JP2009166923A - Bucket conveyor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bucket conveyor facilitating the mounting/removal of a bucket to an endless drive member. <P>SOLUTION: The bucket conveyor has: a pair of endless drive members (42); a plurality of buckets (58) successively arranged along a length direction of the endless drive members between the endless drive members; and connection means (60) for connecting the buckets to the pair of endless drive members respectively. The connection means (60) has pins (78) provided on the pair of endless drive member (42) at positions at both sides of the respective buckets and projected toward the buckets; and a pair of connection members (82) provided at both sides of the bucket and connecting the bucket between the endless drive members by being engaged with the pin. The connection member has a hole (84) engaged with the corresponding pin so as to be insertable therein, and the hole is engaged so as to be insertable and engaged with and disengaged from the corresponding pin by being displaced so as to approach or leave from the corresponding pin. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a bucket conveyor, and more particularly to a bucket conveyor suitable for conveying kneaded dough such as bread dough.

  In the bread manufacturing process, the dough is divided and rounded, fermented, degassed, panned through a series of processes such as panning, and then baked.

  A device called a proofer is used to promote the fermentation and stabilize the dough structure of the individual dough that has been divided and rounded. In this apparatus, the dough is placed on a conveyor and passed through a proofer room maintained at a constant temperature over a certain period of time.

  The dough conveyor provided in the proofer is generally configured to move a large number of elongate dough holding members between a pair of endless drive members and endless drive members such as an endless belt separated in parallel to each other. It is set to be parallel to each other so as to be perpendicular to the direction, and a plurality of baskets for mounting the fabric along the fabric holding member are attached.

For this reason, it is necessary to transfer the dough divided and rounded and conveyed in a line to the dough conveyor of the proofer. Generally, a bucket conveyor is provided so as to cross the dough conveyor, and the bread dough conveyed in a row is transferred to each bucket of the bucket conveyor, and a plurality of buckets to which the bread dough has been transferred is a dough conveyor. When the dough is aligned with the basket on the dough holding member, the dough is simultaneously discharged from the bucket to transfer the dough to the basket. (Patent Document 1)
JP 2006-204221 A

In the above-described bucket conveyor, the bucket is attached to the endless drive member by fitting a hole provided on the side surface of the bucket to a pin provided so as to protrude inward in the width direction of the bucket conveyor from the endless drive member. Yes. For this reason, when removing the bucket from the endless driving member, the endless chain is loosened, and the endless driving member of the portion of the bucket to be removed is lifted to remove the hole of the bucket from the pin. Therefore, the work takes time. In particular, when the bucket needs to be replaced due to damage to the bucket during operation, there arises a problem that the operation must be stopped for a long time.
In view of such a point, the present invention has an object to provide a bucket conveyor that facilitates attachment / detachment of a bucket to an endless drive member.

That is, the present invention
A pair of endless drive members, such as an endless chain and an endless belt, set in parallel to each other;
A plurality of buckets sequentially disposed along the length direction of the endless drive member between the endless drive members; and a coupling means for connecting the buckets to the pair of endless drive members,
The connecting means includes
Pins provided on the pair of endless drive members at positions on both sides of each bucket and projecting toward the bucket;
A pair of connecting members that are provided on both sides of the bucket and are engaged with the pins to connect the bucket between the pair of endless driving members, and pins corresponding to at least one of the connecting members are inserted. Having a hole to be engaged, and being displaced so as to approach or leave the corresponding pin, so that the hole is inserted into and disengaged from the corresponding pin. And a pair of connecting members.

  In this bucket conveyor, it is possible to remove the bucket from the endless drive member simply by displacing the connecting member in the width direction of the bucket. Compared to the conventional bucket conveyor described above, the operation of attaching and removing the bucket is extremely easy. become.

In particular,
A pair of the pins are provided at intervals in the length direction of the endless drive member,
A pair of the holes are provided corresponding to the pair of pins,
The at least one connecting member may be displaceable between an engagement position where the pair of holes are inserted and engaged with the pair of pins, and an engagement release position removed from the pins.

More specifically,
The at least one connecting member is fixed to a side surface of the bucket and extends toward an endless driving member corresponding to the one connecting member, and the at least one connecting member is connected to the engagement position and the engagement release position. A slide base member that is slidably supported between,
Spring means for biasing the at least one connecting member on the slide base member toward the engagement position may be provided.

