JP2011173122A - Fruit/vegetable placing body for automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus, and automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To optically measure sugar content of fruit and vegetable during conveyance thereof. <P>SOLUTION: In the automated fruit/vegetable sorting apparatus, fruit/vegetable is placed and conveyed on a conveyor belt of a large number of fruit/vegetable placing bodies installed on an endless conveyor, and is measured and discriminated for grade, class, etc., during the conveyance, and the fruit/vegetable on the placing bodies are then sorted on the basis of discrimination signals and delivered sideways in the conveyance direction. A conveyor belt freely rotatable in a reciprocating manner is installed on the fruit/vegetable placing bodies, with a receiving part provided for placing fruit/vegetable on the conveyor belt. A light transmitting hole is opened in the receiving part, so that a sugar content measuring beam can go through the fruit/vegetable placed on the receiving part and the light transmitting hole. On the back of the conveyor belt, a plate material is installed that receives the load of the fruit/vegetable placed on the receiving part, wherein the light transmitting hole is also opened in the plate material, making the sugar content measuring beam also go through the light transmitting hole of the plate material. In the receiving part of the conveyor belt, there are installed a receiving member that can hold the fruit/vegetable, and a hole communicating with the light transmitting hole is provided in the receiving member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a fruit vegetable mounting body for an automatic sorting device, a fruit vegetable automatic sorting device, and a fruit vegetable automatic sorting method for sorting various fruit vegetables according to standards (equal class) such as size, shape, sugar content, etc. It is suitable for sorting fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes, peaches, pears, melons, and rice cakes.

There have been various devices for sorting fruit vegetables such as tomatoes.
FIG. 6 shows an example, in which a large number of trays 2 are connected to an endless transport belt (chain) 1, and each tray 2 is tiltable in a lateral direction in the transport direction. The tomato 3 is hand-mounted and transported with the saucer 2 facing up, the weight and shape are measured to determine the equal class, and the saucer 2 at the fruit vegetable acceptor (belt conveyor or table) 4 to be discharged. , And the tomato 3 on it is tumbled onto the fruit vegetable acceptor 4 on the side of the conveying line and discharged.

  As another example, there is a method in which fruit vegetables are transported on a tray-like tray that is transported for free, the equal classes are discriminated, and the trays are sorted for each tray according to the equal classes.

  In the sorting device of FIG. 6, since the tomato 3 falls down and is discharged to the fruit vegetable acceptor 4, the tomato 3 rolls and its surface is damaged, or it rolls momentarily and hits another tomato 3 to hurt each other. . In the case of tomato 3, since it is often shipped before ripening, the problem of pain has not been greatly raised up to now, but pain may occur when selecting ripe tomatoes or depending on the variety. Also, it cannot be used for sorting peaches etc. that are expected to be automatically sorted.

  The free tray sorting device can sort while tomatoes are placed on the trays, so there is no pain, but the number of trays that sort tomatoes by tray, pool them in each sorting area, and stay in each sorting area However, if a large amount of surplus trays are not pooled, empty trays cannot be supplied in time, and a pool line for this purpose is required. However, when a large pool line is provided, there is a problem that the installation area of the facility becomes large. Also, the tray transport line is not long, and troubles are likely to occur in the line. In addition, the juice flowing out of the damaged tomato adheres to the tray or line, causing trouble or trouble.

The fruit vegetable loading body for the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention carries the fruit vegetables on a large number of fruit vegetable loading bodies attached to the endless conveyance body, and measures the fruit vegetables during the conveyance to determine the equal class, etc. In the fruit vegetable mounting body of the automatic fruit vegetable sorting device that sorts the fruit vegetables on the fruit vegetable mounting body based on the discrimination signal and sends them to the side in the transport direction, the fruit vegetable mounting body has a transport belt that can be rotated in a reciprocating manner. A receiving part is provided, and a light transmitting hole is penetrated through the receiving part. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorter for fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, a plate material that receives the load of the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving portion of the conveyor belt is provided on the back side of the conveyor belt, and the light transmitting hole that communicates with the light transmitting hole of the receiving portion on the plate material Can also be penetrated. The receiving part may be a receiving member that can support fruit vegetables. The receiving member may be provided with both or both of flexibility and elasticity. It is also possible to provide a partitioning member that can support the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part from the rear side above the conveying belt and behind the receiving part.

The fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention transports fruit vegetables on a large number of fruit vegetables mounted on an endless transport body, and measures the fruit vegetables during transport to determine the equal class, etc. In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device that sorts the above fruits and vegetables based on the determination result and sends them to the side in the transport direction, the fruit and vegetable picking body is a fruit and vegetable picking body for the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device, and the fruit and vegetable picking body includes the receiving portion. Arranged in a row or almost in a row in the direction of fruit and vegetables and attached to an endless transport body, the fruit and vegetables mounting body is moved by the endless transport body and transports the fruit and vegetables on the receiving part, and the transport belt is identified during the transport of the fruit and vegetables Based on the signal, it rotates forward in the conveying direction to send the fruit vegetables to the conveying direction side, and during movement after the feeding, the receiving parts of the large number of fruit vegetables are aligned in a line or substantially in the conveying direction. In the opposite direction to the forward rotation Ri is intended to rotation. Measurement light from a transmission type sugar content sensor that measures the sugar content of fruit vegetables passes through the through holes in the fruit and vegetables and the receiving part placed on the receiving part, or through the through holes in the fruit and vegetables and the receiving part and the plate material. Thus, the sugar content can be measured. A plurality of fruit vegetable acceptors may be arranged on the side of the conveyance line at intervals in the fruit vegetable conveyance direction, and the fruit vegetables delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier may be pooled in the fruit vegetable acceptor. Each of the fruit vegetable acceptors can be rotated each time the fruit vegetables are delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier so that the fruit vegetables delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier can be pooled.

The method for automatically selecting fruit vegetables according to the present invention transports fruit vegetables on a large number of fruit vegetables mounted on an endless transport body, and measures the fruit vegetables during transport to determine the equal class, etc. In the automatic fruit vegetable sorting method that distributes the upper fruit vegetables based on the discrimination signal and sends them to the side in the conveying direction, the fruit vegetables are placed on the receiving part of the conveyor belt that can be reciprocally rotated on the fruit vegetable carrier, and the fruit vegetables are moved by the endless conveyor The fruit vegetables are conveyed, and during the conveyance, the measurement light from the transmission type sugar content sensor is applied to the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part and the through hole opened in the receiving part in the conveying belt, or the fruit vegetables. The sugar content of the fruit vegetable is measured by passing through the through hole of the conveyor belt and the plate material on the back of the conveyor belt, the fruit vegetable is determined based on the determination signal, and sent to the side of the fruit vegetable conveyance direction. is there. By transporting the receiving parts of the respective fruit vegetables in a line or substantially in a line in the conveying direction, the fruit vegetables placed in the receiving part are conveyed in a line or in a line in the conveying direction, and the sugar content of the fruit vegetables during the conveyance Is measured to discriminate the equal class, etc., and the conveyor belt is rotated forward based on the determination signal during the transport of the fruit vegetables to send the fruit vegetables to the side of the fruit vegetable transport direction, and the forward rotation during the movement after the delivery It is also possible to return and rotate the conveyed belt to return the receiving portion to the original position, and to arrange the receiving portions of the large number of fruit vegetables on the conveying direction. It is also possible to pool the fruit vegetables sent out from the fruit and vegetable body according to the determination result into two or more fruit and vegetable acceptors arranged at intervals in the fruit conveyance direction side. It is also possible to intermittently move the fruit and vegetable acceptor when the fruit and vegetables are delivered from the fruit and vegetable body, and to pool the fruit and vegetables delivered from the fruit and vegetable body on the fruit and vegetable acceptor.

