JP2022167190A - Agricultural product selecting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an agricultural product selecting device that prevents a plurality of agricultural products from overlapping with each other, at front and rear sides in a conveying direction in the course of conveying the plurality of agricultural products, and prevents the agricultural products from positionally shifting.SOLUTION: An agricultural product selecting device 1 comprises conveying means 4 that conveys a plurality of agricultural products 2 and selecting means 6 that selects respective qualities of the agricultural products 2 in the course of conveying the agricultural products 2 by the conveying means 4. The conveying means 4 is a roller conveyor in which a plurality of rollers 44 are rotatably provided, where an alignment section 202 for aligning the plurality of agricultural products is set at an upstream side in the conveying direction in the conveying means 4. The roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 is provided with driving means (11 and 12) which allow the plurality of rollers 44, passing through the alignment section 202, to respectively rotate alternately in a forward direction and in a backward direction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a crop sorting device.

For example, in Patent Document 1, "In an egg alignment device that sorts randomly supplied eggs into predetermined cases (6 rows or 12 rows), the feeding speed of eggs by a plurality of conveyors arranged in series in the transport direction is The eggs are aligned so that they do not swell in the vertical direction while being adjusted by the conveyor control unit for each of the plurality of transport conveyors.

In addition, in this patent document 1, "When the sensor detects the swelling of the egg on the conveyer arranged on the upstream side in the conveying direction among the plurality of conveyers, the egg is arranged on the downstream side of the conveyer. The feeding speed of the eggs by the conveying conveyor is set so as to be lowered by the conveyor control unit for the conveying conveyor."

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-206016

In Patent Document 1, since the aligning device has a configuration in which a plurality of conveyors are arranged in series in the conveying direction, the eggs are transferred from the conveying conveyor arranged on the upstream side to the conveying conveyor arranged on the downstream side. During transit, the egg may roll and become misaligned. In addition, the space occupied by the entire alignment device in the conveying direction is increased.

By the way, if it is determined whether or not the quality (appearance, inside) of the agricultural products to be conveyed on the conveyor arranged downstream in the conveying direction in the aligning device is out of standard, the above patent If a positional deviation occurs as in the alignment device of Document 1, it becomes impossible to accurately recognize the position of the agricultural product determined to be out of specification. In that case, the non-standard agricultural products will be missed.

In view of such circumstances, the present invention aims to provide a crop sorting apparatus that prevents a plurality of crops from overlapping in the forward and rearward directions in the conveying direction during the transportation process of the crops and prevents positional deviation of the crops. .

The present invention is a crop sorting apparatus comprising a conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops, and a selection means for selecting the quality of each crop midway in the conveying direction of the crops by the conveying means, wherein the conveying means is a roller conveyor in which a plurality of rollers are rotatably provided, and an aligning section for aligning a plurality of crops is provided on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the conveying means, and the conveying means is The roller conveyor of (1) is characterized by comprising driving means for alternately rotating each of the plurality of rollers passing through the alignment section in the forward direction and the reverse direction.

According to this configuration, in the aligning section, each of the alternate rollers (for example, odd-numbered rollers) in the roller conveyor as the conveying means is rotated in the forward direction (for example, forward rotation), while the conveying It is possible to rotate each of the remaining every other (for example, even-numbered) rollers in the roller conveyor as a means in the opposite direction (for example, to rotate reversely).

In this way, when the odd-numbered rollers and the even-numbered rollers are rotated in alternate directions, the crop placed between the two front and rear rollers rotated in the alternate directions does not roll and become misaligned. It will be held immovably like this.

In particular, when the crop placed between the two front and rear rollers is an elongated object such as an ellipse, the orientation of the crop between the two rollers is such that the longitudinal direction of the crop is aligned with the central axis direction of the rollers (referred to as a lateral orientation). ) will be changed to

As a result, it is possible to prevent the plurality of crops from overlapping each other in the transport direction in the alignment section. As a result, selection by the selecting means can be accurately performed in the middle of the conveying direction of the agricultural products by the conveying means.

