101 is formed longer than the other support pieces 21.

Third Embodiment FIGS. 10 and 11 show a third embodiment.

  FIG. 10 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus, in a state in which mango is being sorted as a kind of agricultural product that requires careful handling, and FIG. 11 is a drop in place of the sorting of mango shown in FIG. , Shows the state of sorting mandarin oranges and kumquat as a kind of agricultural product that can be freely handled as rolling.

  The third embodiment includes a mandarin root 51 and a kumquat route 52 as the configuration of the first agricultural product supply unit 11, and the first agricultural product supply of the first agricultural product supply unit 11. The discharge end of the conveyer 15 is selectively connected to a belt conveyer type conveyer 131 by a first transfer route switching machine 130. The discharge end of the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15 and the carry-in end of the transport conveyor 131 are spaced apart from each other, and the first transport path switching machine 130 is provided with a connecting conveyor 130b that connects between them.

In addition, the discharge end of the free tray return conveyor 40 and the carry-in end of the transfer conveyor 131 are aligned at the same position when viewed in the transfer direction of the transfer conveyor 131 and are orthogonal to the transfer direction of the transfer conveyor 131. Separated in the direction.
In addition, the first transport path switching machine 130 is selectively connected to the transport conveyor 131.

  The first transport path switching machine 130 connects the discharge end of the agricultural product supply conveyor 15 and the carry-in end of the transport conveyor 131 to the first slide base 130 a that horizontally moves in a lateral direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the transport conveyor 131. A linear first connecting conveyor 130b composed of a belt conveyor, and a second connecting conveyor 130c having a substantially U-shape in plan view that connects the discharge end of the free tray return conveyor 40 and the carry-in end of the transfer conveyor 131 in the lateral direction. It is set as the structure arrange | positioned along. When the first slide base 130a is slid to the free tray return conveyor 40 side (hereinafter referred to as the left side), the second connecting conveyor 130c is moved to the discharge end of the free tray return conveyor 40 and the carry-in end of the transfer conveyor 131 as shown in FIG. Are connected, and the first slide stand 130a is slid to the transport conveyor 131 side (hereinafter referred to as the right side), the discharge end of the agricultural product supply conveyor 15 and the carry-in end of the transport conveyor 131 are connected.

  Therefore, the first slide stand 130a may be slid to the left when sorting out the mango 2 and slid to the right when sorting out the mandarin orange 1 or kumquat 5.

The second agricultural product supply unit 42 is arranged on one side of the transfer conveyor 131 along the transfer direction, and the worker W of the agricultural product supply station 12a empties the mango 2 stored in the container 3 on the branch conveyor 44a one by one. placed by hand on the tray FT _0. A PK conveyor 10 having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is arranged forward from the conveyance tip of the conveyance conveyor 131, and a second conveyance path switching machine 132 is arranged between the conveyance end of the conveyance conveyor 131 and the carry-in end of the PK conveyor 10. Yes. As in the case of the first transport path switching machine 132, the second transport path switching machine 132 includes a second slide base 132a that slides in the left-right direction, an alignment conveyor 16 and a weight measuring device 45 configured as shown in FIG. Arranged in the direction.

  And if the 2nd slide stand 132a is moved to the right side shown in FIG. 10, the weight measuring device 45 will be located so that between the discharge end of the conveyance conveyor 131 and the carrying-in end of the PK conveyor 10 may be located, FIG. When moved to the left side shown, the alignment conveyor 16 connects the discharge end of the transfer conveyor 131 and the carry-in end of the PK conveyor 10.

Therefore, when selecting the mango 2, the second slide table 132 a is moved to the right side shown in FIG. 10, and the actual tray FT ₁ on which the mango 2 transported on the conveyor 131 is sent to the weight measuring device 45. And the weight is measured. A barcode reader 47 is arranged at the conveyance end of the conveyance conveyor 131 to read the barcode on the actual tray FT ₁ immediately before being fed into the weight measuring device 45. Since the time at which the actual tray FT ₁ reaches the internal quality sensor 32 and the appearance sensor 33 after passing through the weight measuring device 45 is determined, the processing device (not shown) has a weight, internal quality and appearance regarding the mango on the actual tray FT 1. Memorize the measurement items.

When the actual tray FT1 that has passed through the appearance sensor 33 reaches a position corresponding to the sorting device discharge device 31 determined by the processing device, it is discharged to the pool conveyor 38 and boxed. Then, the empty tray FT ₀ is returned from the free tray return conveyor 40 to the transport conveyor 131 via the second connection conveyor 130c.