According to the present onset bright, fruit vegetables underwriting body conveying line aside fruit vegetables 3 is allowed to proceed in the lateral direction perpendicular to the conveying belt 12 to support the fruit vegetables 3 on the conveying belt 12 to the traveling direction of the fruit vegetables loaded body 2 ( sent to the pool belt conveyor) 4, moreover sets the upper surface of the pool belt conveyor 4 in the same or slightly lower and the conveyor belt 12 the upper surface, fruit vegetable discharge end of the conveyor belt 12 the ends of the pool belt conveyor 4 The transfer of the fruit and vegetables 3 from the fruit and vegetable carrier 2 to the pool belt conveyor 4 becomes a parallel movement, and it falls and hurts at the time of the change, or it rolls and collides with other fruit and vegetables 3. In addition, it is possible to provide an automatic fruit vegetable sorting apparatus that generates very little pain.

According to the present onset bright, fruit vegetables loaded member 2, a frame 10 coupled to the endless conveyor belt 1, rotatable rotating rollers 11a mounted on the left and right two positions of the frame 10, and 11b, these rotating rollers 11a , 11b, and a drive pin 14 projecting downward on the lower belt of the conveyor belt 12, and the pin 14 is provided on the lower side of the fruit vegetable mounting body 2. The conveyor belt 12 can be driven to reciprocate by sliding in the left and right directions perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the fruit and vegetable carrier 2 by the guide rail 20 thus formed, so that the conveyance belt 12 of the fruit and vegetable carrier 2 is utilized by the force of the endless conveyance belt 1. In addition, the amount of movement of the conveyor belt 12 can be easily and accurately set by the length and inclination of the guide rail 20.

According to the present onset bright, the surface of the conveyor belt 12, the support, flexible receiving lower part of the fruit vegetables 3, since the receiving member 13 of elastic material is attached, easily place the fruit vegetables 3, also during transport There is no shaking or rolling.

It is the top view which showed embodiment of the fruit vegetable automatic selection apparatus of this invention, and shows a supply part, a measurement part, and a fruit vegetable accepting body partially. (A) is a top view of a fruit vegetable mounting body , (b) is BB sectional drawing of (a), (c) is AA sectional drawing of (a). The whole top view of the fruit vegetable automatic sorter of the present invention. It is a 2nd example of the receiving member in a fruit vegetable mounting body , (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing. It is a 3rd example of the receiving member in a fruit vegetable mounting body , (a) is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing. The partial top view of the conventional fruit vegetable automatic selection apparatus.

FIG. 1 is a plan view partially showing an embodiment of an automatic fruit vegetable sorting apparatus of the present invention, which is an example of sorting tomatoes. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes a chain (endless transport belt) that is advanced in the direction of arrow a by a driving mechanism (not shown), and two chains are provided in parallel. Reference numeral 2 in FIG. 1 denotes a fruit and vegetable carrying body on which the tomato 3 is placed and conveyed, and is connected to the chain 1 in a line at equal intervals, and proceeds in the direction of arrow a in the figure. In FIG. 1, a part A of the tomato supply unit for placing the tomatoes 3 on the fruit and vegetables mounting body 2 which is the front side portion in the transport direction, and a measuring device such as a camera for measuring the equal class of the tomatoes 3 are installed. Only one of the measuring section B and the pool belt conveyor (fruit and vegetable acceptor) 4 for sorting the tomatoes 3 into equal classes is shown. As shown in FIG. 3, the overall structure is wide so that the tomato 3 can be placed on the fruit vegetables 2 with several hands, and the belt conveyor 4 for the pool is also spaced at a predetermined interval. Many of them are provided, and the entire apparatus is very long.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (c), the fruit and vegetable mounting body 2 of FIG. 1 has a frame 10 that is attached so as to straddle two chains 1, and both ends of the frame 10 in the width direction. Rotating rollers 11a and 11b are rotatably attached to the rotating rollers 11a and 11b, and a stainless steel conveyor belt 12 is wound around the rotating rollers 11a and 11b. A receiving portion for placing the tomato 3 is placed on the surface of the belt located on the upper portion of the conveying belt 12, and a receiving member 13 having a saucer shape is attached thereto. The receiving member 13 is made of a flexible elastic material, and bends without resistance together with the conveyor belt 12 when the rotating roller 11a is bent. The receiving member 13 has a diameter of about 10 cm so that a large tomato 3 can be placed without difficulty. Moreover, since there is elasticity, the tomato 3 that is placed does not hurt, and vibration during transportation is also absorbed, so it does not hurt. On the other hand, a rubber partition member 17 is attached to the upper portion of the conveyor belt 12. Further, a plate member 16 is disposed on the back of the upper conveyor belt 12 so as to be fixed to the frame 10 so that the load of the tomato 3 on the conveyor belt 12 can be received by the plate member 16. In addition, when a heavy load is applied, a rotatable free roller may be spread over this portion.

