JP2012179672A - Coring and cutting device for vegetable - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact and inexpensive device.SOLUTION: A vegetable coring and cutting device includes: a vegetable placing means 20 on which a cabbage W is placed; a vegetable holding means 30 for pressing and holding a cabbage W placed on the vegetable placing means 20 against the vegetable placing means 20; a coring knife means 50 provided below the vegetable placing means 20 and having a coring edge 51 for removing a core of the cabbage W; a holding/driving means 40 for holding and driving the cabbage W by the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30; a vertical drive means for moving the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 up and down relatively to the coring edge 51 for coring the cabbage W; a dividing means 70 provided on one of lateral sides of the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 and having dividing edges 71 and 72 for dividing the cabbage W horizontally and/or vertically; and an air cylinder 74 for pressing the cabbage W against the dividing edges 71 and 72 of the dividing means 70.

Description

  The present invention relates to a vegetable centering and cutting device for centering and cutting cabbage having a core, vegetables and fruits.

  It is necessary to cut cabbage having a core, vegetables, fruits and the like into a plurality of pieces after removing the core. In general, centering and cutting are performed by dedicated devices. However, this method has problems that productivity is low and cost is high.

In order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 is an example of a vegetable centering / cutting apparatus that can perform centering and cutting of vegetables. This device has the following structure. On the chain conveyor, placing plates for placing the objects to be processed are provided at regular intervals, and above the chain conveyor, a centering device and a cutting device are arranged in the conveying direction. The centering device has a centering blade and a presser plate that presses the workpiece to be placed on the placing plate, and the cutting device has a plurality of cutting blades that are vertically divided.

  The operation of this device is as follows. The object to be processed is placed on the placing plate that is driven intermittently with the core portion facing upward. When the workpiece is conveyed and stopped below the centering device, the presser plate descends and presses the workpiece against the mounting plate, and then the centering blade descends and rises to remove the core. When the workpiece from which the core portion has been removed is conveyed and stopped below the cutting device, the cutting blade descends and rises and is divided into a plurality of pieces.

JP-A-5-236923

  In the above-described conventional technology, it is necessary to provide a processing object supply station unit, a centering station unit, a cutting station unit, and a processing object discharge station unit in the conveyance direction of the chain conveyor. Become. Also, centering and cutting are performed at different stations at the same time, so it seems to be excellent in productivity. However, centering and cutting require the steps of stopping the chain conveyor, centering and cutting by the centering device and the cutting device, and then driving the chain conveyor by one pitch, so that productivity cannot be improved. .

  Moreover, although the said prior art can divide a to-be-processed object vertically, what was divided | segmented vertically cannot be divided | segmented horizontally, and division | segmentation is limited. In addition, since it is visually checked whether the core of the workpiece placed on the mounting plate is directly under the core cutting blade, the core is not removed if the core is displaced from the core cutting blade. There was a problem with the finished quality.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A first object of the present invention is to provide a vegetable centering and cutting device that can reduce the size of the device and reduce the cost of the device.

  A second object of the present invention is to provide a vegetable centering and cutting apparatus that can divide a workpiece not only vertically or horizontally but also vertically and horizontally.

  A third object of the present invention is to provide a vegetable centering and cutting apparatus capable of improving the quality of core removal.

  Claim 1 of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that the vegetable placing means for placing the vegetables and the vegetables placed on the vegetable placing means are used as the vegetable placing means. Vegetable holding means that presses and holds, and a centering blade means that is disposed below the vegetable placing means or above the vegetable holding means and has a centering blade that removes the core of the vegetables, A holding driving means for driving the vegetable placing means and the vegetable holding means to hold the vegetables; the vegetable placing means holding the vegetables; the vegetable holding means; and the centering blade. A vertical drive means for centering vegetables by moving up and down relatively, and provided on one side of the vegetables placing means and the vegetable holding means, the vegetables are arranged horizontally or vertically or horizontally and vertically A dividing means having a dividing blade to be divided into two, and the field facing the dividing means Provided on the other side of the kind placing means side of the vegetables holding means, characterized in that the vegetables and means pressing vegetable is pressed against the splitting blade of said dividing means.