By the way, in the crop sorting apparatus, the driving means includes a forward driving means for rotating each of the alternate rollers in the forward direction and a reverse driving means for rotating each of the remaining alternate rollers in the reverse direction. And, it can be a configuration including.

According to this configuration, each of the alternate rollers (for example, odd-numbered rollers) in the roller conveyor as the transport means and the remaining alternate rollers (eg, even-numbered rollers) in the roller conveyor as the transport means Each can be driven separately.

In the agricultural product sorting apparatus, the forward rotation driving means is installed on one side of the roller in the central axis direction, and the reverse rotation driving means is installed on the other side of the roller in the central axis direction. can be configured.

According to this configuration, since the forward rotation driving means and the reverse rotation driving means can be separately installed on the left and right sides of the roller conveyor as the conveying means, the forward rotation driving means and the reverse rotation driving means can be installed separately. and are installed on one side or the other side in the direction of the central axis of the roller, the ease of installation is improved.

Further, in the crop sorting apparatus, the forward rotation driving means includes a chain engaged with a sprocket attached to one side of the rotation axis of each of the alternate rollers in the direction of the central axis, and the chain is driven to rotate. a motor for rotating the rollers, wherein the reverse drive means includes a chain engaged with a sprocket mounted on the other side of the central axis direction on the rotation axis of each of the remaining alternate rollers; and a motor for rotating the chain.

In this configuration, the configurations of the forward rotation driving means and the reverse rotation driving means are specifically specified.

Further, in the agricultural product sorting apparatus, the forward rotation driving means and the reverse rotation driving means may each have a configuration in which the rotational speed thereof is adjustable.

According to this configuration, it is possible to appropriately adjust the forward rotation speed and reverse rotation speed of the rollers based on the types of the plurality of crops, the number of conveyed crops, and the like.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a crop sorting apparatus that prevents a plurality of crops from overlapping one another in the conveying direction and prevents positional displacement of the crops in the course of conveying the crops.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of an embodiment of a crop sorting device according to the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of alignment means; It is a figure which shows typically the structure of an exterior imaging|photography means and an internal imaging|photography means. It is a timing chart figure for demonstrating the drive timing of an exterior imaging|photography means and an internal imaging|photography means. It is a figure for demonstrating the instruction|indication form of an instruction|indication means. FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing a configuration relating to a roller driving means from an alignment section to a measurement section in FIG. 1; It is the figure which looked at the roller of FIG. 6, the 1st forward drive means, and the reverse drive means from the conveyance direction upstream. FIG. 10 is a side view for explaining the rotation state of the rollers in the alignment section; 3 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of first and second forward rotation driving means and reverse rotation driving means; FIG. FIG. 4 is a top view for explaining the attitude of crops in the alignment section; FIG. 11 is a side view for explaining the rotation state of the rollers on the upstream side of the measurement section (appearance quality determination section); FIG. 11 is a side view for explaining another rotation state of the rollers in the alignment section; FIG. 2 is a top view schematically showing another configuration of roller driving means from the aligning section to the taking-out section in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 4 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of forced stopping means; FIG. 4 is a top view schematically showing still another configuration of roller driving means from the aligning section to the taking-out section in FIG. 1 ; FIG. 16 is a side view schematically showing the configuration of forced stopping means in FIG. 15;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 11 show one embodiment of the invention. In the figure, 1 indicates the whole crop sorting apparatus.

This agricultural product sorting device 1 determines the quality of agricultural products 2 such as potatoes and mandarin oranges (for example, color, size, presence or absence of damage and rot, damage and rot), and determines that the quality of the agricultural products is out of specification. 2 can be taken out.

This agricultural product sorting device 1 includes a supply means 3, a conveying means 4, an alignment means 5, a selection means 6, an extraction means 7, an indication means 8, an adjustment means 9, and the like. These are controlled by control means (not shown).

The supply means 3 is provided in the supply section 201 on the upstream side of the transport means 4, and stores, for example, the agricultural products 2 before sorting. This supply means 3 is, for example, a container.

