JP2018094476A - Automatic fruit/vegetable sorting method and automatic fruit/vegetable sorting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatic fruit/vegetable sorting method capable of efficiently sorting a lot of fruit/vegetables and an automatic fruit/vegetable sorting device hardly allowing occurrence of a trouble due to fatigue of an energizing spring and/or a failure such as a broken energizing spring.SOLUTION: An automatic fruit/vegetable sorting method of the invention comprises ejecting air to a fruit/vegetable or to a vicinity of that on a fruit/vegetable conveyor during conveyance so as to discharge the fruit/vegetable to a pool conveyor. An automatic fruit/vegetable sorting device measures and classifies the fruit/vegetable on the fruit/vegetable conveyor during conveyance using measuring means, and discharges the classified fruit/vegetable, on the basis of the classification result, to a pool conveyor corresponding to a determined class, disposed below the fruit/vegetable conveyor in a direction crossing the fruit/vegetable conveyor. The fruit/vegetable conveyor comprises: conveyor chains rotating vertically; multiple fruit/vegetable carriers attached onto the conveyor chains; and a discharge device for discharging the fruit/vegetable on the fruit/vegetable carrier. The discharge device comprises an air ejector for ejecting air to discharge the fruit/vegetable from the fruit/vegetable carrier.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic fruit vegetable sorting method and fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus that automatically sort various fruit vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, kabosu, and chestnuts according to standards (classified) such as size and shape.

  As a kind of fruit vegetable automatic sorting device, there is a device (PK type fruit sorting machine) using a fruit and vegetable body called PK (piano keyboard) type (Patent Documents 1 and 2). The PK type fruit sorting machine has a large number of PK type fruit and vegetables mounted on a vertical rotation type conveying chain, and measures and sorts the equal class etc. of the fruit and vegetables during the conveyance with the fruit and vegetables loaded body. . The PK-type fruit and vegetables mounting body includes a base attached to the transport chain, a movable body that is pivotally supported by the base and has one end movable up and down, and an operation tool that holds the movable body. Fruit vegetables are carried on the upper surface side of the movable body.

  A biasing spring that biases the movable body in a direction in which the tip side rotates downward (in this application, this rotation is referred to as “swinging”), and a biasing spring that biases the operation tool in a direction that holds the movable body. Is provided. Fruit vegetables can be discharged by depressing the operating tool in a direction against the spring force of the urging spring and releasing the holding of the movable body.

JP 2008-018354 A JP 2008-018355 A

  In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus provided with the PK keyboard type fruit and vegetables body, the biasing spring fatigues due to repeated swinging, and does not work well, or in some cases, the biasing spring breaks. was there.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an automatic fruit vegetable sorting method and fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus capable of solving various problems due to fatigue of the biasing spring.

[Fruit vegetables automatic selection method]
In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting method of the present invention, the fruit vegetables being conveyed by the fruit vegetable carrier are measured by the measuring means to determine the equal class, and the determined fruit vegetables are classified into the lower part of the fruit vegetable carrier by the equal class based on the determination result. In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting method for discharging to a pool conveyor provided in a direction intersecting with the transport body, the fruit vegetables are discharged to the pool conveyor by injecting air to the fruit vegetables being transported by the fruit transport body or in the vicinity of the fruit vegetables. Is the method.

[Fruit vegetables automatic sorting device]
In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention, the fruit vegetables being conveyed by the fruit vegetable transport body are measured by the measuring means to discriminate the equal class, and the determined fruit vegetables are classified under the fruit vegetable transport body by the equal class based on the discrimination result. In an automatic fruit vegetable sorting device that discharges to a pool conveyor provided in a direction intersecting with the transport body, the fruit transporter includes a vertically rotating transport chain, a plurality of fruit and vegetable mounting bodies attached to the transport chain, and the fruit and vegetable A discharge device for discharging the fruit vegetables on the mounting body from the fruit vegetable mounting body is provided, and as the discharging device, an air injector for injecting air for discharging the fruit vegetables on the fruit vegetable mounting body is provided.

  In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, when the fruit and vegetables mounting body has a movable body that can swing, and the fruit and vegetables can be discharged by swinging the movable body, the movable body of the fruit and vegetable vegetable mounting body is rotated as a discharging device. It can also be provided with a push-down tool.

