JP2010197156A - Semiautomatic combination balance - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiautomatic combination balance enabling an operator to deliver a weighing object without hardly moving his/her eyes. <P>SOLUTION: A semiautomatic combination balance 100 performs combinational weighing on a weighing object M directly delivered by an operator W. The semiautomatic combination balance 100 includes a plurality of hoppers 1 receiving the weighing object M from the operator W and a transparent display 11 enabling the operator W to actually see the plurality of hoppers 1. On the transparent display 11, information relating to an operation state is displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a combination weigher that generates a predetermined weight of objects by combining subdivided objects to be weighed, and more particularly to a semi-automatic combination weigher in which an operator supplies the objects to be weighed.

  The combination weigher can be divided into an automatic type, a manual type, and a semi-automatic type depending on the supply method and discharge method of the objects to be weighed. In the automatic combination weigher, both supply and discharge of an object to be weighed are automatically performed. In the manual combination weigher, both supply and discharge of the objects to be weighed are performed by an operator. A semi-automatic combination weigher has an intermediate function between an automatic combination weigher and a manual combination weigher. In the semi-automatic combination weigher, an object is supplied by an operator, and the object to be weighed is automatically discharged. A general semi-automatic combination weigher includes a plurality of hoppers, and an operator supplies an object to be weighed to an empty hopper. The technique in which an operator directly supplies an object to be weighed is effective when the object to be weighed has stickiness such as raw meat.

  In general, the combination calculation calculates the total weight of various combinations based on the weight values of the subdivided objects, and selects a combination close to the target weight. The accuracy of combination calculation (how much the error from the target weight is small) is improved. In other words, in a semi-automatic combination weigher, an operator can quickly find an empty hopper, supply an object to be weighed, shorten the time when the hopper is empty as much as possible, and increase the number of combinations to improve the combination accuracy. Can do. However, the semi-automatic combination weigher has a hopper disposed relatively above the main body of the semi-automatic combination weigher, and the depth of the hopper itself is so deep that it is difficult for the operator to see the objects to be weighed in the hopper. There are many. Therefore, it takes time to find an empty hopper, and in the worst case, an empty hopper may not be found.

  On the other hand, there has been proposed a technique in which the inclination of the side wall surface of the hopper is increased so that the operator can easily see the inside of the hopper (see, for example, Patent Document 1). There is a limit and it is not a fundamental solution. For this reason, the most common method is to display the empty hopper on the input display and to supply the object to be weighed while the operator confirms it. In this case, not only information on whether or not the hopper has been emptied, but also information on other operating conditions is often displayed, and the operator can supply the object to be weighed while checking the displayed content. Will do.

JP 2005-77117 A

  Usually, the input display for displaying the empty hopper is fixed near the right or left end of the semi-automatic combination weigher, so that the operator moves the line of sight alternately to both the display and the hopper. There is a problem that it is necessary to perform work, which causes a reduction in work efficiency and a work mistake.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semi-automatic combination weigher capable of supplying an object to be weighed without almost moving the line of sight of the operator. It is said.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and the semi-automatic combination weigher according to the present invention is a semi-automatic combination weigher for combining and weighing objects to be weighed directly supplied by an operator. A plurality of hoppers for receiving the objects to be weighed from the worker, and a transmissive display configured to allow the worker to visually recognize the plurality of hoppers. Is displayed. According to such a configuration, since information regarding the hopper and the driving situation can be viewed at the same time, the driving situation can be confirmed without an operator taking his eyes off the hopper.

  The “hopper” may be a supply hopper or a weighing hopper as long as it receives a workpiece from an operator. In a semi-automatic combination weigher having a general configuration, there is a semi-automatic combination weigher of a type in which an operator supplies an object to be supplied to a supply hopper but is not equipped with a supply hopper. This is because things are supplied to the weighing hopper.