The transport means 4 transports the plurality of crops 2 supplied from the supply means 3, and is, for example, a roller conveyor.

The conveying means 4 includes a pair of left and right driving sprockets 41 and a pair of left and right driven sprockets 4.
2. It has a pair of left and right chains 43, a plurality of rollers 44, a motor 45, and the like.

A pair of left and right drive sprockets 41 are provided downstream in the direction in which the crop 2 is conveyed. A pair of left and right driven sprockets 42 are provided on the upstream side in the conveying direction of the crop 2 .

A pair of left and right chains 43 are wound around the drive sprocket 41 and the driven sprocket 42, and are arranged so as to be separated and opposed in parallel in the horizontal direction.

A plurality of rollers 44 are rotatably provided between the pair of left and right chains 43 facing each other, and the longitudinal direction of each roller 44 extends along the direction (width direction) orthogonal to the conveying direction.

The motor 45 rotates the chain 43 by rotationally driving the drive sprocket 41 fixed to its output shaft (not shown).

On the rollers 44 of the conveying means 4, there are a supply section 201, an alignment section 202, a rotation direction switching section 203, a measurement section 204, and an extraction section 205 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveying direction of the crop 2. assigned.

The aligning means 5 is provided in the aligning section 202 on the upstream side of the conveying means 4, and separates the crops 2 randomly supplied from the supplying means 3 in the conveying direction and in the direction orthogonal to the conveying direction (horizontal direction). Align so that they are aligned in a row.

The alignment means 5 includes a diffusion roller conveyor 51 and partition means 52, as shown in FIG.

The diffusion roller conveyor 51 receives a plurality of crops 2 from the supply means 3, and sends the plurality of crops 2 toward the conveyance means 4 while scattering the crops 2 in the front, rear, left, and right directions. essentially the same configuration.

The outer size of the chain 511 of the diffusion roller conveyor 51 is significantly shorter than that of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4. It is made the same as that of the roller conveyor as the means 4.

This spreading roller conveyor 51 is adjusted so as to send a plurality of agricultural products 2 toward the conveying means 4 at a speed half of the conveying speed of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4 . The speed of the diffusion roller conveyor 51 is not limited to 1/2 of the conveying speed of the roller conveyer as the conveying means 4, and can be arbitrarily set, for example, 1/4 or 1/8.

The partitioning means 52 arranges the agricultural products 2 sent from the spreading roller conveyor 51 between the rollers 44 of each virtual pair when two adjacent rollers 44 of the roller conveyor as the transporting means 4 are assumed to be a virtual pair. and is provided above the conveying surface of the conveying means 4 .

As shown in FIG. 2, the partitioning means 52 includes a pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521, a pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522, a pair of left and right chains 523 as ring members, a partition member 524, and the like.

The pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521 and the pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522 are arranged to face each other while being separated in the transport direction. The upstream sprocket 521 or the downstream sprocket 522 is rotationally driven by a motor (not shown).

A pair of left and right chains 523 are wound around a pair of left and right upstream sprockets 521 and a pair of left and right downstream sprockets 522 , and are arranged so as to be separated and opposed in parallel in the horizontal direction.

The partition members 524 are attached to the chain 523 at a plurality of locations spaced apart in the circumferential direction so as to protrude radially outward.

The distance between the partition members 524 is set to a length that sandwiches two adjacent rollers 44 in the roller conveyor as the transport means 4 .

The selection means 6 is provided in a measurement section 204 above the conveying means 4, and determines whether the quality of the agricultural products 2 conveyed by the conveying means 4 is out of specification, and determines the position of the out-of-specification agricultural products 2. to recognize

As shown in FIG. 3, the selecting means 6 includes an external photographing means 61, an internal photographing means 62, a judging means 63, a recognizing means 64, and the like.

The appearance photographing means 61 is composed of a first light source 61a and a first light receiving portion 61b. The first light source 61a can be, for example, a known white LED that emits visible light. The first light receiving section 61b captures visible light emitted from the first light source 61a and reflected from the side of the conveying means 4, and may be, for example, a known CCD camera or CMOS camera.