  The fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus has a plurality of fruit and vegetable transport bodies provided in parallel or substantially in parallel, and the fruit and vegetables supplied from the fruit and vegetable supply section is transported to the front side of the fruit and vegetables mounting body of the plurality of fruit and vegetables. Fruit vegetable dispersion means dispersed outside the body in the arrangement direction, a fruit vegetable takeover body that takes over the fruit vegetables dispersed by the fruit vegetable dispersion means and conveys them to the front, and an alignment section that takes the fruit vegetables from the fruit vegetable takeover body and aligns them, The fruit vegetables dispersed by the fruit vegetable dispersion means and aligned by the alignment unit are supplied to a large number of fruit vegetable carriers.

  In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, a vibrating body that disperses fruit and vegetables in the arrangement direction of the fruit and vegetable carrier by vibration can be used as the fruit and vegetable dispersion means.

  In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, the alignment unit is composed of two or more vibrators having different lateral widths arranged in series, and the two or more vibrators are vibrations having a narrower width on the front side than the front side in the fruit vegetable transport direction. It is also possible that the device is arranged.

  In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, an unsorted conveyor for discharging fruit vegetables that have not been discharged to the pool conveyor may be provided below the fruit vegetable transport body and beyond the pool conveyor. In this case, a return conveyance body that returns the fruit vegetables discharged to the unselected conveyor to the fruit vegetable dispersing means can be provided at the front of the unselected conveyor.

  In the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus, the fruit and vegetables mounting body has a movable body that can be swung, the fruit and vegetable can be discharged by swinging the movable body, and is located at the end side of the fruit and vegetable transport body and ahead of the unsorted conveyor. Also, a return guide for returning the movable body swung to discharge the fruit vegetables to the original position may be provided.

[Fruit vegetables automatic selection method]
Since the fruit vegetable automatic selection method of the present invention discharges fruit vegetables by air injection, it is not necessary to rotate the movable body, so that the spring for biasing the movable body is difficult to break.

[Fruit vegetables automatic sorting device]
According to the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus of the present invention, fruit vegetables can be discharged by an air jet, so that breakage due to fatigue of the biasing spring hardly occurs. Even when a push-down tool that rotates the movable part of the fruit and vegetable mounting body is used as a discharge device, the number of rotations of the movable body can be suppressed, so that the urging spring of the fruit and vegetable vegetable mounting body is broken more than the conventional fruit and vegetable automatic sorting device. Trouble caused by is unlikely to occur. In the conventional method, the number of processes per unit time is about 10, whereas in the method using the air injector, the number of processes per unit time can be increased to about 12. In the discharge by the air injector, since there is no sound generated when the movable body is pushed down, the noise is high.

The perspective view which shows from the discharge receiving part of the fruit vegetable automatic sorter to the middle of the alignment part. The perspective view which shows from the middle of the dispersion | distribution raising body of a fruit vegetable automatic selection apparatus to the terminal end of a fruit vegetable conveyance body. The side view of FIG. The side view of FIG. The top view of FIG. The top view of FIG. 1 shows an example of a fruit-carried body, in which (a) is a perspective view when the middle movable body is made one step lower than both outer movable bodies, and (b) is a movable body with both outer movable bodies in the middle. The perspective view at the time of making it one step lower. It is explanatory drawing at the time of rotating a movable body with a push-down tool and discharging fruit vegetables from on a fruit vegetable mounting body, Comprising: (a) shows the state by which the movable body was hold | maintained (locked) with the operation tool, (b) Is a state in which the operation part is pushed down with a push-down tool, and the fruits and vegetables are discharged from the fruits-carried body. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of a fruit vegetable mounting body, Comprising: (a) shows the state which installed the fruit vegetable mounting body shown in FIG.7 (a) and the fruit vegetable mounting body shown in FIG.7 (b) side by side, (b) is The state which rotated the two front movable bodies of the fruit and vegetables mounting body of (a). It is explanatory drawing at the time of discharging | emitting fruit vegetables from a fruit vegetable mounting body with an air jet, Comprising: (a) shows the state before air injection, (b) discharged fruit vegetables from the fruit vegetable mounting body by air injection. Indicates the state. It is explanatory drawing of a return guide, Comprising: (a) is explanatory drawing in the case of returning the movable body swung, and (b) is explanatory drawing of operation | movement in which the movable body swung returns to the original state. .