The slide base member
A pair of slide rails provided at intervals in the length direction of the endless drive member, and slidably supporting the at least one connecting member;
A connecting portion for connecting the pair of slide rails,
The at least one connecting member has a guide shaft attached to the connecting member and extending toward the bucket at an intermediate position between the pair of slide rails, and the guide shaft is inserted into a shaft hole formed in the connecting portion. And can be biased by the spring means provided in the shaft hole.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a bucket conveyor according to the present invention is applied to a bread dough supply conveyor for supplying bread dough to a proofer will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show an example of a basic configuration of the proofer 10.
As illustrated, the proofer 10 includes a housing 14 having a proofer chamber 12 and an endless dough conveyor 16 that receives the dough and conveys the inside of the proofer chamber 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the endless dough conveyor 16 includes a pair of endless belts 18 that are set parallel to each other at a predetermined interval in the horizontal direction, a plurality of pulleys 22 on which the endless belt is hung, and an endless dough conveyor. 16, a plurality of dough holding members 24 that extend in a direction perpendicular to the dough conveying direction 16 and are connected to and supported by the endless belt 18 at both ends (only a part thereof is shown in the figure).

  As shown in FIG. 1, the housing 14 has a base portion 14-1 set on the floor F and a proofer portion 14-2 defining a proofer chamber 12. The endless dough conveyor 16 rises upward in the base portion 14-1 and extends horizontally in the proofer chamber 12 over a plurality of stages in the vertical direction (six stages in the illustrated example). At the lower position of the base portion 14-1, it is received by the basket 24 'provided on the dough holding member 24 of the endless conveyor, conveyed upward, passed through the proofer chamber 12, and discharged to the discharge chute 25. It is supposed to be. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the endless dough conveyor 16 has two pairs of pulleys 22 at the upper and lower positions at the left end of the horizontal running portion (as viewed in the figure). Drive coupled to the output shaft.

  FIG. 3 shows a bucket conveyor 40 according to the present invention for receiving the bread dough D subjected to the rounding process from the upstream conveyor 35 and supplying the bread dough D to the basket 24 ′ of the dough conveying member 24 passed through the proofer 10.

  The bucket conveyor 40 is a pair of endless belts 42 set in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval in the horizontal direction, and each of the endless belts 42 has a smooth inner surface 44 and an extension of the endless belt. A pair of endless belts 42 having outer peripheral surfaces with teeth 46 provided at a constant pitch in the direction, and a plurality of pairs of pulleys 48, 50, 52, 54 on which the pair of endless belts 42 are hung. The pulleys are arranged on the same axis and each have a plurality of pairs of pulleys 48, 50, 52, 54 having cylindrical peripheral surfaces 48 ′, 50 ′, 52 ′, 54 ′ that engage the inner peripheral surface of the endless belt 42. Between the endless belts 42 and the buckets 58 as article conveying members, which are sequentially arranged along the endless belts and supported by the endless belts, and teeth 46 on the outer peripheral surfaces of the pair of endless belts 42. And, a pair of drive gears 59 for transmitting the driving force to the endless belt.

  Specifically, a bucket 58 is provided between the pair of endless belts 42 as an article conveying member that is sequentially arranged along the length direction of the endless belt and supported by the pair of endless belts. . Each bucket is configured by a main bucket portion 58 ′ and a sub bucket portion 58 ″ that are opposed to each other through a small gap in the length direction of the endless belt 42 and that form a concave portion of the bucket that receives the bread dough D. . The sub bucket portion 58 ″ is connected to the endless belt 42 by connecting means 60 and 62, which will be described in detail later, provided on both sides of the sub bucket portion 58 ″, and the main bucket portion 58 ′ is pivoted to the sub bucket portion 58 ″. It is worn.