This appearance photographing means 61 is arranged upstream in the conveying direction (also referred to as appearance quality determination section) in the measuring section 204 above the conveying means 4, and captures the entire upstream side of the measuring section 204 to obtain a transport image. The external appearance of the agricultural product 2 conveyed by the means 4 is photographed, and the photographed image is transmitted to the determination means 63 .

The internal photographing means 62 is composed of second and third light sources 62a and 62c and second and third light receiving portions 62b and 62d.

The second and third light sources 62a and 62c can be, for example, known near-infrared LEDs that emit near-infrared rays. The second and third light receiving units 62b and 62d can be, for example, known CCD cameras or CMOS cameras. The second light-receiving part 62b receives the light transmitted through the agricultural product 2 directly above the second light source 62a (see the dashed line in FIG. 3) and the near-field light reflected by the conveying means 4 or other agricultural products 2 placed upstream/downstream. Infrared (see dashed line in FIG. 3) is photographed. Similar to the second light receiving portion 62b, the third light receiving portion 62d receives the light transmitted through the agricultural product 2 directly above the third light source 62c and the light reflected by the conveying means 4 or other agricultural products 2 placed upstream/downstream. Shoot infrared.

This internal photographing means 62 is arranged downstream in the conveying direction (also referred to as an internal quality determination section) in the measuring section 204 above the conveying means 4, and captures the entire downstream side of the measuring section 204 to The inside of the agricultural product 2 conveyed by the means 4 is photographed, and the photographed image is transmitted to the determination means 63 .

In addition, the whole area includes the full length range in the transport direction (X direction) and the full width range in the direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the transport direction on the upstream and downstream sides of the measurement section 204 .

The determination means 63 determines whether or not the quality of the crop 2 is out of specification based on the images captured by the external image capturing means 61 and the internal image capturing means 62 .

Specifically, the determination means 63 determines whether or not the quality (color, size, presence/absence of damage, size of damage, etc.) of the photographed crop 2 is out of standard based on the photographed image by the appearance photographing means 61. In addition to determining whether or not the quality (corruption state) is out of standard based on the photographed image by the internal photographing means 62 .

As for the method of determining whether or not the quality of the agricultural product 2 is out of specification, a known method can be adopted, so a detailed explanation is omitted here.

The recognition means 64 is arranged on the downstream side (internal quality determination section) in the transport direction in the measurement section 204 on the transport means 4 . The position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 determined to be outside is recognized, and the crop 2 is tracked.

The recognition means 64 is composed of a fourth light source 64a and a fourth light receiving portion 64b. The fourth light source 64a can be, for example, a known white LED that emits visible light. The fourth light receiving section 64b captures visible light emitted from the fourth light source 64a and reflected from the conveying means 4 side, and may be, for example, a known CCD camera or CMOS camera.

The first to fourth light sources 61a, 62a, 62c and 64a and the first to fourth light receiving portions 61b, 62b, 62d and 64b are attached to the frame 65. FIG. Further, the emission timings of the first to fourth light sources 61a, 62a, 62c, and 64a are set so as to prevent mutual interference by shifting the emission timings, for example, as shown in FIGS. be done.

The take-out means 7 is arranged on the upstream side (also referred to as an automatic take-out section) in the conveying direction in the take-out section 205 above the conveying means 4, and automatically takes out non-standard agricultural products 2 from the conveying means 4. It can be composed of robots, for example.

The take-out means 7 is configured to receive information about the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard crops 2 and take out the non-standard crops 2 transported by the transport means 4 based on the received information. It is

It should be noted that the non-standard agricultural products 2 that have been taken out can be stored, for example, in a recovery box (not shown). Further, the robot may be, for example, a parallel link robot, a scalar robot, or an articulated robot.

The indicating means 8 is arranged downstream in the conveying direction (also referred to as an indicating section or a manual removing section) in the picking section 205 above the conveying means 4, and indicates non-standard crops 2. For example, It can be a projector.