(Embodiment of fruit and vegetables)
An example of the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. The fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 is used by being fixed to the transport chain 33 of the fruit and vegetable transport body 19 of the fruit and vegetable automatic sorting apparatus shown in FIGS. As an example, the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 shown in FIG. 7A is of a so-called PK type (piano keyboard type), a base 2 attached to the transport chain 33, and a movable body pivotally supported by the base 2 3 and the operation tool 4 are provided. The movable body 3 and the operation tool 4 are in a one-to-one relationship, and three sets are provided in the example of FIG.

  The base 2 includes an attachment portion 5 to the transport chain 33 and a holding piece 6 that holds the movable body 3 and the operation tool 4. The holding pieces 6 are formed as a set of two pieces, and are erected upward on the upper surface of the base 2. In this embodiment, three sets of holding pieces 6 are provided side by side. The holding pieces 6 may be provided according to the number of the movable bodies 3. For example, when the number of the movable bodies 3 is two, two sets may be provided, and when the number of the movable pieces 3 is four, four sets may be provided. A connecting portion 3a of the movable body 3 is disposed between each holding piece 6 (a set of two holding pieces), and is rotatably supported by a first support shaft 7a. Each movable body 3 is provided with an unillustrated biasing spring (movable body biasing tool), and an end portion (referred to as “tip portion” in the present application) 3d on the distal end side of the movable body 3 is downward. It is biased in the direction of rotation.

  The operation tool 4 is rotatably supported by the second support shaft 7b on the rear end side (attachment portion side) of each holding piece 6. As an example, the operation tool 4 shown in FIG. 7A has a V-shape when viewed from the side, and an operation of releasing the engagement between the engagement portion 4 a and the engagement portion 4 a that are engaged with the engagement groove 3 b of the movable body 3. A portion 4b is provided. The movable body 3 is locked by locking the locking portion 4a in the locking groove 3b, and the movable body 3 swings by releasing the locking by the locking portion 4a. A biasing spring (biasing tool for operating tool) (not shown) is attached to the operating tool 4, and a force is biased in a direction in which the locking portion 4 a of the operating tool 4 is locked to the locking groove 3 b of the movable body 3. ing. In this embodiment, the locking portion 4a and the locking groove 3b correspond to locking means in the claims.

  The movable body 3 shown in FIG. 7 (a) has a valley lower than the both end portions 3c and 3d between the end portion (for convenience of explanation, referred to as “rear end portion” in this application) 3c and the front end portion 3d. The movable body 3 in the middle is V-shaped when viewed from the side with the portion 3e, so that the movable body 3 in the middle is one step lower than the movable bodies 3 on both outer sides. On the upper surface side of both outer movable bodies, the cross-sectional shape of the movable body 3 is substantially hemispherical (saddle-shaped). The middle movable body 3 has a gentler V shape than the outer movable bodies 3. On the surface of the movable body 3 in the middle, two longitudinal ridges 8a long in the longitudinal direction are provided at intervals. Between the two vertical protrusions 8a, two horizontal protrusions 8b are provided at two locations on the front side and the rear side of the two vertical protrusions 8a. A large number of horizontal protrusions 8c are provided on the surfaces of the movable bodies 3 on both outer sides with a space therebetween. In addition, the movable body 3 of this embodiment has a rubber cover on the outside of a plastic core.

  As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 can be configured such that the middle movable body 3 is higher and the movable bodies 3 on both sides thereof are one step lower than the middle movable body 3. A vertical protrusion 8a and a horizontal protrusion 8b similar to the middle movable body 3 in FIG. 7A are provided on the surfaces of both outer movable bodies 3, and the middle movable body 3 includes ) And the lateral protrusion 8c similar to the movable body 3 on both outer sides.

  Although the movable body 3 shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B has a gentle V shape when viewed from the side, the movable body 3 can be flat instead of the V shape. In this case, fruit vegetables (for example, cherry tomatoes) on the movable body 3 are easier to roll than in the case where the shape is V-shaped. Therefore, a protrusion or the like (not shown) for preventing the fruit vegetables from rolling on the central portion of the movable body 3. Can also be provided. However, the protrusion shall not interfere with the delivery of fruit vegetables to the pool conveyor.

