JP2013126643A - Sorting conveyance apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sorting conveyance apparatus capable of automatically removing clogging of articles to be conveyed.SOLUTION: The sorting conveyance apparatus 1 conveying the articles to be conveyed while sorting the article based on its size is provided with: a rotary sorting unit 2 which has an article-sortable slit 21 and rotation-conveys the article while sorting the article by the slit 21; a first conveying unit 3 for conveying the article to the slit 21 of the rotary sorting unit 2; and a second conveying unit 4 for receiving the article after sorting from the slit 21 of the unit 2 to convey. A scraper 6 for removing the article clogged in the slit 21 is arranged downstream of the second conveying unit 4 in a conveyance direction by the rotary sorting unit 2.

Description

  The present invention relates to a sorting and conveying apparatus, and more particularly, to a sorting and conveying apparatus that conveys an object to be conveyed while sorting by size.

  As this type of sorting and conveying apparatus, for example, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 has been proposed. As shown in FIG. 12, the sorting and conveying apparatus 100 disclosed in Patent Literature 1 includes a first conveying path 101 having a strip-shaped slit hole 102, and a second conveying path 103 having a plurality of round hole portions 104. The object to be transported such as capsules and tablets is transported from the first transport path 101 to the second transport path 103 by the vibration of the feeder. In the slit hole 102 and the round hole portion 104, an object to be conveyed (hereinafter referred to as “defective product”) smaller than the normal size is dropped and removed, and the first conveying path 101 and the second hole 104 are removed. Only a normal-sized object to be conveyed (hereinafter referred to as “non-defective product”) that has passed through the conveyance path 103 is supplied to an appearance inspection unit or the like on the downstream side in the conveyance direction.

JP-A-9-38578

  In the sorting / conveying device 100 disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, for example, an object to be conveyed that is slightly smaller in size than a non-defective product does not fall from the slit hole 102 or the round hole portion 104, and thus the slit hole 102 or the round hole portion 104. There is a risk of clogging. If the object to be conveyed is clogged in the slit hole 102 or the round hole part 104, not only the conveyance of the subsequent object to be conveyed is disturbed, but also the object to be conveyed that is clogged with defective products to be removed by the slit hole 102 or the round hole part 104. May pass through the slit hole 102 or the round hole portion 104. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to accurately select the object to be conveyed. In addition, in order to eliminate the clogging, it is necessary to stop the apparatus once and remove the jammed object to be transported manually. Therefore, there is a problem that it takes time and the efficiency of sorting the object to be transported is lowered.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a sorting and conveying apparatus that can automatically remove clogging of an object to be conveyed.

  The object of the present invention is a sorting / conveying apparatus that conveys an object to be conveyed while sorting by size, and has a slit capable of sorting the object to be conveyed, and is rotated and conveyed while selecting the object to be conveyed by the slit. Rotation sorting means, first transport means for transporting a transported object to the slit of the rotational sorting means, and second transport for receiving and transporting the transported object after sorting from the slit of the rotary sorting means A sorting and conveying apparatus in which a scraper for removing an object to be conveyed clogged in the slit is disposed in the slit on the downstream side of the second conveying means in the conveying direction by the rotary sorting means. Achieved by:

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotation selection means includes a horizontal axis, a plurality of rotary disks attached to the horizontal axis at predetermined intervals, and the rotary disks are driven to rotate around the horizontal axis. A rotary drive device, the slit is provided between the adjacent rotary disks, and the scraper has a tip end extending inward of the rotary disk to the vicinity below the horizontal axis. It is characterized by.

  In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the rotating disk is characterized in that the width of the slit can be freely set by a spacer provided between the adjacent rotating disks.

  In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the second transport means has an inclined surface that inclines so as to be lowered toward the second transport means, and is transported by the rotation sorting means. A guide member that slides an object on the inclined surface and guides the object to the second conveying means is provided.

  In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first conveying means and the second conveying means include a conveying plate having a conveying groove capable of accommodating an object to be conveyed provided corresponding to the slit, And a vibration feeder that applies vibration to the transport plate and transports an object to be transported in the transport groove.

  In a further preferred aspect of the present invention, the conveying grooves of the first conveying means and the second conveying means are inclined so as to become lower from the upstream side toward the downstream side. .

  According to the sorting / conveying device of the present invention, the object to be conveyed clogged in the slit can be automatically removed, so that the object to be conveyed can be accurately sorted and the efficiency of sorting the object to be conveyed is reduced. There is nothing.