  A second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that, in the first aspect, the holding driving means is provided on the mounting / holding means support plate for supporting the vegetable mounting means and the vegetable holding means. A pinion rotatably supported, a rack meshed with one side of the pinion and provided in the vegetable mounting means, a rack meshed with the other side of the pinion and provided in the vegetable holding means; It comprises a drive member that vertically drives one of the vegetable placing means or the vegetable holding means.

  A third aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is that, in the first aspect, the vegetable placing means is disposed in the driving direction of the vegetable pushing member means to support the vegetables. Each of the support members and a support frame for rotatably supporting the support member, the support member being divided in the driving direction of the vegetable pressing member and having a positioning hole in the center, and And a positioning plate driving unit that drives the positioning hole of the divided positioning plate downward.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems, in the apparatus according to the first aspect, in which the centering blade is disposed below the vegetable placing means, the vegetable placing means In the apparatus provided with the core part recognition means which has the camera arrange | positioned freely between the said centering blades, and the said centering blade was arrange | positioned above the said vegetable holding means, the said vegetable holding means And a core recognizing means having a camera disposed between the centering blades so as to be movable forward and backward.

  According to claim 1, the vegetable placing means for holding the cabbage and the centering blade of the centering cutter means are arranged around the vegetable holding means, that is, below or above, and the dividing blades of the dividing means are arranged on the left and right. Since it has a structure in which vegetable pressing means for pressing the cabbage against the split blades is provided, it is possible to reduce the size and the cost of the apparatus. In particular, when the cabbage is centered by raising the centering blade, the dividing step by the dividing means can be performed immediately after the centering, and the productivity can be improved. Moreover, since the dividing means is disposed on the side of the vegetable placing means and the vegetable holding means, both or either one of the horizontal dividing blade and the vertical dividing blade can be provided. I can plan.

  According to claim 2, the rack meshes with both sides of the pinion, one rack is fixed to the vegetable mounting means, and the other rack is fixed to the vegetable holding means. When the vegetable holding means is moved up and down, the amount of vertical movement of the vegetable placing means and the vegetable holding means is the same, the center of the cabbage can be centered regardless of the size of the cabbage W, and the quality of the division can be improved. According to the third aspect, the positioning plate is divided into two, and when the positioning hole is driven downward, the positioning hole is separated from the cabbage, so that the cabbage is pushed along the support rod in the direction of the divided blade. Can be pushed smoothly. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, when the core portion of the cabbage is recognized by the camera, the shift of the core portion can be corrected, and the quality of the core portion removal can be improved.

[BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS] It is a front view of one Embodiment of the vegetable centering cutting apparatus of this invention. It is a right view of FIG. It is a top view of FIG. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 3.

An embodiment of the vegetable core cutting apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. Hereinafter, the case where it applies to the cabbage W is demonstrated. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the vegetable placing means 20 for placing the cabbage W and the cabbage W placed on the vegetable placing means 20 are used as the vegetable placing means 20. Vegetable holding means 30 for pressing and holding, holding driving means 40 for driving the cabbage W to be held by the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30, and the vegetable placing means 20 are disposed below the vegetable placing means 20. And a core cutting edge means 50 for removing the core portion of the cabbage W, and a core portion recognition means 60 that is provided between the vegetable placing means 20 and the core cutting blade means 50 so as to be able to move forward and backward. And splitting means 70 for splitting the cabbage W, provided on both sides of the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30.
First, after describing the structure of the frame 1, the structure of each of the means will be described.