(Embodiment of fruit vegetable automatic sorting method and fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus)
Next, an example of the fruit vegetable automatic sorting method and the fruit vegetable automatic sorting apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, a case where fruit vegetables are cherry tomatoes will be described as an example. As an example, the automatic fruit vegetable sorting apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 includes a discharge receiving portion 11 that receives cherry tomatoes discharged from the container 10, an inclined plate 12 provided at the front of the discharge receiving portion 11, and a front end of the inclined plate 12. A lifting body 13 provided on the front side, a feed conveyance body 14 provided on the front side of the lifting body 13, a dispersion inclined body 15 provided on the front side of the feeding conveyance body 14, and a front side of the dispersion inclination body 15. The vibrating body 16, the dispersion lifting body (fruit and vegetable succession body) 17 provided at the front of the vibration body 16, the alignment portion 18 provided at the front of the dispersion lifting body 17, and the fruit vegetable provided at the front of the alignment portion 18. A transport body 19 is provided. In this embodiment, the alignment unit 18 and the fruit and vegetable transport body 19 are provided in four strips, and the measuring unit 20 provided on the start end side (near the alignment unit) of each fruit and vegetable transport body 19 is used to place the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetable mounting body 1. Can be measured. In this application, what supplies a fruit vegetable to the apparatus of the other side is called a fruit vegetable supply part. Moreover, in this application, the apparatus provided with the vibration body 16 and the dispersion | distribution raising body 17 or the apparatus which added the dispersion inclination body 15 to the vibration body 16 and the dispersion | distribution raising body 17 is called fruit vegetable dispersion | distribution supply apparatus.

  A large number of pool conveyors 21 are provided below the Shijo fruit and vegetable transport body 19 in a direction intersecting (orthogonal to) the transport direction of the fruit and vegetable transport body 19 so that the sorted cherry tomatoes can be pooled. Although there are two in the illustrated example, one or more are actually provided for each equal class. In addition, an unsorted conveyor 22 for discharging cherry tomatoes that has not been discharged to any of the pool conveyors 21 is parallel to the pool conveyor 21 (in the direction of transport of the fruit and vegetable transport body 19). Crossing (orthogonal) direction). A return conveyance body 23 is provided at the terminal side of the unsorted conveyor 22 so that cherry tomatoes that have not been sorted can be returned to the vibrating body 16. Each fruit and vegetable transporter 19 is provided with a pusher 24 for swinging the movable body 3 of the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 and an air jet 25 for discharging the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetable mounting body 1 to the pool conveyor by air. Yes.

[Discharge receiving part]
The discharge receiving portion 11 is a portion that receives cherry tomatoes discharged from the container 10 or the like. A belt conveyor or the like can be used for the discharge receiving portion 11. The discharge receiving portion 11 can be provided with a fall prevention wall (not shown) on the side so that cherry tomatoes do not fall. The illustrated example is an example, and the discharge receiving portion 11 may be other than this. Although the thing which is not equipped with the means to send cherry tomatoes ahead like a belt conveyor can also be used as the discharge | emission receiving part 11, what is necessary is just to send cherry tomatoes ahead by hand in this case. The discharge receiving part 11 can also be omitted. In this case, cherry tomatoes can be directly supplied to the inclined plate 12 from the container 10 or the like.

[Inclined plate]
The inclined plate 12 sends the cherry tomatoes supplied from the discharge receiving part 11 to the lower end side (start end side) of the lifting body 13. In this embodiment, a flat plate having a fall prevention wall 26 on the side is used. By using the inclined plate 12 also as the discharge receiving portion 11, the cherry tomatoes discharged from the container 10 or the like can be received by the inclined plate 12 and sent to the lower end side of the lifting body 13. The illustrated example is an example, and the inclined plate 12 may be other than this. The inclined plate 12 can be omitted. In this case, cherry tomatoes can be directly supplied to the lifting body 13 from the container 10 or the like.

[Raised body]
The lifting body 13 is for lifting a plurality of cherry tomatoes sent from the inclined plate 12 one by one and supplying the picked-up tomatoes 14 to the forward feeding body 14. As an example, the lifting body 13 shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5 has a plurality of receiving members 27 protruding from the outer periphery of a flat belt of a belt conveyor. The protruding width of the receiving material 27 is set to such a width that only one cherry tomato fits or slightly protrudes. The interval between the adjacent receiving members 27 is such that one cherry tomato can be accommodated, in other words, the interval between the receiving members 27 so that two or more cherry tomatoes are not placed vertically. Therefore, a plurality of cherry tomatoes placed on one receiving material 27 are aligned in a row without overlapping on the receiving material 27. The illustrated example is an example, and the lifting body 13 may be other than this. The lifting body 13 can be omitted. In this case, cherry tomatoes can be directly supplied from the container 10 or the like to the feed carrier 14.

