JP2021085689A - Article regulation device and combination balance including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an article regulation device with a simple structure capable of regulating movement of an article dropped and supplied from a supply device and preventing damage to the article.SOLUTION: An article regulation device comprises a movement regulation member 35 including a plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38 adjacent to each other in an article movement path in which an article drops and moves, and elastically deformable downward according to an article weight. In the plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38, a free end of the article to be supplied elastically deforms downward to a degree according to the weight of the article to allow drop and movement of the article.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to an article regulating device that regulates the falling movement of an article, and a combination scale that uses the article regulating device to regulate an article that is dropped and supplied to a dispersion feeder.

Generally, in a combination scale, articles are dropped and supplied from a supply device above the center of the device to the conical top cone of the dispersion feeder. In the distributed feeder, the article is distributed and conveyed to the transport troughs of a plurality of linear feeders arranged radially around the article by vibration. Each linear feeder vibrates the transport trough to supply articles to the corresponding supply hoppers, and each supply hopper temporarily stores the articles and then supplies the articles to each of the plurality of weighing hoppers.

A combination of weighing hoppers whose combined weight, which is the total weight of various combinations of the weights of the articles weighed by each weighing hopper, is within a predetermined weight range, the articles of the selected weighing hopper are discharged to the packaging machine, and the packaging machine is used. It is packed in a bag.

In such a combination scale, the article is dropped and supplied to the dispersion feeder from above. For example, in the case of an article such as potato, the article falls with a large head, and the top cone of the dispersion feeder or the article supplied earlier. By colliding with the product, the collision point of the article is damaged, the color changes over time, and the commercial value is impaired.

In order to prevent damage due to collision of such articles, for example, in Patent Document 1, an inverted truncated cone-shaped supply funnel and a gutter-shaped chute are provided above the dispersion feeder and discharged from the chute. Disclosed is a frustrated cone feeder that mitigates collisions with the dispersion feeder and previously supplied articles by guiding the article to the dispersion feeder in a spiral on the supply funnel. ing.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-47789

However, in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to provide an inverted truncated cone-shaped supply funnel above the dispersion feeder so that the article slides down in a spiral manner, and the article is placed from an outer position diagonally above the supply funnel. It is necessary to provide a supply chute device that supplies the supply funnel. For this reason, the size of the entire combination scale is increased, and the structure is complicated and the manufacturing cost is high as compared with the case where the article is dropped and supplied from above the dispersion feeder.

The present invention has been made in view of these points, and is an article regulating device having a simple structure capable of restricting the movement of an article to be dropped and supplied to prevent damage to the article, and an article regulating device having a simple structure. , It is an object of the present invention to provide a combination scale equipped with this.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is configured as follows.

(1) The article restricting device according to the present invention is provided with a movement restricting member which is installed in a falling movement path of the supplied article and regulates the falling movement of the article, and the movement restricting member is adjacent to which elastically deformable. The plurality of cantilever movable pieces have a plurality of cantilever movable pieces, and the free end side of the plurality of cantilever movable pieces is elastically deformed downward due to the weight of the supplied article to allow the article to fall and move.

According to the article regulating device according to the present invention, the dropped-supplied article is once received as a buffer by the movement-regulating member located in the drop-moving path, and the free end side of the cantilever movable piece is elastic downward depending on the weight of the article. By deforming, the article slides down while being guided to the free end side of the cantilever movable piece, falls and moves in a decelerated state, and is received by the supply destination with less impact.

(2) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each of the plurality of cantilever movable pieces has a triangular shape in which one side is fixedly supported.

According to this embodiment, since the cantilever movable piece has a triangular shape with the one side side as the fixed side, the cantilever movable piece is more likely to be elastically deformed toward the free end side, and the cantilever movable piece that receives the article is smoothly lowered. It bends and deforms to guide the article to the free end side.

(3) In one embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of cantilever movable pieces are adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction centered on the apex so as to abut the free ends which are the apex of the triangle. There is.

According to this embodiment, since each cantilever movable piece is adjacent along the circumferential direction centered on the apex so as to abut the free ends which are triangular vertices, the cantilever movable pieces are elastically deformed toward the center side. Each cantilever movable piece that receives the article smoothly bends and deforms downward to guide the article to the center side.

(4) In another embodiment of the present invention, the movement restricting member is in the form of a sheet, and the plurality of cantilever movable pieces are formed radially outward from the center of the movement restricting member. It is divided into the triangular shape by the slits of.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to easily and inexpensively obtain a movement restricting member including a plurality of cantilever movable pieces having ridges butted against each other simply by performing a cutting process on one sheet.