  The main bucket portion 58 ′ is also provided with a pin 78 on its side, and as seen in FIG. 3, the four buckets from the right end portion of the upper traveling portion of the bucket conveyor 42 to the vicinity of the central portion are the main bucket portion. A pin 78 of 58 'is supported on a rail different from the rail provided on the inner side of the endless belt 42. In this state, the main bucket portion 58' is in a lifted state as shown in FIG. A concave portion for receiving the bread dough D is formed together with the portion 58 ″. The four main bucket portions 58 ′ on the left side from the central portion of the bucket conveyor 42 are inclined obliquely downward, and the dough is placed on the chute 23 (for receiving the dough of the proofer 10 described above) at their lower position. D is discharged. The dough D is simultaneously discharged from the four buckets to the chute 23 so that the dough is supplied into each basket attached to the dough holding member 24 of the proofer 10. That is, the four buckets on the left side are simultaneously inclined downward. For this reason, the length of the rail supporting the pin 78 of the main bucket portion 58 ′ in the four buckets is 4. Of the two buckets, the rail that supports the pin 78 of the leftmost bucket is the longest, the rail that supports the pin 78 of the bucket on the right is shortened by one bucket, and the rail that supports the pins of the two right buckets Similarly, the length is sequentially shortened by the length of one bucket.

  In the illustrated example, there are four bread doughs D simultaneously discharged from the bucket conveyor 42, and eight baskets 24 'are provided in the dough conveying member 24 of the proofer, and bread dough is placed in every other basket. Is to be supplied. This is because a dough transfer chute 26 is provided at the same position as the chute 25 for discharging bread dough from the proofer 10 as shown in FIG. Bread dough that has been supplied to four baskets and has made a round around the proofer is discharged to the dough transfer chute 26, through which other dough conveying members preceding the dough conveying member of the basket are discharged. Thus, the dough is transferred to the basket of the dough conveying member that has not been discharged, and the dough conveying member that has been transferred allows bread dough to enter all eight baskets.

  The drive gear 59 is pressed against the corresponding pulley 50 via the endless belt 42, and transmits the rotational driving force from the motor (not shown) transmitted via the intermediate drive transmission gear 74 to the endless belt 42. It is like that. As shown in FIG. 4, the drive gear 59 is displaceable around the rotation shaft of the intermediate drive transmission gear 74, such as flour from the dough between the teeth 46 of the endless belt 42 and the teeth of the drive gear 59. Is accumulated around the shaft of the intermediate drive transmission gear 74 so as to move away from the pulley 50. A position sensor (not shown) for detecting the position of the gear is provided adjacent to the drive gear 59, and this is notified when it is detected that the drive gear 59 is separated from the pulley 50 by a predetermined distance. A signal is generated. This bucket conveyor is driven by receiving a rotational driving force from a motor (not shown) by the teeth of the endless belt 42 via a driving gear 59.

  The overall configuration of the bucket conveyor according to the present invention has been described above. However, the bucket conveyor according to the present invention has connecting means 60 and 62 that facilitate attachment / detachment of the bucket 58 to the endless belt as described below. It is characterized by.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 to 11, the connecting means 60, 62 are passed through a pair of adjacent teeth of the endless belt 42 at the position of the side surface of the secondary bucket 58 ″ of the basket 58 and directed toward the secondary bucket. A pair of protruding members 80 and 81 and a pair of connecting members 82 provided on both sides of the sub bucket 58 ″ and engaged with the pins 80 and 81 to connect the bucket 58 between the endless belts 42 (FIGS. 7 to 7). 9). Rotating rollers 66 and 68 are rotatably attached to the pins, and the rotating rollers roll on a rail 76 (FIG. 3) provided along the inner side of the endless belt 42 as the bucket moves. It is like that.

  The connecting member 82 has holes 84 and 86 into which the corresponding pins 80 and 81 are inserted and engaged, and is displaced so as to approach and separate from the pins 80 and 81, thereby the holes 84 and 86. Are inserted into and released from the pins 80 and 81. In the example shown in the drawing, the cross-sectional shape of the hole 86 is an ellipse, but this is to absorb the change between the cores when the endless belt is extended and when the endless belt is opened and closed.

  More specifically, the connecting means includes a slide base member 88 that is fixed to the side surface of the sub-bucket 58 ″ and supports the connecting member 82 in a slidable manner. The slide base member 88 includes a pair of slide rails 90 that are provided at intervals in the length direction of the endless belt and that support the connecting member 82 in a slidable manner, and a connecting portion 92 that connects the pair of slide rails. Have. The connecting portion 92 has a hole 96 that slidably receives a guide shaft 94 (FIGS. 9 to 11) provided in the connecting member 82. A compression coil spring 98 is provided in the hole 96 and biases the guide shaft 94 to bias the connecting member 82 toward the corresponding pins 80 and 82.