A driving pin 14 provided for rotationally driving the conveyor belt 12 projects downwardly from the belt located at the lower portion of the conveyor belt 12. The drive pin 14 passes through a slit-like long hole 15 elongated in the width direction of the frame 10 and protrudes to the lower side of the frame 10. The lower end of the drive pin 14 is connected to each oblique guide rail 20 provided on the lower side of the travel line of the fruit and vegetable picking body 2 provided with the fruit and vegetable accepting body 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and FIG. As shown in c), the contact is possible, and it is possible to move along the guide rail 20.

As shown in FIG. 2 (a), a switching pin that is rotated by a device such as a solenoid or an air cylinder and can be switched at high speed between state A and state B is provided at the tip of each oblique guide rail 20 in FIGS. 21 is provided, and when in the state D, the drive pin 14 goes straight without contacting the oblique guide rail 20, and when in the state C, the drive pin 14 contacts the switching pin 21 and passes through the same pin 21 to form the oblique guide rail. The drive pin 14 is slid laterally in the conveyance direction by the oblique guide rail 20 to rotate the conveyance belt 12. The sliding amount of the drive pin 14 by the oblique guide rail 20 is about 12 cm, so that the tomato 3 on the conveyor belt 12 can be reliably discharged from the end on the rotating roller 11 a side by rotating the conveyor belt 12 about 12 cm. It is. This oblique guide rail 20 starts from a position slightly on the front side of each pool belt conveyor 4 and ends at about the center in the width direction of the receiving body 4. The tomato 3 can be transferred to the pool belt conveyor 4 at the position just in the center of the width of the pool belt conveyor 4. Further, the end of the pool belt conveyor 4 provided to face the conveyor belt 12 is an edge type (those having a small roller diameter) so that the transfer of the fruit and vegetables mounting body 2 from the conveyor belt 12 to the pool belt conveyor 4 is performed smoothly. ) So that the valley between the conveyors is small, and the pool belt conveyor 4 is lowered from the upper surface of the conveyor belt 12 of the fruit and vegetables mounting body 2 by about 2 to 3 mm. The belt conveyor 4 for the pool is configured so that the belt is advanced by about 10 cm each time the tomato 3 is sent out from the fruit and vegetable carrier 2, and the tomato 3 that is sent out is drawn to the own side so that the tomato 3 is smooth. The tomatoes 3 can be efficiently pooled because they do not rotate when the tomatoes 3 do not come.

Note that the switching operation of the switching pin 21 in FIG. 2 is controlled based on the discrimination signal generated by the measuring unit B in FIGS. 1 and 3. For example, the equal class of the tomato 3 is AM. When it is determined, the switching pin 21 provided at the pool belt conveyor 4 that accepts the AM tomato 3 operates to deliver the tomato 3 to the pool belt conveyor 4 for pooling the AM. It has become. 1, 2, and 3 show only the oblique guide rail 20 that moves the conveyor belt 12 of the fruit and vegetables mounting body 2 in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 2A, the apparatus of the present invention has an arrow. A reversely inclined guide rail is also provided to return the conveyor belt 12 advanced in the direction b to the original position.