  In the semi-automatic combination weigher, the transmissive display is an optically transmissive display that transmits light, and is disposed between the worker and the plurality of hoppers, and the worker has a predetermined It may be configured such that an operator can visually recognize the plurality of hoppers through the transparent display when standing in the work position and facing the plurality of hoppers. According to such a configuration, the operator can confirm the hopper more reliably.

  In the semi-automatic combination weigher, the transmissive display may be fixable to the operator's head so as to be positioned in front of the operator's eyes. According to this configuration, the operator can move the hand relatively freely.

  Further, in the semi-automatic combination weigher, the information on the operation status is information on each of the plurality of hoppers, and the information on each of the plurality of hoppers is the operator in the display area of the transmissive display. When the operator stands at a predetermined work position and faces the direction of the plurality of hoppers, the worker may be displayed at positions corresponding to the positions of the hopper visually recognized through the transparent display. Good. According to this configuration, for example, information related to the hopper is displayed so as to overlap with the actual hopper. Therefore, when work is required for the hopper, it is necessary to confirm the number of the hopper each time. The operator can respond quickly.

  In the semi-automatic combination weigher described above, information regarding each of the plurality of hoppers may be displayed by symbolic symbols. Note that the above “symbol symbol” does not convey the content by a character string, but conveys the content to the worker by a simple symbol or a specific color that is predetermined to represent a predetermined meaning, for example. Say the symbol. According to such a configuration, the operator can take an appropriate response immediately by looking at the symbol without looking at the characters.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a semi-automatic combination weigher capable of supplying an object to be weighed with almost no movement of the line of sight by an operator.

1 is a perspective view of a semi-automatic combination weigher according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view in the use condition of the semiautomatic combination weigher concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a display content of the transmissive display which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is another display content of the transmissive display which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view of the semiautomatic combination weigher concerning a 2nd embodiment of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, the semi-automatic combination weigher according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Below, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the element which is the same or it corresponds through all the drawings, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

(First embodiment)
First, with reference to FIG.1 and FIG.2, the structure of the semiautomatic combination weigher 100 which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a semi-automatic combination weigher 100 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a side view of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 according to this embodiment in use. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a semi-automatic combination weigher 100 includes a supply hopper 1, a supply hopper weighing device 2, a weighing hopper 3, a weighing hopper weighing device 4, a transport conveyor 5, and an input display. The unit 6 is mainly composed of a head mounted display device 7 and an arithmetic control unit 8. Hereafter, each structure is demonstrated in order. For convenience, the following description will be made using “front”, “back”, “right”, and “left”, but the front side of the input display unit 6 is “front”, and the opposite side is “back”. The right side from the near side toward the input display unit 6 is defined as “right”, and the opposite side is defined as “left”.

  The supply hopper 1 has a function of receiving an object M to be weighed in from an operator and supplying it to the weighing hopper 3. The supply hoppers 1 are arranged in a line in the left-right direction in the upper part of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100. In the present embodiment, nine supply hoppers 1 are arranged in a row. The supply hopper 1 has a gate 9 that opens and closes the bottom, and receives the object M to be weighed from the operator W with the gate 9 closed. The gate 9 can be opened to the near side or can be opened to the far side. The opening / closing of each gate 9 is controlled by the arithmetic control unit 8.

  The supply hopper weighing device 2 has a function of measuring the weight of the weighing object M held by the supply hopper 1. The supply hopper weighing device 2 includes a load cell, and an electric signal from the load cell is transmitted to the calculation control unit 8, and the calculation control unit 8 calculates the weight of the object M to be weighed. Whether or not the supply hopper 1 is empty is determined based on the calculation result. As described above, when there is an empty supply hopper 1, the operator W can immediately supply the object M to the supply hopper 1, thereby improving the accuracy of the combination calculation.