(5) The combination scale according to the present invention has a dispersion feeder that radially disperses and conveys articles that are dropped and supplied from a supply device, and around the dispersion feeder so that the dispersed and conveyed articles are conveyed outward. A plurality of deployed linear feeders, a supply hopper that temporarily stores and discharges articles transported by each linear feeder, and a weighing hopper that stores and discharges articles discharged from each supply hopper and measures the weight thereof. The combination scale includes the article control device according to any one of (1) to (4), and the drop movement path is a path for dropping and supplying articles from the supply device to the dispersion feeder.

According to the combination scale according to the present invention, the drop supply of the article to the dispersion feeder can be made to have less impact by the article regulation device, and the article is supplied to the dispersion feeder without being damaged, and the commercial value is impaired. Combined weighing can be performed without any need.

(6) In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the present invention includes an inverted truncated cone-shaped supply funnel that is disposed above the dispersion feeder and discharges the article received from the upper opening from the lower opening and supplies the article to the dispersion feeder. The movement restricting member of the article restricting device is mounted and supported in the upper opening of the supply funnel.

According to this embodiment, since the supply funnel that guides the goods to be supplied is used for mounting the movement regulation member of the goods regulation device, a dedicated mounting structure for installing the goods regulation device is not required, and the implementation is inexpensive. can do.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to suitably buffer and regulate the movement of the article that is falling vigorously, and it is possible to prevent the article from being damaged.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a combination scale according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing a schematic configuration of the combination scale of FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the article regulation device of FIG. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the article regulation device of FIG. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional front view of the article regulation device of FIG. FIG. 6 is a perspective view corresponding to FIG. 3 of another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an external perspective view of the combination scale according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a vertical sectional front view showing a schematic configuration of the combination scale.

The combination scale of this embodiment weighs articles supplied from the supply conveyor 4 as an upper supply device in predetermined amounts, and the weighed articles are shown below the floor surface F. It is used for packaging lines that are put into unpacked packaging equipment and packed in bags.

A hollow short columnar center substrate 1 is arranged in the center of the combination scale. The center substrate 1 is supported by a rectangular base 2 whose central portion is installed on the floor surface F and whose central portion is vertically opened through, via a plurality of legs 3.

A dispersion feeder 5 is provided at the center of the upper part of the center substrate 1 to radially disperse the articles discharged from the discharge port 4a of the supply conveyor 4 and to be dropped and supplied by vibration. Around the dispersion feeder 5, a large number of linear feeders 6 for linearly transporting the dispersedly transported articles outward by vibration are provided radially.

A supply hopper 7 that temporarily stores and discharges articles from each linear feeder 6 on the outer peripheral wall of the center substrate 1, and a measuring hopper 8 that receives articles discharged from each supply hopper 7 and measures the weight thereof. Is equipped. Then, the combined weighing and discharging of the articles are performed by a plurality of measuring units including the linear feeder 6, the supply hopper 7, and the measuring hopper 8.

Below each weighing hopper 8, a collecting chute 9 for collecting articles discharged from a plurality of weighing hoppers 8 combined and selected so as to be within a predetermined weight range is provided, and a collecting chute 9 is provided. Below, a gathering funnel 10 that further collects the articles that have slipped down from the gathering chute 9 is deployed. At the lower end of the collecting funnel 10, a collecting hopper 11 that temporarily receives and stores the articles collected by the collecting funnel 10 and discharges the articles based on the discharge request command from the packaging device is arranged.

The dispersion feeder 5 includes a conical top cone 12 and an electromagnetic vibration mechanism 13 that vibrates and drives the top cone 12. The vibration exciting mechanism 13 is installed in the center of the frame plate 14 arranged inside the center substrate 1. The vibration mechanism 13 is supported on the frame plate 14 via the weight sensor 15. The weight sensor 15 detects the weight of the article on the distributed feeder 5. Then, the supply conveyor 4 is controlled to be turned on / off based on the weight detection information, and articles having a weight within the set range are always supplied onto the distributed feeder 5.

Further, below the discharge port 4a of the supply conveyor 4, an inverted truncated cone-shaped supply funnel 16 for guiding the discharged articles to the center of the dispersion feeder 5 is provided, and a notch is provided from the lower end thereof. A shatterproof member 17 formed of a soft resin sheet contained therein in a tubular shape of a truncated cone is hung down near the upper surface of the dispersion feeder 5.

The linear feeder 6 includes a gutter-shaped transport trough 20 that goes inward and outward, and an electromagnetic vibration mechanism 21 that vibrates and drives the trough 20. The vibration mechanism 21 of each linear feeder 6 is arranged on the frame plate 14 so as to surround the vibration mechanism 13 of the distributed feeder 5.