[Frame 1]
The frame 1 includes a bottom plate 2, side plates 3 and 4, a top plate 5, a rear plate 6, and a front plate 7. A vertical partition plate 11 extending downward from the top plate 5 and a side partition 4 extending in the direction of the side plate 3 so as to form a device disposition portion 10 for disposing main means of the device in the frame 1. It consists of a horizontal partition 12 connected to the plate 11. Here, the front plate 7 is provided except for the device placement portion 10, and a door (not shown) that can slide in the lateral direction and opens and closes the device placement portion 10 is provided in front of the device placement portion 10. It has been. In the apparatus disposition unit 10, there are disposed the vegetable placing means 20, the vegetable holding means 30, the holding drive means 40, the blade portion of the centering blade means 50, the core recognition means 60, the dividing means 70, and the like. ing.

[Vegetable placement means 20] (See FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 5)
The vegetable placing means 20 has support rods 21 and 21 that are arranged in the operating direction of the air cylinder 74 of the dividing means 70 described later and support the cabbage W. The support bars 21 and 21 are rotatably supported on the side portions 22a and 22a of the U-shaped support frame 22. Positioning plates 23, 23 having a positioning hole 23 a at the center and fixed in two are fixed to the support rods 21, 21, and rollers 24, 24 are disposed on one side of the positioning plates 23, 23, respectively. Is rotatably supported. An air cylinder 25 having two operating rods 25a and 25a is fixed to the side portion 22a of the support frame 22 corresponding to the rollers 24 and 24, and the rollers 24 and 24 are moved up and down. The U-shaped pieces 26 and 26 to be sandwiched are fixed. Here, in a state where the operating rods 25a, 25a of the air cylinder 25 protrude, the positioning plates 23, 23 are in a substantially horizontal state.

[Vegetables holding means 30] (See FIGS. 1 to 3 and FIG. 5)
The vegetable holding means 30 is disposed above the vegetable placing means 20 and, like the support bars 21, 21, presser bars 31, 31 disposed in the operating direction of the air cylinder 74 of the dividing means 70. have. The presser bars 31, 31 are rotatably supported on side portions 32a, 32a of a U-shaped support frame 32 having the same structure as the support frame 22. The base portion 22b of the support frame 22 of the vegetable placing means 20 and the base portion 32b of the support frame 32 of the vegetable holding means 30 are arranged vertically, and the top and bottom plates 5 and the horizontal partition plate 12 of the frame body 1 at the top and bottom. The upper and lower guide rods 33 fixed to the upper and lower guide rods 33 are fitted in a vertically slidable manner. The upper and lower guide bars 33 and 33 are slidably fitted with an upper plate portion 34 a and a lower plate portion 34 b of the mounting / holding means support plate 34, and the upper plate portion 34 a is located above the vegetable holding means 30. The lower plate part 34 b is located below the vegetable placing means 20.

[Holding drive means 40] (see FIGS. 1 to 3)
Between the base portion 22b of the support frame 22 of the vegetable placement means 20 and the base portion 32b of the support frame 32 of the vegetable holding means 30, there are rotatably supported on the placement / holding means support plate 34 on the outside of the base portion 22b and the base portion 32b. A pinion 41 is disposed. Racks 42 and 43 are engaged with both sides of the pinion 41. The rack 42 extends upward and is fixed to the base 22b of the support frame 22 of the vegetable placing means 20, and the rack 43 extends downward and holds vegetables. It is fixed to the base portion 32 b of the support frame 32 of the means 30. An air cylinder 44 is fixed to the mounting / holding means support plate 34 with the operating rod 44 a facing upward, and the operating rod 44 a of the air cylinder 44 is the base of the support frame 32 of the vegetable holding means 30. 32b is fixed. An operating rod mounting tool 45 is fixed to the outside of the mounting / holding means support plate 34, and an operating rod of an air cylinder 46 fixed to the horizontal partition plate 12 is mounted to the operating rod mounting tool 45. .

[Centering blade means 50] (see FIGS. 1, 2 and 4)
A centering blade 51 is disposed below the positioning holes 23 a of the positioning plates 23, 23, and a cutter shaft 52 is fixed to the centering blade 51. The cutter shaft 52 is rotatably supported by a bearing 53 fixed to the horizontal partition plate 12, and a pulley 54 is fixed to the lower end of the cutter shaft 52. A motor 55 is fixed to the bottom plate 2, and a belt 57 is hung on the pulley 56 fixed to the output shaft of the motor 55 and the pulley 54.