  When sorting mandarin oranges or kumquats, as shown in FIG. 11, the mandarin orange 1 fed from the damper 13 through the mandarin root 51 to the first linking conveyor 130 b, or the kumquat route 52 through the first linking conveyor 130 b. When the kumquat 5 fed to is transported randomly on the transport conveyor 131 and reaches the alignment conveyor 16, it is aligned in a row and passes through the internal quality sensor 32 and the appearance sensor 33, and reaches the determined sorting position. Similarly to the first embodiment, the support piece 21 is continuously tilted by the operation of the lever operating mechanism 31, and the mandarin orange 1 or the kumquat 5 is dropped onto the discharge conveyor 36.

Fourth Embodiment FIGS. 12 and 13 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

  FIG. 12 is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the agricultural product sorting apparatus, in a state in which mango is being sorted as a kind of agricultural product requiring careful handling, and FIG. 13 is a drop in place of the sorting of mango shown in FIG. , Shows the state of sorting mandarin oranges and kumquat as a kind of agricultural product that can be freely handled as rolling. The same members as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 11 are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

  In the present embodiment, the first agricultural product supply unit 11 having the mandarin root 51 and the kumquat route 52 is the second shown in FIG. 5 in that the alignment device 16 is arranged following the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15. The configuration is the same as that of the embodiment. Further, a PK conveyor 100 having a configuration in which a large number of bucket units 101 are connected following the aligning device 16 is disposed, and an internal quality sensor 32, a weight measuring device 107, and an appearance sensor 33 are disposed in the transport path of the PK conveyor 100, and The configuration in which the first discharge part 34 and the second discharge part 35 are distributed to the left and right on the downstream side of the appearance sensor 33 and discharged is the same as in the second embodiment.

Then, in the fourth embodiment, the empty tray FT ₀ discharged from the second discharge part 35 by a free tray return conveyor 40 is returned to the second agricultural supply 42, but the free tray return conveyor 40 The discharge end is connected to an automatic supply conveyor 141 arranged in parallel along the first agricultural product supply conveyor 15 via a free tray supply device 142.

  The automatic supply conveyor 141 has the same conveyance direction and conveyance speed as the PK conveyor 100 and the same speed, and extends to the front side of the internal quality sensor 32.

The automatic supply conveyor 141 is provided with a crosspiece 141a having a short pitch at the same pitch as the bucket unit 101 on the conveyance surface. The free tray supply device 142 has a rotation axis along the conveyance direction of the automatic supply conveyor 141, a cylindrical feed screw body 143 having a spiral groove 143 a formed on the outer peripheral surface, and a free tray return conveyor 40. A roller conveyor 144 that connects the discharge end and the carry-in end of the automatic supply conveyor 141 is provided. A part of the outer periphery of the free tray FT is fitted in the spiral groove 143a, and the feed screw body 143 conveys the free tray FT toward the automatic supply conveyor 141 at a constant speed on the roller conveyor 144. The transport speed of the free tray FT by the feed screw body 143 is the same as the transport speed of the PK conveyor 100 and the same pitch as the bucket unit 101. Further, the rotational driving of the automatic supply conveyor 141 and the feed screw body 143 is synchronized so that the empty tray FT ₀ sent from the feed screw body 143 is sent between the crosspieces 141 of the automatic supply conveyor 141.

  In addition, a free tray feeding device 145 configured by a belt conveyor having a rotation axis in the vertical direction is obliquely arranged at the front end of the PK conveyor 100 in the conveyance direction, and the outer peripheral surface of the free tray FT on the PK conveyor 100 And is transferred to the PK conveyor 100 by frictional contact. The automatic supply conveyor 141 is driven in synchronism with the PK conveyor 100 so that the free tray FT delivered by the free tray delivery device 145 is transferred onto the bucket unit 101 at the same conveyance speed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the actual tray FT ₁ can be automatically supplied to each bucket unit 101 using the PK conveyor 100 configured by the bucket unit 101. in sorting, the worker W workstation 12a is empty tray FT ₀ was fed between the crosspiece 141a of the automatic feed conveyor 141 by a free tray supply device 142 need only put the mango 2, loaded trays FT ₁ is In a state of running substantially parallel to the bucket unit 101 of the PK conveyor 100, the free tray delivery device 145 sequentially transfers the bucket unit 101 onto the bucket unit 101 of the PK conveyor 100.