This instruction means 8 receives information on the position (XY coordinates) of the nonstandard crop 2 from the recognition means 64, and based on this received information, for example, as shown in FIG. By irradiating visible light on the incoming non-standard crops 2 and sequentially shifting the irradiation position of the visible light according to the movement of the crops 2, the crops 2 can be tracked.

By the way, whether the non-standard crops 2 selected by the selection means 6 are to be taken out by the takeout means 7 or instructed by the instruction means 8 is determined by a control means (not shown).
(measured in the means for specifying the scope of claims).

On the downstream side of the take-out section 205 where the instruction means 8 is provided, the non-standard crop 2 is irradiated with visible light, so that the worker can manually take out the non-standard crop 2.例文帳に追加

The adjusting means 9 adjusts the conveying speed of the conveying means 4 in consideration of the quantity of the non-standard crops 2 selected by the selecting means 6 and the take-out capacity of the take-out means 7 .

Specifically, the adjusting means 9 controls the driving force of the motor 45 of the conveying means 4 to adjust the conveying speed of the chain 43 to adjust the conveying speed of the crop 2 . The conveying speed of the chain 43 is recognized by an encoder (not shown) provided on the driving sprocket 41 .

Note that the adjusting means 9 slows down the conveying speed of the conveying means 4 when the quantity of non-standard crops 2 is large.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. The rear half of the first forward rotation drive means 11 and the second forward rotation drive means 13 are installed on the side (appearance quality determination section).

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4, in the area from the alignment section 202 to the upstream side of the measurement section 205 (appearance quality determination section), the left side of the conveying direction is provided with a first forward rotation drive means 11 .

This first forward rotation driving means 11 is driven by every other roller 44 (hereinafter referred to as a , odd-numbered rollers 44 are rotated in the positive direction.

Here, the forward direction is the clockwise direction when the roller 44 is viewed from the left side in the conveying direction, as shown in FIG. 8, for example.

Further, in the aligning section 202, a reverse driving means 12 is installed on the right side of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 in the conveying direction.

This reverse drive means 12 rotates every other roller 44 (hereinafter referred to as an even-numbered roller 44) of all the rollers 44 of the roller conveyor serving as the conveying means 4 that has entered the alignment section 202 in the opposite direction (reverse rotation). ).

Here, the opposite direction is the counterclockwise direction when the roller 44 is viewed from the left side in the conveying direction, as shown in FIG. 8, for example.

Further, on the upstream side (appearance quality determination section) of the measurement section 204 , a second forward rotation driving means 13 is installed on the right side of the conveying direction of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 .

The second forward rotation driving means 13 rotates the odd-numbered rollers 44 in the forward direction in the measurement section 204 .

Such first and second forward rotation driving means 11, 13 and reverse rotation driving means 12 are, for example, as shown in FIG. , 121, 131 are wound around a pair of sprockets 113, 114, 123, 124, 133, 134, and a motor 112 that rotates the chains 111, 121, 131 by rotationally driving one of the sprockets 113, 123, 133, 122 and 132.

The left sprockets 14 are fixed to the left sides of the rotation shafts 44a of the odd-numbered rollers 44, respectively. On the other hand, the right sprockets 15 are fixed to the right sides of the rotation shafts 44a of the even-numbered rollers 44, respectively.

The left sprocket 14 is engaged with the chain 111 of the first forward rotation driving means 11, and as the chain 111 rotates, the left sprocket 14 and the odd-numbered rollers 44 rotate forward. It is designed to be

The right sprocket 15 is engaged with the chain 121 of the reverse drive means 12, and the right sprocket 15 and the even-numbered rollers 44 are reversed as the chain 121 rotates. It's like

Further, the right sprocket 15 is engaged with the chain 131 of the second forward rotation driving means 13, and as the chain 131 rotates, the right sprocket 15 and the even-numbered rollers 44 rotate forward. It is designed to be turned over.

Next, the operation of the agricultural product sorting device 1 described above will be described.