[Feed carrier]
The feed carrier 14 supplies the cherry tomato pulled up by the lifting body 13 to the dispersion inclined body 15 at the front. In this embodiment, an existing belt conveyor is used as the feed carrier 14, but it is also possible to use a conveyor other than the belt conveyor such as a roller conveyor. As shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, a plurality of workers can be arranged on the side of the feed carrier 14. The worker confirms the cherry tomatoes moving on the feed carrier 14 one by one, and performs primary selection by appropriately removing those that are scratched or eaten by insects.

[Dispersed inclined body]
The dispersion inclined body 15 disperses the cherry tomatoes sent from the feed carrier 14 and supplies them to the vibrating body 16 (feed stand). In this embodiment, a flat plate (plate-like portion) having a fall prevention wall 28 on the side is used. A dispersion guide 29 is provided on the upper surface of the flat plate so that the cherry tomatoes supplied to the dispersion inclined body 15 can be dispersed to some extent. An operator who performs work on the feed carrier 14 can disperse the cherry tomatoes using the dispersion guide 29 as a mark.

[Vibrating body]
The vibrator 16 disperses the cherry tomatoes supplied from the dispersion inclined body 15 more evenly or substantially equally in a well-balanced manner (fruit vegetable dispersion means). The vibrating body 16 is vibrated so that the mounted cherry tomato moves in the lateral direction. The cherry tomatoes dispersed laterally by the vibration of the vibrating body 16 are supplied to the dispersion lifting body 17 while maintaining the dispersed state.

[Dispersion lifting body]
The dispersion lifting body 17 pulls up the cherry tomatoes supplied from the vibrating body 16 and supplies them to the previous alignment unit 18. In this embodiment, a dispersion lifting body 17 is used in which a plurality of receiving members 30 protrude from the outer periphery of a flat belt of a belt conveyor. The basic structure of the dispersion lifting body 17 such as the protruding width of the receiving material 30 and the interval between adjacent receiving materials 30 is the same as that of the lifting body 13, but the lateral width is wider than that of the lifting body 13. Similar to the lifting body 13, the plurality of cherry tomatoes placed on one receiving material 30 are arranged in a line without overlapping on the receiving material 30 in the dispersion lifting body 17. The illustrated example is an example, and the lifting body 17 may be other than this. In this embodiment, the four rows of alignment portions 18 are provided side by side without any interval, and the cherry tomatoes are supplied to these four rows of alignment portions 18 equally or substantially equally in a well-balanced manner. The reason why the alignment portions 18 are provided without a gap is to prevent the cherry tomatoes from falling from the gap.

[Alignment section]
The alignment unit 18 aligns cherry tomatoes supplied from the dispersion lifting body 17 in a line. The reason for aligning in a row is to prevent the accurate measurement from being hindered by overlapping the cherry tomatoes when passing through the measuring means 20. As an example, those shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 are sent to the other side while eliminating overlap of cherry tomatoes by vibration. In this embodiment, three pieces having different widths are arranged in series, but the number can be more than three or less than three. In this embodiment, the three vibration devices having different widths are arranged so that the wide one is on the near side and the narrow one is on the front side, that is, the path through which the cherry tomatoes moves is narrowed toward the other side. is there. The cherry tomatoes supplied from the dispersion lifting body 17 are guided from the wide vibration device to the narrow vibration device, and are finally aligned in a line.

[Fruit vegetable carrier]
The fruit and vegetable transport body 19 is obtained by attaching a plurality of fruit and vegetable mounting bodies 1 to a vertically rotating transport body. The fruit vegetable carrier 19 is of a longitudinal rotation type in which a transport chain 33 is wound around the outer periphery of a plurality of sprockets 32 arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the long frame 31. The transport chain 33 is configured to run by rotation of a motor (not shown). A large number of fruit vegetables 1 are continuously attached to the transport chain 33, and are moved in the travel direction by the travel of the transport chain 33. An existing chain such as a one-row roller chain or a two-row roller chain can be used as the transport chain 33. In this embodiment, the fruit and vegetable carrier 1 shown in FIG. 7 (a) and the fruit and vegetable carrier 1 shown in FIG. 7 (b) are alternately attached to the transport chain 33 so that every other recessed portion appears. It is. The fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 is cantilevered by the transport chain 33. In addition, the fruit vegetables mounting body 1 can also use a thing other than this.