When the mandarin orange 1 or the kumquat 5 is selected, the driving of the free tray return conveyor 40 is stopped, and the supply of the empty tray FT ₀ to the free tray supply device 142 is stopped. In addition, since the selection process of the mandarin orange 1 or the kumquat 5 is the same as 2nd Embodiment, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 14 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

In each of the above embodiments, the actual tray FT ₁ is placed on the support piece 21 of the PK conveyors 10 and 100. In this embodiment, the bucket conveyor 152 including the bucket 151 that can be tilted is used as a mandarin orange or the like. When the agricultural products allowed to roll are transported for sorting, the sorting is performed by placing on the bucket 151 the actual tray FT _{1 on} which the agricultural products requiring careful handling such as mango 2 are placed on the free tray FT. In the case where one transport means is used directly for transporting agricultural products, and two methods for transporting agricultural products indirectly by mounting the actual tray FT ₁ are obtained. Is.

  The bucket conveyor 152 used in the present embodiment has a bucket support 153 through which two front and rear connecting shafts 18a along the conveying direction connected between the left and right endless rotating chains 18 pass, and this bucket support 153. Is provided with a pair of support bracket portions 154 that are spaced apart from each other in the front-rear direction. Each of the pair of front and rear support bracket portions 154 is composed of left and right bracket plates 154a arranged in a left and right direction as viewed in the transport direction, and forms a tilting fulcrum of the bucket 151 on the inner upper portion of the left and right bracket plates 154a. A notch-shaped bearing portion 155 is formed.

  The bucket 151 has a configuration in which a cylindrical light-shielding tube 151b is integrally provided at a lower portion of the bucket body 151a, and a central portion penetrates vertically. With this configuration, for example, as an internal quality sensor 32, in a state where agricultural products are placed on the bucket body 151a, illumination light for inspection is irradiated from the side or upper surface of the agricultural products, and the transmitted light transmitted through the agricultural products is blocked by the light shielding cylinder 151b. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which the light can be guided downward through a light receiving means such as a CCD.

  Then, the internal quality inspection by the internal quality sensor 32 having the above-described configuration can be performed by using a free tray FT placed on the bucket body 151 having an opening penetrating in the vertical direction in the central portion.

  In the bucket 151, fulcrum shafts 151c extending in the transport direction are attached to the connecting portion between the bucket body 151a and the light shielding cylinder 151b on the left and right sides, and the front and rear end portions of the left and right fulcrum shafts 151c are connected to the left and right support bracket portions 154 on the left and right sides. The bracket plate 154a is engaged with the bearing portion 155. Therefore, when the bucket 151 is tilted to the right side, the right fulcrum shaft 151c is kept engaged with the right bearing portion 155, while the left fulcrum shaft 151c is engaged with the left bearing portion 155. To be released, the bucket 151 tilts to the right with the position where the right fulcrum shaft 151c is engaged with the right bearing 155 as a fulcrum. Conversely, when the bucket 151 is tilted to the left, the bucket 151 tilts to the left with the position where the left fulcrum shaft 151c is engaged with the left bearing portion 155 as the fulcrum, similar to the above-described right tilt.

  In this embodiment, the tilting operation of the bucket 151 in the left-right direction depends on whether or not the operating pin 157 spent downward from the operating body 156 slidably mounted on the connecting shaft 18a is guided to a switching rail (not shown). The actuating bodies 156 are arranged on the left and right, and a push spring 160 is arranged between the pair of left and right actuating bodies 156 on each connecting shaft 18a. Accordingly, the pair of left and right operating bodies 156 are urged by the push spring 160 toward the left and right outer directions.

  The right operating body 156R and the left fulcrum shaft 151cL are connected by a right tilt connecting member 158, and the left operating body 156L and the right fulcrum shaft 151cR are connected by a left tilt connecting member 159.

  In such a configuration, when the bucket 151 reaches the right or left tilt position, the guide rail provided on the machine base (not shown) of the bucket conveyor 152 operates. The guide rail passes through the operating pin 156 biased to the position shown in FIG. 14 as it is, and moves the operating pin 156 along the cam surface protruding inward, blocking the passing path. The operating body 156 is moved from the left and right ends toward the opposite side.

  When one actuating body 156 moves in the opposite direction from the end position in the left-right direction, for example, when the right actuating body 156R starts moving toward the left side, the left end of the bucket 151 is lifted upward by the right tilting connecting member 158, and the right side Tilts clockwise around the fulcrum shaft 151cR. Then, after passing through the cam surface of the guide rail, the right operating body 156 is urged by the push spring 160 and moves to the original right end, and along with this, the bucket 151 is also restored to the original vertical direction by the connecting member 158 for right tilting. Returned to the standing position.