First, in the supply section 201, the agricultural products 2 before sorting housed in the container as the supply means 3 are randomly placed on the diffusion roller conveyor 51 of the alignment means 5 arranged on the upstream side (first diffusion zone) of the alignment section 202. supplied in good condition.

On the diffusion roller conveyor 51, the crops 2 supplied in a random state are sent to the downstream side (second diffusion section) of the alignment section 202 while being scattered in the front, rear, left, and right directions.

When the agricultural products 2 sent to the downstream side of the aligning section 202 are supplied onto the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 , the individual agricultural products 2 are aligned by the partitioning means 52 of the aligning means 5 .

Specifically, on the downstream side of the alignment section 202, when two rollers 44 adjacent to each other in the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 are assumed to be a virtual pair, one crop 2 or a plurality of crops 2 are placed between the rollers 44 of each virtual pair. The crops 2 are arranged in a row in the central axis direction of the rollers 44 , and the two rollers 44 forming the virtual pair are sandwiched by the partition member 524 .

Moreover, in this alignment section 202, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the upstream (rear) roller 44 in the conveying direction is reversed (rotated counterclockwise when viewed from the left side) by the reverse drive means 12 .

That is, the rollers 44 of each virtual pair are alternately rotated by the first forward rotation driving means 11 and the reverse rotation driving means 12 .

As a result, while the crop 2 placed between the two rollers 44 forming the imaginary pair passes through the alignment section 202, the crop placed between the front and rear rollers 44 that are rotated in alternate directions. It is held immovably so that it does not roll and become misaligned.

Moreover, when the crop 2 is elongated like an ellipse, as shown in FIG. ) will be changed to

For these reasons, it is possible to prevent a plurality of crops 2 from overlapping in the forward and backward directions in the conveying direction. Moreover, since the structure (the first forward rotation driving means 11 and the reverse rotation driving means 12) for aligning the plurality of crops 2 in the aligning section 202 is only installed in a short area in the conveying direction, the above-mentioned patent document The occupied space in the conveying direction is shorter than that of the aligning device of No. 1.

After that, while the rollers 44 of the chain 43 of the conveying means 4 pass through the rotation direction switching section 203, the rollers 44 that have been rotated forward in the alignment section 202 are rotated forward by the first forward rotation driving means 11. While the state is continued, the rollers 44 that have been reversed in the alignment section 202 pass the reversing drive means 12 and are free to rotate.

In the upstream side (appearance quality determination section) of the measurement section 204, as shown in FIG. is continued, the roller 44 in a freely rotatable state is rotated forward by the second forward rotation driving means 13 in the rotation direction switching section 203 .

Since the rollers 44 of each virtual pair are rotated together in the forward direction, the crop 2 rotates in the direction opposite (counterclockwise) to the rotation direction of the rollers 44 of each virtual pair, as shown in FIG. direction).

Therefore, in the upstream side (appearance quality determination section) of the measurement section 204, as the crop 2 rotates, the upper surface of the crop 2 is sequentially replaced in the direction of rotation. become able to.

Based on the image photographed by the appearance photographing means 61, the judging means 63 judges whether or not the quality of the crop 2 (color, size, presence/absence of damage, size of damage, etc.) is out of standard. , the number of non-standard crops 2 existing upstream (appearance quality determination section) of the measurement section 204 is counted, and the position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 determined as non-standard by the recognition means 64 is counted. It recognizes and tracks the crop 2 concerned.

Subsequently, on the downstream side (internal quality determination section) of the measurement section 204, the rollers 44 of each imaginary pair are set in a freely rotatable state.

As a result, while the crop 2 passes through the downstream side (internal quality determination section) of the measurement section 204, the crop 2 is in a state of being free to rotate but remains stationary. 62. Therefore, the image captured by the internal capturing means 62 clearly shows the state inside the crop 2 .

Based on this internal captured image, the determination means 63 determines whether the quality (rotten state) of the crop 2 is out of specification, and the recognition means 64 determines the position (XY coordinates) of the crop 2 determined to be out of specification. ) is recognized and the crop 2 is tracked.