[Core recognition means 60] (See FIGS. 1, 2, and 4)
A camera 61 is disposed between the positioning plates 23 and 23 and the centering blade 51, and the camera 61 is fixed to one end of the lever 62. A support shaft 63 is fixed to the other end portion of the lever 62, and the support shaft 63 is rotatably supported by a support frame 64 fixed to the vertical partition plate 11. An operating rod of an air cylinder 65 fixed to the vertical partition plate 11 is connected to the other end of the lever 62. The image of the camera 61 is projected on a monitor (not shown).

[Division means 70] (see FIGS. 1 to 3)
A dividing means 70 having a rectangular frame shape is fixed to the side plate 4 corresponding to the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30. The dividing means 70 includes a horizontal dividing blade 71 and a vertical dividing blade 72. A chute 73 is fixed to the outer portion of the side plate 4 corresponding to the dividing means 70. Here, the horizontal dividing blade 71 is disposed so as to be positioned between the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30. An air cylinder 74 is fixed to the vertical partition plate 11 corresponding to the dividing means 70, and a push plate 75 is fixed to an operating rod of the air cylinder 74.

  Next, the operation will be described. In the state of FIG. 1, the core portion of the cabbage W is placed in alignment with the positioning holes 23 a of the positioning plates 23 and 23. The core portion of the cabbage W is captured by the camera 61 and displayed on a monitor (not shown). When the core part is aligned with the center of the positioning hole 23a, the air cylinders 44 and 65 and the motor 55 are activated when the start button is pressed. When the air cylinder 44 is activated and the operating rod 44 a is retracted, the rack 43 is lowered together with the vegetable holding means 30, the pinion 41 is rotated clockwise, and the vegetable placing means 20 is raised together with the rack 42. Then, the cabbage W is sandwiched between the support bars 21 and 21 of the vegetable placing means 20 and the presser bars 31 and 31 of the vegetable holding means 30. In this case, since the descending amount of the vegetable holding means 30 and the ascending amount of the vegetable placing means 20 are the same, the central portion of the cabbage W is the center of the dividing means 70, that is, the horizontal dividing blade 71 and the push plate 75. Located in the center. Therefore, the cabbage W is centered regardless of the size of the cabbage W.

  When the air cylinder 65 is operated and the operating rod of the air cylinder 65 is retracted, the lever 62 rotates about the support shaft 63, and the camera 61 is positioned with the positioning plates 23 and 23 of the vegetable placement means 20 and the centering blade 51. Evacuate from between. When the motor 55 is rotated, the centering blade 51 is rotated together with the cutter shaft 52 via the pulley 56, the belt 57, and the pulley 54.

  When the cabbage W is held by the support bars 21 and 21 of the vegetable placing means 20 and the presser bars 31 and 31 of the vegetable holding means 30, the operating rod of the air cylinder 46 is retracted. Thereby, the mounting / holding means support plate 34 is lowered. Since the mounting / holding means support plate 34 supports the vegetable mounting means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 via the pinion 41 and the racks 42, 43, the mounting / holding means support plate 34 and the vegetables The class mounting means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 are both lowered. That is, the cabbage W descends while being held by the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30. Thereby, the core part of the cabbage W is removed by the rotating centering blade 51. The centering amount in this case can be controlled by controlling the lowered position of the mounting / holding means support plate 34.