  As shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, the frame 31 is provided with a push-down tool 24 and an air injector 25 at a predetermined interval. One pusher 24 and one air injector 25 are provided at positions corresponding to the pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 respectively. More specifically, the push-down tool 24 is provided in front of each pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 in the length direction of the frame, and the air injector 25 is ahead of the push-down tool 24 in the length direction of the frame. In addition, each pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 are provided in the vicinity of the center in the width direction. A return guide 34 (FIGS. 11A and 11B) for returning the swingable movable body 3 to the original position is provided in the vicinity of the end of the fruit vegetable transport body 19.

[Measuring means]
The measuring means 20 measures the shape, size, sugar content, etc. of cherry tomatoes conveyed by the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1, and includes a photographing camera, a processing circuit, a sugar meter, and the like. The measuring means 20 can be arranged above the fruit vegetable carrier 19 so that the cherry tomato being transported can be photographed from above and measured, or the cherry tomato being transported can be measured from the side. In addition, it is also possible to measure the cherry tomatoes being transported by placing them directly below. It can also be arranged at other positions so that it can be measured from different directions. Existing devices can be used for the camera, processing circuit, saccharimeter, etc., and the measuring means 20 can use various types of measuring instruments such as an image type and an optical type.

[Pressing tool]
The push-down tool 24 pushes down the operating tool 4 of the running fruit and vegetable mounting body 1 and discharges the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetable mounting body 1 to the pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 (discharge device). As an example, the push-down tool 24 shown in FIGS. 2, 4, 6 and 8 (a) (b) includes a rotary solenoid (not shown) and a push-down arm 24a fixed to a rotary shaft (not shown) of the rotary solenoid. A push plate 24b provided at the tip of the arm 24a is provided. An isoclass discrimination signal is transmitted to the rotary solenoid, and the push-down arm 24a rotates according to the signal. The push-down tool 24 is an example, and other things can be substituted.

[Air injector]
The air injector 25 discharges the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 to the pool conveyor 21 by air (discharge device). By spraying air to cherry tomatoes or the vicinity of cherry tomatoes with the air sprayer 25, cherry tomatoes can be discharged from the fruit and vegetable mount 1. An existing air injector 25 can be used. The jetting force of the air injector 25 is preferably strong enough to discharge cherry tomatoes and strong enough that the discharged cherry tomatoes do not reach the adjacent fruit vegetable carrier 19. In order to prevent the discharged cherry tomatoes from reaching the next vegetable transporter 19, a curtain or the like is hung between each vegetable transporter 19, and the discharged tomatoes are next to the next vegetable transporter. It is also possible not to be on 19.

  In this embodiment, the case where both the push-down tool 24 and the air injector 25 are provided is taken as an example. However, in this case, both the push-down tool 24 and the air injector 25 are used, or only the air injector 25 is used. You can also. In addition, a single fruit and vegetable transport body, such as an air jet 25 for discharging the first vegetable conveyor 19 to the first pool conveyor 21 and a push-down tool 24 for discharging to the second pool conveyor 21. In 19, the push-down tool 24 and the air injector 25 can be selectively used. When only the air injector 25 is used, only the air injector 25 can be provided, or both the push-down tool 24 and the air injector 25 can be provided and only the air injector 25 can be used.

[Pool conveyor]
The said pool conveyor 21 takes over the cherry tomato discharged | emitted from the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1. FIG. As an example, the pool conveyor 21 shown in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6 is of the belt conveyor type in which a flat belt is circulated around the outer periphery of rollers arranged at intervals. In this embodiment, the pool conveyor 21 is provided below the Shijo fruit and vegetable transport body 19 in a direction orthogonal to (intersects) these fruit and vegetable transport bodies 19, and is discharged from the fruit and vegetable mounting body 1 of each fruit and vegetable transport body 19. The cherry tomatoes are taken over. The pool conveyor 21 is configured to continuously or intermittently rotate in the direction of the arrows in FIGS. Although not shown, one or more pool conveyors 21 can be provided for each equal class, preferably three or more. In addition, the pack conveyor 21 which measures automatically the weight and the number of the cherry tomato discharged | emitted by the pool conveyor 21 and packs can also be provided in the other side of the pool conveyor 21.