It is a side view of the sorting conveyance device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the selection conveyance apparatus shown in FIG. It is the front view seen from the AA line of the selection conveyance apparatus shown in FIG. It is a principal part top view of a rotation selection means. It is a front view of a rotating disk. It is a front view of the rotating disk of other embodiment. It is a front view of the rotating disk of other embodiment. It is a front view of the rotating disk of other embodiment. It is the schematic which shows operation | movement of the to-be-conveyed object in the rotation conveyance by a rotation selection means. It is sectional drawing of the conveyance groove | channel of a 2nd conveyance means. It is the schematic of the selection conveyance apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the selection conveyance apparatus of a prior art example.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show the external configuration of the sorting and conveying apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the sorting and conveying apparatus 1 as viewed from the line AA in FIG. 2 and 3, the rotating disk 20 of the rotation sorting means 2 (or the conveying groove 41 of the second conveying means 4) is only for a part of the conveying grooves 31 of the first conveying means 3. Although it is provided, it is preferably provided for all the conveyance grooves 31.

  The sorting / conveying apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is for transporting an object to be conveyed while selecting a non-defective product and a defective product according to the size thereof. , A first transport means 3 for transporting the transported object to the rotation sorting means 2 and a second transport means 4 for receiving and transporting the transported object after sorting from the rotary sorting means 2. The first transport means 3 is configured to be supplied with an object to be transported put into a hopper (not shown). The transported object is not particularly limited, and can be applied to tablets, small parts, vegetables and fruits, and can be preferably applied to deformed tablets such as round tablets and elliptic tablets, capsule tablets, and the like.

  The rotation sorting unit 2, the first transport unit 3, and the second transport unit 4 are provided on the base 11, and a vibration feeder 5 is connected to the lower part of the base 11. The vibration feeder 5 is a known linear feeder, and the first transport unit 3 and the second transport unit 4 transport the object to be transported in the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG. 1 by vibration applied from the vibration feeder 5.

  The first conveying means 3 is provided above the second conveying means 4 on the base 11 via the base 12. The first conveying means 3 has a structure in which a plurality of concave conveying grooves 31 are provided on the flat surface of the conveying plate 30, and the object supplied to each conveying groove 31 from a hopper (not shown). Conveyed objects are accommodated one after another, and the objects to be conveyed are aligned and conveyed toward the rotation sorting means 2 on the downstream side in the conveying direction. Each conveyance groove 31 extends in a straight line, is arranged in parallel along a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction, and is formed between slits 21 formed between the rotation disks 20 of the rotation sorting means 2 described later. It arrange | positions so that it may oppose. Each conveyance groove 31 is inclined so as to be lowered from the upstream side toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction so that the object to be conveyed is smoothly conveyed by the vibration applied from the vibration feeder 5.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, a transfer member 32 that extends toward the downstream side in the transport direction is provided at the tip of each transport groove 31. Each delivery member 32 is attached to the lower surface of the plate 30, and a flat upper surface is continuous with the bottom surface of each conveyance groove 31, and a tip portion is inserted into each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2. The article to be conveyed conveyed by each conveyance groove 31 is smoothly delivered to each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2 via the delivery member 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the rotation selecting means 2 includes a horizontal shaft 22 and a plurality of rotating disks 20 attached to the horizontal shaft 22 at a predetermined interval. Both ends of the horizontal shaft 22 are rotatably supported by a pair of left and right bearings 13 provided on the base 11. One end of the horizontal shaft 22 is connected to a rotational drive device 23, and each rotational disk 20 is rotationally driven about the horizontal shaft 22 in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. Each bearing 13 is not necessarily provided on the base 11 and may be provided at a place other than the base 11.

  In the present embodiment, the rotating disks 20 are all disk-shaped in the same shape, and are arranged in parallel along a direction orthogonal to the conveying direction. Each rotating disk 20 has a diameter that appropriately protrudes above the bottom surface of each conveyance groove 31 of the first conveyance means 3. The rotation sorting means 2 is adjacent to a slit 21 that can drop a transported object (defective product) smaller in size than a normal-sized transported object (non-defective product) while rotating the transported object. It has between each rotating disk 20 which fits. Each rotating disk 20 does not necessarily have to protrude above the bottom surface of each conveyance groove 31 of the first conveyance unit 3. Depending on the shape of the object to be conveyed, the first conveying means 3 can be formed so as to have substantially the same height as the bottom surface of each conveying groove 31 or a diameter located below.