  Next, the motor 55 stops and the air cylinder 46 operates in the opposite direction. The operating rod of the air cylinder 46 protrudes, and the placing / holding means support plate 34 is raised by the reverse operation to the above, and the vegetables are placed with the cabbage W held by the vegetables placing means 20 and the vegetables holding means 30. The placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 are raised to a position before they are lowered. Subsequently, the air supplied to the air cylinder 44 is depressurized or stopped. Thereby, the pressing force of the cabbage W by the presser bars 31 and 31 of the vegetable holding means 30 is weakened while the position of the center part of the cabbage W is held. Next, the air cylinders 65 and 25 are operated. When the operating rod of the air cylinder 65 operates in the opposite direction, the lever 62 rotates in the opposite direction, and the camera 61 is positioned between the vegetable placing means 20 and the centering blade 51. When the air cylinder 25 is operated and the operating rods 25a and 25a of the air cylinder 25 are retracted, the pieces 26 and 26 are lowered to push down the rollers 24 and 24. As a result, the positioning plates 23, 23 rotate around the support rods 21, 21, the inner portions of the positioning plates 23, 23 are lowered, and the positioning holes 23 a are separated from the cabbage W.

  Subsequently, the air cylinder 74 is operated to advance the push plate 75. In the preceding paragraph, since the press force of the cabbage W by the presser bars 31, 31 of the vegetable holding means 30 is weak, the cabbage W slides on the support bars 21, 21 and presses against the horizontal split blade 71 and the vertical split blade 72. It is done. As a result, the cabbage W is divided horizontally and vertically into two, that is, divided into four parts, and is discharged from the chute 73 to the outside. After the actuating rod of the air cylinder 74 is retracted, the actuating rod 44a of the air cylinder 44 is actuated in the direction opposite to that described above to raise the vegetable holding means 30, and the rack 43, the pinion 41, and the rack 42 are used. The vegetable placing means 20 is lowered. Thereby, the space between the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 is opened, and the cabbage W is easily placed on the vegetable placing means 20. This completes one cycle.

  In the above embodiment, the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 are lowered and the cabbage W is centered by the centering blade 51. However, the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means are held. The centering of the cabbage W may be performed by raising the centering blade 51 without lowering the means 30. In order to hold the cabbage W, the vegetable holding means 30 is lowered and the vegetable placing means 20 is raised. However, only the vegetable holding means 30 is lowered or only the vegetable placing means 20 is raised, and the cabbage W is raised. May be held. However, when the vegetable holding means 30 is lowered and the vegetable placing means 20 is raised by the racks 42 and 43 and the pinion 41 as in this embodiment, the descending amount of the vegetable holding means 30 and the vegetable placing means Since the rising amount of 20 is the same, the cabbage W can be centered regardless of the size of the cabbage W. In this case, in the present embodiment, the vegetable holding means 30 is driven up and down by the air cylinder 44, but the vegetable placing means 20 may be driven up and down by the air cylinder. Further, the centering blade 51 is directed downward and the centering blade means 50 is disposed above the vegetable holding means 30, and the vegetables are placed with the cabbage W held by the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30. Centering may be performed by raising the placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 or by lowering the centering blade 51. In this case, the camera 61 of the core recognizing means 60 is disposed between the vegetable holding means 30 and the centering blade 51, and the cabbage W is placed on the vegetable placing means 20 with the core facing upward. Needless to say.

Further, as the dividing means 70, one horizontal dividing blade 71 and
Although the case where one vertical division blade 72 is provided has been described, it goes without saying that the numbers of the horizontal division blades 71 and the vertical division blades 72 provided are not limited. Moreover, although the horizontal division blade 71 and the vertical division blade 72 are provided, only one of the horizontal division blade 71 and the vertical division blade 72 may be provided. The centering cutter means 50 has been described with respect to the centering blade 51 rotating, but instead of the rotating centering blade 51, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent No. 3013134, a non-rotating centering (centering) cutter The blade may be centered by advancing and retreating the blade by an air cylinder from obliquely below. Moreover, although the case where it applied to the cabbage W as a to-be-processed object was demonstrated, it cannot be overemphasized that it can apply also to vegetables and fruits, such as lettuce which has a core part, and a Chinese cabbage.