(Other embodiments)
As shown in FIG. 4, a round hole 31 having a diameter of about 2 or 3 cm is opened on the belt surface of the upper portion of the conveyor belt 12 in FIG. The round hole 30 can be opened so that a series of round holes 30 and 31 can be formed at the center of the portion where the tomato 3 is placed. The round holes 30 and 31 also have a role of discharging the liquid oozed out from the tomato 3 downward. However, when performing discrimination of equal classes using a transmission-type sugar content sensor, a downward projection is performed from directly above the tomato 3. The sugar content can be effectively detected by observing the transmitted light of the light through the round hole with the light receiving element. In addition, by providing a series of round holes 30 and 31, the lower part of the tomato 3 can be sunk further downward. Therefore, the thickness of the receiving member 13 itself is reduced, and the flexibility of the receiving member 13 is reduced. Can increase the sex.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the receiving member 13 provided on the conveying belt 12 in FIG. 2 forms a large number of lateral grooves 32 in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the conveying belt, whereby the receiving member 13 rotates the rotating roller 11a. The flexibility at the time can also be improved.

  In the case of carrying and sorting such as melon and small ball watermelon, the size of the receiving member 13 can be increased and the thickness can be increased by using a combination of the round holes 30 and 31 in FIG. 4 and the lateral groove 32 in FIG. Flexibility can also be improved.

  As the conveyor belt 12 in FIG. 2, a general cloth belt can be used in addition to a stainless steel belt. As a special example, Caterpillar (registered trademark) formed by connecting a large number of strip-shaped resin members. A structure having the following structure can be used. In the latter case, the receiving member 13 is not provided as a separate member on the surface of the belt, and a tray-shaped receiving portion can be provided by providing irregularities on the surface portion of the strip-shaped resin member itself.

  Further, in the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention, instead of adopting a general belt conveyor as the fruit vegetable accepting body 4, the fruit and vegetable feeding mechanism described in "Fruit and vegetable feeding mechanism in the fruit and vegetable sorting apparatus of JP-A-2001-130741" is used. When used, the tomatoes 3 sorted more efficiently can be pooled, and the fruit selection efficiency can be improved.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Endless conveyance zone 2 Fruit and vegetables mounting body 3 Fruit and vegetables 4 Fruit and vegetable receiving body 10 Frame 11 Rotating roller 12 Conveying belt 13 Receiving member 14 Drive pin

Claims (13)