[Unsorted conveyor]
The unsorted conveyor 22 is a conveyor for discharging cherry tomatoes that have passed through the final pool conveyor 21 without discrimination of equal classes. In this embodiment, a belt conveyor type in which a flat belt is circulated around the outer periphery of rollers arranged at intervals is provided in parallel with the pool conveyor 21. The discharge of cherry tomatoes to the unsorted conveyor 22 can be performed by the push-down tool 24 or by the air injector 25. When the pressing tool 24 is used, the unselected cherry tomatoes can be discharged to the unselected conveyor 22 by pressing down the operation parts 4b of all the fruit and vegetables mounted bodies 1 that pass through the pressing tool 24. In the case of the air injector 25, air can be ejected and discharged to each cherry tomato that has reached the position of the unsorted conveyor 22 without being sorted. The former method has an advantage that unselected cherry tomatoes can be reliably discharged, and the latter method has an advantage that there is no operation sound generated when the operation unit 4b is pushed down by the push-down tool 24, and the operation is quiet.

[Return carrier]
A return transport body 23 (FIGS. 2, 4 and 6) for returning cherry tomatoes discharged to the unsorted conveyor 22 to the vibrating body 16 is provided at the front side of the unsorted conveyor 22. In this embodiment, the return transport body 23 is provided outside the fruit and vegetable transport body 19 in parallel with the fruit and vegetable transport body 19, and the belt of the return transport body 23 is opposite to the fruit and vegetable transport direction in the fruit and vegetable transport body 19. It proceeds in the direction (the direction in which the fruit and vegetables mounting body 19 returns to the starting end side). A sliding plate 23 a is provided between the return transport body 23 and the vibrating body 16 so that cherry tomatoes returned by the return transport body 23 can be supplied to the vibration body 16.

[Return Guide]
The return guide 34 is a guide for returning the swung movable body 3 to its original state, that is, a state in which the locking portion 4 a of the locking tool 4 is locked in the locking groove 3 b of the movable body 3. is there. In this embodiment, a single curved bar as shown in FIGS. 11 (a) and 11 (b) is used. The return guide 34 has a shape that rises gently toward the end side and then becomes horizontal, and can be returned to its original position by moving the fruit and vegetable mounting body 1 while contacting the upper surface side of the return guide 34. It is like that. The structure of the return guide 34 may be other than this. When all the tomatoes are discharged to the pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 by the air jet 25, the return guide 34 can be omitted.

(Operation)
The cherry tomato discharged to the discharge receiving portion 11 rolls on the inclined plate 12 and is lifted upward by the lifting body 13. The lifted cherry tomato is placed on the feed carrier 14, and the defective cherry tomato is manually removed by the operator while moving the feed carrier 14. The cherry tomatoes that have passed through the feed carrier 14 roll on the dispersion inclined body 15 and reach the vibrating body 16. The cherry tomatoes that have reached the vibrating body 16 are evenly or substantially evenly distributed in the lateral direction with a good balance by the vibration of the vibrating body 16. The cherry tomatoes dispersed by the vibrating body 16 are pulled up by the dispersion lifting body 17 and aligned in a line so as not to overlap at the alignment section 18 provided at the front. The aligned cherry tomatoes are sequentially placed on the fruit and vegetable carrier 1 of the fruit and vegetable carrier 19 and conveyed to the other side. During this conveyance, the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 are measured by the measuring means 20, and the equal class is determined based on the result. The equal class determination signal is transmitted to the pusher 24 and / or the air jet 25, and when the cherry tomatoes determined by the equal class move above the predetermined pool conveyor 21, the movable body 3 of the fruit vegetable mounting body 1 is necked. Shake or the air injector 25 injects air and the cherry tomatoes on the fruit and vegetables mounting body 1 are discharged to the pool conveyor 21. The cherry tomatoes that have passed through all the pool conveyors 21 without being discharged to the pool conveyor 21 are discharged to the unsorted conveyor 22 and returned to the vibrating body 16 by the return transport body 23. The cherry tomatoes returned to the vibrating body 16 are again placed on the dispersion lifting body 17 and sorted in the order described above. The movable body 3 swung to discharge the cherry tomatoes to the pool conveyor 21 and the unsorted conveyor 22 is returned to the original state by the return guide 34 arranged at the front of the unsorted conveyor 22. In addition, in the fruit vegetable automatic selection apparatus of this embodiment, about 10 to 12 processing per second is possible.