  The weighing hoppers 3 are arranged below the corresponding supply hoppers 1. The inside of the weighing hopper 3 is partitioned near the center and is divided into two rooms on the near side and the far side. In the present embodiment, since nine weighing hoppers 3 are installed corresponding to the number of supply hoppers 1, 18 rooms are provided as a whole. An object to be weighed M is supplied to the room on the front side of the weighing hopper 3 when the front side of the gate 9 of the supply hopper 1 is opened, and the room on the back side of the weighing hopper 3 is connected to the gate 9 of the supply hopper 3. The object to be weighed M is supplied when the back side is opened. The weighing hopper 3 has a gate 10 that opens and closes the bottom for each room, and when the gate 10 is opened, the conveyor M in which the objects to be weighed M held in each room are disposed below. 5 is discharged. The opening / closing of these gates 10 is controlled by the arithmetic control unit 8.

  The weighing hopper weighing device 4 has a function of measuring the weight of the weighing object M held by the weighing hopper 3. The weighing hopper weighing device 4 includes a load cell, an electric signal from the load cell is transmitted to the calculation control unit 8, and the calculation control unit 8 calculates the weight of the object M to be weighed. As described above, each weighing hopper 3 is provided with two chambers. However, the weights of the objects M to be weighed respectively held in the two chambers by one weighing hopper weighing device 4 are separately provided. Can be weighed. Specifically, since the objects to be weighed M are not supplied to both rooms at one time, if the weight of the object to be weighed M held in one room is measured and stored in advance, the other room By subtracting the weight of the object to be held M held in one room from the total weight when the object to be weighed M is supplied, the weight of the object M to be held in the other room can be obtained. it can. The combination calculation is performed based on the weight value measured by the weighing hopper weighing device 4 (maximum 18 weight values).

  The conveyor 5 is disposed below the weighing hopper 3 and has a function of conveying the object M to be weighed discharged from the weighing hopper 3 to a discharge position. In the present embodiment, the objects to be weighed M discharged to the upper surface of the transfer conveyor 5 are transferred from the right to the left toward the discharge position at the left end. Note that the objects to be weighed discharged from the discharge position of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 are transported to a packaging machine (not shown) and packaged.

  The input display unit 6 is an interface that connects the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 and the operator W, and can input the operating conditions of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100, the conditions of combination calculation, and the like, and displays the measurement results and the like It has a function to do. Information input from the input display unit 6 is transmitted to the calculation control unit 8 and used for combination calculation and the like. Further, a signal related to display content is transmitted from the arithmetic control unit 8 to the input display unit 6, and the input display unit 6 displays predetermined content based on this signal. Note that the input display unit 6 according to the present embodiment employs a touch panel.

  The head-mounted display device 7 has a shape like, for example, glasses, and includes a transmissive display 11 disposed at a position corresponding to the lens portion of the glasses, and an ear locking portion ( (Hereinafter simply referred to as “locking portion”) 16. The locking portion 16 is configured such that the transmissive display 11 is positioned in front of both eyes of the worker W when the head mounted display device 7 is attached to the worker W. In other words, the transmissive display 11 is disposed between the supply hopper 1 and the worker W. The transmissive display 11 is a so-called optical transmissive display that transmits light, and includes a half mirror 12 and a projection device 13, and information on the driving situation is projected onto the half mirror 12 by the projection device 13. The

  The projection position of the information related to the driving situation on the half mirror 12 may be within the field of view of the worker W when the head mounted display device 7 is attached to the worker W. However, it is desirable to be within the central visual field. This is because the worker W can visually recognize the information regarding the driving situation with a natural line of sight. Specifically, when the head mounted display device 7 is attached by the operator W, the locking portion 16 is configured so that the center of the display area of the head mounted display device 7 is positioned at the center of the visual field of the operator W. Has been. Thereby, the operator W wearing the head mounted display device 7 confirms the supply hopper 1 through the transmissive display 11 (strictly, the half mirror 12), and also includes information on the driving status displayed on the transmissive display 11. Can be confirmed. The contents displayed on the transparent display 11 will be described later.