  As shown in FIG. 5, each rotating disk 20 has one (left side in the illustrated example) side wall 24 formed along the vertical direction, while the other (right side in the illustrated example) side wall 25 has It is formed so as to have a vertical surface 25a and an inclined surface 25b that extends outwardly and is formed on the periphery of the vertical surface 25a. Thereby, the slit 21 formed between the adjacent rotating disks 20 includes a narrow portion 21A and a wide portion 21B. As shown in FIG. 6, the side wall 24 on one side (the left side in the illustrated example) of the rotary disk 20 also has a vertical surface 24a and an inclined surface that is formed outward at the peripheral edge of the vertical surface 24a. 24b may be formed. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the inclined surfaces 24b and 25b formed on the side walls 24 and 25 on one side (left side in the illustrated example) or the other side (right side in the illustrated example) of the rotary disk 20 are vertical surfaces 25a. , 25b may be perpendicular to the horizontal planes 24c, 25c. 6 to 8 also, the slits 21 formed between adjacent rotating disks 20 include a narrow part 21A and a wide part 21B.

  The width d1 of the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21, that is, the width d1 between the one side wall 24 of the adjacent rotating disk 20 and the vertical surface 25a of the other side wall 25 is a predetermined reference, that is, a normal size. Is set smaller than the width D1 of the conveyed object (good product) M. As a result, the object to be conveyed conveyed from the respective conveying grooves 31 of the first conveying means 3 to the respective slits 21 of the rotation sorting means 2 has a width D when being rotated and conveyed by the rotation of each rotary disk 20. If it is smaller than the width d1 of the narrow portion 21A, it is a defective product M1 and falls from the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 as indicated by the arrow p in FIG. A collection path 14 is provided below the rotary conveyance means 2, and the object (defective product) M <b> 1 dropped from each slit 21 of the rotary conveyance means 2 passes through the collection path 14 to the defective product collection box 8. It is collected (see FIG. 1). On the other hand, the conveyed object M2 whose width D is larger than the width d1 of the narrow portion 21A does not fall from the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21, and the one side wall of each rotary disk 20 in the wide portion 21B of the slit 21. While being supported on the 25 inclined surfaces 25b, it is rotated and conveyed toward the second conveying means 4.

  In the present embodiment, a cylindrical spacer 26 having a hollow hole is provided between the rotating disks 20, and the width d 1 of the narrow portion 21 A of the slit 21 is equal to the width (thickness) 1 of the spacer 26. Changes. As described above, in this embodiment, the width d1 of the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 can be freely set according to the width (thickness) l of the spacer 26. Therefore, the width (thickness) of the spacer 26 is appropriately changed. By changing to another, the size of the object to be transported sorted by the slit 21 can be freely changed. As the spacer 26, not only a spacer having a constant width (thickness) but also a spacer whose width (thickness) 1 can be appropriately adjusted with a screw or the like can be used. According to this embodiment, when changing the width d1 of the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21, it is not necessary to bother to replace the spacer 26, so that convenience is improved.

  Here, when a transported object that is slightly smaller in size than a non-defective product is rotationally transported, it falls from the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 as in the transported object indicated by the symbol M3 in FIG. Otherwise, the narrow portion 21A may be clogged. In the present embodiment, a scraper 6 for automatically removing the transported object M3 clogged in the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 is provided in the slit 21 between the rotary disks 20.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the scraper 6 has an elongated shape such as a rod shape or a plate shape, and has a proximal end portion fixed to the base 11 and a distal end portion within the rotary disk 20. It extends to the vicinity of the lower part of the horizontal shaft 22 toward the direction. Each scraper 6 is arranged on the downstream side of the second conveying means 4 in the conveying direction by the rotation sorting means 2 and is supported by the wide portion 21B without rotating from the narrow portion 21A of each slit 21 and rotates. Since the sorted object M2 being conveyed is conveyed to the second conveying means 4 via a guide member 7 described later, it is not guided to each scraper 6. On the other hand, the conveyed object M3 clogged in the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 is guided to the scraper 6 by the rotation of each rotary disk 20 as indicated by the arrow q in FIG. It is automatically removed from the narrow portion 21A. The to-be-conveyed object removed from the narrow portion 21A of the slit 21 passes through the recovery path 14 and is a defective product collection box in the same manner as the to-be-conveyed object (defective product) M1 dropped from the narrow portion 21A of each slit 21 described above. 8 recovered. As described above, in the present embodiment, even if the object to be transported is clogged in each slit 21, it can be automatically removed. Therefore, the apparatus is temporarily stopped to manually remove the object to be transported jammed. There is no need for.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the second transport unit 4 has a configuration in which a plurality of concave transport grooves 41 are provided on the flat surface of the transport plate 40. Each conveyance groove 41 is arranged so as to face each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2, and the sorted object to be conveyed that is rotated and conveyed by each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2 is placed in this conveyance groove 41. One after another, the objects to be conveyed are aligned and conveyed toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. Each conveyance groove 41 extends in a straight line and is arranged in parallel along a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction. Each conveyance groove 41 is inclined so as to be lowered from the upstream side toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction so that the object to be conveyed is smoothly conveyed by the vibration applied from the vibration feeder 5.