  The fruit vegetable carrier, the fruit vegetable dispersion supply method, the fruit vegetable dispersion supply device, the fruit vegetable automatic selection method, and the fruit vegetable automatic selection device of the present application are particularly suitable for selecting relatively difficult to damage fruit vegetables such as kabosu and chestnut in addition to mini tomatoes. However, it can also be used for selection of various fruit vegetables other than these.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fruit and vegetables mounting body 2 Base part 3 Movable body 3a Connection part 3b Locking groove 3c Rear end part 3d Tip part 3e Valley part 4 Operation tool 4a Locking part 4b Operation part 5 Mounting part 6 Holding piece 7a 1st support shaft 7b 1st 2 support shafts 8a Vertical ridges 8b Horizontal ridges 8c Horizontal ridges 10 Container 11 Discharge receiving portion 12 Inclined plate 13 Lifting body 14 Feeding carrier 15 Dispersing inclined body 16 Vibrating body (fruit vegetable dispersion means)
17 Dispersed lifting body (fruit and vegetable inherited body)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 Alignment part 19 Fruit vegetable conveyance body 20 Measuring means 21 Pool conveyor 22 Unsorted conveyor 23 Return conveyance body 23a Sliding plate 24 Depressing tool 24a Depressing arm 24b Depressing plate 25 Air jet 26 Fall prevention wall 27 Receiving material 28 Fall prevention wall 29 Dispersion Guide 30 Receiving material 31 Frame 32 Sprocket 33 Conveying chain 34 Return guide

Claims (9)

The fruit vegetables being transported by the fruit transporter are measured by the measuring means to determine the equal class, and the determined fruit vegetables are provided in the direction crossing the fruit transporter under the fruit transporter for each class based on the determination result. In the automatic fruit vegetable sorting method discharged to the pool conveyor,
Discharging the fruit vegetables to the pool conveyor by injecting air to the fruit vegetables being conveyed by the fruit vegetable carrier or in the vicinity of the fruit vegetables,
The fruit vegetable automatic selection method characterized by this. The fruit vegetables being transported by the fruit transporter are measured by the measuring means to determine the equal class, and the determined fruit vegetables are provided in the direction crossing the fruit transporter under the fruit transporter for each class based on the determination result. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device discharged to the pool conveyor,
The fruit and vegetable transport body includes a longitudinally rotating transport chain, a plurality of fruit and vegetable mounting bodies attached to the transport chain, and a discharge device that discharges the fruit and vegetables on the fruit and vegetables mounting body from the fruit and vegetable mounting body,
As the discharge device, provided with an air injector for injecting air for discharging the fruit and vegetables on the fruit and vegetables body,
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device according to claim 2,
The fruit and vegetables mounting body has a movable body that can be swung, and the fruit and vegetable can be discharged by swinging the movable body.
As a discharge device, provided with a push-down tool that rotates the movable body of the fruit and vegetables mounting body,
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic selection device according to claim 2 or claim 3,
A large number of fruit vegetable carriers are provided in parallel or substantially in parallel,
Dispersed on the front side of the multiple strips of fruit and vegetables by the fruit and vegetable supply means for dispersing the fruit and vegetables supplied from the fruit and vegetables supply part on the outside in the arrangement direction of the fruit and vegetable transport body, and the fruit and vegetable dispersion means A fruit takeover body that takes over the fruit vegetables and conveys them to the destination, and an alignment section that takes the fruit vegetables from the fruit vegetable takeover body and aligns them,
The fruit vegetables dispersed by the fruit vegetable dispersion means and aligned in the alignment unit are supplied to a plurality of fruit vegetable carriers.
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device according to claim 4,
The fruit vegetable dispersion means is a vibrating body that disperses fruit vegetables in the arrangement direction of the fruit vegetable carrier by vibration.
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device according to claim 4 or claim 5,
The alignment portion is composed of two or more vibrators arranged in series and having different widths,
The two or more vibrators are arranged with a vibration device having a narrow width on the front side rather than the front side in the fruit conveyance direction,
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic selection device according to any one of claims 2 to 6,
An unsorted conveyor for discharging fruit vegetables that have not been discharged to the pool conveyor is provided below the fruit conveyor and at the end of the pool conveyor.
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit vegetable automatic sorting device according to claim 7,
A return transport body for returning the fruit vegetables discharged to the unsorted conveyor to the fruit vegetable dispersion means is provided at the other side of the unsorted conveyor.
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that. In the fruit and vegetable vegetable automatic selection device according to any one of claims 2 to 8,
The fruit and vegetables mounting body has a movable body that can be swung, and the fruit and vegetable can be discharged by swinging the movable body.
A return guide for returning the movable body swung to discharge the fruit vegetables to the original position is provided at the end side of the fruit vegetable transport body and ahead of the unsorted conveyor,
Fruit vegetable automatic sorting device characterized by that.

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