The fruits and vegetables are placed on a number of fruits and vegetables mounted on the endless transporter and transported. The fruits and vegetables are measured during transport to discriminate the equal class, etc. In the fruit and vegetable pick-up body of the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device that sorts and sends it to the side in the conveyance direction,
The fruit and vegetable pick-up body is provided with a transport belt that is reciprocally rotatable, a receiving portion for placing the fruit and vegetables on the transport belt is provided, and a light transmission hole is penetrated through the receiving portion. 2. A fruit and vegetable picking body for an automatic fruit vegetable sorting device according to claim 1, wherein a plate material receiving the load of the fruit and vegetables placed on the receiving portion of the conveying belt is provided on the back side of the conveying belt, and the plate material communicates with the light transmission hole of the receiving portion. A fruit and vegetable pick-up body for a fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device, characterized in that a light transmitting hole is inserted therethrough. 3. The fruit vegetable mount for fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the receiving part is a receiving member capable of supporting the fruit vegetables. 4. The fruit vegetable mounting body for fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the receiving member is provided with both or either of flexibility and elasticity. 5. The fruit vegetable mounting body for an automatic fruit vegetable sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving portion are supported from the rear above the conveying belt and behind the receiving portion. 1. A fruit and vegetable vegetable mounting body for a fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device, characterized in that a partition member capable of being formed is provided. The fruits and vegetables are placed on a number of fruits and vegetables mounted on the endless transporter and transported. The fruits and vegetables are measured during transport to determine the equal class, etc. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device that sorts and sends it to the side in the conveyance direction,
The fruit vegetable carrier is the fruit vegetable carrier for the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The fruits and vegetables mounting body is arranged in a row or substantially in a row in the fruit-carrying transport direction, and is attached to a large number of endless transport bodies,
The fruit and vegetables mounting body is moved by an endless transport body to transport the fruit vegetables on the receiving portion, and the transport belt moves forward in the transport direction side based on the determination signal during the transport of the fruit vegetables to transport the fruit vegetables in the transport direction side. The fruit automatic is characterized in that during the movement after feeding, the receiving parts of the plurality of fruit vegetables are rotated back in the direction opposite to the forward rotation so that the receiving parts are arranged in a line or substantially in the conveying direction. Sorting device. 7. The fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the measurement light from the transmission sugar content sensor for measuring the sugar content of the fruit vegetables is the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part and the through hole of the receiving part, or the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part and the receiving part. A fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized in that sugar content can be measured through a through hole in a plate and a through hole in a plate material. The automatic vegetable vegetable sorting apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a plurality of fruit vegetable acceptors are arranged on the side of the conveyance line at intervals in the fruit vegetable conveyance direction, and the fruit vegetables delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier are the fruit vegetable acceptor. An automatic fruit vegetable sorting device characterized by being pooled. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device according to claim 7,
Each of the fruit vegetable acceptors is rotated every time the fruit and vegetables are fed from the fruit and vegetables so that the fruit and vegetables sent from the fruit and vegetables can be pooled. The fruits and vegetables are placed on a number of fruits and vegetables mounted on the endless transporter and transported. The fruits and vegetables are measured during transport to discriminate the equal class, etc. In the automatic fruit vegetable sorting method that sorts and sends it to the side in the transport direction,
Fruit vegetables are placed on a receiving part of a conveyor belt that can reciprocate and rotate the fruit vegetables, and the fruit vegetables are conveyed by moving the fruit vegetables by an endless conveying body, and the measurement light from the transmission sugar content sensor is conveyed during the conveyance. The fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part and the through hole opened in the conveying belt and opened in the receiving part, or the fruit vegetables, the through hole of the conveying belt and the through hole of the plate material on the back of the conveying belt are permeated. A method for automatically selecting fruit vegetables, characterized in that the sugar content of the vegetables is measured, the fruit vegetables are discriminated based on a discrimination signal, and sent to the side of the fruit vegetable transport direction. The fruit vegetable automatic sorting method according to claim 10, wherein the fruit vegetables placed on the receiving part are arranged in a line or substantially in a line in the conveying direction by conveying the receiving parts of the respective fruit vegetables on the line in a line or substantially in a line in the conveying direction. Transport, measure the sugar content of the fruit vegetables during the transport, determine the equal class, etc., during the transport of fruit vegetables, the transport belt is rotated forward based on the determination signal to send the fruit vegetables to the side of the fruit transport direction, During the movement after sending out, the forwardly rotated conveyor belt is returned and rotated to return the receiving portion to the original position, and the receiving portions of the large number of fruit and vegetables mounting bodies are arranged in a line or substantially in the conveying direction. Characteristic fruit vegetable automatic selection method. In the fruit and vegetable automatic selection method according to claim 10 or claim 11, the fruit and vegetables to be sent out according to the determination result from the fruit and vegetables on two or more fruit and vegetable acceptors arranged at intervals in the side of the fruit and vegetables conveyance direction. An automatic fruit vegetable sorting method characterized by pooling. The fruit vegetable automatic selection method according to claim 12, wherein the fruit vegetable acceptor is intermittently moved when the fruit vegetables are delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier, and the fruit vegetables delivered from the fruit vegetable carrier are pooled in the fruit vegetable acceptor. Automatic sorting method.

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