  A guide member 7 is provided at the base end of each conveyance groove 41. The guide member 7 is inserted in each of the slits 21 of the rotation sorting means 2 on the upstream side in the transport direction, and is inserted in each of the transport grooves 41 on the downstream side in the transport direction. The upper surface of each guide member 7 is an inclined surface 71 that is inclined so as to become lower toward the second conveying means 4, and the object to be conveyed after sorting that is rotated and conveyed by each slit 21 of the rotating sorting means 2. Is slid down on the inclined surface 71 of each guide member 7 and is guided to each conveyance groove 41 of the second conveyance means 4.

  Further, a partition member 72 is provided at the proximal end portion of each conveyance groove 41. The partition member 72 is attached to the upper surface of the plate 40, and both left and right end portions are fixed to the plate 40. A plurality of plate-like partitions 73 arranged in parallel are provided on the surface of the partition member 72 on the rotation sorting means 2 side. Each partition 73 is disposed so as to face each rotating disk 20 of the rotation sorting means 2, and the guide member 7 is integrally provided between each partition 73. When the object to be conveyed slides down on the inclined surface 71 of each guide member 7 from each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2, the transferred object slides straight on the inclined surface 71 of each guide member 7 without being shifted left and right by each partition 73. Therefore, it is smoothly delivered to each conveyance groove 41 of the second conveyance means 4.

  As shown in FIG. 10, each conveying groove 41 of the second conveying means 4 has a side wall 42 on the left side in the conveying direction (right side in the illustrated example) formed along the vertical direction, while the right side in the conveying direction (illustrated example). The left side wall 43 has a vertical surface 43a and an inclined surface 43b extending outward. In addition, a recovery hole 44 is formed in a bottom surface of a predetermined location on the downstream side of each conveyance groove 41, and a non-defective product recovery box 9 is provided below the recovery hole 44 (see FIG. 1). In each conveyance groove 41, the width (width of the collection hole 44) d2 between the one side wall 42 and the vertical surface 43a of the other side wall 43 is a predetermined reference, that is, a normal-size object to be conveyed (non-defective product). ) It is set slightly larger than the width D1 of M. When the conveyed object to be conveyed passes through the collection hole 44, if the width D is smaller than the width d2 of the collection hole 44, the object M is of a normal size, as indicated by the arrow r. Then, it falls from the collection hole 44 and is collected as a non-defective product in the non-defective product collection box 9. On the other hand, a defective article M4 whose width D is larger than the width d2 of the collection hole 44 does not fall from the collection hole 44, and slides on the inclined surface 43b of each conveyance groove 41, so that the vibration feeder 5 The product is transported downstream in the transport direction by vibration and is collected in the defective product collection box 10.

  Next, the operation of the sorting and conveying apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be described. The objects to be transported put into the hopper (not shown) are successively supplied to the transport grooves 31 of the first transport plate 3 and aligned in the direction of arrow X in FIG. Be transported. After that, it is supplied to each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2 via the delivery member 32 and is rotated and conveyed in the direction of arrow Y in FIG. During conveyance by each slit 21 of the rotation sorting means 2, the conveyed object M 1 whose size (width) does not satisfy a predetermined standard falls from the narrow portion 21 A of each slit 21 and enters the defective product collection box 8. Collected. The object M2 that has not fallen from the narrow portion 21A of each slit 21 is successively supplied to each conveyance groove 41 of the second conveyance unit 4 via the guide member 7 and is applied from the vibration feeder 5. Due to the vibration, they are aligned and conveyed in the direction of arrow X in FIG. A recovery hole 44 having a size (width) slightly larger than the normal size of the object to be transported (good product) M is formed in each transport groove 41 of the second transport means 4. Of the transported object M2 that has been sorted by the above, the transported object (good product) M having a normal size falls from the recovery hole 44 and is recovered in the good product recovery box 9. The transported object M4 that does not fall from the recovery hole 44 is recovered in the defective product recovery box 10 as having a size (width) exceeding a predetermined standard.