Next, in the upstream side of the take-out section 205 (automatic take-out section), the rollers 44 are freely rotatable but kept stationary.

Therefore, when the crop 2 enters the picking section 205, the picking means 7 receives information on the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard crop 2 from the recognition means 64, The agricultural products 2 are automatically taken out and stored in a recovery box (not shown). At this time, the agricultural product 2 is in a non-rotating state (non-rotating state, stationary state), so that the take-out means 7 can easily take out the non-standard agricultural product 2 accurately.

Then, in the downstream side (manual extraction section) of the extraction section 205, the instruction means 8 receives information on the position (XY coordinates) of the non-standard crop 2 from the recognition means 64, and based on this received information, By irradiating the non-standard crops 2 transported by the conveying means 4 with visible light and, for example, as shown in FIG. track.

As a result, the substandard crop 2 is irradiated with visible light on the downstream side of the take-out section 205 where the instruction means 8 is provided, so that the worker can easily take out the nonstandard crop 2 manually.

In other words, on the downstream side of the take-out section 205, in the event that the non-standard agricultural product fails to be taken out on the upstream side, the worker can manually take out the non-standard agricultural product 2 that has failed to be taken out. It is supposed to be.

As described above, according to the embodiment to which the present invention is applied, in the aligning section 202 in which the plurality of crops 2 are loaded from the spreading roller conveyor 51 onto the roller conveyor as the transporting means 4, the plurality of crops 2 are aligned by the aligning means 5. can be arranged between the two rollers 44 forming a virtual pair in the roller conveyor as the transport means 4 .

Moreover, after the crop 2 is mounted on the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4, the two rollers 44 forming the virtual pair are rotated in alternate directions by the first forward rotation driving means 11 and the reverse rotation driving means 12. As a result, the crop 2 placed between the two rollers 44 forming the virtual pair can be held immovably so as not to roll in the conveying direction and be displaced.

As a result, in the process from the alignment section 202 to the measurement section 204 , it is possible to maintain a state in which a plurality of crops 2 are prevented from overlapping in the forward and rearward directions in the conveying direction. It is possible to accurately select the quality of

Further, in this embodiment, the two rollers 44 forming the virtual pair are rotated forward together by the first and second forward rotation drive means 11 and 13 on the upstream side (appearance quality determination section) of the measurement section 204. Since the crop 2 is made to rotate on its own axis, it is possible to accurately select the presence or absence of damage and rot on the entire circumference of the crop 2 and the state of damage and rot.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, on the downstream side (internal quality determination section) of the measurement section 204, the two rollers 44 forming the virtual pair are both in a non-rotating state (non-rotating state, stationary state). It becomes possible to accurately select the quality of the interior of 2 (for example, the presence or absence of damage and rot, the state of damage and rot).

For these reasons, it is possible to contribute to improving the reliability of the crop sorting device 1 .

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims and equivalents thereof.

(1) The configuration of the crop sorting apparatus 1 described in the above embodiment is not particularly limited except for the configuration relating to the characteristics of the present invention, and can be changed as appropriate.

(2) In the alignment section 202 of the above embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. While rotating (reverse) in the clockwise direction), every other (for example, even-numbered) roller 44 can be rotated (forward) in the positive direction (clockwise).

Even when such a form is employed, the same actions and effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 11 can be obtained.

(3) For example, FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention. 1 to 10 in this embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in FIGS. It is that you are.

As shown in FIG. 14, for example, the forced stopping means 16 has a chain 161 looped in an elliptical shape in side view, similar to the structure of the first and second forward rotation driving means 11 and 13 and the reverse rotation driving means 12. , a pair of sprockets 163 and 164 around which the chain 161 is wound, and a motor 162 that rotates the chain 161 by rotating one of the sprockets 163 .

The forced stop means 16 are installed on the left side and the right side of the take-out section 205 in the conveying direction.

When the rotational speed of the chain 161 of the forced stopping means 16 is set equal to the rotational speed of the chain 43 of the roller conveyor as the transport means 4, all the rollers 44 of the roller conveyor as the transport means 4 are forced to rotate. It is brought to a stopped state (non-rotating state, stationary state).

Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment. In addition to the same effects and effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, the following effects are also obtained in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, as described above, all the rollers 44 of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 are forced to stop rotating (non-rotating state, stationary state) in the take-out section 205. 2 is automatically taken out by the take-out means 7 or manually taken out by an operator, it becomes easy to take out.

(4) For example, FIGS. 15 and 16 show another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is another embodiment of the forced stop means 16 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 15, the forced stopping means 16A of this embodiment includes guide rails arranged on the left side and the right side of the conveying direction of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4. .

As shown in FIG. 15, the two guide rails as the forced stop means 16A are linear in plan view, but in side view, as shown in FIG. The area from the middle of the conveying direction to the upstream end has an inclined shape that gradually slopes obliquely upward toward the upstream side.

Further, the left and right ends of the rotation shafts 44a of all the rollers 44 of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 are formed in a D shape in end view. In other words, the rotation shaft 44a is provided with a flat surface 44b that is cut out in predetermined angular ranges at the left and right ends of the rotation shaft 44a.

With such a configuration, when the rollers 44 of the roller conveyor as the conveying means 4 enter the take-out section 205, the flat surfaces 44b at the left and right ends of the rollers 44 sequentially fed from the upstream side in the conveying direction are forcibly stopped. It will be welcomed by the slanted portions of the two guide rails as the means 16A, but will gradually come into contact with the lower side of the linear portion of each guide rail, and all the rotations that come into contact with each guide rail. Each flat surface 44b of the shaft 44a extends along the transport direction. As a result, each roller 44 is forced to stop rotating (non-rotating state, stationary state).

Other configurations are the same as those of the above embodiment. Also in this embodiment, the same actions and effects as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 can be obtained.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be suitably used for agricultural product sorting devices.

1 crop sorting device 2 crop 3 supply means 4 transport means
41 drive sprocket
42 driven sprocket
43 chain
44 Roller
44a rotation axis
44b flat surface
45 motor 5 alignment means
51 diffusion roller conveyor
52 partition means 6 selection means
61 Appearance photographing means
62 internal imaging means
63 determination means
64 recognition means
65 frame 7 extraction means 11 first forward drive means 12 reverse drive means 13 second forward drive means 14 left sprocket 15 right sprocket 16, 16A forced stop means 201 supply section 202 alignment section 203 rotation direction switching section 204 Measurement section 205 Extraction section

Claims (5)

A crop sorting device comprising: conveying means for conveying a plurality of crops; and selecting means for selecting the quality of each crop midway in the conveying direction of the crops by the conveying means,
The conveying means is a roller conveyor in which a plurality of rollers are rotatable,
An aligning section for aligning a plurality of crops is provided on the upstream side in the transporting direction of the transporting means,
A crop sorting apparatus, comprising driving means for alternately rotating each of a plurality of rollers passing through the alignment section in the forward direction and the reverse direction in the roller conveyer as the conveying means. In the crop sorting device according to claim 1,
The driving means includes forward driving means for rotating each of the alternate rollers in a forward direction, and reverse driving means for rotating each of the remaining alternate rollers in a reverse direction. crop sorting equipment. In the crop sorting device according to claim 2,
Agricultural product sorting, wherein the forward rotation drive means is installed on one side of the roller in the central axis direction, and the reverse rotation drive means is installed on the other side of the roller in the central axis direction. Device. In the crop sorting device according to claim 3,
The forward rotation driving means includes a chain engaged with a sprocket mounted on one side of the rotation shaft of each of the alternate rollers in the central axis direction, and a motor for rotating the chain. and
The reverse drive means includes a chain engaged with a sprocket mounted on the other side of the center axis direction of the rotation shaft of each of the remaining alternate rollers, and a motor for rotationally driving the chain. A crop sorting device comprising: In the crop sorting device according to claim 2,
A crop sorting apparatus, wherein the forward rotation driving means and the reverse rotation driving means are each adjustable in rotational speed.

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