When the bucket 156 is tilted, the determined mandarin orange 1 in the sorting section in the bucket 156 is dropped and discharged to the discharge conveyor 36, and the agricultural product is sorted by placing the actual tray FT ₁ on the bucket 156 standing upright. In addition, the configuration of pushing out to the pool conveyor 38 by the free tray discharge device 39 is the same as in each of the embodiments described above.

Sixth Embodiment In the first to fourth embodiments described above, as a configuration of the support piece 21 used in the PK conveyors 10 and 100, a shape in which a depression is formed in the center portion on the upper surface side is provided, and both ends in the length direction are formed. Although the sliding contact member 21b is provided at the portion so that the free tray FT can be supported and discharged smoothly, the support piece in the present invention is not limited to this configuration. may be a structure in which a roller to rotate, the free tray FT ₁ on the support piece 21, may be a structure as can be discharged directly mounted agricultural products smoothly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the agricultural-product selection apparatus by 1st Embodiment of this invention, and shows the state which is selecting the mango as an agricultural product of the kind which requires careful handling. AA arrow sectional drawing of FIG. FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2. The figure which shows the state which is selecting instead of the selection of the mango shown in FIG. 1, and selecting the mandarin orange as a kind of agricultural product in which the free handling of a fall and rolling is accept | permitted. The figure which shows the state which is selecting the mango as a kind of agricultural product of the kind which requires careful handling with the top view which shows schematic structure of the agricultural-product selection apparatus by 2nd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the state which is replacing with the selection of the mango shown in FIG. 5, and has selected the mandarin orange and the kumquat as a kind of agricultural product in which the free handling of dropping and rolling is permitted. BB arrow sectional drawing of FIG. The front view of FIG. The figure which shows the other example which displays the bucket unit of PK conveyor. The figure which shows the state which is sorting the mango as a kind of agricultural product of the kind which requires careful handling by the top view which shows schematic structure of the agricultural-product selection apparatus by 3rd Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the state which is replacing with the selection of the mango shown in FIG. 10, and has selected the mandarin orange and the kumquat as a kind of agricultural product in which the free handling of dropping and rolling is permitted. The figure which shows the state which is sorting the mango as a kind of agricultural product of the kind which requires careful handling by the top view which shows schematic structure of the agricultural-product selection apparatus by the 4th Embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the state which is replacing with the selection of the mango shown in FIG. 12, and has selected the mandarin orange and the kumquat as a kind of agricultural product in which the free handling of dropping and rolling is permitted. Sectional drawing of the bucket conveyor which shows 5th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

FT free tray FT ₁ actual tray FT ₀ empty tray W worker 1 mandarin orange 2 mango 3 container 4 cargo receiving conveyor 5 kumquat 10, 100 keyboard type conveyor (PK conveyor)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 1st agricultural product supply part 12 2nd agricultural product supply part 13 Damper 14 Washing | waxing and wax machine 15 1st agricultural product supply conveyor 16 Alignment apparatus 16a Roller conveyor 17 Guide member 18 Endless chain 18a Connecting shaft 19 Supporting member 20 Mounting base 21 Support piece 21F Lead support piece 21R Rearmost support piece 21a Protruding part 21b Sliding contact member 22 First support bracket 23 Second support bracket 24 Support pin 25 Lever member 25a Hook 25b Engagement release lever part 26 Support pin 27 Engagement Pin 30 Junction part 31 Lever operating mechanism 32 Internal quality sensor 33 Appearance sensor 34 First discharge part 35 Second discharge part 36 Discharge conveyor 36a Guide plate 37 Receiving box 38 Pool conveyor 39 Free tray discharge device 39a Actuator 39b Extrusion bar 39c Extrusion plate 0 Free tray return conveyor 41 Product box 42 Second agricultural product supply unit 43 Second agricultural product supply conveyor 43a Upstream conveyor 43b Downstream conveyor 49 Unloading conveyor 44 Container conveyor 44a Branch conveyor 44b Container 45 Weight measuring conveyor 46 Sending conveyor 47 1st self-identification information detection means (1st barcode reader)
48 Second self-identifying information detecting means (second bar code reader)
49 Unloading conveyor 51 Mikan route 52 Kumquat route 53 Conveying direction switching conveyor 54 Kinkkin conveying conveyor 101 Bucket unit 101a Marking 102 Mounting base 103 Carrying base 103a Bottom wall 103b Through-hole 103c Stopper 104 Machine base 105 Rail support base 105a, 105b Rail 106 Load cell 107 Weight measuring device 108 Chain guide rail 121 LED
122 LED flasher 130 1st conveyance path switching machine 130a 1st slide stand 130b connection conveyor 130c 2nd connection conveyor 131 conveyance conveyor 132 2nd conveyance path switching machine 132a 2nd slide table 141 automatic supply conveyor 141a Crosspiece 142 Free tray supply device 143 Feed screw body 143a Spiral groove 144 Roller conveyor 145 Free tray delivery device 151 Bucket 151a Bucket main body 151b Shading cylinder 151c Support shaft 152 Bucket conveyor 153 Bucket support base 154 Support bracket part 154a Bracket plate 155 Bearing part 156 Actuator 157 Actuator pin 158 Right tilting connecting member 159 Left tilting connecting member 160 Press spring