A drive unit 22 incorporating a drive mechanism for opening and closing the gates of the supply hopper 7 and the measuring hopper 8 and a weight sensor for measuring the weight of an article in the measuring hopper 8 is mounted on the outer peripheral portion of the center substrate 1. ing. A supply hopper 7 and a measuring hopper 8 are detachably mounted and supported on the outwardly exposed portion of the drive unit 22 by a hook method.

In the combination scale of this embodiment, in order to alleviate the vigorous collision of articles such as potatoes, which are easily damaged by collision, with the top cone 12 or the articles on the top cone 12 when they are dropped and supplied to the dispersion feeder 5. , The article regulation device 30 shown below is provided.

The article control device 30 is attached to the upper end of the supply funnel 16 which is connected and supported by four columns 31 erected from the center substrate 1, that is, the upper opening of the supply funnel 16.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the article regulating device 30, and FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view thereof.

A mounting frame 32 in which angle members are assembled in a grid shape is mounted on the upper portion of the support column 31. Brackets 16a projecting from the upper outer circumference of the supply funnel 16 are mounted on the two opposite sides of the mounting frame 32, and the supply funnel 16 is fixed to the mounting frame 32 by tightening the wing bolts 33. .. The mounting frame 32 is inserted and supported so as to be slidable up and down with respect to the support column 31, and the mounting frame 32 can be fixed at an arbitrary height by tightening a bolt with a handle 34 equipped on the insertion boss portion. There is.

The article regulating device 30 includes a circular sheet-shaped movement restricting member 35 made of urethane rubber having a thickness of, for example, 1 to 3 mm, and a flanged short tubular seat supporting member 36 made of stainless steel plate.

The urethane rubber of this embodiment is, for example, a sheet made of Bancoran (trade name). An example of the physical property value of this sheet by the JIS K6301 vulcanized rubber physical test method is as follows.

That is, hardness is 93 (JISA), 100% modulus is 7.0 (MPa), 300% modulus is 14.0 (MPa), tensile strength is 43 (MPa), elongation is 500 (%), and impact resilience. Is 45 (%). It should be noted that these physical property values are examples, and it goes without saying that they are not limited to these physical property values.

The circular sheet-shaped movement restricting member 35 has a large number of slits (cuts) 37 formed radially from the center to the vicinity of the outer periphery. As a result, a large number of elastically deformable cantilever movable pieces 38 (24 pieces in this example) having an elongated triangular plane shape with one side as the fixed side are formed. Each cantilever movable piece 38 has an isosceles triangle shape with one side as the base, and is adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction centered on the apex so as to abut the free ends which are the vertices thereof.

Since the plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38 that can be elastically deformed in this way are adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction centered on the apex so as to abut the free ends that are triangular vertices, the article is supplied. Before the movement, that is, when the weight of the article is not applied, the drop movement of the article can be regulated by blocking the drop movement path of the article by the plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38.

The apex angle of each of the plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38 is preferably about 10 to 15 degrees.

In this example, a small hole 40 is formed in the center of the movement restricting member 35 in order to facilitate processing, but the small hole 40 may be omitted.

Since each cantilever movable piece 38 has a triangular shape with the bottom side as the fixed end and the apex as the free end, it is more likely to be elastically deformed toward the free end side, and as a whole, the movement restricting member 35 in which the free ends are butted against each other. The center of the is easily elastically deformed.

In the article restricting device 30 of this embodiment, the outer peripheral portion of the movement restricting member 35 is sandwiched between the flange portion 16b continuously provided at the upper end of the supply funnel 16 and the flange portion 36a of the seat support member 36, and the circumference thereof. It is bolted and fixed at multiple points in the direction.

In this way, the movement restricting member 35 of the article restricting device 30 is installed in the falling moving path of the article between the supply conveyor 4 and the dispersion feeder 5.

When viewed from above and below, the center of the circular movement restricting member 35 coincides with the center of the conical top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5.

By removing the supply funnel 16 from the mounting frame 32, maintenance such as cleaning and replacement of the movement restricting member 35 can be performed.

In the article regulating device 30, the free ends of the cantilever movable pieces 38 of the movement restricting member 35 are abutted before the article is supplied from the supply conveyor 4, that is, when the weight of the article is not applied. It is in a horizontal state, or a state in which the free end side is slightly inclined downward.

In any of the states, no path (opening) is formed so that the article supplied from the supply conveyor 4 can directly drop and move on the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5.