  The head mounted display device 7 may be provided with headphones, and a warning sound may be generated from the headphones. Further, in the present embodiment, the binocular type in which the two transmissive displays 11 are arranged corresponding to both the left and right eyes may be a monocular type in which one transmissive display is arranged corresponding to one eye. By enabling the transmissive display 11 to be fixed to the head of the worker W as in the present embodiment, the worker W can move the hand relatively freely, and the transmissive display 11 is small in manufacturing cost. Can be suppressed.

  The arithmetic control unit 8 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU and a memory, and has a function of controlling the entire semi-automatic combination weigher 100 and performing a combination calculation. The arithmetic control unit 8 also has a function of causing the transmissive display 11 to display information regarding the driving situation. Note that the arithmetic control unit 8 may be composed of a single arithmetic control device, or may be composed of a plurality of control devices cooperating in a distributed manner. The above is the schematic configuration of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 according to the present embodiment.

  Next, the display content of the transmissive display 11 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 shows the display content of the transmissive display 11 that is visible to the operator W when the operator W wears the head-mounted display device 7. On the transmissive display 11, information related to the driving situation, particularly information related to the supply hopper 1 is displayed. Specifically, hopper position information, empty information, supply prohibition information, and individual weight information are displayed. As described above, the content displayed on the transmissive display 11 is controlled by the arithmetic control unit 8. Hereinafter, the display contents of each information will be described in order.

  The hopper position information is information indicating the position of the supply hopper 1. As shown in FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the hopper position information is represented by a square frame 14. This square frame 14 is always displayed while the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 is performing the weighing operation. The square frames 14 are arranged in a line and correspond to the actual supply hopper 1. For example, when the worker W wears the head mounted display device 7 and stands at a predetermined work position, when the worker views the supply hopper 1 through the transmissive display 11, the square frame 14 and each supply hopper 1 are Looks like they overlap. When the standing position of the worker W changes frequently, the standing position and the head angle of the worker W are detected, and the actual supply hopper 1 and the square frame 14 overlap according to the detection result. In this way, the display position of the square frame 14 may be changed every moment.

  The empty information is information indicating that the supply hopper 1 is empty. In the present embodiment, the sky information is expressed by changing the color inside the rectangular frame 14. For example, when the third supply hopper 1 from the right becomes empty, the interior of the third rectangular frame 14 corresponding to the empty supply hopper 1 changes from colorless to red. However, instead of changing the inside of the square frame 14, the color of the square frame 14 itself may be changed, or another method may be used. In short, it is sufficient that the square frame 14 corresponding to the empty supply hopper 1 can be easily recognized by the operator W using a symbolic symbol. The arithmetic control unit 8 can determine whether or not the supply hopper 1 is empty based on a signal from the supply hopper weighing device 2.

  Here, unlike the present embodiment, when only empty information is displayed on the display for input display (for example, the input display unit 6), the number of the square frame discolored on the display is counted. After that, it is necessary to move the line of sight to the supply hopper 1 and count and search for the supply hopper 1 corresponding to the square frame 14, which may cause an error due to miscounting. However, when empty information is expressed so as to overlap with the actual supply hopper 1 as in this embodiment (correspondingly), it is necessary to count the number of empty supply hoppers 1. Since the empty supply hopper 1 is apparent at a glance, it is possible to prevent mistakes due to miscounting. Since such mistakes are more likely to occur as the number of supply hoppers 1 increases, the configuration of the present embodiment is particularly effective for a semi-automatic combination weigher having a large number of supply hoppers, such as when the supply hoppers 1 are arranged in a plurality of rows. It is.

  The supply prohibition information is information indicating that a situation in which the supply of the weighing object M to the supply hopper 1 is prohibited has occurred. The situation where the supply of the object to be weighed M to the supply hopper 1 is prohibited is when the supply hopper 1 is bitten or when the corresponding supply hopper weighing device 2 is broken. In the present embodiment, the supply prohibition information is represented by an “X” mark. For example, when the first supply hopper 1 from the right is in a supply-prohibited state, an “X” mark is displayed so as to overlap the first square frame 14 corresponding to the supply hopper 1 from which supply is prohibited. . Note that the biting detection method is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-281033 and the like, and the description thereof is omitted here.