  The connecting means 60 and 62 are configured as described above. When the bucket 58 is attached to the endless belt 42, the connecting member 82 is displaced to the sub bucket 58 ″ side as shown in FIGS. Are inserted between the endless belts 42 so that the holes 84 and 86 of the connecting member 82 are aligned with the corresponding pins 80 and 81, and the connecting member 82 is displaced toward the corresponding endless belt by the compression coil spring 98. Then, the pin is inserted and engaged in the hole, and the state shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

  When the bucket 58 is removed from the endless belt, the connecting member 82 is displaced from the state shown in FIG. 5 to remove the holes 84 and 86 of the connecting member from the corresponding pins 80 and 81 as shown in FIG. The bucket 58 is lifted from between the endless belts 42 as shown in FIG.

  As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications such as an endless chain instead of an endless belt are possible.

It is a figure which shows an internal structure at the time of seeing the proofer by which bread dough is supplied with the bucket conveyor which concerns on this invention from the front. It is a perspective view which simplifies and shows the endless dough conveyor in the proofer of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the bucket conveyor which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the principal part of the bucket conveyor. It is a perspective view which shows the state in which the bucket is attached to the endless belt. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state when an operation for removing the bucket in the state of FIG. 5 from the endless belt is performed. It is a perspective view which shows the state which removed the bucket in the state of FIG. 5 from the endless belt. It is a perspective view of a bucket. It is a perspective view which shows the state which displaced the connection member attached to the bucket to the bucket side. It is sectional drawing which shows the outline | summary of a connection means when connecting the bucket to an endless belt. It is sectional drawing which shows the outline | summary of a connection means when attaching and removing a bucket to an endless belt.

Explanation of symbols

Proofer 10; Proofer chamber 12; Housing 14; Base 14-1; Proofer 14-2; Endless dough conveyor 16; Endless belt 18; Pulley 22; Dough holding member 24; Pulley 22; Chute 23; Replacement chute; Drive belt 32; Drive motor 34; Upstream conveyor 35; Bucket conveyor 40; Endless belt 42; Teeth 46; Pulleys 48, 50, 52, 54; Cylindrical peripheral surfaces 48 ', 50', 52 ', 54 ′; bucket 58; main bucket portion 58 ′; sub bucket portion 58 ″; drive gear 59; connecting means 60, 62; rotating rollers 66, 68, 70, 72; rail 76; Connecting member 82; holes 84, 86; slide base member 88; slide rail 90; connecting portion 92; guide shaft 94; Irubane 98; dough D

Claims (4)

A pair of endless drive members set parallel to each other;
A plurality of buckets sequentially disposed along the length direction of the endless drive member between the endless drive members; and a coupling means for connecting the buckets to the pair of endless drive members,
The connecting means includes
Pins provided on the pair of endless drive members at positions on both sides of each bucket and projecting toward the bucket;
A pair of connecting members that are provided on both sides of the bucket and are engaged with the pins, thereby connecting the bucket between the pair of endless driving members, and at least one of the connecting members has a corresponding pin. It has a hole to be inserted and engaged, and is displaced so as to move toward and away from the corresponding pin, so that the hole is inserted into and released from the corresponding pin. A bucket conveyor comprising a pair of connecting members. A pair of the pins are provided at intervals in the length direction of the endless drive member,
A pair of the holes are provided corresponding to the pair of pins,
2. The bucket according to claim 1, wherein the at least one connecting member is displaceable between an engagement position where the pair of holes are inserted and engaged with the pair of pins and an engagement release position removed from the pins. Conveyor. The at least one connecting member is fixed to a side surface of the bucket and extends toward an endless driving member corresponding to the one connecting member, and the at least one connecting member is moved to the engagement position and the disengagement position. A slide base member that is slidably supported between,
The bucket conveyor according to claim 2, further comprising spring means for biasing the at least one connecting member on the slide base member toward the engagement position. Slide base member
A pair of slide rails provided at intervals in the length direction of the endless drive member, and slidably supporting the at least one connecting member;
A connecting portion for connecting the pair of slide rails,
The at least one connecting member has a guide shaft attached to the connecting member at an intermediate position between the pair of slide rails and extending toward the bucket. The guide shaft is in a shaft hole formed in the connecting portion. The bucket conveyor according to claim 3, wherein the bucket conveyor is inserted and biased by the spring means provided in the shaft hole.

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