When the article is supplied from the discharge port 4a of the supply conveyor 4, the supplied article w is buffered by the cantilever movable piece 38 of the movement restricting member 35 located in the drop movement path, as shown by the virtual line in FIG. The cantilever movable piece 38 is elastically deformed downward on the free end side due to the weight of the article w, and an opening is formed in the central portion of the movement restricting member 35. As a result, the article w is allowed to fall and move, and the article w slides down while being guided toward the center side of the movement restricting member 35, and is dropped and supplied onto the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5 via the supply funnel 16 with little impact. ..

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the article w dropped and supplied from the supply conveyor 4 is once received as a buffer by the movement restricting member 35 located in the drop moving path, and cantilevered by the weight of the article w. By elastically deforming the free end side of the piece 38 downward, the article w slides down while being guided to the free end side of the cantilever movable piece 38, and is dropped and moved in a decelerated state, and is moved on the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5. It can be received with little impact.

Thereby, the article w can be supplied to the dispersion feeder without being damaged, and the combination weighing can be performed.

Further, the article 2 received as a buffer by the movement restricting member 35 of the article regulating device 30 is guided to the center side of the movement restricting member 35 which is the free end of each cantilever movable piece 38, and thus is guided from the supply conveyor 4. Even if the supplied article w is supplied to a position deviated from the central portion of the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5, it is guided to the center side of the movement restricting member 35, that is, the central portion of the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5. Will be supplied.

As a result, it is possible to avoid a bias in the supply of the article to the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5, and the article supplied from the top cone 12 of the dispersion feeder 5 to the weighing hopper 8 via the linear feeder 6 and the supply hopper 7. It is possible to prevent the amount of topcon from being biased.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention can also be carried out in the following forms.

(1) The shape of the cantilever movable piece 38 is not limited to a triangular shape, but may be another shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 6 corresponding to FIG. 3, it may be an elongated strip shape. In this case, a plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38 may be arranged adjacent to each other in a straight line, and the free ends thereof may be butted along the diameter of the circular movement restricting member 35.

(2) The material of the movement restricting member 35 is not limited to urethane rubber, and may be other rubber or resin that can be easily elastically deformed by the weight of the article.

(3) A plurality of cantilever movable pieces 38 are formed as independent parts, and fixed ends of a large number of cantilever movable pieces 38 are cantilevered and supported by a ring-shaped support member to form a movement restricting member 35. You may.

(4) A plurality of types of movement restricting members 35 having different materials, thicknesses, number of cantilever movable pieces 38, etc. are prepared in advance, and are preferably elastic according to the type, size, weight, etc. of the article. The deformable movement restricting member 35 may be selected and used.

(5) In the above embodiment, the article regulation device 30 is provided at the upper opening of the supply funnel 16, but the article regulation device 30 may be provided at the lower opening of the supply funnel 16 or below the supply funnel 16. According to this, the head from the article regulating device 30 to the distributed feeder 5 can be further reduced.

4 Supply conveyor 5 Distributed feeder 6 Linear feeder 7 Supply hopper 8 Weighing hopper 16 Supply funnel 30 Article control device 35 Movement control member 37 Slit 38 Cantilever movable piece w Article

Claims (6)

It is installed in the fall movement path of the supplied article and is provided with a movement control member that regulates the fall movement of the article.
The movement restricting member has a plurality of adjacent cantilever movable pieces that can be elastically deformed, and the free end side of the plurality of cantilever movable pieces is elastically deformed downward due to the weight of the supplied article. Allows the article to fall and move,
An article regulation device characterized by the fact that. The planar shape of each of the plurality of cantilever movable pieces is a triangular shape in which one side is fixedly supported.
The article regulation device according to claim 1. The plurality of cantilever movable pieces are adjacent to each other along the circumferential direction centered on the apex so as to abut the free ends which are the apex of the triangle.
The article regulation device according to claim 2. The movement restricting member is in the form of a sheet and has a sheet shape.
The plurality of cantilever movable pieces are partitioned in a triangular shape by a plurality of slits formed radially outward from the center of the movement restricting member.
The article regulation device according to claim 2 or 3. A distributed feeder that radially disperses and conveys the articles that are dropped and supplied from the feeder, and a plurality of linear feeders that are arranged around the distributed feeder so that the distributed and conveyed articles are conveyed outward, and each linear A combination scale including a supply hopper that temporarily stores and discharges articles transported by a feeder and a weighing hopper that stores and discharges articles discharged from each supply hopper and measures the weight thereof.
The article regulation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is provided.
The drop movement path is a path through which articles are dropped and supplied from the supply device to the distributed feeder.
A combination scale characterized by that. It is provided above the dispersion feeder and includes an inverted truncated cone-shaped supply funnel that discharges the article received from the upper opening from the lower opening and supplies it to the dispersion feeder.
The movement restricting member of the article restricting device is mounted and supported in the upper opening of the supply funnel.
The combination scale according to claim 5.

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