  The individual weight information is information related to the weight of the weighing object M held by each supply hopper 1. In general, the weight of the object M held by the supply hopper 1 is preferably about one quarter of the target weight. If the weight is extremely larger than this, it is efficient to remove a part of the object M to be weighed. The combination calculation can be performed well. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the individual weight information is expressed using a bar graph, and the operator W is urged to remove a part of the object to be weighed M if necessary. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the weight of the weighing object M held by each supply hopper 1 is displayed in a bar graph above each square frame 14. The weight displayed in the bar graph is the weight of the object M to be held by the supply hopper 1 corresponding to each square frame 14. In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, a broken line is displayed at a position of a quarter of the target weight that is considered appropriate, and a graph is displayed when the object to be weighed M is half or more of the target weight. It is more effective to change the color of.

  As described above, according to the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 according to the present embodiment, the portion of the display range of the transmissive display 11 is supplied to the portion corresponding to the actual supply hopper 1 that the operator W can see through the transmissive display 11. Since information about the hopper 1 is displayed for each supply hopper 1, the worker W can continue working without moving his line of sight. Therefore, the work efficiency of the weighing work by the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 and the accuracy of the combination calculation can be improved.

  The display contents of the transmissive display 11 according to the present embodiment have been described above. However, these are merely examples, and the transmissive display 11 includes other information in addition to or in addition to the above information. You may display the information regarding the driving | operation condition of. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the display content of the transparent display 11 according to the present embodiment, which is different from that shown in FIG. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, basic information, input amount information, and emergency information may be displayed. This information will be briefly described below.

  The basic information is basic information in the weighing work. The basic information includes combination weight, result determination, and operation speed. The combination weight is information on the total weight of the objects to be weighed M selected by the combination calculation, and a value such as “2002.5 g” is displayed. In the result determination, when the above combination weight is appropriate (when the difference from the target weight is within a predetermined range), the characters “appropriate amount” are displayed. Further, the operation speed is information on the operation speed of the semi-automatic combination weigher 100, and a value such as “20.5 p / m” is displayed. In this example, it indicates that a product of 20.5 packages per minute is produced (20.5 combination operations are performed per minute).

  The input amount information is information for prompting an appropriate supply of the weighing object M. The input amount information includes the number of selected hoppers and a guidance display. The number of selected hoppers is an average value of the number of weighing hoppers 3 (number of rooms) selected by one combination operation, and a value such as “3.0” is displayed, for example. Depending on the number of hoppers that the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 has, there is an ideal number of hoppers selected in one combination operation, and the operator W can measure the object so as to approach the ideal number of hoppers. Adjust the supply amount of M. If the ideal number of hoppers is 4 to 5, and if the number of selected hoppers is 3.0 or less, the operator W determines the input amount of the object M to be supplied to each supply hopper 1. It is necessary to reduce the number of selected hoppers. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the characters “Please input a small amount of objects to be weighed” are displayed on the transmissive display 11 as a guidance display. On the other hand, if the number of selected hoppers is 6.0 or more under the same conditions, the operator W needs to increase the input amount of the object M to be supplied to each supply hopper 1 and reduce the number of selected hoppers. In this case, on the transmissive display 11, characters “Please insert more objects to be weighed” are displayed as a guidance display.

  The emergency information is information that needs to be notified to the worker W including the emergency information. For example, as shown in Fig. 4, if there is a problem with the downstream packaging machine, the words "I have not received the discharge signal from the packaging machine. Please check the packaging machine." When you do this, text information such as “Thank you for your hard work. As described above, various information regarding the driving situation displayed on the transmissive display can be considered. The above is the display content of the transmissive display 11 according to the present embodiment.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a semi-automatic combination weigher 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 according to this embodiment has the transmissive display 11 fixed to the head mounted display device 7 in that the transmissive display 11 is directly fixed to the main body of the semi-automatic combination weigher 200. The configuration is different from the semi-automatic combination weigher 100 according to the first embodiment. The other points are basically the same configuration.