  Even if the object to be transported is clogged by being sandwiched between the slits 21 (the narrow portions 21A) during the sorting / conveying by the slits 21 of the rotary sorting means 2, the scrapers 6 are provided in the respective slits 21. Since the object to be conveyed that is clogged in each slit 21 (narrow portion 21A) is guided to the scraper 6 along with the rotation conveyance, it is automatically removed from the slit 21 (narrow portion 21A) by the scraper 6. Therefore, the transport of the subsequent transported object is not obstructed by the transported transported object M3, and the transported object (defective product) M1 to be removed by the slit 21 (the narrow portion 21A) is blocked. It does not get on the conveyed object M3 and pass through as it is without being removed from the slit 21. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to temporarily stop the apparatus to remove the jammed object to be transported in order to eliminate clogging, the efficiency of sorting the object to be transported is not reduced.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible unless it deviates from the meaning of this invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, each conveyance groove 31 of the first conveyance unit 3 and each conveyance groove 41 of the second conveyance unit 4 are inclined so as to become lower toward the downstream side in the conveyance direction. It may be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the collection holes 44 are provided in the respective conveyance grooves 41 of the second conveyance unit 4, and the collection object 44 having a normal size is collected by the collection holes 44. Although the transported object (defective product) M4 having a size larger than the non-defective product M is removed, instead of the collection hole 44, as shown in the schematic diagram of FIG. The rotation sorting means 2 having the configuration may be further provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the second transport means 4. The above-described size is determined from among the objects to be conveyed M2 conveyed by the respective conveying grooves 41 of the second conveying means 4 by the respective slits (not shown) between the respective rotating disks 20 of the rotation sorting means 2. In the same manner as the conveyed product M1 smaller than the non-defective product M, only the non-defective product (normal size conveyed product) M is selected and collected, and the conveyed product (defective product) M4 having a size larger than the good product M. May be removed by rotating and transporting to the downstream side. In this way, by combining the two rotation sorting means 2 and sorting out the non-defective product and the defective product, it is possible to reliably prevent clogging of the conveyed object.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Sorting and conveying apparatus 2 Rotating and sorting means 3 First conveying means 4 Second conveying means 5 Vibrating feeder 6 Scraper 7 Guide member 20 Rotating disk 21 Slit 22 Horizontal shaft 23 Rotation drive device 26 Spacer 30 Conveying plate 31 Conveying groove 40 Conveying Plate 41 Conveying groove 71 Inclined surface

Claims (6)

A sorting and conveying device that conveys an object to be conveyed while sorting by size,
Rotating and sorting means having a slit capable of sorting the object to be conveyed, and rotating and conveying the object to be conveyed with the slit,
First conveying means for conveying an object to be conveyed to the slit of the rotation sorting means;
A second transporting means for receiving and transporting the object to be transported after sorting from the slit of the rotating sorting means;
The sorting and conveying apparatus, wherein a scraper for removing an object to be conveyed clogged in the slit is arranged in the slit on the downstream side of the second conveying means in the conveying direction by the rotary sorting means. The rotation selection means includes a horizontal axis, a plurality of rotary disks attached to the horizontal axis at a predetermined interval, and a rotation drive device that rotates the rotary disks around the horizontal axis. The slit is provided between the rotating discs that fit,
The sorting and conveying device according to claim 1, wherein a tip end portion of the scraper extends to the vicinity of a lower portion of the horizontal shaft toward an inner side of the rotating disk.   The sorting and conveying device according to claim 2, wherein the width of the slit can be freely set by a spacer provided between the rotating disks adjacent to each other.   The second conveying means has an inclined surface that is inclined so as to become lower toward the second conveying means, and the object to be conveyed conveyed by the rotation sorting means slides on the inclined surface. The sorting and conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a guide member for guiding the second conveying means is provided.   The first conveying means and the second conveying means include a conveying plate having a conveying groove capable of accommodating an object to be conveyed provided so as to correspond to the slit, and imparting vibration to the conveying plate, The sorting and conveying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a vibration feeder that conveys an object to be conveyed in the conveying groove.   6. The sorting and conveying apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the conveying grooves of the first conveying means and the second conveying means are inclined so as to become lower toward the downstream side in the conveying direction.

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