Claims (14)

A transporting means for sorting having a large number of tiltable agricultural product support parts and rotating endlessly toward the agricultural product discharge part,
A first agricultural product sorting system that supplies agricultural products directly onto the agricultural product support part of the sorting conveying means, and tilts the agricultural product support part to enable sorting and discharging of the agricultural products;
Supplying a free tray containing agricultural products on the agricultural product support part of the transporting means for sorting, and a second agricultural product selection system capable of discharging the free tray containing agricultural products from the agricultural product support part;
A sorting apparatus for agricultural products, comprising:   In the second agricultural product sorting system, the free tray containing the agricultural product placed on the agricultural product support portion held in the substantially horizontal posture is pushed out in a horizontal direction, and the agricultural product support portion is slid and discharged. The apparatus for sorting agricultural products according to claim 1, further comprising an extruding discharge means.   The agricultural product sorting unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second agricultural product sorting system includes an agricultural product supply unit that automatically feeds a free tray containing agricultural products to a starting end side of the sorting conveying means. apparatus.   The agricultural product supply unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second agricultural product sorting system includes an agricultural product supply unit that manually feeds a free tray containing agricultural products to a starting end side of the sorting conveying unit. Sorting device.   The sorting conveying means is a keyboard type conveyor in which the produce support portion is constituted by a narrow plate-like member that can be individually tilted, and many of the narrow plate-like members are endlessly rotatable. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   The sorting transport means is a keyboard type conveyor in which the agricultural product support portion is configured by a plurality of continuous narrow plate-like members that can be individually tilted as bucket units, and the bucket units are provided so as to be endlessly rotatable. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the agricultural product sorting apparatus is provided.   The said conveying means for sorting is the bucket conveyor which comprised the said agricultural product support part with the bucket which can tilt, and provided many this bucket so that endless rotation was possible. The described agricultural product sorting device.   8. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the sorting transporting means is provided with a measuring unit for measuring the weight of agricultural products by carrying the bucket unit or the bucket.   A common conveying means shared by the first agricultural product sorting system and the second agricultural product sorting system is provided at the carry-in end of the sorting conveying means, and an aligning means for aligning the agricultural products in a row therebetween, and conveying the agricultural products 2. The agricultural product according to claim 1, wherein weight measuring means for measuring the weight is arranged so as to be switchable in accordance with selection between the first agricultural product sorting system and the second agricultural product sorting system. Sorting device.   The agricultural product sorting according to claim 9, further comprising a switching unit capable of selectively switching a route between the first agricultural product conveyance system and the second agricultural product conveyance system with respect to the shared conveyance unit. apparatus.   The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a discriminating unit that discriminates the bucket unit constituting the sorting transport unit.   The discriminating means has a configuration in which the first support piece and the last support piece in the bucket unit are tilted in advance, and the first support piece and the last support piece in the bucket unit are colored in a color different from the support piece between them. 12. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the first support piece and the last support piece in a bucket unit have different lengths from the support pieces therebetween.   The discrimination means turns on a plurality of lamps arranged along the transport direction of the sorting transport means on the side of the sorting transport means according to the boundary position of the bucket unit. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to 11. The first agricultural product sorting system has a first path for transporting agricultural products via a cleaning / waxing device and a second path for bypassing and transporting the cleaning / waxing device. Item 14. The agricultural product sorting apparatus according to any one of Items 1 to 13.

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