  Similar to the transmissive display 11 according to the first embodiment, the transmissive display 11 according to the present embodiment includes the half mirror 12 and the projection device 13, and the displayed contents are the same. That is, on the transmissive display 11, information related to the supply hopper 1 is displayed in a portion corresponding to the actual supply hopper 1 that the operator W can see through the transmissive display 11 (through the transparent display 11).

  Note that the transmissive display 11 according to the present embodiment is fixed so as to be positioned in the vicinity of the face of the operator W on the near side of the main body of the semi-automatic combination weigher 200. That is, the transmissive display 11 is disposed between the supply hopper 1 and the worker W. The transmissive display 11 is fixed by a fixture 15. The fixture 15 has position adjusting means, and can change the position of the transmissive display 11 up, down, left, and right in accordance with the height and standing position of the operator W. 5 shows a case where the transmissive display 11 has a flat plate shape, but the transmissive display 11 may be formed in a curved shape that protrudes toward the supply hopper 1 so that the operator W can easily see. . Note that a large space is provided between the transmissive display 11 and the main body of the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 so that the work of the operator W is not affected. The above is the description of the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 according to the present embodiment.

  Even in the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 according to the present embodiment as described above, the portion of the display area of the transmissive display 11 corresponding to the actual supply hopper 1 through which the operator W can see through the transmissive display 11, Since the information regarding the supply hopper 1 is displayed, the worker W can continue the work without moving the line of sight almost. Therefore, the work efficiency of the weighing work by the semi-automatic combination weigher 200 and the accuracy of the combination calculation can be improved.

  The first embodiment and the second embodiment according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the scope of the present invention is not deviated. Any change in design is included in the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, a so-called optical transmission type display that transmits light is used as the transmission type display 11, but a video transmission type display may be used instead. In the case of a video transmission type display, it is composed of a normal display unit such as a liquid crystal display and a video camera, and the video of the hand of the supply hopper 1 and the worker W taken by the video camera and information on the driving situation are superimposed on the display unit indicate.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a semi-automatic combination weigher capable of supplying an object to be weighed with almost no movement of the line of sight by an operator. Therefore, it is useful in the technical field of semi-automatic combination weighers.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply hopper 7 Head mounted display apparatus 8 Computation control part 11 Transmission display 100 Semi-automatic combination scale 200 Semi-automatic combination scale W Worker M Object to be weighed

Claims (5)

  A semi-automatic combination weigher that combines and weighs the objects to be weighed directly supplied by an operator, and a plurality of hoppers that receive the objects to be weighed from the operator, and the operator can visually recognize the plurality of actual hoppers. A semi-automatic combination weigher comprising: a transmissive display configured as described above, wherein information relating to an operation state is displayed on the transmissive display.   The transmissive display is an optically transmissive display that transmits light, and is disposed between the worker and the plurality of hoppers, and the worker stands at a predetermined work position and the plurality of hoppers. The semi-automatic combination weigher according to claim 1, configured so that an operator can visually recognize the plurality of hoppers through the transparent display when facing the direction.   The semi-automatic combination weigher according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the transmissive display is fixable to the operator's head so as to be positioned in front of the operator's eyes.   The information related to the driving situation is information related to each of the plurality of hoppers, and the information related to each of the plurality of hoppers is the plurality of pieces of information that the operator stands in a predetermined work position in the display area of the transmissive display. The hopper is configured to be displayed at a position corresponding to each position of the hopper visually recognized through the transmissive display when facing the direction of the hopper. The semi-automatic combination weigher according to one item.   The semi-automatic combination weigher according to claim 4, wherein information on each of the plurality of hoppers is displayed by symbolic symbols.

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