  The centering blade 51 of the centering blade means 50 is disposed around the vegetable placement means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 for holding the cabbage W, that is, below or above, and the split blades 71 of the split means 70 on the left and right. Since the air cylinder 74 for pressing the 72 and the cabbage W against the split blades 71 and 72 is provided, the size and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. In particular, when the centering blade 51 is raised and the cabbage W is centered, the dividing step by the dividing means 70 can be performed immediately after the centering, and productivity can be improved. Moreover, since the dividing means 70 is disposed on the side of the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30, it is possible to provide either or either of the horizontal dividing blade 71 and the vertical dividing blade 72, Diversity of division can be achieved.

  Since the racks 42 and 43 mesh with both sides of the pinion 41, one rack 42 is fixed to the vegetable placing means 20, and the other rack 43 is fixed to the vegetable holding means 30, so the vegetable placing means 20 or the vegetable holding means 30 is moved up and down, the amount of vertical movement of the vegetable placing means 20 and the vegetable holding means 30 is the same, the center of the cabbage W can be centered regardless of the size of the cabbage W, and Quality can be improved. The positioning plates 23 and 23 are divided into two parts. When the positioning hole 23a is driven downward, the positioning hole 23a is separated from the cabbage W, so that the cabbage W is divided along the support bars 21 and 21 into the split blades 71 and 72. Can be smoothly pushed by the air cylinder 74. Further, when the core portion of the cabbage W is recognized by the camera 61, the shift of the core portion can be corrected, and the quality of the core portion removal can be improved.

W cabbage 20 Vegetable placement means 21 Support bar 22 Support frame 23 Positioning plate 23a Positioning hole 24 Roller 25 Air cylinder 30 Vegetable holding means 31 Presser bar 32 Support frame 33 Upper and lower guide bars 34 Placement / holding means support plate 40 Holding Driving means 41 Pinion 42, 43 Rack 44 Air cylinder 50 Centering blade means 51 Centering blade 55 Motor 60 Core recognition means 61 Camera 62 Lever 65 Air cylinder 70 Splitting means 71 Horizontal split blade 72 Vertical split blade 74 Air cylinder

Claims (4)

  Vegetable placing means for placing vegetables, vegetable holding means for pressing and holding the vegetables placed on the vegetable placing means against the vegetable placing means, and the vegetable placing Centering blade means having a centering blade that is disposed below the means or above the vegetable holding means and removes the core of the vegetables, and the vegetables placing means and the vegetables holding means are vegetables. Holding and driving means for driving so as to hold the vegetables, the vegetable placing means for holding vegetables, the vegetable holding means and the centering blade by relatively moving the centering blade up and down A dividing unit provided on one side of the driving unit, the vegetable placing unit and the vegetable holding unit, and having a dividing blade for dividing the vegetables horizontally, vertically, or horizontally and vertically; Opposite side of the vegetable placing means and the vegetable holding means Provided, centering cutting apparatus vegetables, characterized in that a means pushing vegetables pressing the vegetables to split blade of said dividing means.   The holding driving means includes a pinion rotatably supported by a mounting / holding means support plate for supporting the vegetable mounting means and the vegetable holding means, and a pinion that meshes with one side of the pinion and mounts the vegetables. A rack provided in the placing means, a rack that meshes with the other side of the pinion and provided in the vegetable holding means, and a drive member that vertically drives one of the vegetable placing means or the vegetable holding means The vegetable centering and cutting apparatus according to claim 1, comprising:   The vegetable placing means has at least two support members that are arranged in the drive direction of the vegetable pushing member means and support the vegetables, and a support frame that rotatably supports the support members. The support member has a positioning plate that is divided in the driving direction of the vegetable pressing member and has a positioning hole in the center, and a positioning plate driving unit that drives the positioning hole of the divided positioning plate downward. The vegetable centering and cutting apparatus according to claim 1.   In the apparatus in which the centering blade is disposed below the vegetable placing means, a core recognition means having a camera disposed so as to be movable back and forth between the vegetable placing means and the centering blade. In the apparatus in which the centering blade is disposed above the vegetable holding means, a core recognition unit having a camera disposed so as to be movable back and forth between the vegetable holding means and the centering blade. The vegetable centering and cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means.